Armed men who torched bus in North Cotabato said they were NPAs – driver

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

KIDAPAWAN CITY, North Cotabato – Armed men who torched a passenger bus in Makilala, North Cotabato, on Monday morning, had introduced themselves as members of the New People’s Army before setting the bus on fire, latest police reports said.

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

Victor Serondo, the bus driver, said six rebels boarded the bus and introduced themselves as members of the NPA, and directed him to drive towards Sitio Bagong Silang in Barangay San Vicente.

“One of the suspects drew a pistol and told me to divert the vehicle to the secluded area towards San Vicente village,” Serondo said.

“The suspects ordered us to vacate the bus and look for a safe place before they set it on fire,” the bus driver narrated.

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