MASBATE – Heavily-armed men torched a three-room public school building in a remote village in Dimasalang town late Monday, a military official said.
Colonel Alvin Tiamwatt, Task Force Masbate chief, said the gunmen numbering about 10, attacked the village and set fire the rooms at the Gait Elementary School in Barangay Gaid, Dimasalang.
Witnesses said the gunmen fired shots in the air before leaving the area.
Responding police and military investigators recovered gasoline containers at the fire scene.
The school can accommodate at least 248 schoolchildren said Enna Cabintoy, the school’s head teacher. “Starting today, classes will be conducted in makeshift huts and under the shades of the trees”, she said.
Major General Ruperto Pabustan, Army’s 9th Infantry Division commander ordered a thorough investigation on the incident. (VR/Sunnex)