PNP: Indonesian police findings will speed up probe on Jolo twin blasts

In this photo provided by WESMINCOM Armed Forces of the Philippines, a soldier views the site inside a Roman Catholic cathedral in Jolo, the capital of Sulu province in the southern Philippines after two bombs exploded Sunday, Jan. 27, 2019. The Philippine government says it will “pursue to the ends of the earth the ruthless perpetrators” behind bomb attacks that killed over a dozen people and wounded many more during a Sunday Mass at a cathedral on the restive southern island. (WESMINCOM Armed Forces of the Philippines Via AP)

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine National Police (PNP) said the Indonesian National Police’s findings will hasten the investigation on the bombing of a cathedral in Jolo, Sulu in January which killed 22 people.

Indonesian police’s spokesman Dedi Prasetyo said that an Islamic militant had confessed that he recruited Indonesian couple Rullie Rian Zeke and Ulfah Handayani Saleh for the Jolo bombing.

READ: Police: Indonesian couple carried out Jolo Cathedral bombing

“As the investigation being conducted by the PNP continues, this development is expected to hasten the probe by further narrowing possibilities for DNA matching with the kin of the identified alleged Indonesian suspects,” PNP spokesman Brig. Gen. Bernard Banac said in a statement sent to reporters on Wednesday.

PNP said it is also welcoming the Indonesian police’s findings on the suspects behind the twin explosion in Sulu.

“The PNP welcomes the pronouncement made by Indonesia’s National Police on the names of alleged Indonesian suspects in the infamous Jolo Cathedral bombing that left 22 persons dead and 100 others injured,” Banac said.