Ceres bus conductor stabbed dead in rob

BACOLOD CITY — A fare collector of a Ceres Liner bus died after he was stabbed by one of four armed men who held up the bus along the national highway in Manapla town, Negros Occidental Monday night.

Inspector Julius Caesar Colado, Manapla police chief, identified the fatality as Ricardo Despi, who was stabbed twice in the chest by one of the four suspects, after he was divested of about P9,000.

Despi, a resident of Sagay City, was declared dead on arrival at the Ika-ayong Lawas Hospital in Victorias City, Colado said.

The police said the assailants boarded the bus that came from Escalante City and was bound for the poblacion of Manapla. The four, who appeared to be in their 20s, announced a holdup around 7:30 p.m. when they reached Hacienda Lourdes in barangay Punta Mesa.

They brandished their weapons-a revolver, a homemade shotgun, locally known as sulpak, and knvives- and divested Despi and the passengers of their money and cellular phones. The four assailants had handkerchiefs covering their faces while some wore caps.

A passenger, whose identity was not available, was slightly injured by a bladed weapon while he was divested of his cellular phone. It has yet to be established if Despi fought back. /INQUIRER