Five dead in Philippines bomb blast

[Bosonic]

Source: New Straits Times

COTABATO, Philippines: A powerful bomb exploded at the centre of the southern Philippines city of Cotabato on Monday, killing five people, police said.

The explosive device was placed in a vehicle — either a motorcycle or a van — parked near a hospital and a school, city police chief Senior Superintendent Rolen Balquin said.

“The explosion was on a very busy street. There are five confirmed fatalities,” Balquin told local Catholic radio station DXMS.

The late-afternoon blast damaged at least four vehicles and triggered a fire that engulfed a nearby mortuary and a tyre repair shop, he added.

Read more: http://www.nst.com.my/latest/five-dead-in-philippines-bomb-blast-1.333224

[MADem]

1. 2nd blast in ten days; in Mindinao...

http://www.thenews.com.pk/article-112471-Five-dead-in-Philippines-bomb-blast

The late-afternoon blast damaged at least four vehicles and triggered a fire that engulfed a nearby mortuary and a tyre repair shop, he added.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, and Balquin said the motive was still being investigated.

Cotabato is a mixed Muslim-Catholic city on the main southern island of Mindanao, where Muslim insurgents have waged a decades old rebellion that has claimed 150,000 lives.

It was the second bombing to hit Mindanao in 10 days.

A powerful blast at a restaurant packed with doctors and pharmaceutical salesmen left eight people dead on the Mindanao city of Cagayan de Oro on July 26.

[Igel]

2. IRA : Real IRA :: MILF : "Real MILF" ? n/t

[awoke_in_2003]

3. Unlike the MILFs we think about...

this is the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. They should have googled that

On edit: adding link

http://media.iviewtube.com/uploads/mp4/ng4s8fozpsh5vr4bf8z.mp4

[4bucksagallon]

4. Here in Mindanao we have quite a mix.

Abu Sayyaf, Jema’ah Islamiyah, Moro Islamic Liberation Front or Moro National Liberation Front, almost forgot Al Quaeda, and NPA. That is why I like it here, it's dangerous, I like to call it Republican Free Mindanao. This bombing is just the latest in a series of bombings and kidnappings we have had here recently. Jolo, Zamboanga, Iligan City and Cagayan de Oro are areas that are not safe for Americans. It will be a long process to bring peace to this region. Jobs are needed desperately, and most Filipinos would love to go offshore for real jobs, sadly, visa's are very very hard to get.

[Alamuti Lotus]

5. NPA is Mindanao-Jolo/etc

Mindanao has always been an interest of mine, have a really specific question in reply to what you wrote.

How active are the NPA in Mindanao and the other smaller southern islands? I was under the impression that they were primarily in the northern areas (Manila/Luzon area especially). Being a basically Maoist front (pro-peasant) they are not necessarily limited to only the areas with high concentrations of urban-based proletariat, but I still would assume not much action in the southern islands. Or not??

[4bucksagallon]

6. Here they call themselves NPA (No Permanent Address).

They are quite active in the area I am in. They are held in check by, believe it or not, some of the local Muslim factions. I have had dinner with a group of them and been places I am quite sure not many Americans have traveled to. I would not have made the trip alone or without, in this case NPA, or in other cases PNP or military protection. There were so many checkpoints I lost count but every one of them was unmanned. Not sure what that is all about. We own a chunk of land up in Agusan del Sur, Bunawan to be more exact and it is becoming a large gold mining district. Where ever you find something to exploit you will find the NPA. They are nothing more than terrorists, communist, but still terrorist. We live in Pantukan another large gold bearing region and the NPA are very active here. King King gold mines was set to be opened by a Canadian group but there were so many ambushes and threats, plus the locals were upset about a foreign company coming in that the company pulled out. I have mixed feelings about it because it would have meant many jobs for many people, however this gold belongs to the people here, not to some Canadian or American company.There are killings, it seems monthly, for lack of payments on extortion, or disagreements with politics. These are cowardly acts carried out by "men", I hate to call them men, on motorcycles, just as you would have drive by's back home. There are gun bans in place but guns are commonplace here. The NPA even had, not sure they still do, a website, unbelievable right, their base camp was in the region of our gold mine up in Bunawan. It showed them training, and living in the boondocks. If I find the link I will post it for you. You would think if they had a website and their faces were not masked it would be easy to arrest them or kill them. Well the level of corruption here is such that you don't know who you are dealing with friend or foe. We had some drunk NPA come to our beach club here late one night in Pantukan demanding extortion payments and the local Muslim leader here sent them packing with a stern warning not to come back, LOL, and they did not. But they are still out there. I hope I have answered some of your questions. If you need more info I will tell you what I know, but it is only from my experiences, not official government intel.

[DCBob]

7. My wife is from Mindanao... near Ozamis.

I have travelled in the area there several times and never had any incidents or felt threatened. Although my wife's family is careful not to take me anywhere that might not be safe. That area had some incidents in the past but has been relatively free from violence during that past 10 years or so. I was hoping this new deal with the MILF would the beginning of new era in Mindanao but as you say it will take a long time to resolve the deeply imbedded problems.

Good luck to you there. I really love the country regardless and plan to retire there later on.. probably in Cebu.