Filipinos mourn Makati dead

FILIPINOS offered prayers, candles and flowers during a memorial service on Friday for victims of two tragedies that struck Manila’s financial district this week.

Policemen and city hall employees led the memorial service at the corner of Epifanio delos Santos and Buendia Avenues in Makati City.

Some 10 workers died in a construction site accident in Makati, while five people were killed and 13 others injured when a bomb exploded on a bus on Tuesday.

Makati City Mayor Jejomar Erwin Binay Jr. ordered national flags on city public buildings flown at half-mast and flowers were laid in memory of those who died.

Catholic bishops also offered prayers for “peace and tranquility in the [hearts] of our citizens” at the annual meeting of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines in Manila.

Bishop Ramon Villena of Nueva Vizcaya called on God to heal the nation and to make government leaders act to stop a “culture of violence, killings and bombings.”

Bishop Elenito Galido of Iligan called on the authorities to do all it can do to assure the security of the people.

“We have to take responsibility to defend, and we have to always be vigilant especially at this critical time,” he told Church-run Radio Veritas in an interview.

Report from ucanews.com