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Photo of Senator Bong Go
ZAMBOANGA CITY, Zamboanga del Sur – President Rodrigo Duterte visited “ground zero” in Jolo, Sulu, and offered flowers at the site where two explosions on August 24 killed 17 and injured 75.
Lieutenant Colonel Rolando Mateo, spokesman for the Sulu Joint Task Force, said that as soon as Duterte arrived at around 3:40 pm, “he went straight from the airport to ground zero, on Serrantes Street.”
He stayed there for a few minutes, offered flowers and left, Mateo added.
The president then went to General Teodulo Bautista camp in Barangay Bus-bus, Jolo, where he gave a talk to the soldiers for more than an hour.
The governor of Sulu, Abdusakur Tan, and some mayors of the city were among those attending the talk.
After the inspiring talk, Duterte went to Kuta Heneral Bautista hospital and placed wounded personnel medals on 15 soldiers who survived the blast and are currently recovering there.
“Particular directives from wala naman siyang. He simply said that he wants to thank the soldiers who sacrificed their lives and the wounded, ”said Mateo.
Duterte never mentioned anything related to the declaration of martial law in Sulu, which was previously recommended by the police and the military.
Duterte also presented medals to the families of three Tausug soldiers who died in the blasts, including a police commando.
The president was accompanied by the Secretary of Defense, Delfín Lorenzana, and the presidential advisor on military affairs, Arthur Tabaquero.
/ MUF
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