NPA disowns Zambo hostage takers

ILIGAN CITY — The communist New People’s Army (NPA) joined government troops in tracking down the three gunmen who hijacked a bus loaded with passengers in Labangan, Zamboanga del Sur last Tuesday.

Speaking over radio station dxDD yesterday, Ismael Marte of the NPA Western Mindanao Front said the three hostage takers were part of a bandit group behind a spate of highway robbery incidents in Misamis Occidental.

Marte claimed two passenger buses were robbed by the bandits in Dipolog City and Bonifacio last week, prompting the military and the police to set up checkpoints in the area.

Marte denied the three were NPA guerrillas as was earlier claimed by the gunmen.

He said the NPA had already fielded teams to track down the three hijackers who reportedly fled to a remote area in Lakewood town.

Sources said the NPA became angry after one of the gunmen claimed they were communist guerrillas.

Some of the former hostages and bus drivers plying the route who were able to witness the two-day hostage drama also claimed that the three were plain robbers.

The gunmen seized the air-conditioned Rural Transit Bus shortly before passing a police checkpoint near the town of Sapang Dalaga last Tuesday.

Police originally thought the hostage-taking incident was a robbery attempt that had gone wrong.

Authorities initially reported the suspects were guerrillas who were planning to torch the bus.

One of the gunmen who identified himself as "Jun-Jun" told a local radio station that they panicked when the bus approached a police checkpoint and decided to commandeer the vehicle.

Jun-Jun claimed they were communist guerrillas but Marte also denied they were among the NPA fighters.

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) also denied the gunmen were its guerrillas.

MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu pointed out an existing agreement with the government to track down criminals in their areas of control.

Kabalu added the gunmen involved in the hijacking incident could have been plain robbers who were forced to take the passengers hostage in order to escape.

Police on Thursday formed "Task Force Tugis" to track down the gunmen, a day after the would-be kidnappers successfully threw off pursuers and released all their 12 hostages in their bid to escape. — With Richel Umel