Zamboanga shrine
bombing 'terrorist attack'
Posted: 10:59 PM (Manila Time) | Oct. 20, 2002
By Julie Alipala and Martin P. Marfil
Inquirer News Service with INQ7.net and GMA 7
Secret marshals in Metro
ZAMBOANGA CITY- A Marine corporal was killed and over a dozen people were injured when a bomb exploded outside the Roman Catholic shrine of Fort Pilar in this southern city late Sunday in what the authorities described as a "terrorist" attack.
They said the blast, the second such incident here in three days, struck at the gate of the shrine during an open-air mass at around 8 p.m.
Reports on the number of people injured ranged from 14 to 18.
"This is the handiwork of terrorists," said southern Philippines military chief Lieutenant General Narciso Abaya. "We condemn this attack."
Brig. Gen. Rodolfo Diaz, Southern Command deputy chief, said the bomb was concealed in either a box or a tin can on a for-hire bicycle with a passenger sidecar parked at one of the candle stalls near the entrance to the century-old shrine and church.
Local radio station Radio Mindanao Network quoted police sources as saying a man, aged between 40 and 50, was detained for questioning after witnesses saw him drive the bicycle into the gate and leave the vehicle shortly before the explosion.
CNN television reported that the man bought a candle at one of the stalls, told the vendor that was going inside to say a few prayers, and then left the bicycle by the vendor.
The report of the arrest could not be immediately confirmed.
The bombing came after twin blasts tore through two department stores on Thursday in this predominantly Christian port city. Those explosions killed seven people and injured more than 150.
Col. Alexander Yapching, Task Force Zamboanga commander, said Abu Sayyaf bandits were also behind the latest bombing, noting that the explosive used was similar to the previous blasts. He declined to elaborate.
Most of the wounded were devotees and candle sellers, Diaz said. Hundreds of Catholics on Sunday visit the shrine to Our Lady of del Pilar, the city's patron saint.
The Marine was identified as Cpl. Alan Daguinotas of the 5th Marine Battalion Landing Team.
A spate of bombings in the country has prompted the Philippine National Police to field "secret marshals" in Metro Manila. The marshals will board public utility vehicles to prevent terrorist attacks like the bombing of a bus on Friday that killed two passengers.
"They are policemen who will be in plainclothes and they will be observing the situation inside the buses," Deputy Director General Reynaldo Velasco, chief of the National Capital Region Police Office, said Sunday.
Velasco said the secret marshals would be complemented by uniformed PNP members who would conduct random inspection of buses
