Military explosive was used in the bombing of Batangas Governor Armando Sanchez's vehicle that injured the public official and killed two at the Provincial Capitol, Batangas City of northern Philippines on Thursday evening, police said on Friday.

An improvised bomb containing C-4, a plastic explosive designed for military use, was placed under the governor's new vehicle and detonated via cellular phone, ABS-CBN news quoted the police investigators as saying.

Although authorities have yet to establish a motive for the bombing, regional police chief Prospero Noble told reporters that "government destabilizers" could have planted the bomb.

Two were killed while Governor Sanchez was injured by Thursday's blast that ripped through the governor's vehicle at the Provincial Capitol around 7:00 p.m. Police identified the fatalities as Eric Landicho, Sanchez's bodyguard, and his driver Louie Icaro.

The governor had just left a meeting at the Capitol and went to board his Hummer H2 sport utility vehicle. The vehicle blew up shortly after he boarded it.

Witnesses saw Sanchez's vehicle emitting smoke before it exploded on its way out from the Capitol in Batangas City. The bodyguard managed to push Sanchez out of the vehicle just in time before the blast.

Sanchez was rushed to hospital, suffering second-degree burns but in stable condition, doctors said.

Batangas City is a major port in the southwest of Luzon Island, some 130 kilometers to the south of Manila.

Source: Xinhua