ZAMBOANGA City Mayor Celso Lobregat tasked the local police based in the city's east coast area to conduct a thorough probe over the recent ambush of an inter-provincial passenger bus.
Lobregat said he wanted that the suspects be unmasked, arrested, and for the police to file the corresponding criminal case against them in court.
The fare collector, identified as Lombos Tonio, of the Rural Transit Management, Inc. (RTMI) passenger bus was wounded when a group of gunmen ambushed the bus Thursday evening.
The RTMI bus was en route to Zamboanga City coming from Dipolog City, the capital of Zamboanga del Norte, when it was ambushed upon reaching Sitio Marangan, Tagasilay village, 61 kilometers east of the city.
Lobregat met with Police Station 1 commander Domingo Arguilla to get an update on the incident.
Lobregat expressed concern over the incident as he urged the police to tighten their watch against highway attackers and other lawless elements and to undertake measures to ensure that there will be no similar incidents in the future.
He also said that residents should help and cooperate with the authorities by giving information concerning the whereabouts as well as identities of the malefactors.
He said peace and security should be a shared responsibility of all stakeholders and not merely of the police and other law enforcement agencies.
He also visited the four policemen who were injured in a freak accident while conducting a follow-up investigation on the incident.
The four policemen were injured when the vehicle they were riding fell into a ravine. (Bong Garcia)