Suspected NPAs torch bus in North Cotabato; no one harmed

KIDAPAWAN CITY – Suspected New People’s Army rebels on Monday torched a passenger bus in Makilala, North Cotabato, police said.

Supt. Romeo Galgo, spokesperson of the police in Central Mindanao, said the suspects flagged down the Davao City-bound Yellow Bus in Barangay San Vicente in Makilala at 8:30 a.m. Monday.

Galgo, quoting a report from the North Cotabato police, said the bus with about a dozen passengers, was commandeered by the gunmen and driven to a remote sub-village, where the rebels poured gasoline on the vehicle before setting it on fire.

The driver and the passengers were unharmed.

Galgo said the attackers belonged to the NPA’s Guerrilla Front 72 operating in Makilala and in Bansalan in Davao del Sur.

The attack came five days after NPA rebels killed four policemen in an ambush in Bansalan. SFM/rga