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Friday, May 16, 2003
Cops eye extortion angle on bus attack
By Jenefer Besere
RATHER than labelling it as the terrorist group's handiwork, police authorities instead theorized that extortion may be the motive behind the torching of a bus on Wednesday morning along the highway of Dinas town heading to Pagadian City.
The passenger bus owned by Armasin Transport and transporting barangay officials of Lucoban in Pagadian was flagged down by eight fully-armed men.
This came even as the military said it is ready for a renewed war against Moro separatist guerrillas if the rebels do not comply with President Arroyo's June 1 ultimatum to cease attacking civilians, a senior officer said Thursday.
"What we plan is not all-out war. We do not want to set Mindanao on fire. We will be punitive and selective in our actions against these kind of incidents," said military vice-chief of staff Lieutenant General Rodolfo Garcia.
Garcia said the burning of the bus "is clearly an act of terrorism," which would not be helpful to the revival of stalled peace talks.
The suspects took whatever cash and valuables they could cart away from the victims which included a barangay chairman of Lucoban and a treasurer who were scheduled to attend a conference.
Pagadian provincial police chief, Supt. Godofredo de los Santos, told dxIF Bombo Radyo in an interview that the suspects may be a band of terrorists since they looked for Sangguniang Bayan Justiniano Armasin during the incident.
Ultimatum
They said they had a score to settle with Armasin. Armasin is the owner of the bus which bandits poured gasoline on before setting it on fire.
The bandits left without hurting any of the passengers. Even this, Delos Santos did not discount the possibility that the robbers also belonged to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
"Sa inisyal nga imbestigasiyon mga MILF pero ato pa na nga i-verify (They could be MILFs if initial investigation has any indication but we have to verify it first)," said de los santos.
The police and military are still hunting down the suspects in a joint pursuit operation.
Meanwhile Garcia told radio station dzRH that they will not disturb as much as possible the public in their war against the Moro separatists.
"We will not disturb (the public) as much as possible. We can localize this conflict. We are not about to go on an all-out war," he said.
President Arroyo's June 1 ultimatum on the MILF to cease attacking civilians and disavow links with foreign and local terrorist groups on pain of being branded as terrorists is seen as effectively crippling chances of further peace talks.
Shortage
Arroyo on Tuesday issued the ultimatum after a series of raids and bombing incidents blamed on the MILF in the southern island of Mindanao, which have claimed almost a hundred lives since March.
But Garcia said the burning of the bus should not be considered a rejection of Arroyo's ultimatum.
"The ultimatum is there for June 1. Maybe they have not yet gotten the message. We will give them the benefit of the doubt. We will wait for June 1," he remarked.
Critics have questioned whether the poorly-equipped military can handle renewed hostilities with the 12,500-strong rebel group.
The MILF has been waging a 25-year rebellion to set up an Islamic state in Mindanao.
Defense officials have previously said that the air force has a shortage of air transport assets.
Garcia said "the air force is doing the best that it can, given the limitations of our capabilities but we are doing very well in that particular regard."
"Our air force elements can respond quickly if our ground forces need them," he added. With AFP
(May 16, 2003 issue)
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