Metro Briefs

2 Rizal cops killed in Antipolo ambush

Two members of the Rizal provincial police were shot dead by motorcycle-riding gunmen on Wednesday night. According to a report to Senior Supt. Ruben Andiso, chief of the Antipolo police, PO2 Roberto Reganit and PO2 Ernesto Turalba Jr. were also on a motorbike together on their way to work around 8 p.m. when ambushed on Zigzag Road, Barangay San Jose. Both officers were then armed and in uniform. Reganit was an investigator assigned to Bargas police station, while Turalba reported to the Drug Enforcement Unit of the Rizal police. The motive for the killing remained under investigation. —Dexter Cabalza

Echiverri faces 8th graft case since March

Former Caloocan City Mayor Enrico Echiverri faces another graft case, this time over an allegedly unauthorized P3.61-million street paving project. It was the eighth to be filed against him by Office of the Ombudsman since March. According to the complaint, Echiverri awarded the project to Tuchar Construction in 2012 without authorization from the city council. The contract covered three streets in Barangay 187. Also charged were city accountant Edna Villanueva and budget officer Jesusa Garcia, who allegedly falsified allotment and obligation slips indicating an appropriation for the project. In early March, Echiverri was charged with graft over two drainage projects worth P4.7 million. This was followed later that month by five more cases stemming from four drainage and street extension projects worth P15.22 million, as well as a P2-million barangay hall. The contracts were awarded allegedly without the council’s approval. —Vince F. Nonato