PHILIPPINE politicians busied themselves with corruption probes yesterday, resuming business as usual after a bomb attack on Congress killed four people and wounded 17 in the suspected assassination of a Muslim lawmaker.

In the lower house, where Tuesday night's explosion tore the roof off a lobby, a justice committee junked an impeachment complaint against President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo related to a recent kickbacks scandal.

In the Senate, over an hour's drive southwest of the lower house, senators probed allegations of cash handouts to the president's allies.

"The work must go on," said Matias Defensor, chair of the House of Representatives' Justice Committee, which voted 43-1 against the impeachment complaint.

The lower house will vote on the committee's ruling, but it is expected to be dismissed by Arroyo's allies, who hold a majority.

Wahab Akbar, who represented the restive southern island of Basilan, was buried yesterday.

Police said Akbar, who had clashed with Muslim militants operating from Basilan, was the likely target of Tuesday's blast, which killed three others.

Other lawmakers were injured in the explosion and Manila's police chief said they were also checking to see if they could have been targets. No one has claimed responsibility.

"Among the group, it is Akbar who has the more colorful life, who has the more threats," National Police Chief Avelino Razon told reporters.

Although it was the first attack on a central government building and comes less than a month after an explosion killed 11 people in a Manila mall, investors shrugged off the blast.

"It is unnerving, that is true, but it does not affect the fundamental forces that drive the economy," said Luz Lorenzo, analyst with ATR-Kim Eng Securities in Manila.

"Sentiment may be affected temporarily, but if it is addressed properly, then it should not do any permanent damage."

The stock market climbed 2.28 percent echoing a regional rise after Wall Street's rally while the peso, Asia's best performing currency this year, closed at 42.93 against the dollar, stronger than Tuesday's finish.

(SD-Agencies)