In Tacurong City, Sultan Kudarat, a bomb inside a passenger bus exploded on Sunday at noon, killìng one person and injuring at least ten others, according to police.

At 11:45 a.m., the improvised explosive device (IED) is believed to have detonated. as the Yellow Bus Line (YBL) vehicle traveling in Barangay New Isabela and carrying more than 30 passengers approached the Tacurong City Integrated Transport Terminal

“No one has claimed responsibility (for the bombing), we are still investigating,” Col. Christopher Bermudez, provincial director of the Sultan Kudarat police, said

Maj. Gen. Rey Galido, commander of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, told reporters that they were collaborating with the police to take action against potential suspects.

He said that they were constantly reminding YBL to tighten its security protocols and refrain from picking up passengers outside of the predetermined pickup locations.

“We have constantly reminded them to follow strictly their policy. It’s part of their policy to pick up passengers only on defined pickup points for the inspection,” he stated.

According to Bermudez, the explosion happened at the back of the bus, which was traveling to Tacurong City from Koronadal City in South Cotabato.

A male passenger passed away immediately, and seven people—six women and four men, including three minors—were injured in the explosion and taken to St. Louis Hospital, which is just 400 meters away. The victims’ names have not yet been made public by the police.

“(There was a) very loud explosion, (it was) deafening; then I heard children crying and yelling for help,” During a radio interview, one of the travelers said something in the local dialect.

According to Bermudez, investigators are still attempting to identify the attàckers and ascertain their intentions.

“But obviously, it was meant to harm or kìll people,” he stated. “We are looking at extortìon as a possible motive, but we are still digging deeper.”

However, YBL’s operations manager, Bernard Bolanio, stated: “We have no extortion demand, and we have received no threàts from any group.”

However, he also claimed that a number of the company’s vehicles, which travel the Davao-General Santos-Koronadal-Tacurong-Kidapawan route, had previously been the target of bombings and arson attàcks.

Police believed that a YBL bus with the body number 0288 that caught fire in Tupi, South Cotabato, on Friday night had likely been set on fire.

The car suddenly caught fire as it was traveling toward General Santos City, according to the Tupi police. Before the fire completely destroyed the bus, all of the passengers were able to get off.

Earlier this year, three YBL buses were the target of alleged bombers. Of the three, two Kidapawan City-born vehicles were spared when IEDs planted inside their compartments failed to detonate.

At noon on May 26, an IED exploded inside a YBL bus that was traveling along Gensan Drive in Koronadal City.

The attàck was attributed to the Dawlah Islamiyah Mindanao, according to Brig. Gen. Eduardo Gubat, who was then serving as acting commander of the Joint-Task Force Central. He claimed that the group used distraction tactics following a series of military operations against them in the Liguasan Marsh in southern Mindanao, which included the provinces of Cotabato, Maguindanao, and Sultan Kudarat.

Only YBL, one of the four bus companies operating on the General Santos City-Koronadal-Tacurong route, including the Mindanao Star, Husky Bus, and Rural Transit, has experienced bombings and arson on a regular basis over the past two years.

The Bangsamoto Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), a local terrorist organization known for detonating IEDs on civilians, have also come under suspicion by the police.

The most recent bombing occurred the day after fighting in Maguindanao claimed the lives of a soldier and five BIFF members.