Bus fare collector killed by robbers in Negros Occidental town

BACOLOD CITY, Negros Occidental, Philippines—Four unidentified armed men killed a fare collector on Monday night after staging a robbery inside a passenger bus in Barangay Punta Mesa, Manapla town in Negros Occidental.

Ricardo Despi was stabbed twice in the chest after the robbers divested him of about P9,000 in fare collected from the passengers of Ceres Liner bus, said Insp. Julius Caesar Colado, Manapla police chief.

The robbers also took the money and belongings of the passengers, he added. Police said the four robbers boarded the Ceres Liner bus at the Manapla town proper about 7:30 p.m. The bus, which came from Escalante City, was heading to Bacolod.

The four men announced a hold-up when the bus reached along the national highway in Hacienda Lourdes, Barangay Punta Mesa, in Manapla.

The robbers, who were in their 20s, were armed with a revolver, homemade shotgun, locally known as sulpak, and bladed weapons. They then took the money from Despi as well as the cellular phones and wallets of the passengers.

One of the robbers stabbed Despi twice in the chest. Another passenger was grazed by a bladed weapon while being divested of his cellular phone by the robbers.

The police said one of the robbers fired his gun while they were escaping.
Despi, a resident of Sagay City, was brought by the passengers to the police station in Victorias City.

The police there then brought the bus collector to the hospital where he died.