[5][6][7] The National Democratic Front of the Philippines denounced unspecific characterization by the military of the explosive involved as anti-personnel mine without any qualifier; saying that the NPA only used command-detonated landmines, which required to be manually activated, which the group insist are "legitimate tools of warfare".
At Purok 4 in Barangay Anas of the same city, a bomb planted by the New People's Army (NPA) exploded killing Keith and Nolven Absalon and injuring the latter's 16-year old son.
[16] The Makabayan bloc of the House of Representatives condemned the blast which they characterize as a "military action" by the NPA while also welcoming the communist group's apology saying they are looking forward to "full and impartial investigation into the incident".
They also urged the victims of the blast to file complaint to the Joint Monitoring Committee (JMC) which deals with cases on alleged non-compliance of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and the NPA, or the government and its security forces on the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL).
It also called for the "full reactivation" of the JMC and the resumption of peace talks between the Philippine government and the CPP-NPA citing "The Absalons' deaths and the rising number of CARHRIHL violations by the PNP-AFP".
[20] A nationwide cycling event initiated by various local and national government agencies named the "Bike for Peace and Justice for Kieth Absalon" was held on July 17, 2021, as a protest against the CPP-NPA.