News Briefs

‘Pusher’ linked to PDEA exec death falls
POLICE  yesterday arrested a  man for drug possession and said   he may have been  the  lookout in the  killing of an anti-drug officer.
Julius Arda, 26, was arrested in a buy-bust operation in barangay Camputhaw, Cebu City with  10 small packs and a medium pack of white powder believed to be shabu worth P30,000.

Police also found in Arda’s possession  an unlicensed shotgun and KG-9 pistol.

City Intelligence Branch (CIB) Chief Romeo Santander  said  Arda’s name came up during the investigation of the Sept. 14 murder of  Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) 7 officer Jessie Tabanao.

Arda may have been  the  lookout at the scene when  a gunman shot Tabanao several times along Escario Street in Cebu CIty. /Correspondent Chito O. Aragon

Judges to finally get  City allowances
JUDGES  and prosecutors in Cebu City can finally receive  their delayed allowances for the second half of the year.

This was assured after the Cebu City Council approved Supplemental Budget No. 3, which includes a P12.2 million outlay for the allowances.

City Administrator Jose Marie Poblete  convinced the council to approve the outlay by saying this was the last time justices of the Court of Appeals, for example, would receive  a monthly allowance of  P45,000  from the city.

Next year, members of the judiciary will resume receiving  the old rate of  P25,000 a month.

The P12.2 million outlay was part of the earlier Supplemental Budget No. 2  submitted by Mayor Michael Rama to the Council in October but it was deferred. The council cited  lack of cash at the time. But they approved the outlay when  Rama reintroduced it in  SB3 last week.

“I personally manifested my reservation that it is not appropriate to give huge allowances to them as this may affect the independence of the judiciary,” said Councilor Alvin Dizon.

“They already have a salary, and here we are giving an allowance that is almost equivalent.”  Poblete agreed that the amounts were “too big.”

Judges of the Regional Trial Court receive P25,000 while those in the Municipal Trial Court in Cities receive P20,000.  A lower amount is  given to clerks of court.

Dizon said the fund would be better used for the honoraria of barangay health workers who receive only P4,000 a month.

Councilor Noel Wenceslao said  if the city is so generous, it may as well consider giving allowances to  disaster volunteers who are not getting any pay.

Poblete asked the Council to grant the judges’ allowances for the second half of the year since they will already be implementing a reduction of the amount next year. /Chief Of Reporters Doris C. Bongcac