Philippines: 5 die in bomb blast near cathedral
Source: energypublisher
Archbishop Orlando Quevedo of Cotabato says a bomb attack in Cotabato City that killed five people and injured at least 43 did not target the cathedral, as earlier reports had claimed. He called for calm in a statement to media on July 5, the day of the blast in the southern city.
“Violence does not achieve anything. Violence begets violence,” the bishop said. “Let’s all pray for the conversion of the bombers."
The Oblates of Mary (OMI) prelate said he believed extortion was a motive, and he later reaffirmed to UCA News that the bombing "is not about religion, the Muslims' desire for ‘self rule’ or anything political.”
He told UCA News said he had felt compelled to issue statements to e-groups and the media to correct reports that the cathedral was the target. There were no blasts inside the cathedral and the bomb was not set to go off as people were coming out of church, he clarified in his messages.
Peace advocates praised Archbishop Quevedo for his response.
“We applaud the courage and wisdom of Archbishop Orlando Quevedo OMI who, even as he condemned the bombing as sacrilege, has called for restraint,” the Philippine Council for Islam and Democracy declared in its statement on the bombing.
Archbishop Quevedo explained to UCA News in Manila, on his way to a bishops' retreat, that he was preaching on priests and prophecy when a bomb exploded across the street from the church.
The injured were mostly women vendors and children.
The archbishop condemned the killing of innocent people but also urged restraint.
Since the bomb went off inside a stall selling "lechon," or roasted pig, he suspects extortion could be the motive. It was the second bombing of a business in the Cotabato area in recent years, he pointed out.
Most of those injured were on the road in the vicinity of the lechon (roast pig) house, he pointed out. Shrapnel from the blast also injured some churchgoers near the door of Immaculate Conception Cathedral. Cotabato City is on the main island of Mindanao, about 885 kilometers southeast of Manila.
The Philippine Council for Islam and Democracy, which describes itself as committed to building a "peaceful, progressive, and democratic Muslim Mindanao," condemned the blast as a “terrorist act” and called for prompt action to bring perpetrators to justice.
Archbishop Quevedo noted that bombings in recent years of businesses in Cotabato, General Santos, Kidapawan and Koronodal cities as well as Maguindanao and Sultan Kudarat provinces were found to be linked to extortion attempts.
He added that when he arrived in Manila, he heard reports blaming the government for trying to use the bombings to destabilize the country and give it an excuse to declare martial law and prevent the 2010 election.
The military would “most probably blame a rebel terrorist group, an offshoot of, but disowned by, the mainstream Moro Islamic Liberation Front,” he said, acknowledging this "might be the real case.”
Military spokesman Colonel Jonathan Ponce told reporters on July 6 that a suspect arrested shortly after the lechon-stall bombing was in police custody.
Archbishop Orlando Quevedo of Cotabato says a bomb attack in Cotabato City that killed five people and injured at least 43 did not target the cathedral, as earlier reports had claimed. He called for calm in a statement to media on July 5, the day of the blast in the southern city.
“Violence does not achieve anything. Violence begets violence,” the bishop said. “Let’s all pray for the conversion of the bombers."
The Oblates of Mary (OMI) prelate said he believed extortion was a motive, and he later reaffirmed to UCA News that the bombing "is not about religion, the Muslims' desire for ‘self rule’ or anything political.”
He told UCA News said he had felt compelled to issue statements to e-groups and the media to correct reports that the cathedral was the target. There were no blasts inside the cathedral and the bomb was not set to go off as people were coming out of church, he clarified in his messages.
Peace advocates praised Archbishop Quevedo for his response.
“We applaud the courage and wisdom of Archbishop Orlando Quevedo OMI who, even as he condemned the bombing as sacrilege, has called for restraint,” the Philippine Council for Islam and Democracy declared in its statement on the bombing.
Archbishop Quevedo explained to UCA News in Manila, on his way to a bishops' retreat, that he was preaching on priests and prophecy when a bomb exploded across the street from the church.
The injured were mostly women vendors and children.
The archbishop condemned the killing of innocent people but also urged restraint.
Since the bomb went off inside a stall selling "lechon," or roasted pig, he suspects extortion could be the motive. It was the second bombing of a business in the Cotabato area in recent years, he pointed out.
Most of those injured were on the road in the vicinity of the lechon (roast pig) house, he pointed out. Shrapnel from the blast also injured some churchgoers near the door of Immaculate Conception Cathedral. Cotabato City is on the main island of Mindanao, about 885 kilometers southeast of Manila.
The Philippine Council for Islam and Democracy, which describes itself as committed to building a "peaceful, progressive, and democratic Muslim Mindanao," condemned the blast as a “terrorist act” and called for prompt action to bring perpetrators to justice.
Archbishop Quevedo noted that bombings in recent years of businesses in Cotabato, General Santos, Kidapawan and Koronodal cities as well as Maguindanao and Sultan Kudarat provinces were found to be linked to extortion attempts.
He added that when he arrived in Manila, he heard reports blaming the government for trying to use the bombings to destabilize the country and give it an excuse to declare martial law and prevent the 2010 election.
The military would “most probably blame a rebel terrorist group, an offshoot of, but disowned by, the mainstream Moro Islamic Liberation Front,” he said, acknowledging this "might be the real case.”
Military spokesman Colonel Jonathan Ponce told reporters on July 6 that a suspect arrested shortly after the lechon-stall bombing was in police custody.
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