Leyte mayor lauds townsfolk for resilience after bombing, calls for calm

Leyte bombing victims at the emergency room of a local hospital on Dec. 28, 2016 (CONTRIBUTED PHOTO) 

HILONGOS, Leyte — Mayor Albert Villahermosa, who was just 20 meters from the water tank where an improvised explosive device exploded on Wednesday night here, welcomed the augmentation teams sent by the Philippine National Police and the Philippine Army to secure the town.

Thirty-two people, including 10 children, were injured when two bombs exploded at the town plaza of Hilongos, Wednesday night.

Rep. Jose Cari of the 5th district said he found it sad that the explosions happened in Hilongos, a peaceful municipality.

He said the presence of Mayor Villahermosa during the event helped calm the people.

He urged people to be careful and responsible in sharing information about the bombing especially in the social media so as not to create panic.

Villahermosa thanked the people of Hilongos for being resilient. Some physicians were on vacation but other physicians, who worked in other places, came home for the fiesta and the holidays.

They immediately volunteered to treat the victims, he added.

The mayor assured the people that the local crisis was under control and asked them to be calm.

“This is just part of the challenges we face,” Villahermosa said.

Rudy Bulfa left his farm in Barangay Campina early on Wednesday to join his uncle and neighbors in going to the plaza where a boxing event would take place at 7 p.m. as part of the town’s fiesta celebration.

But the 33-year-old farmer never thought it would almost cost his life.

He was among the injured when the two IEDs exploded at one minute apart in the plaza named after Dr. Jose Rizal.

One IED exploded near the water tank at 9 p.m. About 20 meters away, an IED hidden near the stage went off at 9:01 p.m.

Among those standing near the water tank was Bulfa.

“I heard a loud explosion. People then started screaming and running off in different directions. I did not know that I was hit until I saw the blood running down from my buttocks and legs,” he told the Philippine Daily Inquirer at the Hilongos District Hospital where he was brought.

Nineteen more blast victims were treated in the district hospital.

The others were brought to the Leyte Baptist Hospital, Living Hope Hospital in Maasin City and the Eastern Visayas Regional Medical Center in Tacloban City, about 146 kilometers from here.

Bulfa was angry at what happened to him and the 31 others.

“I want those responsible to be punished,” he said, showing his injuries at the left buttocks and upper right leg.

Bulfa was not the only one who was angry at the senseless bombings that hurt 10 children –the youngest was seven years old.

Father Marnito Bansig of the Immaculate Parish, was on the verge of crying, as he described the attack as “barbaric.”

“I am angry, very, very angry. If they have a fight, they should not involve innocent civilians, among them children who were there at the site (to enjoy the celebration),” Bansig, who was on the verge of crying, said.

The priest visited the wounded children in the hospitals to pray for them and provide them comfort.

Bansig said that many of the blast victims ran toward the church, which was less than 50 meters away from the scene of the bombing.  “Around 100 children came in to seek refuge here,” he said.

One of them was Carlo Zarco, 14, who joined his friends in watching the boxing event.

Zarco said he and his friends were standing just outside the main public plaza, which was already teeming with people.

“Then, all of a sudden, there were successive explosions coming from the park. We scampered our way to safety…running to the church,” he said.

He said the bombing gave him shivers and he still felt bad about it.

Oyong Ultareva, 31, a pedicab driver from the Poblacion, said he watched the boxing event at the premises of the municipal hall.

He saw smoke and yellow sparks, which he thought were fireworks.

When he saw people running in different directions, he also ran as fast as he could.

Some people were trampled on, while others hit the wall in panic.

“We were frightened. But we still have to return to our normal activities. We were given assurance by the police of our safety,” Ultareva said.  SFM