Metrobriefs

Fire hits restaurant in Pasig City

AN hour-long fire hit a bar and restaurant in a commercial compound in Pasig City on Tuesday, destroying P100,000 worth of property. No one was hurt in the fire, which broke out in Pelangi Bar and Restaurant inside Pioneer Center in Barangay (village) Kapitolyo, Pasig City, at 11:30 a.m., arson investigator Senior Fire Officer 2 Teodoro Trinidad said. No one was hurt when the blaze broke out because the establishment was empty, he added. Pioneer Center manager Carlito Limoso said the on-duty guards immediately alerted firemen who rushed to the scene. The cause of the fire, which was put out at 12:20 p.m., was still under investigation, Trinidad said.—Niña Calleja

Only Makati seniors exempt from number coding

THE Makati government on Tuesday clarified that only senior residents of the city are exempted from the number coding scheme contrary to a circulating e-mail. However, elderly people from other cities can also ask for the same consideration although each request will be decided on a case-by-case basis, according to city information officer Joey Salgado. In an interview, Salgado said there was a need to impose the number coding scheme in the city to manage the flow of traffic in the financial district. “As much as possible, we want to be lenient to senior citizens passing through the city but we strongly discourage them [from driving] around Makati when their vehicles are banned on the roads,” he told the Inquirer.—Miko Morelos

NPD gets new chief

THE Northern Police District (NPD) has a new head. Outgoing district director Chief Superintendent Edgardo Ladao formally handed over the reins of leadership to his appointed successor yesterday in Caloocan City. In simple turnover rites at the NPD headquarters on Dagat-Dagatan Avenue, Chief Supt. Antonio Decano officially took charge of the 2,000-strong police force responsible for maintaining peace and order in the cities of Caloocan, Malabon, Navotas and Valenzuela. The change in leadership was made a day after Chief Supt. Alan Purisima took over as head of the National Capital Region Police Office, replacing Director Nicanor Bartolome who was appointed chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP) directorial staff. Ladao will take over Purisima’s post as Central Luzon police head. Decano, who used to head the PNP Academy before his appointment, promised to implement the necessary measures to ensure the security of over one million residents of the Camanava area. For this, he acknowledged the importance of the 2,000-strong police force as he urged his men to do their best in all their endeavors.—Kristine Felisse Mangunay

Fake antismoke belching stickers seized

THE Manila government has cracked down on smoke belchers as the city Department of Public Services-Anti Smoke Belching Unit (DPS-ASBU) apprehended 40 public utility vehicles (PUVs) bearing fake emission testing stickers on Tuesday morning. The neon-colored stickers, supposedly issued by the DPS-ASBU to signify that the vehicles had passed a smoke-belching test, were found to be fakes, Mayor Alfredo Lim’s chief of staff Ricardo de Guzman said. De Guzman ordered the PUVs apprehended after he received several complaints last week. DPS-ASBU operatives conducted an inspection on R. Papa Street near Barrio Obrero Tuesday morning and flagged down several jeepneys, vans and buses bearing the stickers. The stickers were removed and the vehicles’ license plates were seized.—Jaymee T. Gamil