Metro Briefs
Business as usual despite grass fire outside Naia Terminal 3
No flights were disrupted when a grass fire broke out on a vacant lot near the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) Terminal 3 in Pasay City on Thursday. The Manila International Airport Authority (Miaa), state operator of the Naia complex, said the blaze was first reported around 8:55 a.m. It was put out at 10:30 a.m. The fire broke out in an elevated area beside the perimeter fence that was filled with grass and some shrubs. The Miaa media affairs division said that initial but unofficial reports said it was sparked by fuel or a lubricant that had leaked from grass-cutting equipment. —Jerome Aning
3 men killed as police search leads to shootout in Navotas City
A search operation conducted by the police on Thursday led to a shootout that resulted in the death of three men on Dagat-Dagatan Avenue, Barangay North Bay Boulevard South, in Navotas City. Edgar Doctolero, Kim Ryan Permejo and Ernesto Gellado Jr. were killed at 6:15 a.m. when they allegedly traded gunfire with members of the Northern Police District (NPD). On the other hand, no one among the policemen was killed. Based on a police report, members of the NPD’s Special Operations Unit and Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, along with barangay officials, arrived at the suspects’ house to serve a search warrant for violation of Republic Act 10591 or the Comprehensive Law on Firearms and Ammunition. Gellado, who worked as a janitor, was allegedly the first one to take out a gun and shoot at the police team. His target, however, was wearing a bulletproof vest and only sustained a minor injury in the right hand, the report added. He fired back at Gellado, killing him. Permejo, the report said, lobbed a hand grenade at the police officers but it did not go off. In the exchange of fire, the two other suspects were killed. The police recovered from Gellado another hand grenade, a .22-caliber pistol loaded with 10 bullets, another firearm and 20 sachets believed to contain “shabu” (crystal meth). Found on Permejo and Doctolero were a third hand grenade, two .38-caliber revolvers with six bullets and 47 sachets of suspected shabu. —Nikka G. Valenzuela
