Suspect in Mindanao bus burning nabbed

STA. CRUZ, Philippines – A suspect in the May 22 burning of a General Santos-bound bus here was arrested on Wednesday, the military reported Friday.

Lieutenant Raul Villegas, Civil Military Operations officer of the 39th Infantry Battalion, said Reynaldo Lumagalan, allegedly a former New People’s Army rebel, was arrested in coordination with officials of Barangay (village) Astorga.

He said the suspect yielded an Uzi-type gun t but denied any participation in the burning of the bus. But authorities had evidence that Lumagalan, 26, served as a lookout when his former comrades set the bus on fire, Villegas added.

“He was positively identified as the one of the suspects in that bus burning,” Villegas said.

Lumagalan is still being interrogated and will be charged accordingly, Villegas said.