Terrorism in The Philippines - 2005

• The first blast took place at around 6:30 p.m, at a stand for three-wheel pedicabs about 30 meters away from the Gaisano Mall in General Santos, killing at least three people and wounding around 33 others. The PNP stated the bomb had been stashed in a bag.

• A 12-year-old boy also died when another bomb exploded almost simultaneously at a bus terminal in Davao City, Davao, injuring five others.

• The third bombing was reported soon afterward on a bus along the busy highway of EDSA in the financial district of Makati, Metro Manila, just below the station for an elevated train and near the Intercontinental Hotel. Three people died instantly, while 74 others were injured as the bomb ripped through the bus during rush hour at around 7:50 p.m, also setting two nearby buses on fire. Dozens were treated for serious burns, including passengers of the two other buses. Earlier in the day, five explosive devices containing TNT were defused after they were found in front of a building in San Martín de Porres, Parañaque City.

Abu Sayyaf claimed responsibility for the bombing in retaliation for a military offensive launched by government troops in early 2005. An Indonesian national and two Filipino members of the Abu Sayyaf group were sentenced to death in connection with the Valentine's Day bombings in October 2005. During the five-month trial, one of the witnesses – a bus conductor – identified the two Filipino accused as the passengers who left the bus in a hurry shortly before the blast in Makati.

Armed men abducted 19 people, most of them female university students, in the island of Mindanao. The local anti-terrorism task force chief reported the suspects boarded a mini-bus carrying the students and later commandeered it near the town of Piagapo. While twenty-two passengers were initially taken, three were later let go. As the joint force of Philippine Marines and police caught up with the kidnap group and their hostages in Gakap, 8 hours after the abduction, a firefight ensued, killing one policeman identified as Edris Sultan. All hostages were rescued unharmed reported police officials.

At least 30 people were severely injured, mostly from third-degree burns, after a homemade bomb left near the canteen at the rear of the ferry MV Dona Ramona exploded and engulfed the lower deck in fire as it sat at Lamitan wharf, Basilan, 15 minutes before it was scheduled to sail. Over the coming month, four people, including several children, would succumb to their injuries in hospital.