At least five people, including four soldiers, were reportedly injured as a suspected landmine exploded beside the truck they were riding in Masbate province Monday noon.
Senior Superintendent Reuben Theodore Sindac, Masbate police chief, in a text message to reporters said the incident occurred along the portion of the National Highway at Barnagay Asid in Masbate City.
Troops of Army’s 9th Infantry Division were reportedly on their way to Masbate City proper from their headquarters in Milagros town onboard an Elf truck when a loud explosion from a suspected landmine planted on the roadside occurred.
Aside from the four soldiers, a civilian who was also riding the truck reportedly sustained injuries due to the blast.
The reported explosion came just two days after an improvised explosive device was detonated at the back of the Placer town’s police station which is also in Masbate.
No one was injured in the earlier incident but the station and nearby local government offices sustained damages.
Sindac expressed belief that members of the New People's Army (NPA) were behind the suspected landmine attack.
The explosions in Masbate occurred just after the first part of a ceasefire declared by both government and the NPA expired on Saturday.
Aside from Masbate, reported attacks by alleged NPA members in some provinces in the Luzon island group, including Quezon, include the torching of a Globe Telecoms Inc. cellsite on Sunday.
Attacks on military detachments, meanwhile, were reported in some parts of the Visayas and Mindanao island groups since Saturday, the day after the Communist Party of the Philippines celebrated its founding anniversary.
Government troops and the NPA are set to implement another round of unilateral ceasefire on December 31 and January