Village exec slain

TAGUM CITY -- A former village chief here was shot dead by a still unidentified man on Saturday, police said.

Noel dela Cruz of Barangay Mankilam, now a barangay councilor of Manilam, was riding in tandem on a motorcycle driven by a security escort when ambushed at the vicinity of Purok Lemonsito at around 3:45 p.m., city police chief Supt. Dario Gunabe said on Monday.

The assailant also took the victim’s .45 caliber pistol and a wallet before fleeing. Police were eyeing several angles as the cause for his killing. Frinston Lim, Inquirer Mindanao

Dead shark buried

TACLOBAN CITY -- Fishermen found a dead shark of unknown species Friday night and buried it the following day at a vacant lot owned by the city government.

Noel Ligtas, chief of the law enforcement of the Bantay Dagat task force of the city government, said the shark, weighing about 400 kilos and 17 feet long, was turned over to them by the fishermen an hour after they have discovered it floating off the waters of San Pedro Bay past 7 p.m. Friday.

“The shark was already dead when they discovered it,” Ligtas said. He said they could not establish what caused the shark’s death as it had no wounds.

He said it took seven men to place the shark on a bulldozer that brought it to its final resting place at Jaro Drive, Anibong district. Joey A. Gabieta, Inquirer Visayas

2 robbers slain

NAGA CITY -- Two suspected robbers were killed Friday night inside the Villa Sorabilia Subdivision here after they shot it out with the police regional mobile group and agents of the National Bureau of Investigation.

Lawyer Tomas C. Enrile, head agent of NBI-Legazpi, said Ronald Ruiz Ibarra and Remojo Vibar were cornered in separate streets inside the subdivision as they tried to escape.

Enrile said Ibarra and Vibar were members of the “Ibarra Robbery-Holdup Gang” that has been operating in Albay and Camarines Sur and had robbed a grocery store in Oas, Albay, where two security guards were killed last month. Juan Escandor Jr., Inquirer Southern Luzon

Marijuana seized

QUEZON -- Police found 10 fully grown marijuana plants during a raid on a farm in Barangay Ayusan II, Tiaong town on Friday, and about two kilos of newly harvested marijuana leaves in an abandoned shack in the mountainous part of the village.

The police also found newly uprooted marijuana plants in the area. Marijuana (cannabis sativa) is banned in the country under the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002. Delfin T. Mallari Jr., Inquirer Southern Luzon

3 die in road accident

LAGUNA -- The driver and two passengers of a Honda XRM died after their vehicle slammed into a Mitsubishi L300 van at about 2 a.m. Sunday along the highway in Sitio Camia, Barangay Bubukal in Sta. Cruz, Laguna.

Alvin Chan, a resident of Barangay Bagumbayan, Sta. Cruz, and his passengers, Arlene Djumo and Remedios Ricafrante, were pronounced dead on arrival at the Laguna Provincial Hospital.

Van driver Alberto Miano Jr., 35, surrendered to the Sta. Cruz police and is now under detention.

Town police chief Frederick Mead said it was a case of reckless imprudence resulting in homicide. Maricar Cinco, Inquirer Southern Luzon

3 inmates recaptured

Three more of the 16 inmates who escaped from prison on Oct. 1 have been recaptured since Monday evening, according to Biñan police chief Supt. Mafelino Bazar.

Bazar said Edwin de Vega, Reymundo Salde and Junar Emetrio were back in the Biñan jail.

The Task Force Biñan Jailbreak continued with its operation for the recapture of five more inmates – Angelo Estrella, Adolfo Tamael, Jhonil Otbo, Edwin Osis and Rudy Pagkalinawas – with a P20,000-bounty each. Maricar Cinco, Inquirer Southern Luzon