A Philippine congressman and two others are dead after a powerful explosion detonated near an entrance to the House of Representatives in Manila late Tuesday, officials said.

Police inspect one of the entrances of the Philippine House of Representatives in Quezon City, north of Manila, which was damaged by an explosion on Tuesday.
(Perfecto Camero/Associated Press)

The blast happened outside the south wing of the building around 8 p.m. local time, minutes after the end of a legislative session.

A Philippine congressman who had been targeted by Muslim militants was among those killed, police said. Rep. Wahab Akbar, a former member of a Muslim rebel group that signed a peace accord with the government in 1996, died at the hospital, his chief of staff said.

Metropolitan Manila police Chief Geary Barias said a lawmaker's driver and a congressional staff member also were killed. Seven other people were wounded, including two congresswomen.

Barias told local radio that Akbar, a legislator and former governor of the southern Basilan province, was the target of the attack. He's been targeted in the past for launching offensives against the Abu Sayyaf Muslim extremist group.

"From what we saw, it looks like congressman Akbar was the target of the attack," Barias told local radio, according to Reuters.

Local media identified Akbar as the lawmaker who died of his wounds, but police have not confirmed that.

Local TV station ABS-CBN said at least three legislators were among the injured.

"I heard it and I felt the blast, although I was on the other side of the building. The ceiling of the canopy near the south wing entrance came down," Rep. Teodoro Casino told the Associated Press.

Police cordoned off the area of Quezon City in suburban Manila where the building is located as they searched for clues. The cause of the blast was not immediately known.

"If this is terrorist action or work of an anarchist I'm sure it was deliberately done to cow us," House Speaker Jose de Venecia said at the site.

The blast comes a day after President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo faced her third impeachment complaint. She is accused of massive corruption, bribery and human rights violations. Two previous impeachment bids failed on technicalities.

The capital has also been jittery after an explosion in October at a shopping mall in its financial district killed 11 people and injured more than 100. A preliminary police report deemed it an accident.

With files from the Associated Press