KIDAPAWAN CITY – The days of the three suspects, who burned a YBL Bus Liner and killed three passengers, are now numbered as the City and Provincial Government raised P200K bounty for their immediate arrests.
M’lang Mayor Russel Abonado and North Cotabato Governor Nancy Catamco offered P100K each as a bounty for anyone who can lead to the arrest of the three suspects, who eluded arrest from responding police officers after they torched a bus for still unknown reasons.
Initial investigations disclosed that a YBL Bus with 10 onboard passengers was traversing the national highway along Barangay Bialong at around 4pm last Thursday, when suddenly two unidentified suspects boarded the bus and quarreled with the bus conductor.
A passenger only known as ‘Cecile’ said the man then ordered all 10 passengers to proceed to the rear portion of the bus.
“Move toward the back for I will set you all on fire,” she quoted the man as saying while splashing what looked like gasoline into the bus seats.
Cecille said one of the two arsonists lit a lighter and tossed it to the seats, causing a blaze inside the bus.
“We will not stop until the perpetrators are behind bars and justice is given to the victims of this heinous crime,” the mayor told reporters.
Meanwhile, Governor Catamco has condemned the attack and directed the provincial police to conduct a thorough investigation “to achieve justice to the victims of this unacceptable criminal act.” She provided financial assistance to relatives of those who died in the attack.
One of the passengers claimed that the bus was at a full stop as the bus inspector was about to get off along Bialong village when two men quickly boarded and had an altercation with the bus conductor.
After putting the bus on fire, the two suspects jumped off from the bus and boarded a motorcycle already waiting and driven by the third suspect.
It was learbed the Koronadal City-based YBL has been receiving extortion demands from several extortion groups asking for “protection money”. (PNA)
