Bomb kills 3, hits convoy of Philippine vice mayor

Capt. Roy Trinidad is reported to have said that security forces immediately cordoned off the area while an explosive and ordnance disposal team conducted post-blast investigations.

Police said the bomb was placed inside the tool box of the motorcycle which was parked near the house of Akbar, whose husband, Basilan Congressman Wahab Akbar, was killed in a 2007 motorcycle bomb attack outside the House of Representatives in Manila.

The blast struck the two-vehicle convoy of Isabela city Vice Mayor Abdulbaki Ajibon in Basilan province, killing her driver and another passenger and leaving the official stunned, provincial military commander Rolando Joselito Bautista said. Eleven people aboard the two-vehicle convoy were also wounded but Ajibon, the vice mayor of Isabela city, was unhurt, Isabela police chief Superintendent Albert Larubis told reporters.

He said the blast damaged the Toyota Hilux pickup truck owned by Ajibon.

In the town of Polomolok, South Cotabato, police said a bus was hit by a bomb thrown likely by extortionists. The victims were brought to nearby hospitals for treatment. It occurred in front of the house of Mayor Cherrylyn Santos-Akbar, who was not home, he said. They included a 9-year-old girl with a serious head wound, according to emergency ward nurse Gina Loren.

Basilan is a known stronghold of the rebel group Abu Sayyaf, blamed by authorities for the spate of terrorism and kidnappings in the region.