Metrobriefs

Lovesick teen missing after jumping into river

A 19-year-old man jumped into the Marikina River shortly after midnight Thursday after he had a fight with his live-in partner. Marikina police chief Senior Supt.Gabriel Lopez said that they had yet to find Michael Abat who, according to his friends, was drunk when he jumped into the river in Barangay Sta. Elena at 12:10 a.m. Although Lopez entertained the possibility that Abat could still be alive, Dennis Saballo, one of Marikina Rescue 161’s team leaders, was less optimistic. At press time, members of the rescue team were waiting for an order from their head, Ronald Mejia, to resume the search. Earlier Thursday, a team was deployed to look for the lovesick teen but Dennis Carlos, another team leader, said they called off the search around 2 a.m. after they failed to find any trace of Abat. Kristine Felisse Mangunay

Motorcycle rider faces raps for posing as a cop

A motorcycle rider wearing a light blue shirt with “Pulis” (Police) markings ended up in jail when he tried to pass himself off as a policeman after he was accosted for a traffic violation Thursday morning. PO2 Edwin Cortina of the Quezon City Police District identified the motorcycle rider as Marvin Go, 26, a resident of Quezon City. A police report said Go was accosted along Balintawak in Quezon City for not wearing a helmet and driving a motorcycle without a license plate. But instead of yielding his driver’s license, he introduced himself as a member of the Regional Public Safety Battalion of the National Capital Region Police Office based in Bicutan. However, except for his blue Pulis shirt—which is used by policemen for athletic activities— Go failed to show any proof that he was a policeman. As a result, he now faces various charges on top of the traffic violations he committed, including usurpation of authority and official function and illegal possession of a police uniform. Nancy C. Carvajal