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Monday, April 03, 2006
Communist rebels hijack, torch bus in Mindanao
By Al Jacinto
ZAMBOANGA CITY -- Suspected communist insurgents hijacked a provincial bus and then torched the vehicle after briefly holding dozens of passengers as hostages in the southern Philippines, officials said.
Officials said at least four armed men, believed to be members of the outlawed communist New People's Army (NPA), seized the bus late Saturday near San Luis village in the outskirts of Gingoog City in Misamis Oriental, about 122 kilometers east of the provincial capital Cagayan de Oro City.
The insurgents briefly held the passengers at gunpoint and asked them if there were soldiers or policemen or secret marshals in the bus and later freed all the hostages unharmed and then torched the vehicle before escaping.
"No passengers were reported hurt during the incident. The insurgents torched the bus after its owners refused to pay extortion money," said Lt. Col. Francisco Simbajon, spokesman of the Army's 4th Infantry Division.
He said Major General Cardozo Luna, regional military chief, ordered local army battalion commander Colonel Adrelino Colina to strengthen his security in the province and to intensify the operation against the NPA.
Last week, a powerful bomb explosion ripped through a passenger bus in Digos City in Davao del Sur province, wounding at least 17 people.
Authorities offered P100,000 bounty for the capture of the bomber.
Police said the attack was connected to a failed extortion attempt by a shadowy gang called the Urban Tiger Action Group.
The NPA, armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines and the National Democratic Front (CPP-NDF), is fighting for the establishment of a Maoist state in the country.
Peace negotiations between Manila and rebels collapsed in 2004 following the NDF pullout from the talks due to its continued inclusion in the terror lists of the United States and the European Union.
Rebel leaders demanded that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ask the United States and the European Union to strike them off from the terror lists before they resume peace talks.
The rebels stepped up attacks on government targets after Manila suspended safety and immunity guarantee for their negotiators following the collapse of the peace talks. (Sun.Star Zamboanga/Sunnex)
(April 3, 2006 issue)
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