Officials said Thursday the spate of bombings in Manila could be a "prelude to something more serious" in the military rebels' efforts to grab power. The next step could include the assassination of President Corazon Aquino and other officials, he said.

Stepping up their terror campaign, suspected military dissidents bombed an RFM food buying station before dawn Thursday in Calamba just outside Manila. The bombing damaged a livestock weighing scale and a delivery truck but caused no injuries.The bombing of the company owned by Trade Secretary Jose Concepcion was the fourth in 24 hours.Concepcion has been accused of corruption.

Earlier blasts damaged a China Airlines office, a McDonald's restraurant, the government Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office in Manila, and a plastics factory in suburban Valenzuela.

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"The spate of bombings, which is obviously designed to keep the public in a state of tension and the military off balance, could be a prelude to something more serious," Defense Secretary Fidel Ramos told reporters at his regular news conference.

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