2 soldiers wounded in Jolo blast

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / August 30, 2009) – Two government soldiers were wounded when a homemade bomb exploded late Sunday in the town of Jolo in the southern Filipino province of Sulu, officials told the Mindanao Examiner.

Officials said the explosive was planted at a road near the Jolo airport outside a Philippine Air Force base.

“An IED exploded in the vicinity of the Department of Public Works and Highways and the Tactical Operations Group 9 in Jolo town,” said Major General Benjamin Dolorfino, chief of the military’s Western Mindanao Command.

Police chief Muhibuddin Ismail said the explosion wounded two soldiers – Nasir Asid, 38, and Jamil Sadjiron, 48 – both members of the Philippine Army’s Engineering Brigade.

"The wounded soldiers were rushed to hospital," Ismail said by phone from Jolo.

The duo was on a motorcycle passing near the area when the bomb went off. They were hit by shrapnel. There were no reports of damage to properties.

No group claimed responsibility for the blast, but Abu Sayyaf militants are actively operating in the largely Muslim province. The attack occurred just as Muslims were praying in mosques in Jolo town.

Muslims around the world are observing the fasting month of Ramadan which began last week. (Mindanao Examiner)

2 wounded in Cotabato blast

Soldiers from the Army's anti-terror Task Group Tugis inspect rooms at the Agong motel which were damaged by a powerful explosion late Tuesday, March 3, 2009 in Cotabato City in the southern Philippines. Two people were wounded in the blast. (Mindanao Examiner Photo / Mark Navales).

COTABATO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Mar. 4, 2009) – Two people were wounded in an explosion inside a budget motel in Cotabato City in the southern Philippines, officials said.

Officials said the explosion occurred late Tuesday in one of the rooms inside the Agong motel. Two employees were injured in the blast. “Two civilians were injured in the blast,” Lt. Col. Jonathan Ponce, a spokesman for the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, told the Mindanao Examiner.

Police investigators said they found fragments from an anti-tank rocket.

Radio reports said the room where the explosion occurred was occupied by two soldiers, but they were away at the time of the blast. It said four rooms were damaged from the powerful explosion.

Ponce said they were also looking into reports an unidentified man fired the rocket from outside and hit the motel wall. “We are also investigating that report,” he said.

Cotabato City had been targeted in the past by terrorists and at one time was tagged as a doormat of terrorism in the southern Philippines by the US Embassy because of the presence of Filipino and foreign terrorists. (Mindanao Examiner)

8 Injured In Zamboanga LPG Blast

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / May 02, 2008) – A cooking gas explosion injured eight people in the southern Philippine port city of Zamboanga, police said Friday.

Police said the blast on Thursday also injured a four-year old boy in the village of Talon-Talon. Four of the victims suffered burns on their body and were rushed to hospital by neighbors who rescued them from the ruins of their house.

Investigators said the blast was caused by a leak from a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinder.

LPG is a mixture of hydrocarbon gases also used as a fuel in heating appliances and vehicles. Ethanol, a powerful odorant, is added so that leaks can be detected easily, but it is also flammable and burns in air with a blue flame

LPG is manufactured during the refining of crude oil, or extracted from oil or gas streams as they emerge from the ground.

There had been several incidents involving cooking gas explosions in the past in Zamboanga, but authorities blamed human factor in the safety of using LPG.

LPG is also widely used by commercial vehicles in Zamboanga City and other cities in Mindanao, especially on taxis and cargo trucks because it is cheaper than diesel fuel and gasoline.

It is also cleaner than diesel and petrol, but domestic LPG explosions were the main cause of fire in many homes because of faulty gas cylinders. Hundreds of fires had been attributed to LPG explosions the past years in the Philippines. (Mindanao Examiner)

Court Orders Arrest Of Salapuddin Over Batasan Bombing - Manila Standard Today

Akbar's supporters during a rally in Basilan province in southern RP. (Mindanao Examiner Photo)

A QUEZON CITY judge has ordered the arrest of former Basilan Rep. Gerry Salapuddin and three other people for the bombing at the Batasan Pambansa on Nov. 13 that killed five people, including Basilan Rep. Wahab Akbar.

Judge Ralph Lee of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 83 ordered Salapuddin, Harajun Jamiri, Benjamin Hataman, and PO1 Bayan Judda arrested after they failed to attend yesterday’s arraignment on the case.

Prosecutors had added the four as suspects to the charge sheet, but they ignored the summonses sent to them.

The government is expected to issue a hold-departure order against all suspects in the case.

Two of the three suspects in the bombing, Caidar Aunal, Ikram Indama and Adham Kusain, refused to file a not-guilty plea, leading the court to do so for them.

Only Indama, who may turn state witness, filed a not-guilty plea.

Earlier, the lawyer for Aunal and Kusain asked the court to defer the arraignment pending the appearance of the four other suspects led by Salapuddin.

But Lee dismissed the motion saying the four could be arraigned on another day and time.

Defense lawyers protested yesterday’s arraignment, saying they had a pending petition for review before the Department of Justice.

The justice department issued a resolution on Feb. 29, so the defense still has 11 of the 15 days that state prosecutors gave them to comment on the charges.

The Batasan blast killed Akbar, Marcial Taldo, Jul-Asiri Hayundini, Maan Gale Bustalino, Dennis Manila and Vercia Garcia.

Wounded in the attack were Rep. Henry Teves, Rep. Luzviminda Ilagan, Ismael Lim, Kimhar Indanan, Larry Noda and Paula Dunga. (Joel M. Sy Egco)

Southern RP Blast Kills 1

COTABATO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Feb. 28, 2008) – A suspected homemade bomb exploded in the southern Philippines, killing one man and wounded at least six more, police and military reports said.

The blast occurred in the middle of a crowd watching a street dance in General Santos City late Wednesday. No group claimed responsibility for the blast, but police is investigating whether the lone victim was the bomber after a waist bag believed used to hide the explosive had been recovered from his body.

Other reports said a cell phone was also found in the bag and believed used to trigger the explosion. However, it was not immediately known whether the explosion was accidental or a suicide attack.

Last month, three people were killed and 22 others wounded when a homemade bomb also exploded outside the Philbest Canning Corporation in General Santos City.

No group also claimed responsibility for the bombing, but previous attacks had been blamed by Philippine authorities to the Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiya, including the country’s largest Muslim rebel group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. (With a report from Mark Navales)

Blast Kills 1, Injures 2 In Sulu Province

A government soldier, Marine Sgt. Cyril Padenilla, 32, wounded in a grenade blast Sunday, Dec. 16, 2007 lies unconscious at the Sulu Provincial Hospital. A woman, Janet Mansog, 32, is also wounded in the blast that killed a military informant, Arnold Cataylo. (Mindanao Examiner Photo/Nickee Butlangan)

SULU, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Dec. 16, 2007) – One person was killed and three others wounded, including a government soldier, when a grenade exploded late Sunday in the southern Philippine province of Sulu, police said.

Police said the killed man, Arnold Cataylo, 25, was toying with the grenade when it exploded in the village of San Raymundo in Jolo town.

A soldier, Sgt. Cyril Padenilla, 32, assigned with the Philippine Marines, and a woman, Janet Mansog, 32, were wounded in the blast at around 8.30 p.m.

Police said Cataylo was instantly killed while the wounded were rushed to the Sulu provincial hospital.

Superintendent Hakam Pae, the acting provincial police chief, said the victims were apparently drunk. It was not immediately known who owned the grenade, but Cataylo was allegedly a military informant.

Two other women identified only on their first names, Marimar and Gemma, who were with the group fled after the explosion, Pae said.

“We are still investigating the case. Policemen recovered two automatic pistols near the blast site,” he told the Mindanao Examiner.

Policemen were searching for the two women to shed light on the investigations. Pae said the blast was an isolated incident.

Liquor and wines are strictly prohibited in the largely Muslim province, but some convenience stores still sell them mostly to Christian soldiers stationed in the province, about 950 kilometers south of Manila.

Bars and karaoke clubs run by Christians also sprouted near military bases in Jolo.

(Nickee Butlangan)

Powerful Blast Hits Philippine Congress; 8 Injured

MANILA, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Nov. 12, 20070 – At least 8 people were wounded in suspected bombing late Tuesday at the House of Representatives in the Philippine capital.

Several lawmakers were among the injured in the powerful blast that destroyed the south-wing ceiling of the building. It was unclear how the explosion occurred, but witnesses said they smelled gunpowder in the area.

The blast occurred at around 8 p.m. Reports were conflicting, others said the explosion emanated from a car parked at the House of Representatives while some claimed the blast was from a bomb planted inside the building.

Police and military officials said it was early to say if the blast was a bomb attack or whether it had something to do with reports that rightwing soldiers, disgruntled with President Gloria Arroyo’s rule and corruption in government, could be behind the explosion.

No group or individual claimed responsibility for the blast.

Arroyo’s government has been rocked by corruption allegations and the President is hounded with accusations that she cheated in the elections to keep herself and allies in power against the popular Fernando Poe Jr., a movie actor, who died while campaigning.

Poe’s supporters and opposition politicians and civil groups accused Arroyo of electoral fraud after an alleged military wiretapped conversation between her and an election commissioner that linked them to cheating surfaced. (Mindanao Examiner)

Twin Blasts Injure 1 In Zamboanga City

A meat vendor and a teenager point to a corner where a small homemade bomb exploded Tuesday Sept. 4, 2007 at a market in the southern Philippine port city of Zamboanga. Two small simultaneous explosions at dawn injured one person at the market, witnesses, including the meat seller in the photo, say. A bomb explosion blamed to the Abu Sayyaf group tied to al-Qaeda injured 14 people in Zamboanga City on Aug. 21, 2007. (Mindanao Examiner Photo Service)

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / 04 Sept) – One person was injured in two small explosions at dawn Tuesday at a market area in Zamboanga City in southern Philippines, witnesses and officials said.

The blasts occurred almost simultaneously at around 4 a.m. and one person was injured when a basket containing vegetables exploded at a coffee shop near the market’s meat section.

A bag also exploded at the vegetable section, but no one was hurt in the blast.
“One man drinking coffee was injured after the basket full of vegetables left by one customer exploded,” one witness, a meat vendor, said.

Elias Enriquez, the city administrator, said authorities are still investigating the blasts. “We are still investigating the explosions,” Enriquez said.

No group or individual claimed responsibility for the blasts, but previous bombing in Zamboanga City had wounded 14 people.

A bomb was detonated at a public square on Aug. 21 and security officials blamed the attack to Abu Sayyaf militants whose group is tied to al-Qaeda terror network.

It was unclear whether the latest blasts were connected to the Abu Sayyaf. Police is also investigating if the explosives were similar to those used in blast fishing off Zamboanga City.

Many fishermen used ammonium nitrate in blast fishing off Zamboanga City. It was also the same chemical used in the bombing last month in downtown Zamboanga. (Mindanao Examiner)

Blast Kills 4 In Jolo Island, AFP Says

ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 21 Jul) – The Philippine military said four people had died and four others wounded in a blast in the southern island of Jolo.

The blast destroyed a market store in downtown Jolo, a regional army spokesman, Maj. Eugene Batara.

“Four people were killed in the blast inside a market store in Jolo. Four people were also wounded and rushed to hospital,” Batara told the Mindanao Examiner.

Army Brig. Gen. Ruperto Pabustan, commander of an anti-terrorist task force in Jolo, earlier said that the explosion ripped through a house in downtown Jolo. Its occupants, he said, were allegedly assembling homemade bombs.

He said the explosives would probably be used in illegal fishing, which is rampant in the Sulu Sea.

Pabustan has ordered security forces to arrest those involved in illegal fishing and individuals engaged in selling explosives and chemicals used in the manufacture of homemade bombs.

Troops are battling the Moro National Liberation Front rebels and members of the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group and the Jemaah Islamiya on the island.

Soldiers in April seized 600 kilos of ammonium nitrate from a mini-bus in Jolo's Panamao town and another 25 kilos at a government checkpoint in Zamboanga City in the western part of Mindanao island. (Mindanao Examiner)