Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo announced the lifting the state of national emergency at noon Friday about one hour after a twin blasts rocked a showcase commercial district in Metro Manila.

Arroyo has been asked to lift the state of emergency by both allies and foes as well as foreign investors. The Untied States has also asked her to lift it as soon as possible.

Arroyo imposed the state of emergency last Friday to foil coup attempts to overthrow her government. A number of arrests have been made and some 50 people, most of them leftwing militants, have been charged with rebellion and plotting to overthrow government.

The twin explosions rocked the Ortigas commercial center in Pasig City east to Manila, where some important institutions like the Asian Development Bank are located nearby, at around 09:45 AM local time, police officials said.

Police are still investigating the cause of the blast, which occurred in the vicinity of the fashionable Metrowalk Center, near the Eastern Police District annex building along the Meralco Avenue in Pasig City.

"This is a minor explosion. There were no injuries," Metro Manila police chief Director Vidal Querol told reporters. "We still have to find out what ingredients were used to make the bomb, what motive."

The explosion came as Arroyo was expected to make a televised brief talks announcing the lifting of her controversial state of national emergency decree she imposed one week ago.

"There were two loud explosions... They really targeted the police," the local radio dzBB quoted a police officer as saying.

One of the blasts took place at the foot of an electric pole near the police station of Eastern Police District, while the other took place by the side of a van parked in a nearby vacant lot.

(Xinhua News Agency March 3, 2006)