NEWSBRIEFS
CEBU CITY
Fire razes 3 houses
Three families were left homeless after a fire hit six houses in Barangay (village) Hipodromo at 10:41 a.m. yesterday.
Three houses made of light materials and wood were razed while three others were damaged. City fire marshal Fire Officer 3 Aderson Comar said the fire started in the room of Kevin Burgos, who was not around then, but the cause of fire had yet to be determined.
Comar estimated damage to reach P120,000. He said firefighters were able to control the situation in just four minutes. Charisse Ursal, Inquirer Visayas
QUEZON
2 copra trucks gutted
Two trucks loaded with copra were burned in a fire while the vehicles were parked inside a gas station compound along the Maharlika Highway in Tayabas City on Sunday.
City police investigator Senior Police Officer 3 Fred Almonte said the cargo loaded in one of the trucks suddenly ignited “due to extreme heat” at around 7:30 a.m. The fire spread to the other truck parked beside it.
Police said about P3.2 million was lost in the fire.
On Friday, a bus was burned along the Maharlika Highway when its charcoal cargo caught fire.
Lucena police chief Superintendent Ramon Balauag said the AB Liner bus was traversing Barangay Domoit at around 7 p.m. when the two sacks of charcoal in the baggage compartment caught fire. Roadside residents helped put out the fire. Delfin T. Mallari Jr., Inquirer Southern Luzon
Teacher faces sex rap
Police arrested a male college professor on Friday after a 17-year-old coed filed a complaint of sexual harassment against him.
Police Officer3 Jessica Coloma, officer-on-case, said the victim alleged that at around 3 p.m. Friday, the suspect instructed her to follow him at the computer laboratory room to get her final grade.
Once inside the room, the teacher ordered her to lock the door and started to touch her in different parts of her body, Coloma said in her report. She said the victim resisted and begged the suspect to stop until she managed to escape.
The victim and her father later reported the incident to the police. Delfin T. Mallari Jr., Inquirer Southern Luzon
NORTH COTABATO
2 killed in blast
The foundation day celebration of Sitio (sub-village) Lapu-Lapu in Barangay Lawili in Aleosan town turned bloody when a man tossed a grenade into a cockfighting arena, killing two persons and wounding 34 others.
Mayor Loreto Cabaya ordered the police to hunt down the suspect, who was a village resident.
Most of the wounded victims were brought to hospitals in nearby Midsayap town, also in North Cotabato, and Cotabato Regional and Medical Center in Cotabato City. Edwin Fernandez, Inquirer Mindanao
ISABELA
Cop hurt in gunfire
A policeman was wounded when Mayor Davis Omar Masigan accidentally fired his rifle in his compound in Barangay Poblacion 1 in Sta. Maria town on Saturday morning, police said.
Isabela police director Senior Supt. Franklin Moises Mabanag said Senior Police Officer 1 Wilfredo Datul, 48, a security escort of Masigan, may require surgery for his wounded left foot. Datul was taken to the St. Paul Hospital in Tuguegarao City.
Mabanag said the bullet’s direction discounted foul play. “There was no intention to hit the person as [shown by] the trajectory of the shots. It so happened that the bullet hit his foot,” he said. The Inquirer tried to reach Masigan on Saturday but he neither took calls nor replied to messages sent to his mobile phone. Villamor Visaya Jr., Inquirer Northern Luzon
