The Islamic State (ISIS) terrorist group has owned Saturday’s bombing of a public market in Sultan Kudarat that wounded seven civilians, but security experts said this could just be propaganda.
READ: Seven hurt in Sultan Kudarat explosion
ISIS claimed responsibility for the blast, the fourth incident this year, hours after an improvised explosive device went off near a bakeshop at the Isulan town public market.
National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr. dismissed the IS statement as “nothing but mere disinformation.”
“It might be the left wing that concocted it,” Esperon said, noting that Cotabato City, the site of a decommissioning of former Muslim rebels, was unaffected.
“We were in Cotabato City and the security situation was normal,” Esperon said.
Investigations showed that the IED was placed by still unidentified bombers in a row of parked motorcycles in front of the public market.
A top official from the Davao City Police Office (DCPO) reminded the public to be vigilant following the bombing in Isulan, Sultan Kudarat on Saturday.
Col. Alexander Tagum, DCPO director, said Dabawenyos should report any suspicious person or object so that they can immediately respond and initiate counter-measures against any threat from terrorist groups.
Video of the bombing from a CCTV (closed-circuit television) security camera circulated on social media, causing public concern over safety.
“We are currently implementing maximum security operations 24/7 and maintaining our level 3 Alert level,” Tagum said.
Tagum assured the public that they have enough security forces on the ground.
The Palace said the explosion in a public market Saturday shows the need to speed up the normalization process to end decades of conflict in Mindanao.
“The blast this morning is a reminder of why we must exhaust all efforts to ensure that future generations are spared from the conflict and violence that has plagued Mindanao in the past,” Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said in a statement.
Nograles also expressed hope that the eight persons wounded in the blast would have a speedy recovery.
Nograles also hailed the decision of President Rodrigo Duterte to push through with his attendance on the second phase of decommissioning Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) combatants and weapons in Sultan Kudarat just hours after the blast took place.
During the event, Duterte told the decommissioned fighters not to be sad or disheartened in handing over their weapons and returning to civilian life.
“Do not be sad that you turned over your arms to the government. Because you are the government now. If you really need arms to defend your government here in BARMM, no problem. I’ll give you new ones,” Duterte said in Filipino. With PNA
