NEWSBRIEFS

ZAMBOANGA CITY

War vs dengue

The city health office has allotted P1.5 million to destroy the breeding places of mosquitoes carrying the dengue virus and to continue its information and campaign after the disease afflicted almost 800 cases since January, resulting in 10 child deaths, according to its head, Dr. Rodelin Agbulos.

About 50 vehicles from government agencies, hospitals and medical companies joined a motorcade and noise barrage from the City Hall to three barangays—Guiwan, Tugbungan and Canelar—which are most affected by dengue fever. Last week, the city government said the cases had reached an outbreak. Julie S. Alipala, Inquirer Mindanao

QUEZON

Lightning kills 1

A person was killed and four others were injured in Sariaya town when the nipa hut they were resting in was hit by lightning on Sunday, police said.

Primo de Castro, 48, of Barangay (village) Manggalang 1, Sariaya, and his four companions were seeking shelter from the heavy rain inside a hut when the lightning occurred at 8 a.m., said Senior Police Officer 1 Noriel Banaag, town police investigator.

De Castro, Aldrich Manigbas and Ariel de Castro were rushed by villagers to Candelaria United Doctors in Candelaria town, but De Castro was declared dead on arrival, Banaag said. The two others suffered minor burns but refused to be brought to the hospital, he said.  Delfin T. Mallari Jr., Inquirer Southern Luzon

LAGUNA

Businessman killed

A chinese owner of a noodle manufacturing business was found dead with stab wounds and a deep slit in the neck in Sta. Cruz town on Friday.

The body of Lourdes Yu, 65, was found after a security guard from a nearby establishment sought police help because he heard a commotion inside Yu’s two-story noodle factory at around 1:30 a.m., said Supt. Dennis Macalintal, town police chief. Yu had lived with her bedridden husband on the first floor.

Macalintal said a stay-in worker, identified as Jimbo Subo, 26, eventually admitted to the crime after police recovered a bloodied shirt and a handkerchief from the workers’ quarters on the second floor.

“The suspect said he and a coworker had planned on killing their employer because she used to scold at them at work,” Macalintal said. Maricar Cinco, Inquirer Southern Luzon

CEBU

Mayor’s son shot dead

The son of Carcar City Mayor Nicepuro Apura was shot dead while dancing with his friends during a village disco in Barangay (village) Valladolid, Carcar, about 40 kilometers south of this city.

Carl Vinson, 25, had a bullet wound in the head, police said.

A lone killer approached Vinson as he was having fun with friends at 1:15 a.m. during a fiesta in Sitio (sub-village) Upper Tubod, Valladolid, on Saturday, police said.

The victim’s friends and relatives brought him to the city hospital but was pronounced dead on arrival by doctors. Jhunnex Napallacan, Inquirer Visayas

TACLOBAN CITY

Woman held for shabu

A 40-year-old mother of four spent Mother’s Day in jail following her arrest for peddling and possession of illegal drugs.

Grace Suarez was charged with violations of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 for allegedly selling 0.395 grams of shabu (methamphetamine hydrochloride) worth P2,000 to an undercover agent in an entrapment operation on May 3.

Members of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) also found two large plastic sachets of shabu from Suarez during a body search, according to a statement from the PDEA. No bail was recommended. Elvie Roa, Inquirer Visayas