PhilippinesTerror: Zamboanga: 'Predominantly Christian trading hub' sees pensioner budget hotel, 3 dead from bomb, 27 wounded

-
-
-
Huffington Post (November 27,2k11)
— Reposted here by Politicarp

My comment:  The Philippines has been under terror-attack threat and actual attack for many years, mostly from the religio-ethnic Moros in the Southern Philippines, a nation of many islands.  The society which the USA claims is its best friend in the Asian Pacific has had lots of trouble with its ruling elite, another former President now being tried for graft.  Perhaps the terrorists, some 546 miles from the nation's capitol city of Manila, were atttempting to flank the current focus of attention by activists who are supporting the indictment, for trial before the country's Supreme Court, of former President, Gloria Arroyo.

In this situation of juridical and media focus elsewhere, the terrorists in the South who have long sawt an independent Islamicist state based on Shariah law, may have wanted to get in front of the news of the day and perhaps especially the h+level of focus on the activists.  Becawz the Philippines has developed a relatively large-university educated middle class, the non-Muslim demographic that is traditionally Roman Catholic and increasingly Protestant has been a factor in seeking and supporting free news media, free enterprise, and civil rights.

However, there is a second source of terror to be found in the Maoist guerrillas that operate in areas where the largest demographic subsists, the urban and rural poor.  Thus, the poor, who have not been able to struggle their way out of a rather squalid poverty, are the largest social concern constantly reminding civil society to seek more effective measures to release these neibors from the cycle of misery.

— Politicarp
-

Atilano Pension House Explosion: 

At Least 3 Killed, 27 Wounded

 

In Philippines Hotel Blast

MANILA, Philippines — A powerful blast killed at least 3 people and wounded 27 others in a budget hotel packed with wedding guests in the southern Philippines, officials said Monday.

The explosion, suspected to have been caused by a bomb, ignited a fire that gutted the two-story Atilano Pension House in downtown Zamboanga city late Sunday.

The blast was so powerful it caused much of the second floor to collapse, blew off the hotel roof and shattered glass panes and windows from nearby buildings, Zamboanga city Mayor Celso Lobregat said.

Two of the wounded were in serious condition in a hospital, he said.

Zamboanga city, a predominantly Christian trading hub 540 miles (860 kilometers) south of Manila, is located in a volatile region long troubled by a decades-long Muslim insurgency, extortion gangs and kidnap for ransom syndicates.

The blast occurred in room 226 on the second floor of the hotel, instantly killing two people staying in two adjacent rooms, which were devastated by the blast. A third body was found Monday on the ground floor, pinned by the cement slabs that collapsed from above.

Initial investigation pointed to a bomb, Lobregat said, adding that he has asked Zamboanga residents to stay calm.

"We should not show that we're panicking because that is what these troublemakers relish to see," Lobregat told The Associated Press by telephone. "We have good leads; we will get all of them."

Many of the victims were from a group of about 20 people, who occupied six of the hotel's 35 rooms for a wedding on Monday. The tragedy has forced the wedding to be postponed, he said.

Senior Inspector Cesar Memoracion said his local bomb squad recently informed the hotel owner to be on guard for a possible bomb attack, citing intelligence, which did not identify the source of the threat.

In January 2000, the hotel was rocked by a blast that killed three suspected Muslim militants assembling a bomb in a room, officials said.