Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Oscar Albayalde has admitted that a bombing in Isulan City, Sultan Kudarat on Tuesday resulted from failed intelligence.

"They [police] received an information but then again, no matter how much you conduct or implement a target-hardening measure, the incident still occurred because if the criminal group is convinced [that it should] do the operation, they will find ways,” Albayalde said in Filipino on Wednesday morning.

He clarified that only general, not specific, information had been received by police intelligence agents.

"Based on experience, you cannot really distinguish the specific. It’s always in general terms that there is a group planning a bombing incident but you don’t know where so when you get an [intelligence information], you have to validate it,” Albayalde said.

He vowed to strengthen their intelligence gathering and target-hardening measures especially in parts of Mindanao.

Albayalde ordered all regional directors in Mindanao to declare full alert status in their areas after the bombing that killed two persons and injured 37 others.

This means that all policemen will have their days off and vacation leaves canceled.

Under the order, police presence, checkpoints and Operation "Sita” will be strengthened.

"This is our response especially that martial law [in southern Mindanao] has not been lifted,” Albayalde said.

He said one group that they have been monitoring in Mindanao has claimed responsibility for the attack, but they are yet to validate it.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), however, tagged the terrorist Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) as perpetrators of the Isulan attack.

An improvised explosive device was used in the bombing around 9 p.m. near the Land Bank building.

Isulan City was celebrating the Hamungaya Festival at the time of the incident.

Col. Noel Detoyato, AFP public affairs chief, on Tuesday said the military was coordinating with the provincial police of Sultan Kudarat who are leading investigation of the bombing.

"We believe that the terrorist group BIFF is the primary suspect behind this atrocity,” Detoyato told reporters in a news conference at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City.

The BIFF has denied involvement in the incident.

Brig. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana, commander of the Philippine Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said they were eyeing the Abu Sayyaf Group and the Dawlah Islamiyah terrorist groups in the attack.

Also on Wednesday, Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea said the Isulan bombing made the extension of martial law in Mindanao an option.

"[The extension] is an option, but that is there. We are trying to make it as easy as possible without... But if there are cases like this, what will we do? Will we just sit?” Medialdea said in a media interview at the House of Representatives.

"This sign is not good. [There are] lives in danger. There is a feast but there was an explosion. How would you feel?” he added.

Medialdea said recommending another extension of military rule in the region is not necessarily the next move.

In September 2016, President Rodrigo Duterte issued Proclamation 55, which placed Mindanao under a state of national emergency after a bombing in Davao City.

Duterte signed Proclamation 216 on May 23, 2017, which declared martial law and the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus in Mindanao for 60 days in order to stabilize the situation in Marawi City after the terrorist Maute Group tried to take over the city.

The declaration was extended until the end of 2017, then eventually, until the end of 2018.

In the past, Duterte said he will not declare a nationwide martial law because it would "divide the nation.”

Palace spokesman Harry Roque Jr., also on Wednesday denounced the Isulan incident.

In a radio interview aired over dzRH, Roque said the government would leave no stone unturned to find out the assailants behind the attack.

"We will punish them, we will let them feel the strength of our laws and we will send a message that they cannot do that without being punished,” he added.

With reports from AL JACINTO, DEMPSEY REYES AND RALPH U. VILLANUEVA