President Ramos and SPCPD Governor Nur Misuari will travel to Senegal next week to receive the 1997 Felix Houphouet-Boigny Peace Prize awarded by UNESCO. The prize is to honor their role in reaching a 1986 peace agreement (Deutsche Presse-Agentur, 06/08/98). A three-day battle between government and MILF forces results in at least five rebel deaths in Zamboanga del Sur province. Officials claim that the MILF is responsible for a series of highway robberies in western provinces in the last six months (Ibid.). Efforts at extortion by the MILF are being reported to be behind two bomb explosions in the southern city of Ipil and Titay town. One civilian died in the incidents (Ibid.). Heightened tensions are reported in Sulu province as supporters of losing candidates in recent federal elections undertake protests, including the reported killing of a bodyguard assigned to a town mayor. The losing candidates are mostly former MNLF members who allege the elections were marred by widespread cheating (Deutsche Presse-Agentur, 06/06/98).