Metrobriefs

Suspect in Willie Nep grandson’s shooting posts bail

AN ARRESTED suspect in last month’s shooting of the grandson of comedian Willie Nepomuceno in Marikina City is now out on bail. Senior Insp. Eduardo Cayetano, the investigation section chief of the Marikina police, said Mark Bercilla posted bail at P320,000 and walked out of detention on Feb. 3. Bercilla, earlier described by the police to be from an affluent family, was the only one arrested out of the four men tagged in the shooting of teenagers Sean Gabriel Nepomucuno and friend Franc Rayven Jocson in what was said to be a case of mistaken identity in the wee hours of Jan. 9 in Barangay Marikina Heights. The younger Nepomuceno spent weeks in the hospital for gunshot wounds. Bercilla, 30, faces charges for frustrated murder at Marikina Regional Trial Court Branch 192, which has set the pretrial conference Wednesday. The three other alleged assailants remain at large, including another Marikina resident identified as Arestes Ronar and two John Does. Kristine Felisse Mangunay

Car-jeepney smashup in Pasig sends 15 to hospital

FIFTEEN people, including an eight-year-old boy, were hospitalized after a passenger jeepney fell on its side upon being hit by a car early Tuesday on Meralco Avenue, Pasig City. Police said the jeepney driven by Rommel Hubahib was hit by a Toyota Vios driven by Angelo Paolo Luna Trias around 5:30 a.m. in Barangay San Antonio. The two drivers as well as the 13 jeepney passengers suffered injuries in the head and body, according to Myla Sta. Ana of the Pasig Traffic and Parking Management Office. Eleven of the passengers were identified as Jaime Narag Premacio, 36; Rosa Nibay Beruico, 56; Darren de Leon Beruico, 8; Joel Nobiyo, 18; and Randy Boy de Leon, 30; Roberto Balala Delagente, 28; Harry Garcia;  Bernadette Regeno Penia, 26; Anne Abap Pelicano Jandua, 20; Mario Moquia Padayao, 29; and Reynan Gallardo. The jeepney driver and his passengers were brought to Rizal Medical Center, while Trias was treated at The Medical City. Kristine Felisse Mangunay

QC gov’t urged to set up medical oxygen plant

THE QUEZON City council has approved on second reading a resolution calling for the setup of a local medical oxygen generation plant than can supply the more 50 private and public hospitals in the city. The proposal, authored by District I Councilor Alexis Herrera, noted that millions of pesos are allocated yearly for the purchase of medical oxygen by city-run hospitals “yet there are reports that our poor constituents are asked to pay for the use of this oxygen supply.” Herrera said that by having its own medical oxygen plant, Quezon City could bolster its claim of being the “medical tourism hub of the Philippines.” The resolution asked Mayor Herbert Bautista to look into the feasibility of establishing such a plant.  Jeannette I. Andrade