Duterte visits victims of Leyte town plaza bombing

HILONGOS, Leyte—Fifteen-year-old John Reyneill Lamo was lying on his hospital bed on Friday morning when an unexpected visitor arrived: President Rodrigo Duterte.

The Grade 6 pupil teenager broke into a smile especially after the President handed him his mobile phone.

President Duterte arrived in Hilongos at 10:29 a.m. to visit the victims of the twin bombings at the plaza named after the national hero, Dr. Jose Rizal, on Tuesday night.

He immediately went to the Hilongos District Hospital where six blast victims were still confined.

Twenty others, who had been discharged on Thursday, were asked to go back to the hospital in time for the President’s visit. The six other victims were confined in other hospitals.

But only Lamo and 12-year-old Mary Grace Odia, 12, were each given an android phone by the President.

“Gamitin mo ito (Use this),” the boy quoted the President as saying when he handed the brand new phone to him.

But all 26 victims were given financial assistance of P10,000 each as well as an assurance that those responsible for the blast would be brought to justice.

President Duterte also met with police officials in Eastern Visayas led by Chief Supt. Elmer Beltejar, police regional director, and Hilongos Mayor Albert Villahermosa who briefed him on what happened.

The mayor said the President instructed the police officials to solve the bombing as soon as possible.

He also assured Villahermosa that the law enforcers were doing everything they could to ensure that the peace in his town following the blast.

“Don’t lose hope because the security forces of the government are doing their job. Trust our police and the military. They are doing their work. They will protect you,” he said.

Villahermosa said they now felt secure and at ease with the assurance of the President.

“While we are in the moment of grieving because on what happened to us here, (his visit) adds boost to the people, “he said.

At least 1,000 people were at the 300-square-meter town plaza to watch a local boxing bout as part of the festivities to celebrate the municipality’s annual fiesta when an improvised explosive device planted near the water tank exploded at 9 p.m.

A minute later, an IED near the stage where the boxing was taking place went off. Fortunately, its blasting cap did not detonate so it didn’t create a lot of damage compared to the first one.

The police were looking into the possible involvement of either drug syndicate or group involved in fake money as behind the bombings.

The police officials claimed that the crime groups wanted to retaliate after they managed to arrest a drug queen in October. They also foiled the plans of currency counterfeiters to spread fake bills in the town.

Lamo was standing near the water tank when the first bomb exploded.

He immediately ran toward the stage, where a second bomb exploded a minute later.

Still, he managed to return home to their village in Atabay, more than three kilometers away from the town center.

“He still managed to return home and told me that he was hit by a bomb, his blood running down (his body). Then, he fainted. I immediately brought him to the hospital,” said his father, Ruel, 34.

A day later, he received a belated Christmas gift from no less than the President.

“I was excited to have a new phone and this I is actually my first cell phone. But at the same time, I was also happy to see our President personally. I only see him on television,” the teenager told the Inquirer after the President’s visit.

During the interview the teenager was tinkering with his new gadget while Ruel was grinning.

He said the President approached him and assured him that the police would get those responsible for the bombing.

Mr. Duterte left the hospital around 11:45 a.m. But while inside his vehicle, he was given a microphone and addressed to the crowd waiting for him outside the hospital.

He said that he was about to return to Davao City but decided to visit Hilongos after the incident rocked the town of more than 86,000 people on the night of their annual fiesta.

Leyte Gov. Leopoldo Dominico Petilla, who was among those who welcomed the President, assured the people of the province that the bombing incident in Hilongos was just an isolated case.

But he urged the security officials as well as the mayors and barangay officials to be vigilant “especially when we are in a crowded place.”