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Ni Ime SornitoBY ADRIAN STEWART CO and PRINCE GOLEZ
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Sunday, June 4, 2017
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MANILA – A “lone wolf terrorism” was how House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez described the attack at Resorts World Manila in the early hours of Friday.
According to Alvarez, law enforcers should not treat the incident as an isolated case since similar cases were happening around the world.
“I disagree with the conclusion reached by law enforcement authorities that [the] Resorts World incident was not a terrorist act but rather a criminal case of armed robbery and arson,” he said in a statement released on Saturday.
“This is a clear case of a ‘lone wolf terrorist’ attack targeting civilians to inflict maximum loss of life and damage to property as what has happened in other countries,” he added.
Alvarez called on police and military officials to make the seat of government and financial and business center safe.
“We must draw up a clear and better plan to secure Metro Manila and other urban centers from [Islamic State]-linked groups that we already know will attempt to kill and maim in pursuit of their jihadist ideology,” he said.
Thirty-seven people died of suffocation after a lone gunman set fire to casino tables, while 54 others sustained injuries, said National Capital Region police chief Oscar Albayalde. The gunman was later found dead in an apparent suicide.
On behalf of the House of Representatives, Alvarez expressed condolences to the family of Rep. Aurelio Gonzales (Pampanga), whose wife Elizabeth Panlilio-Gonzales was among the casualties.
“We commiserate with our colleague and offer prayers on the family’s bereavement,” Alvarez said. “We express our profound sorrow that innocent people, including Mrs. Gonzales, lost their lives in this unspeakable injury.”
Malacañang also expressed condolences to the families of all the victims of the attack at Resorts World.
“This is a reminder that civilized society has no place for this kind of violence,” said Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella.
“Thus, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte put the campaign against criminality [the] centerpiece program [of] his administration,” he said.
Abella also assured Filipinos that the government was carrying out measures to ensure everyone’s safety.
“The safety of citizens and the security of communities are our primordial concerns, and we hope to seek everybody’s cooperation to achieve a peaceful and fear-free environment,” he said.
Albayalde described the “white” and “English-speaking” gunman as “mentally disturbed.”
While he did not shoot anyone inside the casino, the attacker stole P130 million worth of casino chips, the police official said./PN
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