Injured	Killed
0	4

Date: 26 August 2010
Source: http://www.gmanews.tv/story/199440/4-shot-dead-in-predawn-bus-attack-in-lanao

At least four people, two of them police marshals, were shot dead after armed men posing as checkpoint team personnel attacked a passenger bus in Lanao del Norte province before dawn Thursday.

Lanao del Norte provincial police chief Senior Superintendent Orlando Vinas said police are following leads on the suspects’ identities and motive.

“Malungkot ang sitwasyon, apat ang namatay. Sa hospital dinala ang isang pulis, tumawag ang investigator doon pero patay na pala siya (What happened was very sad. Four were killed. One of the police marshals was rushed to a hospital but we learned he had also died),” Vinas said in an interview on dzBB radio.

He said the incident occurred in Balili village in Kapatagan town at about 1:20 a.m.

The bus was heading from Cagayan de Oro City to Zamboanga at the time, he said.

While he did not immediately name the fatalities, a separate report on Bombo Radyo identified the slain policemen as PO3 Rosalito Ubatay and PO2 Jovito Cabigas.

Citing initial reports reaching him, Vinas said the suspects wore fatigue uniforms and did not declare any holdup after entering the bus. 

He said the attackers had a sign that indicated they were manning a police checkpoint.

Vinas said the suspects merely told the bus passengers to get off, then opened fire on the police marshals, who he said were in uniform.

He said they deployed police marshals on buses after a holdup incident occurred along the highway last August 1.

The bus passengers were brought to a nearby police station, he said. — LBG/RSJ, GMANews.TV