Bus firm garage bombed in Compostela Valley; cops see NPA extortion

By: Frinston Lim - 10 years ago

TAGUM , Davao del Norte, Philippines – Suspected communist rebels lobbed a grenade towards the garage of a bus company in Compostela, Compostela Valley early on Friday, police on Saturday said.

No one was hurt but at least five units of the Golden Valley Bus Liner Inc. sustained minor damage following the pre-dawn explosion at Poblacion village, said Renato Nerves, the company’s operations manager.

Witnesses reported hearing a motorcycle speeding away immediately after the blast tore through the firm’s garage in Purok (Community) 3, Crossing Gabi around 12:25 a.m., according to Senior Inspector Dervy Hortelano, Compostela Valley police chief.

The explosion also broke the jalousie panes of a house within the garage compound, and responding policemen recovered the grenade’s lever and other explosive fragments at the crime scene.

“We’re looking at extortion by the New People’s Army as a possible motive since the company has received extortion demands in the past,”
Hortelano told the Philippine Daily Inquirer by mobile phone.