Bomb explodes near private airport in Palawan

PUERTO PRINCESA CITY — A home-made bomb exploded Tuesday night near a private airport of the mining company Rio Tuba Nickel Corporation in Palawan’s southernmost town of Bataraza, about 225 kilometers from this city. No one was reported hurt.

Provincial police director Superintendent Atanacio Macalan said in a radio interview Thursday that the explosion occurred at around 11 p.m. in a remote area near the private airstrip.

Macalan said their initial investigation showed that the improvised explosive device was made out ammonium nitrate “similar to the type of bomb used in illegal fishing.”

Macalan said they have not yet established the identity of the suspect, but expressed that the motive of the explosion “could be related to the coming local elections.”

“We are not ruling out the possibility that it is election-related,” he said.