4 wounded in Cotabato blast

DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Xinhua) - Four people have been wounded in another explosion in the southern Philippines yesterday evening, the military said today.

The blast which happened in Poblacion village, Kabacan town, in Mindanao's North Cotabato province after 7 p.m. Friday wounded village watchman Eddie Antolin and his three relatives, according to Captain Severino David, spokesperson for the Philippine military's Eastern Mindanao Command.

Local radio said the other three wounded was Antolin's 9-year old son and two other relatives.

David said authorities were now investigating the incident.

The latest blast happened on the heels of two separate bombings in the Philippines' southern cities of Cagayan de Oro and Cotabato, which killed at least 16 people and wounded dozens others.

Philippine President Benigno Aquino III has ordered the Department of Interior and Local Government, the agency supervising the country's 120,000-strong national police, to conduct thorough probe to identify those responsible for the attacks and to bring them to justice.