Galvez: Cotabato blast should not discourage Filipinos to pursue peace

MANILA, Philippines — Presidential Peace Adviser Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. condemned the bomb attack in Cotabato City, saying that the incident should not discourage Filipinos to unite in achieving “just and enduring peace” in the country.

READ: At least 34 hurt, 2 dead in Cotabato City mall blast — PNP

“Let us not allow this incident to discourage us to unite and act as one in our collective aspiration to achieve just and enduring peace not just in Mindanao, but in the whole country,” Galvez said in a statement on Tuesday.

“Let’s continue working for peace in 2019 and in all the years to come,” he added.

Meanwhile, the office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process extended its “deepest sympathies and sincerest condolences to the families of the victims” of the recent explosion outside a shopping mall in the southern city of Cotabato and prays “for the quick recovery of the injured.”

Galvez said that as “these trying times” tested the country’s “resolve to pursue just and enduring peace,” he encouraged everyone “to practice sobriety and not be swayed to spread unfounded speculations relating to the incident.”

“This is an isolated case and our security forces are on top of the situation,” he said.

“Let’s trust that the perpetrators will be brought to justice and that acts like this will be stopped,” he added.— With Jeannette I. Andrade /ee