MAASIN CITY
54 policemen tested for drug use
THE CITY’s 54 policemen underwent drug tests on Thursday amid reports that some of them were using illegal drugs. “This is a continuous drive of the police in the entire country. But I personally requested this [test] to dispel rumors that some of our men are into drugs,” said Supt. Hector Enage, city police chief. While there were talks that some policemen were illegal drug users, Enage said no formal complaint had been filed against any personnel of the Maasin police. Jani Arnaiz, Inquirer Visayas
KAWIT, Cavite
Bus robbery leads to highway death
A BUS conductor died after a thief pushed him out of a bus into the path of another vehicle in Kawit, Cavite, on Wednesday night, police said. Chief Insp. Mamerto Malubay, Kawit police chief, said four men, armed with handguns, were robbing passengers of a bus in Barangay Magdalo Putol at about 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday when one of them kicked conductor Nathaniel dela Cruz, who fell off the vehicle. Dela Cruz, police said, died instantly when he was hit by another vehicle that tailed the bus. Malubay said one of the thieves was killed in a gunfight with policemen in Barangay Batong Dalig about five hours after the robbery. He said investigators have yet to identify the slain suspect and his companions. Maricar Cinco, Inquirer Southern Luzon
MALALAG, Davao del Sur
Shotgun jams, used to hit woman
A WOMAN escaped death on Wednesday after the shotgun that her husband tried to shoot her with jammed, police said. But Senior Insp. Alexander Razonable, Malalag police chief, said Feliciana Tampos, 47, had to be taken to a hospital for bruises and cuts after her husband, Felix, 41, tried to bludgeon her using the malfunctioning gun. Razonable said the couple were arguing in their house in Barangay San Isidro when the drunken Felix aimed the shotgun at Feliciana and pulled the trigger. Felix was later arrested by policemen. Orlando B. Dinoy, Inquirer Mindanao
DARAGA, Albay
Rebels execute suspected informer
COMMUNIST rebels shot and killed a man suspected of being a military informer in Barangay Talahib, police said. Supt. Nilo Berdin, Daraga police chief, said Talahib residents found the body of Ruel Macalla near a basketball court and the village hall at 7:20 a.m. on Tuesday. Berdin said Macalla, who had bullet wounds in the head and body, could have been killed on Monday night as some villagers reported being roused from sleep when they heard gunshots at 11 p.m. In a statement, the New People’s Army’s (NPA) Santos Binamira Command, which is operating in Albay, said its members killed Macalla. But Army Maj. Angelo Guzman, spokesperson of the Army’s 9th Infantry Division, said Macalla was not a military informer. Guzman said the NPA would usually kill civilians and tag them as informers “to sow terror in areas where they are no longer supported.” Mar S. Arguelles, Inquirer Southern Luzon
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO
Brouhaha over solon’s pictures
A PAMPANGA congressman insisted that pictures of him with boxing champion Manny Pacquiao and coach Freddie Roach that came out of a local daily were authentic.
Rep. Aurelio Gonzales took pride in the pictures that also came out on the daily’s website. Rumors circulated here that the pictures were digitally manufactured to show Gonzales rubbing elbows with Pacquiao and Roach to gain publicity mileage.
Gonzales e-mailed to the Inquirer copies of the four pictures of him at the Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles where Pacquiao is training for his fight tomorrow.
“It looked superimposed,” Angeles City Mayor Edgardo Pamintuan said of Gonzales’ image in the pictures.
The two officials used to be party mates in the Lakas-Kampi until Gonzales bolted in August and joined the Nationalist People’s Coalition. Tonette Orejas, Inquirer Central Luzon