Bus torched in Lanao; 2 cops gunned down

MANILA, Philippines - Unidentified armed men stopped a passenger bus in Lanao del Norte early yesterday and killed the bus driver, the conductor and two police marshals.

Reports reaching Camp Crame said the armed men later torched the RTMI bus (body number 1516).

According to reports, the bus was passing through Barangay Balili in Kapatagan town at about 1:20 a.m. when it was stopped by armed men manning a checkpoint. It was at this point when the gunmen shot dead the unidentified bus driver and conductor and the two police marshals identified as PO3 Rosalito Obatay and PO3 Jovito Cabigas.

Senior Superintendent Orlando Benas, police provincial director said the passenger bus was headed for Zamboanga City from Cagayan de Oro City and when it reached Barangay Balili in Kapatagan town, armed rebels stopped the bus and ordered all passengers to come down.

However, the rebels were able to identify two policemen who were among the passengers and shot them, together with the driver and conductor. The police did not release the names of the casualties as of press time.

Based on initial investigations, the alleged rebels were wearing camouflaged uniforms and claimed to be members of the New People’s Army (NPA). They established a checkpoint along the highway and stopped the passenger bus before shooting the victims and torching the bus. However, reports also showed that extortion could have been the motive and the police is still investigating the case further.

Police said the bus attacked Thursday was traveling from Cagayan de Oro to Zamboanga city in Lanao del Norte, where Muslim rebels and criminal gangs operate – when it was flagged down at a road checkpoint by gunmen in police uniforms.

Benas said the marshals were deployed on regional buses plying the same highway after gunmen early this month held up a bus to extort money from passengers. – With Alexis Romero