“A lapse in judgment.”
This was the excuse purportedly given by the highest-ranking officer among the 12 Quezon City policemen who were caught on video taking banned firecrackers from a heap confiscated by their colleagues on New Year’s Eve.
President Benigno Aquino III has ordered the Philippine National Police to stop the looting in areas devastated by Typhoon “Pablo,” even as Malacañang cheered the rescue of four survivors.
Hungry and homeless typhoon survivors appealed for help Saturday as the ravaged southern Philippines mourned its more than 500 dead and desperate people in one hard-hit town looted shops in search of food.
Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo said a five-man team from the Bureau of Fire Protection from Manila has been sent to Butuan City Thursday to help in the investigation of the fire that killed 17 workers inside a shopping store in the province Wednesday.
The National Museum has asked the Roxas City government to declare a shipwreck area off the coast of Capiz’s capital a cultural and heritage site to help prevent the looting of artifacts, some dating to the 14th century.
Seventeen aid trucks belonging to the Turkish Red Crescent were looted in quake-hit eastern Turkey, the organization’s head Ahmet Lutfi Aker told AFP on Wednesday.
