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<img src="https://cdn.kahimyang.com/resources-17/april-9-1978.webp" loading="lazy" alt="Protest march of April 9, 1978" />
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(The protest march of April 9, 1978 as it approached Welcome Rotonda in Quezon City)
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The bomb went off about 50 feet from where President <a href="https://kahimyang.com/kauswagan/articles/595/today-in-philippine-history-september-11-1917-ferdinand-e-marcos-was-born-in-sarrat-ilocos-norte" class="news_link">Ferdinand E. Marcos</a> and U.S. Ambassador Richard Murphy were sitting but both escaped unharmed. 
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Convention officials decided to cancel all public functions and to hold working sessions behind closed doors because of the bomb attack, a major embarrassment for Marcos in his eight years of martial law rule.
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William Waltrip, a Pan American Airways delegate, said:
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"It (the convention) is canceled for all intents and purposes."
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Tourism Minister Jose D. Aspiras said 18 people suffered superficial wounds.
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The seven Americans were identified as Frederick Cooper, 64, and his wife Betty, 61, of Aiken, S.C.; Roberta Fischer of Arlington Heights, Ill.; Clifford Archer and his wife, Lola, of Glendale, Calif.; June Breen of Washington; and Joseph Hofrichter of Loveland, Ohio.
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Among the others injured were Donald Graham, a Jamaican living in New York; a Swiss, two Brazilians, a South Korean and eight Filipinos.
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At the time of the blast, the hall was dark and the delegates were watching a documentary film outlining Philippine-U.S. relationships.
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Nadine Goodwin, writer for the Travel Weekly of New York, said:
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"We thought it (the explosion) was part of the show because it came when the cannon was supposed to boom, then there was this boom. Nobody moved."
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Witnesses said the blast was noticed only after some of the delegates screamed and flames shot up. Some thought these were special effects for the movie. Six chairs were ripped apart by the blast.
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Authorities said the device, believed to be a homemade time bomb, was placed under a seat at the back of the plenary hall about 50 feet away from where Marcos, Murphy and ASTA President Joseph Stone and Jerry McCoy were seated. None of them was injured.
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The explosive went off 10 minutes after Marcos delivered the keynote address to the 5,000 delegates at ASTA's 50th anniversary conference. Marcos stayed for about five minutes after the explosion and then left surrounded by security men.
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Marcos had just told the delegates: 
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"By your coming you certainly do away with all these speculations and rumors by men whose only dream is to take over power and political authority.  Let them dream. They live in a world of fantasy. Let us live in our world of reality."
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The bombing was the latest in a series of terrorist incidents that has killed one American and wounded 40 other people in Manila since August 22, 1980. Authorities said the attacks were directed by U.S. based opposition leader <a href="https://kahimyang.com/kauswagan/articles/1747/today-in-philippine-history-may-8-1980-ninoy-aquino-was-allowed-to-leave-for-a-coronary-bypass-surgery" class="news_link">Benigno S. Aquino Jr.</a> in a bid to force Marcos to step aside.
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October 19, 1980: Terrorists Bomb Exploded at the PICC

Today in Philippine history, October 19, 1980, a terrorist bomb exploded at the PICC wounding 18 people, April 6 Liberation Movement claimed responsibility

October 19, 1980: a terrorist bomb exploded at the PICC wounding 18 people, April 6 Liberation Movement claimed responsibility