Weena bus lines bombed in Mindanao, 5 killed

By Ronron
June 15, 2007

Within a 30-minute interval, two Weena Bus units were bombed in Mindanao late Friday afternoon, leaving five people killed and seven others wounded.

The first bomb went off at around 5:30 pm at the Weena Bus terminal in Cotabato City, said city police director Sr. Supt. Paniares Adap.

The explosion happened inside a bus that had just arrived from Davao City.

There were no casualties reported because the passengers had already alighted.

“It was caused by an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) that was left inside the bus by an unidentified passenger,” Adap said in a phone interview.

Adap could not immediately describe the extent of the damage.

Meanwhile, at 6pm, a separate blast hit a Weena Bus unit at Bansalan town in Davao del Sur province.

The ill-fated bus, with body number 1104, came from Cotabato City and was heading for Davao City, said Davao del Sur provincial police director Sr. Supt. Anselmo Pinili in a separate phone interview.

“The reports I received is that nine people died while five others are wounded and were immediately taken to the hospital,” Pinili said.

Bansalan Police chief Sr. Insp. Sherwin Butil said later that only five are confirmed dead and seven others are wounded in the blast.

Butil said the bomb went off immediately after it was taken outside of the bus by the conductor.

A police report from the Police Regional Office 11 said two of the fatalities died on the spot.

Pinili said the blast was also caused by an IED that was left behind by the suspect/s.

Asked for the motive, Pinili said: “This could be partly extortion, and partly terrorism. We still have to investigate further.”

Pinili said he is aware that the owner of the Weena Bus company has been receiving extortion demands from unidentified local criminals.

Asked if the two incidents are related, Adap said: “We still don’t know. We will determine that as the investigation prospers.”

Last Friday, a bus that is affiliated with Weena was also bombed in Matalam, North Cotabato, hurting 10 people.

On May 18, a Weena Bus was also blown off at the Weena Bus Terminal in Cotabato City, killing at least one person and wounding over 30 others.

Investigators on these two earlier bombings were eyeing more on the extortion angle as against terrorism because of the bus owner’s admission that they have been receiving extortion demands from unidentified persons./DMS