Blast hits Iligan; Gonzales warns of 'a bigger attack'

National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales on Saturday said the deadly blast at Glorietta 2 mall appeared to be “a sample" as he warned of more attacks in key cities in the country. Hours after Gonzales’s warning, an explosion rocked Iligan City early Saturday evening and at least three people were reportedly killed. The blast that occurred around 6:30 p.m. at a political meeting in Digkilaan, Iligan City, was reportedly caused by a grenade. ''What is more ominous here is they may be planning a bigger attack,'' Gonzales said on Vice President Noli de Castro's weekly radio program Saturday. ''They will first show a sample. That means that while the bomb yesterday (Friday) already was powerful, it is still just a sample,'' Gonzales said. In a separate radio interview, Gonzales said the attack on Glorietta 2 shopping complex was likely a “fund-raising" activity of terrorist groups. National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales said that based on one of the intelligence reports that the government received, a terrorist group was raising funds and needed to convince prospective donors. “Isang intelligence report, may terrorist group nagpa-fundraising. Kung hindi ka magaling walang popondo sa iyo. May ganyang reports a few days before the bombing (One of the intelligence reports we received was that a terrorist group is raising funds. If you can’t show you mean business, you cannot get funds)," Gonzales said in an interview on dzRH radio. A bomb made from high-grade explosives - and likely set off by terrorists - caused the blast that killed at least nine people and wounded more than 100 others at the mall, officials. The strong explosion ripped through three floors of the shopping complex Friday, hurling slabs of concrete, twisting steel reinforcements and shattering glass panels. Earlier police reports had said a fuel tank caused the blast. ‘It’s a bomb' ''It's a bomb, but as to what kind of bomb, we are still trying to determine,'' National Police Director General Avelino Razon said. ''More likely it's a terrorist attack, but what terrorist group? We have no indicator.'' Days ago, Razon ordered ''maximum security coverage'' at possible Mindanao terror targets, such as critical infrastructure, malls, transport hubs, and religious shrines, following police intelligence reports of possible terror bombings after the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. Red Cross volunteers recovered the body of a man, the ninth fatality, buried under rubble inside the mall before dawn Saturday. The Red Cross reported that at least one more person remained missing. President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo ordered police to ''leave no stone unturned'' in their investigation. She called a Cabinet security meeting Saturday with police and military officials at the national police headquarters. Police bomb investigators told Mrs Arroyo they detected residue from the high explosive RDX at the blast site. At a news conference, a journalist asked the President who would benefit from such an attack. Visibly irked, Arroyo snapped back: ''It's the terrorists. Let us ask the terrorists.'' Several opposition politicians and Mrs Arroyo critics had suggested the government might be responsible for the bombing in a bid to divert attention from scandals plaguing her administration, over alleged overpriced projects and bribes to lawmakers to defeat an impeachment bid. Rewards offered Metropolitan Manila police chief Geary Barias said Mrs Arroyo authorized a P2 million reward for information on those responsible. Councilor Jejomar Binay Jr. said the Makati city government will offer a separate reward of P1 million for information on possible suspects if police officially declare the bombing a terror attack. Razon said he has ordered additional road checkpoints and deployed more officers to secure malls, airports and seaports, and bus terminals. Abu Sayyaf has been included on US and European terror lists. Abu Sayyaf militants, notorious for kidnappings and for beheading many hostages, have waged a bombing campaign for years in the Mindanao in their aim to establish a separate state for the area's majority Muslims. Abu Sayyaf and the Indonesia-based Jema’ah Islamiyah network have also launched attacks in Manila. Officials said Friday's blast appeared to have originated at the mall's ground-level loading dock for delivery vehicles, near the customer entrance. Taxi driver Mario Em said he had just dropped off two female passengers at the mall when the blast hurled the two women against his vehicle, killing them instantly. He said he pulled one of the victims, who was pregnant, from underneath his car. Several months ago, authorities were alerted to an alleged terror plot to plant bombs in Manila's business districts of Makati and Ortigas, a government counterterrorism official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. In 2004, Abu Sayyaf militants blew up a passenger ferry in Manila Bay, killing 116 people in the country's worst terrorist attack. - GMANews.TV with a report from AP