MANILA, Philippines – Gunmen ambushed a truckload of policemen and village guards who helped guard a village festival, killing nine and wounding two others Sunday in a mountainous central Philippine province, officials said.

The gunmen raked the victims' truck with rifle fire before dawn in the foothills of Mount Kanlaon in La Castellana town in Negros Occidental province. Among the dead were a police officer and several village guards, police officer Gary Genelaso said by telephone.

Police set up road checkpoints and launched a manhunt for the attackers, Genelaso said.