Newsbriefs

LAGUNA

Tot dies in fire

AN 8-MONTH-OLD baby girl left alone by her mother died in a fire caused by a lighted candle that razed a house in San Pedro town on Wednesday night.

PO2 Michael Uy, case officer, said the baby’s mother, Shirley Combite, had left her in the house to do an errand in a neighbor’s home, which she has been taking care of.

Before she left, Combite lit a candle as the house did not have electricity, Uy said.

The fire was put off after 30 minutes, he said. Maricar Cinco,

Inquirer Southern Luzon

NAGA CITY

Car crash kills 2

TWO PERSONS were killed when the car they were riding in slammed onto the wall of the Mabolo Barangay Hall at around 1:55 a.m. on Thursday, police said.

PO3 Tobias Bongon, police spokesperson, said the car, driven by Edwin Violeta, 33, was speeding along Maharlika Highway toward the city center when it suddenly swerved and hit the wall of the barangay hall.

Bongon said Violeta died on arrival at the hospital. His companion, Ranier Bombase, 34, died while being treated. Delfin T. Mallari Jr., Inquirer Southern Luzon

MAGUINDANAO

Poll fraud probe

THE MAYOR of Rajah Buayan town, who is also a member of the Ampatuan clan, faces a possible recall proceeding after the Commission on Elections (Comelec) approved a petition of a rival politician for a reinvestigation of the 2010 mayoral elections there.

Haviv Maindan, acting election officer of Rajah Buayan town, said the Comelec has directed the provincial poll body to conduct a “verification” of questionable election returns that installed Jacob Ampatuan as mayor of Rajah Buayan town. Ampatuan reportedly won by a slim margin over Orly Utto.

Ampatuan denied that irregularity helped him into power. Charlie C. Señase, Inquirer Mindanao

EVENT

Mayors’ gab reset

MAYORS in Luzon have agreed to postpone their cluster conference, which was supposed to start Wednesday, in deference to the victims of the floods spawned by Typhoons “Pedring” and “Quiel.”

“It will make no sense talking and discussing in a conference when many are trapped in flooded areas and some are in evacuation centers almost without food and water,” Mayor Strike Revilla, national president of the League of Municipalities of the Philippines, said in a statement.

He said the postponement would give executives of flood-hit areas more time to attend to the needs of their constituents.

“Municipal mayors have an urgent task to make sure that our ‘kababayan’ are safe and their needs are taken care of,” Revilla said.