Metrobriefs

Convicted drug lord rushed to Pasig hospital

A contoversial inmate at the New Bilibid Prisons (NBP) in Muntinlupa City was rushed to a private hospital in Pasig City on Tuesday. Convicted drug lord Amin Buratong, the operator of a drug “tiangge” or flee market in Pasig City which was raided in 2009, was rushed to The Medical City due to a medical “emergency,”  NBP Superintendent Fajardo Lansangan confirmed in a phone interview on Wednesday. Lansangan, quoting a report from the NBP hospital, said Buratong had been suffering from a “recurrence of a coronary artery disease” and a liver ailment, among others. “We allow [inmates] to be treated outside the [NBP] if the NBP hospital doctors have recommended it and have said that they cannot provide the necessary treatment,” he added. Lansangan said it was the NBP doctors, in coordination with the inmate’s personal doctors, who decided on taking him to the Pasig hospital. He added that he had deployed security escorts to look after Buratong 24/7 during his confinement. Asked  whether special treatment was being given to Buratong, Lansangan said: “How is it special treatment when the person is really sick? The [NBP] hospital cannot handle it. If something happens to him, we will also get blamed.” Jaymee T. Gamil

Fire hits Pasig building; damage reaches P.4M

A fire broke out in a residential building in Pasig City on Wednesday morning, damaging around P400,000 worth of property. FO1 Christian Gilana said the blaze hit the two-story apartment owned by Valentina Dulay on Amang Rodriguez Avenue in Barangay Rosario at 9:55 a.m. He said the fire started on the second floor in the right portion of the building that was being rented by Marichu Cañeda, 36, and her family. It was still unclear, however, what caused the fire. “It’s possible (that the cause of the blaze) was electrical (in nature),” he said, adding that no candles were found in the fire-affected area. Gilana was quick to add, however, that laboratory tests would still be conducted on the debris gathered from the vicinity of the building before authorities could say what caused the blaze. The fire, which reached the first alarm, was put out at 10:23 a.m. There were no reported casualties or fatalities, Gilana said. Kristine Felisse Mangunay