Metro Briefs

Robbery suspect killed in shootout with cops

A suspect in a robbery-holdup was killed in an alleged shootout with Caloocan cops around midnight on Friday. Victim James Lucero, 37, told investigators he was on board the pedicab of the suspect known only as “Waray” and were traversing Salmon Street  in Barangay 8 when the suspect declared a holdup. Lucero sought the assistance of police officers patrolling the area, who then chased the suspect. When the suspect was about to be cornered, he allegedly shot the responding police officers, a police report said. This prompted the police to fire back, which resulted in the suspect’s death. Found at the scene were the .38-caliber revolver allegedly used by the suspect to shoot the officers, two fired cartridges, four live bullets, four fired cartridge cases, a deformed fired bullet and seven sachets of suspected “shabu” or crystal meth.—Mariejo S. Ramos

Manila Cathedral gets relic of Saint Paul VI

The Manila Cathedral has received a special relic of the newly canonized Saint Paul VI. The relic was a cuff from a shirt that Paul VI wore, the first pope to celebrate Mass at the Manila Cathedral in 1970. Paul VI was the first pope to set foot in the Philippines for a Vatican state visit in November 1970.  The Pope’s visit, however, was marred by an assassination attempt. As Paul VI was about to step on the tarmac of the Manila International Airport, a knife-wielding assassin identified as Benjamin Mendoza, a Bolivian national wearing a priest’s robe, attacked the Pope. He stabbed the Pope before he was held down and arrested. Paul VI was beatified in October 2014 and canonized last month.  Apart from Paul VI, the cathedral also has the bone relic of Saint John XXIII, who was the pope during the rebuilding and dedication of the cathedral in 1958; and the blood relic of Saint John Paul II who celebrated Mass at the cathedral in 1981 and was also the one who elevated it to a minor basilica.—Tina G. Santos

Groundbreaking of Metro subway set for December

The groundbreaking for the P325-billion Metro Manila subway, one of the government’s flagship projects under its “Build, build, build” program, is now set for December this year, said Transportation  Secretary Arthur Tugade. “We have certain plans for the groundbreaking. If they can’t happen… we might push it back to January,” he told a press briefing on Wednesday. The subway,  slated to be completed by 2025, will link Quezon City to Taguig City,  is seen to ease the worsening traffic in  the capital. Tugade said the subway’s first three stations—North Avenue, Mindanao Avenue and Tandang Sora, all in Quezon City—would be partially operational by 2022. Other stations would be at Quezon Avenue, East Avenue, Anonas, Katipunan, Ortigas North, Ortigas South, Kalayaan Avenue, Bonifacio Global City East, Cayetano Boulevard, Food Terminal Inc. in Taguig and Ninoy Aquino International Airport.—Matthew Reysio-Cruz