Three in bus heist flee w/ P90T loot

CEBU, Philippines - Police operatives in Iloilo province are now tracking down three men who robbed passengers of a bus Wednesday morning at Pototan town and ran off with a total of P90,000 loot.

Police reports said the three boarded the Ceres bus (license plate GWX-251 and body number 61016) at the Tagbac Terminal in Jaro district of Iloilo City. The bus was plying the Iloilo City-Caticlan (Malay, Aklan) route and vice versa.

Around 4:20 a.m., while the bus was navigating Barangay Iwa in Pototan, one of the three men, all armed with handguns and a grenade, declared a hold-up.

They reportedly pointed a gun on bus driver Federico Dimo, 47, of  Passi City in Iloilo, and conductor Andi Disalanta, 27, of Dumarao town in Capiz.

They then divested the passengers of cash amounting to P90,000, including the bus fare collection of P7,000, as well as their personal belongings worth a total of about P81,000.

No passenger was reported to be injured, but the robbers, after gathering their loot, alighted at Barangay Libo-o in Dingle town of Iloilo.

Senior Police Officer 3 John Pasaporte, Pototan Police investigator, said the police have now leads on the identities of the three, one of whom had a previous robbery case. Based on the description, given by the passengers and the bus inspector, the three were also responsible for the robbery in Dingle on February 20.  (FREEMAN)