Truck hits pickup; 7 dead

DAVAO CITY–Seven persons died when a ten-wheel truck hit a pickup vehicle along Diversion Road here on Saturday night.

Senior Police Officer 2 Antonio Teon Jr., traffic investigator of the Talomo police station, said the truck hit the rear of the pickup vehicle, which was loaded with passengers, as it was traversing a downhill portion of the highway. Truck driver Kim Cangue, who is now under police custody, said the truck lost its brakes.

“Four people were killed on the spot while three more victims, one of whom is a 6-month-old baby, died in a government-run hospital,” Teon said.

Ambulances rushed to the scene and brought 17 injured people, including two passengers from a passing motorcycle, to the hospital. Dennis Jay Santos, Inquirer Mindanao

Fishermen catch croc

NORTH COTABATO–A group of fishermen caught a crocodile in Barangay (village) Dunguan, Mlang town, on Saturday. The crocodile, around 8-feet long, was trapped in the fishnet set up in Liguasan Marsh.

Hernand Dapudong, a member of the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, said the fishermen, led by a certain “Kap,” would turn over the reptile to authorities only if they paid him P40,000 in cash. Dapudong and town Councilor Francis Biag tried but failed to convince the group to turn over the crocodile.

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources still has to act on the problem. Dapudong feared that the crocodile would die due to stress if it remained in the fishermen’s custody. Williamor A. Magbanua, Inquirer Mindanao

Ex-solon’s nephew dies in collision

ISABELA–A nephew of former Isabela Rep. Santiago Respicio died while his companion was hurt on Wednesday when their sport utility vehicle collided with a passenger bus on the national highway in Cauayan City, police said.

Robert Respicio, 49, was driving the vehicle when it collided with a Dalin bus around 7 a.m. on Wednesday. He died while being treated at United Isabela Doctors Medical Center in Cauayan City. His companion, Mila Lariosa, 39, of Quezon City, was seriously hurt.

Police said some of the bus passengers suffered minor injuries. The vehicle driven by Respicio was registered to his cousin, Mayor Anthony Respicio of Reina Mercedes town.  Villamor Visaya Jr. Inquirer Northern Luzon

Board member’s aide killed

CITY OF MALOLOS–The executive assistant of a Bulacan provincial board member was shot dead by a lone gunman on Thursday as he was driving to his employer’s house here.

Edwin Inocencio, 42, an employee of First District Board Member Michael Fermin, was attacked by the gunman on a motorcycle near the gate of North Ville subdivision in Barangay Longos here at 8 a.m. Inocencio died from multiple bullet wounds.

Bulacan police director Senior Supt. Joel Orduña said investigators were looking into politics as the motive for the attack because of reports that Fermin was considering running for a congressional seat in the 2016 elections. Inocencio’s wife, Cathy, is the assistant provincial administrator. Carmela Reyes-Estrope, Inquirer Central Luzon

NPA burns mining equipment

ILOCOS SUR–New People’s Army (NPA) rebels burned the drilling equipment of a mine firm conducting an exploration in Quirino town, Ilocos Sur province, on Friday, police said.

Senior Inspector Sosimo Reyes, Quirino police chief, said in a telephone interview on Saturday that armed men burned the equipment of a joint venture company, PDEP Inc. (formerly the American firm Phelps Dodge), early morning on Friday. Phelps Dodge was acquired by American mining firm Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold Inc. in 2007.

Armando Silva, spokesperson of the Alfredo Cesar Command of the NPA in Ilocos Sur, took responsibility for the attack in Barangay (cillage) Patiacan at 1 a.m.

The attack was meant to “punish the company for four years of destructive exploration and to support the community’s overwhelming rejection of the extension of the company’s exploration project,” Silva said in a statement.

Reyes said the armed men allowed the firm’s employees to leave the premises before they burned the equipment. He said no shots were fired during the incident.

Reyes said the mining company had been exploring the area for the last eight years. He said PDEP Inc. was operating through an exploration permit issued by the Mines and Geosciences Bureau. Kimberlie Quitasol, Inquirer Northern Luzon