Bombs found aboard Philippine ferry

Twelve bombs were found hidden inside a bathroom in a ferry in the central Philippines, raising fears of another bombing campaign by suspected Islamic militants, the coast guard said Sunday.

The improvised explosive devices, made of bottles with gunpowder, blasting caps, shrapnel and wiring, were found hidden in a sack in the bathroom of the MV Blue Water Princess on Saturday just as it was about to depart the city of Lucena for the central island of Masbate.

Explosive experts and bomb-sniffing dogs were immediately dispatched to check the vessel for other bombs, said coast guard spokesman Commander Armand Balilo.

It was not clear if the bombs were intended to go off inside the ferry or were to be used elsewhere, said Balilo who also declined to identify any suspects.

He said it was the coast guard's second discovery of large amounts of explosive material in just two weeks. Last week, a supply of ammonium nitrate and blasting caps was found in a port in the central city of Mandaue.

The discovery of the bombs also came just days before President Gloria Arroyo is scheduled to make her annual state of the nation address to Congress on Monday, noted Balilo.

The government had warned there may be attempts to disrupt the speech and has deployed more security forces as a precaution.

Earlier this month, a spate of bombings in the southern Philippines left about a dozen dead and 100 wounded. The blasts were largely blamed on Muslim extremists.

Muslim extremist group the Abu Sayyaf is blamed for the country's worst terror attack in which more than 100 people were killed in the bombing of a ferry in 2004.