MANILA, Philippines – President Rodrigo Duterte will fly to Jolo, Sulu on Monday, January 28, to see for himself the damage wrought by twin blasts in its cathedral.

A source close to the President said Duterte will likely be in Jolo in the afternoon. Duterte will be visiting the Cathedral of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, where two bombs exploded, killing at least 23 people and injuring over a hundred.

Security officials like Philippine National Police chief Oscar Albayalde, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, and Interior Secretary Eduardo Año have arrived in Jolo ahead of Duterte.

The deadly explosions in Jolo, one of them taking place inside the cathedral itself, happened while the entire region of Mindanao is under martial law.

They also took place two days after the Commission on Elections announced the ratification of the Bangsamoro Organic Law.

Sulu had rejected the ratification of the landmark law which creates the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).

But the law states that Sulu will still become part of the BARMM, regardless of its “no” vote, since a majority of voters in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao voted to ratify the law. – Rappler.com