AUSTRALIA (ANS) -- A crude but powerful bomb exploded outside Zamboanga's large modern metropolitan Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception at 4:20am on Sunday 13 April. While it caused no injuries, that was not the intention of the bombers. According to Zamboanga City police chief, Jonathan Perez, the bombers had intended to plant their two bombs inside the Cathedral and then detonate them during the 5 am Mass. (Link 1)

The insidious terror plot was foiled when the church caretaker noticed three men acting suspiciously and talking in a dialect spoken on the mainly-Muslim island of Jolo. He alerted the Cathedral's security guard, forcing the suspects to withdraw. Before fleeing on their motorbike the suspects planted one bomb under a parish vehicle parked in the church compound which they detonated by mobile phone once they were clear. The suspects got only about one kilometre down the road before police closed in on them. At that point they threw the other bomb towards nearby shops and detonated it.

According to Spero News, the bomb that that exploded in the compound of the Immaculate Conception Cathedral caused no injures, but along with the parish van "another parish vehicle and staircases at the side of the two-storey cathedral were damaged as well. The blast also peppered a wall with shrapnel, broke the leg of a saint's statue and cracked some stained-glass windows." (Link 2)

According to police, the evidence implicates the al-Qaeda-linked Islamic terror group, Abu Sayyaf. ["Abu Sayyaf" is Arabic for "bearer of the sword".] Zamboanga City police chief, Jonathan Perez, said the bombs were similar to those used by the Abu Sayyaf in previous attacks in other parts of the south. "The signature on the bombs were almost identical. They used a mobile phone to detonate a crude bomb made from an 81mm and 60mm mortars." (Link 1)

On 17 April Zamboanga's Sun Star reported that the police and military authorities in Zamboanga City had identified one of the suspects in the Cathedral bombing as "Joel Salem alias Abu Madja, an Abu Sayyaf bomb expert." (Link 3)

If the bombers had been successful they would have perpetrated a serious act of terrorism that would surely have resulted in multiple fatalities and left many worshippers with serious injuries.

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For a map of the Philippines see: http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/islands_oceans_poles/philippines.pdf
Zamboanga is on the south-west coast of Mindanao; and Basilan, Jolo and Tawi-Tawi islands are in the Sulu Archipelago immediately to the south of Zamboanga.

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While kidnappings and attacks targeting foreigners, Christian missionaries and government and military institutions in the Southern Philippines are not new, the recent church bombing conforms to an escalating trend of Islamic militants targeting of Catholic clergy and Catholic institutions.

Earlier this year Compass Direct reported: "On January 15, 10 armed men broke into the Notre Dame convent school in Tabawan, Tawi-Tawi, [Sth Philippines] run by Fr. Roda -- popularly known as 'Fr. Rey.' They dragged Fr. Roda and a Muslim teacher, Omar Taub, out to the schoolyard. When Fr. Roda fought with the gunmen, they shot him several times and escaped with Taub."

Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) reported on 12 March that Catholic clergy on the island of Jolo are now living under armed guard on account of the escalating persecution and threat.

"Bishop Angelito Lampon, the Apostolic Vicar of Jolo in the Philippines, told the Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) how he and the other priests and religious [figures] in Jolo are now under military protection, following the spate of murders and kidnappings against Church personnel over recent years. He himself had to build a guard house at the front gate of his Episcopal residence. He calls on all his Catholic brothers and sisters around the world to pray for the Church in Jolo that she may have 'the strength and courage to continue her path, regardless of the external circumstances'." (Link 4)

According to ACN, Bishop Lampon fears for the future because the political leaders seem to have "no interest for the common good in their hearts". According to the bishop a handful of people of goodwill have been unable to break through the entrenched attitudes which are very individualistic and clannish with little regard for the common good.

Bishop Lampon told ACN that despite all the difficulties confronting the Catholic Church in Jolo, she will continue her work there. He said Christians have been commanded "to forgive seventy times seven times" and to reach out to others with "a hand of friendship and reconciliation". However he also noted that attacks and persecutions are persistent. He said that while occasionally there are acts of violence that are quite serious, it is the day to day hostilities that make life in Jolo very difficult. As an example he said a Muslim mother might sweep her yard and then dump the rubbish in front of the door of her Christian neighbour. Bishop Lampon said that he has been abused and spat on in the street when he was dressed and recognised as a priest.

He also told ACN that while Muslims make up 97 percent of the population of Jolo, some of those Muslims do sympathise with the Christians on account of the great humanitarian work they do for the people, especially in the fields of education and healthcare, as well as housing and micro-financing programs for the poor. He noted that on the Island of Jolo alone, through the initiative of the Church, over 3,000 low-cost housing units had been erected for the poor -- and the majority of the beneficiaries are Muslims.

By Elizabeth Kendal

Links

1) Philippines eyes Abu Sayyaf in cathedral blast
MANILA (Reuters) Monday 14 April 2008
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/MAN245287.htm 

2) Philippines: Zamboanga bishop condemns attack
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
http://www.speroforum.com/site/print.asp?idarticle=15078

Pictures: http://zamboangajournal.blogspot.com/2008/04/2-bombings-rocked-zamboanga-city-in.html 

3) Zambo bombing suspect is a Sayyaf bomb expert
By Bong P Garcia, 17 April 2008
http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/zam/2008/04/17/news/zambo.bombing.suspect.is.a.sayyaf.bomb.expert.html 

4) Aid to the Church in Need
News, Wednesday, 12th March 2008 – Philippines
Philippines: Bishop and priests in need of security guards.
http://members4.boardhost.com/acnaus/msg/1205290499.html 

Elizabeth Kendal is the Principal Researcher and Writer for the World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty Commission (WEA RLC) http://www.worldevangelicals.org/. This article was initially written for the World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty News & Analysis mailing list.