Thursday, December 20, 2007 Armed men burn PUJ By Ben Serrano Caraga Correspondent
CARMEN, Agusan del Norte -- Unidentified armed men disguised as passengers burned a Butuan City-bound passenger jeepney in Sitio Kabangkalan, Barangay Rojales this town at 4 p.m. last December 18, police said.
Carmen Municipal Police Office said the passenger jeepney with 20 passengers on board including the suspects traveled along national highway from Gingoog City bound Butuan City when it was stopped by the armed suspects.
The suspects ordered the driver to turn right until they reached the mountainous area of Sitio Kabangkalan and told him to stop the vehicle and drop off the passengers.
The unidentified armed men poured gasoline on the vehicle then torched it with a lighter and then immediately fled. No one was harmed.
Police identified the passenger jeepney driver as Rolando Pilapil Jr., a resident of Barangay Sta. Cruz, Magsaysay, Misamis Oriental.
The jeepney with plate number LYF 304 was registered in the name of Alvin A. Ocot of Poblacion, Magsayasay, Misamis Oriental.
The vehicle was one in a fleet of passenger jeepneys owned by the family of Magsaysay, Misamis Oriental Municipal Mayor Gerardo Ocot plying the Magsaysay-Gingoog-Butuan City routes.
The police said they have yet to verify reports that the torching was done by the communist New People's Army (NPA) rebels which ignored a ceasefire offer from the national government and vowed to continue their operations.
