NEWSBRIEFS

PUERTO PRINCESA CITY

Chief of NBI Palawan dies

The head of the National Bureau of Investigation in Palawan died on Saturday night of a heart attack, police said.

Rosauro Bautista, NBI Palawan chief, collapsed while playing badminton, according to Chief Inspector Reynaldo Ramos, head of the city’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Group.

According to Ramos, Bautista played badminton in the morning and returned to play some more in the afternoon.

He was taken to a hospital here after he collapsed but was declared dead on arrival.

Bautista became chief of the Palawan NBI in February last year and took on the assignment of investigating the murder in January last year of broadcaster and environmental activist Dr. Gerry Ortega.

His investigation led to the filing of charges against former Palawan Gov. Joel T. Reyes, one of the suspected masterminds of the murder.—Redempto Anda, Inquirer Southern Luzon

BATANGAS

Turtle trapped in net rescued

Environmental advocates released back to the sea last week a Hawksbill sea turtle that got trapped in a fisherman’s net off a coastal village in Calatagan town.

The sea turtle, estimated to be 3 years old, was caught in the net of fisherman Alfonso Catapang, according to Jessie de los Reyes, operations head for the anti-illegal fishing group Bantay Dagat in the town and local coordinator of the Conserve and Protect Oceans Foundation (CAPOcean), an environmental group.

De los Reyes took the sea turtle to the Pawikan Rescue Center of CAPOcean prior to its release.

De los Reyes said Calatagan is a nesting site of the green turtle and Hawksbill sea turtle, which was the reason his group regularly holds dialogues with residents and resort owners on caring for the endangered creatures.

He said an increasing number of fish traps, garbage and coastal structures are among the dangers that turtles and other marine animals face in Calatagan.

Calatagan, made famous by its white sand beach, has attracted developers of resorts. The construction frenzy in the area, according to De los Reyes, is affecting the behavior of sea turtles.

Mother turtles, he said, are disoriented as they return to the beach to lay eggs.

According to De los Reyes, some of the effects of development on turtles are deadly. He recalled a turtle dying last year after it ate a plastic wrapper thrown into the sea that it mistook for a jellyfish.—Marrah Erika Lesaba, Inquirer Southern Luzon

QUEZON

Dump in town yields fetuses

Two fetuses stuffed inside sealed bottles were found in a dump in Gumaca, Quezon, police said in a report on Saturday.

Senior Police Officer 2 Eman Orivida, the case investigator, said the fetuses were discovered by a scavenger in the dump in Barangay (village) Villa Padua last week.

He said a doctor from the Gumaca District Hospital, who examined the fetuses, said these were in a stage of decomposition and soaked in formalin.

The fetuses were put in the custody of the Gumaca police station.—Delfin Mallari Jr., Inquirer Southern Luzon

CAMP VICENTE LIM

Troops arrest suspected rebel

Police and soldiers arrested recently a man they said was a member of the communist New People’s Army (NPA) during operations in Antipolo, Rizal.

Voltaire Guray, 25, alias Ka Green, was arrested in Sitio (settlement) Pantay, Barangay (village) Calawis, by members of the Philippine Army’s 16th and 59th Infantry Battalions and Antipolo City police, said Senior Superintendent Manuel Prieto, Rizal police chief.

Authorities acted on tips from residents that three armed men, suspected to be NPA rebels, were seen in the remote village of Calawis.

Two other suspected guerrillas believed to be companions of Guray evaded arrest, said Lieutenant Colonel Noel Detoyato, head of the 16th IB.

Authorities said they found a grenade and rounds of ammunition in the possession of Guray along with communist documents and a medical kit.

Guray was charged with illegal possession of firearms and ammunition and detained at the Antipolo City police station.—Maricar Cinco, Inquirer Southern Luzon