Blast hits North Cotabato

MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED) - Following the fatal blast in Cotabato City, an explosion hit a town in North Cotabato province before dawn Wednesday, authorities said.

Senior Superintendent Danilo Peralta, North Cotabato police provincial director, said that the blast was caused by an improvised explosive device (IED) left in front of MLhuiller pawnshop in Midsayap town, North Cotabato.

The explosion occurred around 3 a.m. and no casualty has been reported so far.

Peralta said he sees no connection between Wednesday's blast and the car bomb explosion in Cotabato City last Monday that killed at least eight people and injured around 30 others.

The police official said the explosives used in the two blasts are not the same and that the bombed areas are far from each other.

Responding Army and police bomb experts told reporters that the IED was fashioned from live 60 MM mortar projectiles equipped with a battery-operated blasting device.

It wat planted underneath a concrete bench where clients of the MLhuillier sit when they wait for their turn to transact.

The bomb shattered the concrete bench and sent jagged metal and concrete fragments flying to different directions, some hitting nearby establishments' rolling metal doors.

North Cotabato Gov. Emmylou Taliño-Mendoza, chairperson of the multi-sectoral provincial peace and order council, has ordered the provincial police to determine the identities of the bombers behind the attack and file corresponding criminal charges against them.

Mendoza had earlier condemned the deadly roadside bombing in Cotabato City that happened two days before.

Mendoza said soldiers and policemen have been deployed in many areas in North Cotabato that are vulnerable to bomb attacks.

“In these most trying times, people in North Cotabato ought to be more vigilant and cooperative with the police and military because the people behind these bombings have no respect for life and do not fear God,” Mendoza said.