Roadside bomb prematurely explodes in NCotabato

COTABATO City, Philippines - A powerful roadside bomb exploded prematurely in a farming district in Makilala, North Cotabato on Sunday, causing panic among local villagers and forcing the military to close the farm-to-market traversing the scene of the explosion for several hours.

1st Lt. Nash Sema, civil-military relations officer of the Army’s 57th Infantry Battalion, said the improvised explosive device was planted along a road leading to the center of Barangay Malasila in Makilala town.

Sema said the bomb exploded shortly before an Army truck passed through the same route. The Army truck was on its way to the town center of Makilala.

Local officials said the roadside bombing came after residents of Barangay Malasila refused to shell out protection money to emissaries of the New People’s Army that roamed their village last week.

“Obviously the IED exploded prematurely so no one was killed or injured in the explosion,” Sema said.

The IED was fashioned from explosive chemical charges packed with jagged fragments of cast iron and nails.

Lt. Col. Haron Akas, commander of the Army-led Task Force North Cotabato, told reporters that several business establishments in the province have complained of having received extortion letters from the NPA.

Several politicians have also been ranting on the excessive “campaign fee” being demanded by the NPA to enable them to freely roam and campaign in hinterland barangays in North Cotabato.