Tubod, Lanao del Norte – A passenger bus bound for Zamboanga City was attacked by armed men posing as a checkpoint team in Brgy. Balili, Kapatagan at 1:20 a.m. today.

The incident resulted in the deaths of 4 people, including 2 police marshalls. The provincial PNP started deploying police marshals when a bus was also attacked in the same municipality last August 1.

Upon learning of the incident, Gov. Khalid Dimaporo immediately called for an emergency meeting of the municipal peace and order council to address the incident.

“We are not taking this lightly, we are working very hard to contain the situation in Kapatagan and return the safe transit from Cagayan de oro to Zamboanga through Lanao del Norte”, Dimaporo said.

The police fatalities were identified as PO3 Rosalito Obatay and PO3 Jovito Cabigas both members of the Kapatagan Police Station.

Among the directives of Gov. Dimaporo is the establishment of an Area Coordinating Center (ACC) in Kapatagan that will manage the security support from the PNP, AFP and provincial government.

“We need to beef up our road security by conducting regular patrols with the RMG during nighttime especially in Kapatagan national highway to ensure that incidents like this will not happen again”, Dimaporo stressed.

Police forces are still conducting an extensive investigation to identify the perpetrators of the crime. VNL/PIO-LDN