Mayon tremors increase
LEGAZPI CITY, Albay, Philippines—Mayon Volcano's tremors have increased sharply in recent days, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said. From an average of six on Friday last week, quakes reached 13 during Wednesday's data gathering, said the Phivolcs bulletin on Thursday morning. Rey M. Nasol, PDI
Estrada will run in 2010—Enrile
MANILA, Philippines—Notwithstanding legal questions, former president Joseph Estrada will run in the 2010 elections to reclaim his old post, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile said. While the Constitution bars presidents from any reelection, Enrile said Estrada was coming into the elections not as an incumbent, but a former president whose term was cut short by a military-backed uprising.He said the legal questions could not prevent Estrada from presenting himself to the public as a presidential candidate. “I’ve seen the reaction of the people. I’ve been long in politics. I know when the people are sincere in their adulation for a person or they were just hakot (paid crowds). Here, vendors, the young and old, businessmen wave at him and shout ‘Erap! Erap,’” the Senate President said. Maila Ager, INQUIRER.net
RP, Indonesia bombings seem linked—Palace
MANILA, Philippines—Recent deadly bombings in Indonesia and the Philippines appear to be linked, and suggest regional militant group Jemaah Islamiyah may be active again, Manila's national security chief said Thursday. The "character and intent" of three recent bomb attacks on the southern Philippines island of Mindanao that left eight dead and over 100 injured has all the markings of JI, National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales said.
He said bombs used in the Mindanao attacks were similar to those used in last Friday's bombings of two luxury hotels in Jakarta that killed seven people. "We cannot disregard the possibility of a JI resurgence in the region," Gonzales told the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines. Agence France-Presse
