Severed feet in Jolo blast site not from 23 fatalities

MANILA, Philippines — The two pairs of severed feet recovered at the site of the twin bombings in Jolo, Sulu last month do not belong to any of the 23 civilian and military fatalities, police said yesterday.

“Base sa interview nung mga relatives ng mga namatay, wala sa kanilang mga mahal sa buhay ang nawalan ng paa,” Philippine National Police (PNP) spokesman Senior Superintendent Bernard Banac told reporters.

Authorities suspected the pairs of severed feet belong to an Indonesian couple who carried out the attacks.

Probers had earlier said suicide bombers perpetrated the attacks, which were coordinated with the group of Abu Sayyaf leader Hatib Sawadjaan.

The PNP Crime Laboratory is expected to release the results of the DNA test on the severed feet within the week.

Based on physical examination, Banac said the pairs of mutilated feet belong to a man and a woman.

PNP Crime Laboratory director Chief Superintendent Rolando Hinanay said examination of the severed feet is ongoing.

Aid for victims of bombings

Meanwhile, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has released more than P300,000 in assistance to victims of the bombings in Jolo and Zamboanga City. 

The DSWD said the Zamboanga peninsula regional office distributed food packs as well as hygiene and sleeping kits to survivors of the Jolo blasts. 

The agency also provided medical assistance to those wounded in the explosions. 

The families of those killed in the explosion in Zamboanga City received burial assistance of P5,000 each. 

The DSWD said social workers are visiting the wounded to determine the other forms of assistance they might need. – With Janvic Mateo