Armed men torch 10 buses in Laguna

LAGUNA, Philippines – Armed men posing as police officers burned 10 passenger buses after disarming five security guards in a raid on the garage of the two bus companies in Pagsanjan town, shortly after midnight yesterday.

At least ten to 15 unidentified men wearing shorts and camouflage uniform arrived in two vehicles at the motor pool of the HM and Green Star bus lines in Barangay Biñan at about 1:20 a.m., said Laguna police director Senior Superintendent Pascual Muñoz.

“They introduced themselves as lawmen claiming to have an operation on illegal drugs. They immediately proceeded to their target area where the HM buses were parked,” Muñoz told The STAR.

Superintendent Kirby John Kraft, provincial intelligence chief, said at least five armed men entered the 2-hectare motor pool while the other suspects disarmed the five guards.

Kraft said the armed men ordered the workers to leave the area before they set the 10 HM buses on fire.

He said there were 67 HM and 50 Green Star buses in the motor pool. No casualties were reported as a result of the incident.

After the burning, the armed men fled toward Magdalena town without taking any property or money from the company.

Labor dispute eyed

Muñoz said police are eyeing the dispute between two labor groups as the motive for the attack.

He said the HM bus company, owned by Homer Mercado, has two employees’ union groups. He said one of the groups alleged that cheating occurred during a recent election.

“The officials and members of the losing group thought the HM management had a hand in the cheating that resulted in the victory of the pro-company group,” Kraft said.

He said the losing group had expressed dismay over the HM bus company and distributed leaflets accusing the firm of meddling in the elections.

Kraft told The STAR that the owner of the company believed the incident was an offshoot of the union dispute and not a rebel attack.

Muñoz said police have yet to rule out rebel attack and business rivalry as motive for the bus burning. –Ed Amoroso (The Philippine Star)