"We received intelligence reports of the suspects' plan to mount a suicide attack in Quiapo at the Feast of the Black Nazarene," Senior Superintendent Rodolfo Mendoza told reporters. As every year, tens of thousands of the faithful -- many barefoot in maroon tunics -- are due to flock to a Catholic church in Quiapo, a Manila suburb, on Sunday to try to touch a centuries-old wooden statue of Christ with a cross in the belief it has miraculous powers. Police said the suspects, all Filipinos, were also being questioned about a potential role in the bombing of a ferry in February 2004 by homegrown Abu Sayyaf rebels that killed more than 100 people.
Vice President Noli de Castro usually attends the colorful, raucous Feast of the Black Nazarene, held every year on Jan. 9 and again just before Easter.
The vast majority of the 84 million Filipinos are Catholics, with a small minority of Muslims concentrated in the south. Security forces are battling long-running Muslim and communist insurgencies that have hurt foreign investment and stunted rural development
The largest Muslim rebel group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front or MILF, is on cease-fire with peace talks due to resume in February. But the bombing of the Superferry 14 in Manila Bay last year signaled a more destructive path for Abu Sayyaf, a group of several hundred guerrillas linked to the regional militant network Jemaah Islamiah.
Police said the suspects -- 13 men and three women -- had been arrested after a raid on an office building in Manila that housed an Islamic information center. "We are looking into their involvement in the Superferry bombing and the foiled bombing plot on a G-Liner bus on Christmas Eve," Senior Superintendent Federico Laciste said. The explosives seized included TNT and C-4, with electronic components that could be put inside mobile phones to trigger an explosion, police said. "Aside from the explosives, we also found pistols and revolvers, and a submachine gun with a silencer," said Nelson Yabut, a national police intelligence colonel.
| The usual holy relics of Islam |
Metro Manila police chief Avelino Razon vowed extra-tight security at Sunday's event, when the statue is carried through the crowd on a litter as people reach through holes in the plastic case to touch the cross or Christ's heel.