Armed men torch another passenger bus in Sarangani

From the Philippine News Agency (Jan 6): Armed men torch another passenger bus in Sarangani

Unidentified armed men burned another passenger bus in an outskirt village of Kiamba town in Sarangani Province on Thursday night.

Sr. Insp. Rey Salgado, chief of the Kiamba municipal police station, said at least eight heavily-armed suspects flagged down and torched a unit of the Yellow Bus Line (YBL) Inc. in a portion of Barangay Nalus at around 6:50 p.m.

He said the YBL bus unit with body number A-69 originated in this city and was en route to Maitum town in Sarangani when the incident happened.

Salgado said a passenger initially asked to disembark along the national highway in Purok Yakal, Sitio Linek in Barangay Nalus, Kiamba.

Upon stopping, several armed men boarded the bus and ordered its 19 passengers to disembark, he said.

“One of the suspects pointed a gun at the driver and told him not to resist as they were only after the bus unit,” he said.

The police official said the suspects torched the bus unit using kerosene and hastily left the area.
 
Sr. Supt. Joseph Semillano, Sarangani provincial police director, said they are still determining the identities of the suspects, which were believed to be members of the New People’s Army (NPA).

On Nov. 24, suspected NPA rebels also torched a YBL bus unit bound for this city in Barangay Katubao in Kiamba.

Police earlier filed arson charges against 13 alleged members of the NPA’s Front 73 in connection with the incident.

“Our investigation is still ongoing as to the perpetrators and if they belong to any (organized) group,” Semillano said.

He said they could not yet link the incident to the killing on Thursday of Mohammad Jaafar Sabewang Maguid alias Tokboy, founder and leader local terror group Ansar Al-Khilafah Philippines (AKP).

Maguid was killed while three alleged members of the group were arrested in a joint police and military operation past midnight at the Angel Beach Resort in Barangay Kitagas, Kiamba.

AKP, which had pledged support to the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, was blamed over a string of terror attacks in Sarangani and the neighboring areas since 2008.

Since November, eight passenger bus units were already burned in different parts of Region 12 and the neigboring areas by suspected NPA rebels.

Six of the buses were owned by YBL, which is based in Koronadal City, while the two others were owned by this city’s Husky Biocoop.

Suspected NPA rebels also torched a number of heavy equipment in separate attacks in this city, Koronadal City, and in the provinces of South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat and Sarangani.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=2&sid=&nid=2&rid=953118