Five fully armed men held up a Cagayan de Oro-bound bus boarded by Boholano students and teachers about 12 noon yesterday in barangay Ugalingan, Carmen town in North Cotabato . The victims attended the secondary press conference in Koronadal, a town about 56 kilometers from General Santos City and is the capital of South Cotabato.

The contingent of Boholano teachers and students came from the different schools of this city and part of the delegation representing Central Visayas. This information was relayed to the Post last night by Police Inspector Renante Cabico, Carmen chief of police, who was contacted by Bebeth Sales Canlas, daughter of lawyer Isabelo Sales, Jr., who is now stationed in General Santos City as corporate communication officer of the Transmission Corp. formerly National Power Corp. (Napocor). It was Canlas who arranged the Post interview with the Carmen police chief where he narrated the full details of the hold up.

The bus, a Rural Transit Liner, sister company of the Bacolod-based Ceres Bus Lines was loaded with other press con participants when held up by the armed men. The robbers were armed with four 45 cal. pistols and one .38 cal revolver. According to Police Inspector Cabico, the robbers carted away an undetermined amount of cash, jewelries, ATM cards, credit cards and other personal belongings. Of the 10 robbery victims from Bohol , seven are students while the rest are teachers-escorts. They were among the participants representing the Visayas during the National Schools Press Conference hosted by Koronadal City, South Cotabato last February 18 to 22.

BOHOL ENTOURAGE

The Bohol entourage aboard the ill-fated bus was part of the 26 other passengers, that left Koronadal City for Cagayan de Oro City about 12:00 : noon yesterday. They were identified as Themistocles Bongcac, Ma. Nenita Mandin, Natividad Bagaipo, teacher-coaches; Bjorn Ebojo of Dr. Cecilio Putong National High School; Mark Ed Decierdo of Tagbilaran City Science High School; Gabrielle Dagayan and Darlene Acedo of CVSCAFT-Tagbilaran; Daryl Bernaldez, Cielo Tumale and Nestor Naparota of Holy Name University. Bagaipo, who is the mother of Chronicle ace reporter Kith Bagaipo said the bus they boarded made a stop-over in Kabacan, North Cotabato around noontime for lunch. It was at the Kabacan terminal that the suspects were believed to have boarded the bus and announced the hold upon reaching Carmen town. Travel time from Kabacan to Carmen is about 15 minutes. From Carmen, the bus traverses to Maramag in Bukidnon, passing through its capital Malaybalay and all the way to Cagayan de Oro City.

After having lunch, the passengers boarded back the bus but noticed that there were five new passengers with “suspicious and menacing looks”.. The five men reportedly positioned themselves strategically on the bus. Fifteen minutes later, the bus while navigating an isolated area, Bagaipo said, all the five men stood up and shouted “Hold up ito”. At this point, she and the rest of the passengers noticed that all of the five
men were armed.

The robbers seized all valuables from passengers while they kept shouting instructions for them to put their heads down. In a spot report obtained by the Post from the Carmen police station, it was learned that one passenger identified as Roland diazon, age and address unknown was shot in the breast when he raised his hand apparently as a surrender gesture. He was shot instead and was treated at a Carmen hospital. According to Bagaipo, while the armed men were busy carting away valuables of the passengers, she managed to draw her own cellular phone from her bag and dropped it on the floor. She was hoping then that she can make contact with relatives to relay the information regarding the incident. ”I didn't see what happened to the other passengers as I was bending my head towards the floor, as low as I can,” she said, “but I can hearall their (armed robbers) shouts and threats that they will kill us if
we reported to the police.”

It was Bagaipo, a faculty member of the Dr. Cecilio Putong High School who informed through his cell phone Dr. Elpedio Jala, Bohol division superintendent, about the incident. When it was all over and done with, the robbers fled towards the direction of barangay Kilangan in Pagalungan town, Maguindanao Province . At least three single Honda HRM motorcycles were used as getaway vehicles by the suspects which were parked by the roadside in barangay Gen. Luna. The victims reported the incident at the Carmen Municipal Police Station. Other valuables lost to the robbers were bags and wallets , watches, cellular phones and cameras.

TO THE RESCUE

Upon learning the incident, Cong. Edgar Chatto lost no time in extending financial assistance to the victims. He called up his congressional colleague Rep. Lala Mendoza of North Cotabato to extend whatever help he can give to the victims. Mendoza immediately dispatched a staff who handed P30,000 to the 10 victims from Bohol which will partly shoulder travel expenses going back to Tagbilaran City. They are scheduled to take a ferry service today from Cagayan de Oro to this city.