Cotabato City, Philippines - Five people were killed and 35
wounded when a homemade bomb exploded outside a Catholic cathedral in
a southern Philippine city on Sunday, officials said.
The blast occurred as churchgoers packed the Immaculate Concepcion
Cathedral in Cotabato City, 960 kilometres south of Manila, for
morning Mass.
Police Senior Superintendent Willie Dangane said Archbishop
Orlando Quevedo had just finished reading the gospel and was about to
start his homily when the loud explosion happened.
Cotabato City Mayor Muslimem Sema said two soldiers, a boy, an
elderly woman and a mentally ill man were killed.
'The explosion was so loud, it was as if the cathedral was going
to collapse,' churchgoer Merly Sandoval said. 'People were running
toward the altar after the blast.'
'Everybody was screaming,' she added. 'We saw blood from those
lying on the ground near the entrance of the cathedral compound.'
Sema was furious over the bombing and called on residents to help
authorities in uncovering 'the people behind this evil scheme that
wish us divided.'
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo condemned the bombing and
ordered security forces to 'arrest those responsible ASAP and ensure
security of residents in the area,' her spokesman Cerge Remonde said.
Remonde said Arroyo also ordered the social welfare department to
assist the victims.
Colonel Jonathan Ponce, a regional army spokesman, said rogue
members of the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) were
suspected to be behind the bombing.
'The rebels are getting desperate and they are no longer choosing
their targets,' he said. 'They are now attacking even places of
worship.'
The military has been fighting with MILF members since August 2008
when the guerrillas launched a series of attacks to protest a snag in
peace talks with the government.
The hostilities have killed more than 300 people killed displaced
more than 500,000 at the height of the fighting.
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