Man nabbed at city hall for rape
A Quezon City hall employee was arrested inside his office on Wednesday for the alleged rape of a minor three years ago, the police said. Chief Inspector Richie Claravall, head of the police city hall detachment, identified the man as Ricardo Briones Perez, 31, of Barangay (village) Pinagkaibahan, Quezon City. Claravall said that Perez, who works in the city treasurer’s office, was arrested inside city hall on the strength of an arrest warrant issued by Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 94 Judge Roslyn Ravara. He will be charged with slight physical injury and resisting arrest after he punched Allan Damaso, a coworker while the warrant was being served on him. No bail was recommended for Perez’s release. Police records showed that he was charged with raping a 14-year-old girl several times in 2008, a charge that he denied as he claimed the victim was his girlfriend. Claravall said the rape was discovered by the victim’s parents when she got pregnant.—Nancy C. Carvajal
Village chairman files raps against attacker
A barangay (village) chairman allegedly shot and badly wounded on Wednesday evening a neighbor whom he claimed tried to hack him with a samurai sword in Manila. Barangay 257 Zone 23 chairman Francisco Villanueva, 62, of Tondo, Manila, voluntarily surrendered to the Manila Police District General Assignment Section (MPD-GAS) to face the frustrated murder complaint against him and to file counter-charges of attempted murder and assault on a person of authority against his alleged attacker. Benny Rivera, 49, a member of the Commando Gang and Villanueva’s alleged assailant, remains confined at Jose Reyes Memorial Medical Center for two gunshot wounds in the abdomen. Villanueva sustained cuts on his hand after he grabbed Rivera’s katana blade and wrested it away from him. Case investigator Police Officer 3 Donald Panaligan said the incident happened around 8 p.m. on Wednesday at the corner of F. Tuvera and Tindalo Streets in Tondo.—Jeannette I. Andrade
Collision creates traffic jam in Pasig City
A collision involving a truck and three other vehicles took place in Pasig City after midnight Thursday, causing heavy traffic in the area. Investigation showed that the 14-wheel truck, with plate number CSE 328 and being driven by Eduardo Carlos, a resident of Pampanga, smashed into a Toyota Vios, which in turn hit the rear end of a Honda CRV. The impact then sent the CRV crashing into the back of a taxi cab. According to Senior Police Officer 3 Joselito Alminar of the Pasig City Traffic, all three cars were waiting for the traffic light to turn green at the corner of Ortigas Avenue when the truck, which was carrying gravel and sand, slammed into the Vios. “The impact was so strong it caused a domino effect,” he said. No one was reported injured in the accident.—Kristine Felisse Mangunay
Muslim group cries harassment
A Muslim organization has alerted Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim to what they claimed was an illegal drug raid conducted early in the month. Around 30 members of the Manila Muslim Chamber of Commerce met with Lim on Thursday to complain of the “harassment” of businessman Sohayli Babao, whose house in San Andres Bukid, Manila, was raided on June 8. Babao is reportedly the nephew of former elections commissioner Moslemen Macarambong. The MMCC, led by president Alimontaha Babao, claimed that around 20 PDEA agents seized during the raid P300,000 worth of jewelry and even pointed their guns at civilians.—Jaymee T. Gamil