GENERAL SANTOS CITY – Police said the bombing that killed four men in a tuna cannery here could be related to a labor dispute in the canning company.

Authorities earlier said the bomb attack was the work of terrorists.

An improvised explosive device (IED) exploded near the plant of the Philbest Canning Corp. in Barangay Bawing, killing four and wounding 27.

Chief Supt. Felizardo Serapio, Central Mindanao police director, said police found that 18 workers who had been fired from the canning firm had filed a case against the RD Fishing Corp., a subsidiary of the RD Group of Companies that owns the Philbest.

Serapio said the court decided in favor of RD Fishing Corp. but the dismissed workers had filed an appeal.

In August 2004, close to 200 fishing workers of RD Tuna Ventures in Papua New Guinea took control of the company’s 15 fishing vessels to protest alleged abuses by the firm.

The labor dispute, however, was peacefully resolved when the Department of Foreign Affairs interceded.

Mayor Pedro Acharon said the labor dispute was being looked into as an angle in the bomb attack.

But Felipe Macaldo Jr., RD legal officer, said he was sure the bombing was an act of terror.

“Plain and simple, it was a random, barbaric terrorist attack,” he said.

He said the firm has no pending labor case and that it has been treating its workers fairly.

Macaldo also denied rumors that the bomb explosion was linked to the company’s refusal to heed demands made by an extortion group.

He said the company has received no demand from any extortion group.

Serapio and Acharon said they respected company officials’ views, but that there was no indication the bombing was a terror attack.

Serapio said terrorists could have planted the bomb in a more populated area, if they were indeed behind it.

Acharon said RD Corp. officials could just be trying to protect their company’s image, adding that it was a normal thing to do.

Rodrigo Rivera Sr., president of the RD Group of Companies, said his firm was concentrating on helping victims of the explosion.

He said his firm would pay for burial and hospital expenses.

“This is neither a promise nor a pledge, but a commitment and a social corporate responsibility that the group will not run away from,” he said.