Less than a week after the plebiscite , the Our Lady of Mount Carmel Cathedral in Jolo of Sulu Province was bombed on January 27 , one inside the church and another outside after the first bombing when the armed forced responded . Around 18 people were killed , while 82 others were injured . The Armed Forces of the Philippines blamed the Ajang-Ajang group of the Abu Sayyaf as the perpetrators . Sulu narrowly rejected inclusion in the BARMM , but since the old ARMM voted for inclusion , Sulu could not opt out of inclusion . The military has received reports that the Abu Sayyaf with foreign collaboration has been planning to attack an urban area for a " long time " already and insists it has yet to connect the bombings to the plebiscite itself
bombed
2019 Jolo Cathedral bombings
2019 Bangsamoro autonomy plebiscite