“Terror Rears It’s Ugly Head Again!”
After almost two years of relative peace and security in Central Mindanao, a suspected terror group engaged in extortion shocked residents of North Cotabato yesterday when they burned a passenger bus killing three people who were trapped inside.
A report submitted to the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) by M’lang Vice Mayor Joselito Piñol who responded to the scene right after the incident said two others were injured, including an old woman.
The bus, owned by Yellow Bus Line based in Koronadal, South Cotabato was traveling along the national highway in Bialong, M’lang when it stopped to allow the bus inspector to alight, according to police reports quoted by Vice Mayor Piñol.
He said one of the suspects who was riding tandem in a motorcycle entered the bus and doused gasoline then lighted it as he got off and escaped on board a motorcycle.
The bus only had 10 passengers but those who were killed and injured were trapped inside the burning bus, in full view of civilians who watched helplessly.
A BFP firetruck which rushed to the scene failed to save the victims as the fire gutted the bus quickly.
This is the second incident involving a bus owned by YBL.
Last month, another YBL bus was bombed in Tulunan town killing a vendor by the side of the highway.
While the bus company owners have not confirmed it, the incidents are believed to have been perpetrated by a terror group involved in extortion victimizing transport groups, business establishments and even several local governments in the past.
The group demanded money with the threat of undertaking bombings if the demands were not met.
The group was inactive for sometime until the recent closure of three huge banana plantations in Central Mindanao which dislocated some 3,500 workers many of them former rebel combatants.
The Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process had earlier warned that the joblessness and the economic difficulties in the area could threaten the peace and security of the area.
I call on all government agencies operating in the area to help the MinDA in implementing the instructions of President Rodrigo Duterte to ensure the sustainability of our peace gains in the region.
We cannot go back to the days of terror which stunted our economic growth and made the lives of our people miserable.
Sec. Emmanuel F. Piñol, PhD
Chairman, Mindanao Development Authority
(Photos of the bus burning were submitted by the Office of the Vice Mayor of M’lang while other were downloaded from Facebook.)
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