Zambo cathedral bombed

ZAMBOANGA CITY – Suspected Abu Sayyaf militants bombed the compound of a Roman Catholic cathedral and a building housing a government office in downtown Zamboanga yesterday, police said.

No one was injured in the blasts.

Government troops and police had tightened security in the town for a weeklong national sports festival and a medical conference prior to the attack, regional police Chief Superintendent Jaime Caringal said. 

He said a mortar round concealed in a box exploded under a car in the parking lot of the Immaculate Conception Cathedral, damaging two cars, a concrete wall and two steel gates.

A church caretaker saw three men fleeing the scene on a motorcycle shortly before the blast. He said the men were overheard talking in Tausug, a dialect spoken by Muslims in Mindanao.

Caringal said the men were seen fleeing toward downtown Zamboanga, where 15 minutes later another mortar round exploded outside a three-story building housing the Department of Foreign Affairs’ regional office, a bank and coffee shop.

The bomb, which was set off remotely using a cell phone, damaged the building’s wall and a steel door.

Caringal said police believe the men were Abu Sayyaf militants, but an investigation was still underway.

“The bombings were apparently not meant to kill but aimed to cause fear,” Caringal said. “We condemn these acts of terrorism in the highest terms.”

Archbishop Romulo Valles, a regional church official, called for prayers and described the attack as a work of evil that must be condemned.

“We are saddened by this bombing attack. It’s a symbolic place and it’s Sunday and there’s a lot of churchgoers, but it’s a great comfort for us to know that no one was hurt or killed,” Valles told newsmen during the emergency conference called by Mayor Celso Lobregat.

Valles said the bombing has not done much damage on the church as he immediately called for the resumption of activities.

The attack came a few days after the archdiocese commemorated its 98th anniversary as the first diocese in Mindanao.

“It will be victory on their part if we are cowed by their evil acts,” Valles said.

Zamboanga City Mayor Celso Lobregat, on the other hand, appealed for calm and sobriety.

Lobregat said he cannot speculate who the perpetrators were, even as he declined to comment if the incident is related to the earlier travel warning issued by the Australians and US embassies.

He clarified, however, that the US advisory was specific on kidnapping threats but not bombing attack.

However, he failed to cite the Australian travel warning issued one week ahead of the US travel advisory, that states a very high threat of terrorist attack. — with AP