Philippine President Ms Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said today she was considering imposing martial law on a southern island to end a rebel menace as fighting raged between troops and Muslim guerrillas holding US and Filipino hostages.
The military said two soldiers were killed and several wounded on today in the running gunbattle on Basilan, the rugged southern island where commando units have been tracking the Abu Sayyaf rebels in the mountainous interior since Friday.
At least 18 soldiers and an undetermined number of rebels and civilians have been killed in the fighting.
"Martial law is the prerogative of the president. We are studying the situation," Ms Arroyo told a news conference when asked about proposals for the armed forces to be given wider powers to deal with the hostage crisis.
The Philippines is sensitive about martial law. In 1972, late dictator Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law to quell what he said were threats from communist rebels.
But he used the wide-ranging powers to stay in office for the next 14 years in the face of increasing opposition to his regime.
There were no reports of casualties among the Abu Sayyaf rebels in the latest fighting and all the remaining hostages were alive, an army spokesman said.
Naval gunboats have set up a blockade around Basilan, 550 miles south of Manila, to prevent the guerrillas from escaping to other islands, he said.
The Abu Sayyaf professes to be fighting for a Muslim homeland in the south of the country.