At least 13 individuals were wounded in an explosive blast inside a chapel in Jolo, Sulu during the Christmas Day mass. Among the wounded is a nine year old and a newly ordained priest, Rev. Ricky Bacoldol.
The explosion happened at about 7 a.m. inside the Asturias Evangelical Chapel in a police camp in Barangay Asturias. The chapel is located some 500 meters from the Sulu Provincial Police Headquarters.
Rev. Romeo Villanueva, 72, was in the middle of reading his homily during the Mass when the explosion ripped through the right side of the chapel's roof.
“I was reading the Gospel. I was not yet finished when there was a loud explosion," Villanueva stated in an interview.
He said the younger priest who was assisting him, Rev. Bacoldol, was thrown off his feet by the blast and suffered a slight leg injury.
According to initial reports there were about 100 worshippers attending the Christmas Day mass when the blast rocked the chapel.
Mayor of Sulu, Hussin Amin expressed startled how the suspects cleverly put the explosives inside the church as Marines are securing the place day and night. The mayor added that three days ago, the Marines cleared the area of any explosive.
What was surprising is that the chapel is located inside the police camp where it supposedly fully secured by the police.
Initial result of the investigation revealed that the bomb might have been placed on the rooftop of the chapel.
Mayor Amin, however, said the bomb was packed in a plastic bag and was planted at the right corner of the altar where flower decorations were displayed for the Christmas Day mass.
The explosive, he said, has no shrapnel and was possibly not meant to kill devotees but only to sow terror and fear among the people.
He said a mobile phone could have been used to detonate the explosive.
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