KIDAPAWAN CITY, Philippines—North Cotabato Governor Emmylou Talino-Mendoza urged the police to activate a program for marshals that would be deployed to buses to thwart attacks like last week’s bombing that ripped through a Rural Transit Bus and killed 10 people.

Mendoza said marshals would be effective deterrents against such attacks.

“The marshal service is a practical and sensible solution to the growing number of hooligans—terrorists, armed robbers and extortionists—preying on buses not just in Mindanao, but also in Metro Manila and other parts of the country,” Mendoza said in a press statement.

The blast, that also wounded 30 others in Matalam town, was the latest attack by suspected extortion syndicates against bus companies operating in southern and central Mindanao.

Since 2006, dozens of people had died or were wounded in similar attacks.

“The people are tired and sick of these attacks … These are difficult times that call for highly aggressive countermeasures,” Mendoza said.

She said marshals should need no backup and have the highest level of handgun precision skills.

“They should integrate with commuters and rely on extraordinary training,” said the governor.

Mendoza said the training of the marshals could be done jointly by Philippine National Police and the Department of Transportation and Communications.

She said the marshal program could be integrated with another that President Aquino ordered launched following the government’s mishandling of a hostage crisis in Manila that led to the deaths of Hong Kong tourists, and a black eye for the Philippines in the international community.

Mendoza said the marshal service “should proactively place highly-capable officers, whose sole mandate is to seek out, spot and thwart potential threats to buses and their riders.”

“This is definitely better than the police just passively waiting for the next bomb attack, and then trying to run after the outlaws,” she said.

In the local level, Mendoza said civilian officials should draft extra security measures with the help of police and transport companies.

At a meeting on Friday with police, military and bus operators, Mendoza said CCTV cameras should be installed in terminals and buses. Local governments, she said, should pass decrees meting out harsh penalties for security lapses.

“Bus operators and their crew are our first line of defense against potential threats,” she said.

“Another line of defense is of course a highly vigilant commuting public. But our best line of defense should be a marshal service,” she said.

The former operations manager of Weena Bus Co. in Cotabato City has surfaced to deny any link to the October 21 explosion aboard the Tacurong City-bound Rural Transit bus in Matalam, North Cotabato.

At least 11 people—10 killed instantly—died in the explosion blamed on an extortion gang. Rolando Pinsoy with a report by Carlo Agamon, Inquirer Mindanao