PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte offered prayers and sympathies to the victims of a stabbing spree in Kawasaki, Japan even as he expressed outrage over the incident.

"I express my profound shock and grief over the mass stabbing incident which regretfully happened in Kawasaki," the President, who is in Japan for a state visit, said in a statement on Wednesday, May 29.

"I am outraged by this brutal attack against innocent young children," Duterte added.

An 11-year-old girl and a 39-year-old father were killed when Ryuichi Iwasaki, 51, attacked a group of children waiting for the school bus in Kawasaki on Tuesday, May 28, 2019. Seventeen other children were wounded.

Holding a knife in each hand, Iwasaki slashed the children in an attack that took less than a minute. He died of a self-inflicted wound after the attack.

"On behalf of the Filipino people, I extend my sincere prayers for the victims and our deepest sympathies to their families who need solace and strength in this difficult time," Duterte said.

Duterte was optimistic that justice willl be served to the victims.

"We stand behind the Government of Japan as it endeavors to bring justice to the victims of thus horrific act of violence," he said. (Ruth Abbey Gita/SunStar Philippines)