President Duterte said he would proceed to Marawi City today despite an explosion that injured nine people, seven of them members of the Presidential Security Group (PSG), who were part of an advance team for the presidential visit.
“I’m going there. Kung ’di ako lulusot (if I can’t make it), that’s why we have a Vice President, Leni Robredo,” the President said in his speech during the inauguration of a rehabilitation center in Nueva Ecija province yesterday.
“The advice was to postpone it (the trip), but I said no. We are taking the same route if possible,” Mr. Duterte said.
The convoy that was attacked in Marawi City included local troops as well as staff members of the presidential communications office, though no civilians were hurt, military officials said.
The roadside explosion took place as the convoy was passing through Barangay Emie Punod in Marawi at 10:30 a.m., said Chief Supt. Agripino Javier, regional police director in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
He said initial reports from the Lanao del Sur police traced the explosion to an improvised explosive device along the road.
“They were traversing the national highway and upon reaching an ascending and rolling terrain, an explosion struck the lead vehicle. There was a brief gunfire, as they opened fire on the sides of the road thinking there were people there but it turned out there were none,” said Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla, Armed Forces of the Philippines spokesperson.
Asked if the attack had something to do with the military offensive against members of the Islamic extremist Maute Group in Butig town in Lanao del Sur province, Padilla said: “It might be. We’re checking on it.”
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said he suspects the militants attacked the convoy to divert the military’s focus from the offensive. —REPORTS FROM JULIE ALIPALA, RICHEL UMEL, EDWIN FERNANDEZ, ALLAN NAWAL, JEROME ANING, LEILA SALAVERRIA, AFP, AP