President Aquino visits Zambo blast site, bombing victims

By Teofilo P. Garcia, Jr.

Photo grab from Zamboanga City website

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Jan. 25 (PNA) -- President Benigno Simeon Aquino, III visited Sunday this city to get first hand information on the prevailing peace and order condition in this city.

President Aquino’s visit came two days after a powerful bomb explosion that killed two people and injured 52 others here.

The bomb, which was placed on a car, exploded around 3:15 p.m. Friday in Barangay Guiwan, this city.

The car was parked in front of a disco pub located across the bus terminal.

President Aquino planed in around 10:21 a.m. Sunday and immediately met closed door with top military, police and local government officials.

The President was accompanied by Budget Secretary Florencio Abad, Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin, Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman, Local Government Secretary Manul Roxas, II, and Armed Forces Chief-of-Staff General Gregorio Catapang.

After the meeting, the President visited the blast site to see the extent of damage of the explosion in Barangay Guiwan, this city.

He was joined in by Mayor Ma. Isabelle Climaco-Salazar, city police director Senior Supt. Angelito Casimiro, and other local officials.

From the blast site, the President visited the victims in the hospitals--Zamboanga Peninsula Medical Center (ZPMC), Western Mindanao Medical Center (WMMC), and Zamboanga Doctors’ Hospital (ZDH).

However, the President dropped by the wake of Reynaldo Tan and Dennis Valiente, who were killed in Friday’s bomb blast, coming from the ZDH.

It was reported over the radio that Valiente’s brother is a member of the Presidential Security Group (PSG).

The next stop of the President was the Zamboanga City Medical Center (ZCMC) where two of the victims were admitted.

Ten of the 52 wounded victims are admitted in the different hospitals in this city.

The President also visited the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP)-administered Zamboanga City Reformatory Center (ZCRC) located along Varela Street, Barangay Zone I this city.

Security has been tight in all the areas where the President and his party visited. (PNA)
CTB/TPGJR/SSC