Alleged members of the New Peoples Army (NPA) burned down an air-conditioned bus going to Koronadal City on Tuesday, December 13, terrifying passengers and the bus driver who ran away.
The 35-seater public bus operated by the Yellow Line Inc., has passengers coming from the town of Isulan when various men hailed the bus, acting like the usual passengers from everyday. When the bus stopped at the terminal of Sto. Nino, another group of men broke inside the bus, carrying gallons of gasoline.
According to a police report, the men identified themselves as members of the NPA. They let the terrified passengers and the driver run away as they poured the gasoline in and out of the bus and lit it with matches, setting fire to the vehicle.
They burned the bus near a cemetery at the Purok Pioneer, Barangay Poblacion bayan ng Sto. Niño, South Cotabato at around 6:00 in the evening.
Senior Supt. Franklin Alvero, South Cotabato police director called the attention of the suspects to stop their criminal acts because people in their community rely on public transportation for their everyday activities.
Last year, same thing happened at a pineapple plantation in General Santos City when a group of men suspected to be communist guerrillas burned three heavy equipment used in harvesting crops owned by a private company.
Three suspected NPA members siphoned the fuel off the tank from one of the vehicles in the area and used it to set on fire one bulldozer, a tractor and a ‘Saddam’ truck owned by the company.