Espina: Nation had ‘very, very peaceful’ Holy Week break

Filipino devotees pause to pray as they carry wooden crosses while doing the Stations of the Cross at the Philippine Center of Saint Pio of Pietrelcina on Wednesday, April 1, 2015 in suburban Quezon city, east of Manila, Philippines.  AP FILE PHOTO

EXCEPT for some isolated incidents, the Holy Week break was generally peaceful, according to the Philippine National Police that deployed 60,000 of its men to secure the public during the observance of the Lenten traditions.

PNP officer in charge Deputy Director General Leonardo Espina said Monday that apart from the bombing in Zamboanga City that hurt three persons, the country had a “very, very peaceful”  Holy Week that was observed by millions of Catholics nationwide.

Two elderly women and a child were hurt on Good Friday in Zamboanga City when an improvised explosive device inside an abandoned vehicle near a police station went off.

Police ruled out terrorism as the motive. Espina said a “drug lord behind bars” allegedly masterminded the blast that was carried out by his henchmen.

“(Western Mindanao Police) Regional Director Chief Superintendent Ed Basbas knows the criminal gangs and the members. We are still conducting manhunt operation against the culprit. Pero tukoy na namin kung sino,” he said in a chance interview in Camp Crame.

Earlier Inquirer reports said the blast happened after authorities nabbed the son of suspected drug lord Margani Samla who was arrested in 2013.

PNP spokesperson Chief Superintendent Generoso Cerbo Jr. thanked the entire PNP force for successfully providing security as well as the public for following crime prevention tips from the police.

“With this low record of crime incidents, nakikita natin na naging matagumpay ito dahil sa pakikipagtulungan ng DILG (Department of the Interior and Local Government), ng PNP at ng ating mga kababayan,” Cerbo said. AC