Metrobriefs

Missing inmate found buried under prison hut

A prisoner at the national penitentiary reported missing since Tuesday was found buried under a makeshift hut inside the maximum security compound. Prison guards investigated at least three inmates who could be involved in the attack. The victim was identified as Brian Peña, 22, whose body was dug up by prison guards below a kubol, an official of the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) told the Philippine Daily Inquirer. “His body was discovered at the hut of another inmate,” BuCor Assistant Director Teodora Diaz said over the phone. She named the hut’s owner as Abelardo Gosgolan, who reportedly owned up to the killing. Diaz declined to elaborate further into the details of the case because the investigation was ongoing. She said she would have to await the completion of the probe before she could specify the motive and other details in the case. At least two accounts on what led to Peña’s death surfaced, with a prison source saying the victim owed money, and when he was unable to settle it, the amount cost him his life. Another a prison insider meanwhile, said the victim was purportedly sending text messages to the wife of a prison gang leader. The latter discovered what had been happening and the leader allegedly ordered a hit job on Peña. The sources, both BuCor employees, declined to be identified as the person was not authorized to speak to the press. Peña was brought to Building 8 inside the maximum security compound, from Building 9 where he was incarcerated before being declared as missing on Tuesday, according to the source.

TV star hurt as van hits lamppost in Quezon City

Reality television show star Matt Evans faces charges of reckless imprudence resulting in damage to properties when he rammed his van into a lamppost near a bus terminal and damaged a bus in Quezon City at dawn yesterday, a traffic report said. Police Officer 2 Romeo Rangas, field investigator of Traffic Sector 3 of the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) said they have impounded the wrecked blue Toyota Innova of Evans with plate number ZJF-143. Evans, a former participant of ABS-CBN’s Pinoy Big Brother Teen Edition, appeared to be drunk when he slammed his car at around 4 a.m. at the UVH terminal at the corner of Alvarez Street in Barangay (village) Milagrosa, Quezon City, Rangas said. He said Evans had abandoned his car and left with an older man, apparently a relative, before police arrived. He added that based on witnesses accounts, Evans, who was with a female companion, appeared to be drunk when they came out of the vehicle. Nancy C. Carvajal