ISULAN, Sultan Kudarat – The town mayor here has ordered the suspension of classes in all levels following a bomb explosion Sunday evening inside a an Internet café.
“Be watchful, calm, and vigilant,” Mayor Marites Pallasigue addressed town constituents over a local radio station.
“As a precautionary measure, I declare the suspension of classes on all levels in all public and private schools…elementary to college,” she said. “I ask all people to cooperate with authorities,” Pallasigue added.
The blast killed one person and wounded 14 others as it exploded inside Internet café at the corner of Valencia and Valdez Streets, Barangay Kalawag 2.
Killed while undergoing treatment at the Sultan Kudarat Hospital was Jan Mark Palencia Luda, 18, a freshman student of Sultan Kudarat State University and resident of neighboring Barangay Biwang, Bagumbayan town.
Those admitted to various hospitals following the blast were Timothy John Pequerda, 5; Fred Casamayor Jr., 14; Maridun Luda, 15; Mocoy Gerson, 27; Dave Bryan Leliza, 26; Raymart Agac-ac, 22; Ijean Allaga Pequerda, 36; Juan Letrero, John Rowe Kinazo, and Joshua Sublingo.
Victims Kyle Solis, 14, and Paul Letrero, 15, were already sent home after sustaining slight injuries.
Military bomb ordinance disposal personnel deactivated a second bomb found at the blast site.
Sunday’s blast came five days after the August 28 bomb attack along rows of used clothing stalls in Barangay Kalawag 3 here that left three killed persons and injured 36 others.
Police Supt. Aldrin Gonzales, speaking for the police in Region 12, could not say if the two incidents were related. He said an investigation is ongoing. (Edwin Fernandez/PNA)
