MANILA (DPA) – Policemen and soldiers arrested a suspect in the bombing of a public market in a southern Philippine city almost two years ago which killed three people, the military said Saturday.

Army Colonel Jerry Jalandoni said Sabdullah Basco Kamsa was arrested Friday during a raid at his hideout in Datu Paglas town in Maguindanao province, 960 kilometers south of Manila.

Jalandoni said Kamsa was the main suspect in the bombing of the Koronadal City public market in the nearby South Cotabato province in July 2003 which also wounded 22 people.

"The suspect did not resist arrest," he said. "We have recovered from him an M-14 rifle and ... ammunition."

Jalandoni said investigators were still determining whether the suspect was affiliated with the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf rebels or to any other crime groups in the area.

Police investigators initially blamed the bombing on warring vendors in the public market.

The arrest of Kamsa occurred amid relentless operations by security forces against suspected terrorists following threats by Abu Sayyaf rebels to continue bomb attacks in urban areas.

On February 14, explosions rocked the Philippine capital and the southern cities of General Santos and Davao, killing 12 people and injured more than 90 others. The Abu Sayyaf claimed responsibility for the attacks.

Gonzales said the seized lumber was found inside a container van which was unloaded from Sulcon XIV, a vessel of Sulpicio Lines, docked at Loboc Port, Iloilo.

Based on intelligence information, the container van believed to be containing illegally cut lumber allegedly came from Iligan City via Manila and consigned to a certain Serge Mojeco whose address in Iloilo is unknown.

The lumber was declared as hardware materials in its coasting manifest.

The container van, along with the seized lumber, is now under the police custody while authorities are now conducting investigation to locate the recipient.

Did criminals in Manila mourn the death of Pope John Paul II?

This question was asked by an insider from the Western Police District Office (WPDO) as Manila recorded an almost zero incidence of crime in the two days before the interment of Pope John Paul II last week.

In fact, aside from an incident where a four-year-old boy accidentally shot his nine-month-old brother in the hand while playing with a pen gun, and a few minor incidents, no crimes were recorded from Thursday to Friday.

"It has been an uneventful two days. Except for petty incidents, we have not received reports of snatching or homicide since news of the Pope’s death broke out. It was like 1995 all over again," said a WPDO officer.

He said that when the Pope visited the Philippines for a week in 1995, the WPDO also recorded no crime during the Pope’s stay.

The WPDO official said that this is perhaps related to the Filipinos’, even criminals’, penchant for having ceasefires during major religious events like the Feast of the Black Nazarene in Quiapo, Manila.

"The trend is that on January 9, robberies and holdups rarely happen, but after the feast, its business as usual for criminals," he added.

On Friday, the Quirino Grandstand in Luneta, Ermita, Manila became the venue for a prayer rally attended by thousands to witness the funeral of the Pope.

The event, attended by Muslim and Christian groups, went on smoothly. (Rizal S. Obanil)