Bus marshals deployed in Zamboanga peninsula

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines — Security has been intensified at transport terminals in Zamboanga peninsula following a bus bombing in Maguindanao on Sunday that left six passengers wounded.

Joint Task Force Zamboanga commander Col. Randolph Rojas said bus operators would have close coordination with the police and military as part of the security measures.

Zamboanga City police director Col. Alexander Lorenzo said security has been beefed up at the Integrated Bus Terminal in this city, which serves as the main transit point of big bus companies operating in Mindanao and the Visayas.

“The preemptive measures are not just for the safety and protection of the passengers but also the transportation facilities,” Lorenzo said.

Reports from the Maguindanao police showed that 23 passengers were about to disembark  from a Rural Bus Tours bus plying the General Santos-Dipolog City route at Niño Eatery for breakfast when an improvised explosive device (IED) went off.

Reward up

The municipal government of Parang offered yesterday a reward of P50,000 for information leading to the arrest of the perpetrators of the bus bombing.

Parang Mayor Cahar Ibay, chairman of the municipal peace and order council, said he would release the amount once the culprit is identified and arrested.

The Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) released on Monday a cartographic image and photos of a suspect, which were based on footage of closed-circuit television cameras at the scene.

The suspect was said to have boarded the bus, planted two IEDs and got off before the bomb exploded. Only one IED went off.

The bus was bound for Pagadian City in Zamboanga del Sur when the bombing occurred.

Brig. Gen. Arthur Cabalona, BARMM police director, said their counterparts in the military are helping in the manhunt for the suspect.

Cabalona said there are indications that a group against the operation of the Rural Tours bus company on the Dipolog-Pagadian-Cotabato-General Santos route could be behind the bombing. – John Unson