ZAMBOANGA CITY — President Aquino apologized to the families of the 18 soldiers who were killed in an encounter with Abu Sayyaf bandits in Tipo-Tipo, Basilan on Saturday.
“He said sorry. He said he was here to say sorry and to give assistance,” Rosalinda Dominguez, the aunt of Private First Class Doreen Aspurias, said after meeting with the President inside the Edwin Andrews Air Base here yesterday afternoon.
Dominguez said most of the families who met with Mr. Aquino asked why it took so long to rescue the members of the 44th Infantry Battalion.
She said the President told them that rescue troops could not immediately enter the battle site because of the intense fighting at that time.
“Kasi may bakbakan. Hanggang ngayon may bakbakan pa,” Dominguez quoted the President as saying.
Dominguez said she accepted Mr. Aquino’s “sincere apology.”