Manila: President Benigno Aquino yesterday said that the threat of a terrorist attack in the capital could last until early next year as authorities classified a recent assassination attempt on a southern Philippines official as "election related."

"There's a threat, so far as we have not apprehended an individual, then it remains," Aquino said during a press briefing in suburban Pasay City.

The president's statement came close on the heels of reports of a terrorist plot to target the Black Nazarene procession in Manila on Monday.

This threat had prompted authorities to order telecom operators to jam mobile phone signals during the Catholic event.

The disruption in mobile communication in the vicinity of the procession's route was aimed at preventing the use of a cellular phone to trigger a bomb blast.

Raid on hideouts

On Tuesday, police are said to have raided a suspected terrorist hideout in the capital. No arrests were made although security agencies had warned that six to nine terrorists had arrived in Metro Manila in August last year.

Aquino said that Filipinos must always be vigilant to prevent such attacks. The president said that he had issued directives in this regard to Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo, Defence Secretary Voltaire Gazmin, Armed Forces chief Lieutenant-General Jessie Dellosa and National Police Director General Nicanor Bartolome.

Assassination bid

Meanwhile, the Vice-Mayor of Cotabato City in southern Philippines, Muslimin Sema and several of his escorts survived an assassination attempt on Tuesday.

"We are wondering whether the attack on Vice-Mayor Sema was election-related. Perhaps it is a call on us to implement operations that will ensure peaceful relations next year, but actually as early as this year," Aquino said.

The next Philippine mid-term elections are due to take place by May 2013 where Filipinos will elect their next set of senators, congressmen, governors and other local officials.

Elections in the Philippines are historically violent, especially when local officials are involved.

The warning over the possibility of terror attacks also came amid an advisory issued by the United States and Australian governments to their nationals living in the Philippines.