NEWS BRIEFS

CEBU Gov. Hilario Davide III said he will consider the proposal of bus operators to create a committee at the Provincial Board (PB) that will address the concerns of the Cebu public transportation sector.

Julito Flores, Cebu South Mini-Bus Operators Association president, Cebu Provincial Bus Operators Association president Richard Corominas and bus operators requested this in a meeting with Davide yesterday.

“There is no committee in the PB that holds transportation, in general for public utility vehicles. We hope that there will be one in the PB so that if we have problems, we can approach them,” Flores said.

The bus operators also requested the provincial government to provide an office for them in the Cebu South Bus Terminal (CSBT). / Correspondent Peter L. Romanillos

Holding room for provincial prisoners

PRISONERS waiting for their court hearings will be kept in a holding room inside the Civil Security Services Division across the Palace of Justice in Cebu City.

Loy Madrigal, the Capitol’s chief security officer, said they want to avoid any untoward incident whenever prisoners are brought outside the court building.

“There may be some people who will suddenly give a deadly weapon to prisoners while waiting for jail vehicles,” he told reporters yesterday.

Madrigal yesterday showed reporters the holding room which looks like a jail facility.

The holding room at the Capitol has at least two long benches and an electric fan. Madrigal said the holding room can accommodate about 15 inmates.

Several prisoners are brought to the Capitol compound every weekday for the court hearing of their cases at the Palace of Justice. / Reporter Ador Vincent Mayol

Drainage system in Talisay City choked off

A NOODLE factory operating in the boundary of barangay Cansojong and Poblacion in Talisay City will be inspected following reports that it is discharging wastewater into the sea.

Talisay City Legal Officer Alfredo Sipalay said two homeowners blocked the flow of floodwaters into the drainage system in the area after seeing “black oily” waste water being discharged by the factory.

The homeowners said they will open the drainage granting that the noodle factory doesn’t dispose of their waste water in the area.

Sipalay said they may even consider expropriating the property of the two homeowners if only to re-open the drainage. / Correspondent Gabriel C. Bonjoc

Additional nurses for hospitals in Cebu

THE Capitol will hire additional nurses and doctors for Cebu’s district and provincial hospitals.

“For these hospitals to be true hospitals, they have to be adequately manned and supplied,” Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III said. He said medical services in Badian town and Carcar City, for example, are inadequate.

Tuburan Mayor Democrito Diamante paid a courtesy call yesterday and told the governor of citizen complaints of dismal service in the Tuburan District Hospital.

The hospital came under fire after a doctor was relieved for failing to immediately attend to a three-year-old identified as Christian Lidres, who died after a near-drowning experience. Correspondent Peter L Romanillos.