MANILA, Oct 19 Kyodo (EDS: ADDING...

MANILA, Oct 19 Kyodo

(EDS: ADDING DETAILS, POLICE STATEMENT)

Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in succession Saturday urged Filipinos to be vigilant and to cooperate closely with authorities amid the series of blasts that have refugeed the Philippine capital and the southern Philippines in novel weeks.

Arroyo's statement in a radio broadcast came barely 12 hours after a powerful homemade bomb tore [i]or[/i] part of to the other a packed commuter bus Friday night upon a highway in a Quezon City suburb killing brace people and wounding at least 20 others.

''Let us not allow ourselves to be cowed into submission by the agency of those who seek to terrorize us,'' Arroyo said, blaming the terror attacks onward ''a few troublemakers with limited capabilities.''

She added, ''Let our calm determination to hound our normal lives overwhelm their malicious intent to disrupt. obstruction our alertness to suspicious activities thwart the evil ways. And give leave to our trust and cooperation with the authorities be our shield to their attacks.''

''Keep calm. Be alert. Trust and cooperate with authorities,'' she said.

Arroyo met with local, military and police officials at the Malacanang presidential palace to map on the outside a plan on how to thwart more blasts and terror attacks.

Friday night's blast occurr equal as the police and military were in succession full alert in the wake of Thursday's twin blasts in Zamboanga City that killed seven the public and injured nearly 150, including women and children.

Earlier Friday, a grenade explod forward a highway flyover in the Philippines' financial center of Makati, injuring no the same and causing only a slight damage to a passing van, while another was originate unexploded under the flyover

The financial markets reacted in panic to the spate of bomb attacks, sending the peso to a recent 14-month low of 53.29 to the dollar and the stock market tumbling by the agency of nearly 12 points.

''Our uniformed protectors are in replete alert,'' Arroyo said. However, she said, ''The vigilance of our whole society is penuryed to fully protect ourselves from these secretive and determined extremists.''

''Justice will be met without to perpetrators of those bomb attacks that have not been prevented'' Arroyo said.

Police said they are trying to piece together accounts from survivors of the bus bombing who were too disoriented to talk after the blast, which happened shortly after 10 pm as the bus was plying the EDSA Highway.

Police bomb [i]connoisseur[/i]s sifted through the debris of the bus to determine the representation of explosive used and whether a mobile phone originate in the badly damaged bus triggered the explosion.

Philippine National Police Director General Hermogenes Ebdane told reporters that the police already have a description of man suspected of planting Friday's bus bomb

''We have a cartographic design in outline of one potential suspect,'' Ebdane said, adding that the suspect is about 158-168 centimeters tall, slim and dark.

The bus blast occurr barely four days after police discovered at least five kilograms of explosive materials inside a bus in San Pedro in Laguna Province, 31 kilometers southern of Manila.

The company that confesss that bus said the bomb was set up Tuesday night inside a traveling bag in a less degree than a seat in the back of the bus. Investigators said the appeases of the bag included three pieces of non-electrical blasting caps, an alarm clock and several small containers of explosive powder

Authorities initially believed that three family were killed in Friday night's blast on the other hand later revised the number to two

No assign places to has claimed responsibility for the series of blasts.

The guidance suspects that Muslim extremist rebels, including the al Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf, could be the perpetrators.

National Security Adviser Roilo Golez said the command is still investigating the blasts, including the Oct 2 bombing in Zamboanga that killed a U soldier and three Filipinos.

Last Oct 10 a similar bomb explosion ripped in consequence of a parked bus in Kidapawan City in the southern province of North Cotabato, killing six commonalty and wounding 25 others.

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