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GENERAL SANTOS CITY, Philippines -- The police are eyeing extortion and labor dispute as possible motives behind the explosion that killed four persons and wounded 27 others outside a tuna cannery here at 6:45 p.m. Wednesday, an official said.
Chief Superintendent Felizardo Serapio, Central Mindanao police chief, said if it was a terror attack, "It should have been carried out right at the heart of the city, not outside a tuna cannery plant which is eight kilometers away from the city proper."
"We are still determining the contents and the type of explosive but based on my initial findings it could be an improvised grenade," Serapio, an explosive expert, told the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
He said the large number of casualties was because the explosion occurred as cannery workers were rushing out to go home and others were coming in for the next shift.
"We found out that during such hour there were about 300 to 500 workers coming in and out of the cannery plant due to work shifting," he said.
He added that if the type of bomb used was a more powerful one, "Hindi lang ganun kadami ang patay o sugatan. At siguradong lilipad ang mga bubong ng buildings malapit sa pinagsabugan [The casualties would have been much higher and the roofs of nearby buildings would have been blown off as well]."
The management of Philbest Tuna Canning Corp., a subsidiary of the RD Group of Companies, denied receiving any extortion demand from any lawless group, he said.
Serapio said the police were looking at other angles, particularly labor unrest, which has supposedly plagued the RD Group of companies for years.
Records at the City Disaster Coordinating Council and the City Communication Center identified those killed as Alberto Ahan, Celie Balis, Cresencis Dedula, and Mara Hasan Kamad, 11, a sidewalk vendor.
The injured victims were taken to six different hospitals.
