Four Hurt In Philippines Hotel Bomb Blasts

Escalating Violence In South Stems From Christian-Muslim Tensions

(AP)  Two homemade bombs exploded almost simultaneously Sunday in two budget hotels in a southern Philippine city, wounding at least four people in the latest in a series of bomb attacks in the volatile south, officials said.

The first bomb exploded in a guest room in the Iligan Travelers Inn near a shopping mall in southern Iligan city, wounding at least three people. A second bomb went off within minutes in a room in the Caprice Lodging House, injuring one, according to army and police officials.

Bomb experts checked all hotels and lodging houses in Iligan to make sure they were safe, army Brig. Gen. Hilario Atendido said.

No one has claimed responsibility for the blasts, the latest to hit the country's south in recent days amid renewed hostilities between government troops and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, an 11,000-strong rebel group that has waged a decades-long battle for Muslim self-rule in the southern Mindanao region.

Officials in Iligan, a predominantly Christian city of 300,000 people, have strongly opposed a preliminary accord between the government and the rebels that calls for the expansion of an existing Muslim autonomous region to include more than 700 new villages, including eight in Iligan, subject to the approval of residents in a plebiscite.

Iligan Mayor Lawrence Cruz told a local radio station that his city would not drop its opposition to the accord, which is being challenged by opponents before the Supreme Court.

Philippine officials suspect the rebels were responsible for three bomb explosions that damaged two power transmission pylons late Wednesday and wounded a suspected rebel Thursday in southern North Cotabato province. Three other unexploded bombs were found in the province late last week, police said.

Nearly 3,000 troops and police dislodged about 1,000 rebels from 15 predominantly Christian farming villages the guerrillas had seized in North Cotabato, displacing about 80,000 people. The massive three-day assault ended Wednesday.

Despite the rebel pullout, military chief Gen. Alexander Yano said last week that security in southern Mindanao island remained "volatile and fluid," adding that the rebels could be planning more attacks in the sprawling region.

Police officials have been concerned that the rebels could launch bombings in other cities, including the capital, Manila.

[dmhphils]

ILIGAN - Troops on Tuesday stepped up a manhunt for Muslim separatist rebels after a murderous rampage in the southern Philippines left 38 people dead and threw peace negotiations into chaos. The death toll now stands at 38, including three soldiers, while dozens of others were injured and nearly 10,000 displaced by the fighting. President Gloria Arroyo''s spokesman Jesus Dureza on Tuesday called for calm, but admitted peace talks with the MILF were now in peril.

How come this is not reported on CBS???

[dmhphils]

ILIGAN - Troops on Tuesday stepped up a manhunt for Muslim separatist rebels after a murderous rampage in the southern Philippines left 38 people dead and threw peace negotiations into chaos. The death toll now stands at 38, including three soldiers, while dozens of others were injured and nearly 10,000 displaced by the fighting. President Gloria Arroyo''s spokesman Jesus Dureza on Tuesday called for calm, but admitted peace talks with the MILF were now in peril.

How come this is not reported on CBS???

[dmhphils]

I''''ve said it again and again . . . centuries of oppression have existed wherever Islam is the dominant religion. The intention of Islam is to subjugate any nation in which Muslims gain a population foothold. Where Islam is the dominant religion, it also expects to be the law of the land, rejecting a secular approach to government. Wherever there is Islam there will eventually be fundamentalism and oppression. Islam is the only religion that has to retain its membership by threatening to kill anyone who leaves. And don''''t use the "good - bad" muslim argument. I%u2019m not sure there are good muslims. We never hear from them during these rampages. If %u201Cgood%u201D Muslims do absolutely nothing about atrocities being committed in their name then the line between so called good and bad Muslims becomes blurred.


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Posted by endpcnow at 01:55 PM : Aug 18, 2008

Deserves to be said again. Look at today''s headlines in the Philippines.....33 killed by Milf etc. etc.

[dmhphils]

Posted by checkthepast at 07:24 AM : Aug 18, 2008

I agree wholeheartedly.

[revekah21]

I don''t have the right to judge this Muslims, but i''m really tired of them... if this world is a big stage, and this life is a play and each of us got a role, then, what''s the role they got?

[downsteamjim]

In the Philippines a deal is made with the muslim MNLF. Their buddies break the deal because they call themselves MILF. If you make a deal with both, then the Abu Shayef [sp] does the dirty deal. ETC ETC Only the ILIGA can deal with the muslims.

[questionnews]

This is the calling card of the MILF......

Posted by noseonurface at 06:14 AM : Aug 18, 2008

Hummmm. MILF has a totally different meaning amongst my buddies. If I were to tell them that there is country filled with MILFs, they would be planning thier next vacation there immediately.

[checkthepast]

they won''''''''t live in peace as Filipinos, ARABS, EUROPEANS, AFRICANS, ASIANS, etc....

[checkthepast]

noseonurface,

If I may edit your statement to a bit more inclusive.....

This is the calling card of the RADICAL ISLAM (people using their religious beliefs as a veil to gain geographically and politically)......create terror until the population and the governmentS get weary of it, thinking foreign business investors will flee, and the government will give in and give them their own territory. How can the WORLD governmentS under ANY LEADERSHIP even think about giving away territory to terrorists? Better to wipe them out if they won''''t live in peace as Filipinos, ARABS, EUROPEANS, AFRICANS, ASIA

[farmerbb]

I don''t suppose it was the christians who planted the bombs ? No ? I thought not.

[dmhphils]

This is the calling card of the MILF......create terror until the population and the government get weary of it, thinking foreign business investors will flee, and the government will give in and give them their own territory. How can the Philippine government under GMA even think about giving away territory to terrorists? Better to wipe them out if they won''t live in peace as Filipinos.