The Philippine National Police on Wednesday thanked the Indonesian government for helping them in confirming the identities of the suspects behind the Jolo church twin bombings last January.

“We want to thank the Indonesian government for helping us. Remember, Indonesian investigators came here, those who investigate Bali bombing before. They are the ones who went here and assist on the investigation. It’s because we have previous statements that we believed they are Indonesian couple that’s why they got involved here,” Police General Oscar Albayalde said in a press briefing.

“I think we have said that before already that these are suspected Indonesian couple,” he added.

Albayalde reiterated that based on the witnesses, the Indonesian husband had been in the Philippines for a long time while the female just arrived in the country days before the attack.

“We also said, the male can speak the local dialect but the female cannot,” he said.

The PNP chief said report of alleged foreign suicide bombers in Mindanao is being looked into.

Albayalde also said that because of the first confirmed Filipino suicide bombers, they already changed their playing field in terms of security and finding ways to further strength their intelligence capabilities.

“What they are saying is alleged presence of foreign suicide bombers, especially in Mindanao. These are all being looked into. What is very important here is the participation of the community, it’s very important here to strengthen our intelligence capabilities,” he said.

The Indonesian police on Tuesday identified the married couple who they believed perpetrated the twin suicide bombings, which resulted to the death of around 20 people at a church in the southern Philippines in January.

“The two Indonesians, Rullie Rian Zeke and Ulfah Handayani Saleh, are believed to have carried out the suicide bombings in the Philippines,” police spokesman Dedi Prasetyo said during their press briefing. Ella Dionisio/DMS