Metrobriefs: Hit-and-run victim dies

The police are looking for the driver of a sport utility vehicle that hit and ran over a man who had just alighted from a bus on Edsa in Cubao, Quezon City, at 2 a.m. Monday. Robert Baltazar, a bus conductor who witnessed the hit-and-run accident, which left the victim dead, said he saw the man alight from a bus in the middle of the road. The victim was then hit by a white SUV. The police, however, failed to identify the victim who was reportedly robbed after he was run over by the white van. Investigator Police Officer 3 Perlito Datu of the Quezon City Police District Traffic Enforcement Unit described the man as between 35 and 45 years old, 5’5” tall, of medium build and with fair complexion. He was dressed in a white polo shirt and faded black pants. A Red Cross rescue team took the victim to East Avenue Medical Center but he passed away at 3:46 a.m. A check with the Land Transportation Office showed that the plate number given by the witnesses had been issued to a Mazda sedan, not an SUV. Datu said they were looking at other possible matches.—Penelope P. Endozo

Man stabbed dead in Manila

A 36-year-old widower who had momentarily excused himself from a drinking binge with his friends to buy something from a store ended up being stabbed and killed Sunday evening in Manila. Jhonifer Batilan, a resident of M.H. del Pilar Street in Malate, was declared dead on arrival by attending doctors at Gat Andres Bonifacio Memorial Hospital from stab wounds in the back and abdomen. Police Officer 3 Alonzo Layugan of the Manila Police District homicide section said that the man who killed the victim probably did it on a whim because the latter was just a visitor in the area. Layugan said the stabbing took place at 7:20 p.m. on Sunday on Block 1 of the Baseco Compound in Port Area, Manila.—Jeannette I. Andrade

Antismoking forum set in San Juan

A group of civilian volunteers in San Juan City will hold a public forum on Tuesday, which is expected to be attended by business establishment owners, government officials and representatives of the tobacco industry. They will take up the Tobacco Regulation Act of 2003, or Republic Act No. 9211. Before the forum, however, the San Juan Civilian Volunteers and the staff of the city environment and natural resources office will conduct a “dry run” of the implementation of the law by going after people smoking in public places in San Juan, the head of the volunteer group, Wenceslao Vinzons Tan, told the Inquirer. He said the purpose of the dry run was to merely warn violators and not mete them out a fine as part of their group’s awareness campaign on smoking and tobacco use. “We also aim to assess what these smokers know about RA 9211,” Tan said. The forum will be to be held at Music Museum in Greenhills, San Juan City, from 8 a.m. to 12 noon.—Niña Calleja

UE forum on Rizal teachings on Tuesday

The University of the East (UE) will hold on Tuesday a discussion on “Teachings and Advocacies of Dr. Jose Rizal” at 9 a.m. at the UE Conference Hall followed by a professorial chair lecture on “Corporate Rehabilitation in the Philippines” at 2 p.m. For details of UE’s 65th anniversary celebration, go to www.ue.edu.ph.