Presidential Security group Delfin Bangit said despite the incident, there would be no disruption in the president’s schedule.

Arroyo was attending a luncheon meeting with officials from the Intellectual Property Rights Office when the explosion occurred.

There was no breach in security around Malacanang, according to Bangit, quoting initial reports.

It was unclear what had caused the blast inside a trash bin near Mabini Hall, but it did not appear to have caused any injuries.

The explosion however was heard across the Palace and nearby neighbourhoods, according to separate radio reports. In a related development, the Agence France-Presse reported that a  second explosive device went off on a street in Manila's financial district of Makati, wounding a boy.

And a grenade with its safety pin missing was disarmed by police after it was found in a garbage bin outside the government’s National Printing Office in northern Manila.

“A group of children found the [explosive device] and they played with it,” police investigator James San Jose said on DZRH radio.

It was unclear if the two other cases were related to the blast at Malacanang presidential palace.

Philippine Daily Inquirer

Asia News Network

Manila