Metrobriefs

2 ‘Pansit Gang’ members nabbed in Marikina

Two men believed to be members of a group dubbed by the police as the “Pansit Gang” were arrested for stealing cable wires in a Marikina City subdivision at 3 a.m. Wednesday.

Case investigator Police Officer 3 Fidel Draculan said that a security guard caught Julius Marquez, 27, and Emmanuel Villegas, 37, in the act of stealing cable wires owned by Globe Telecom on Oxford Street in Rancho 4 Subdivision. When the guard accosted the two men, they tried to escape in a tricycle only to run into a group of barangay (village) watchmen.

Seized from the two men were wire cutters and 40 meters of cable wires, which they confessed they were going to sell to a junk shop. Draculan said the duo were members of the Pansit Gang (so named because the wires resemble noodles), which steal cable wires at ungodly hours.—Niña Calleja

Fire destroys 30 houses in Valenzuela

A fire broke out in Valenzuela City at 10:57 a.m. Wednesday, destroying around 30 shanties on Orozco Street, Purok IV in Mapulang Lupa. “The shanties were close to each other, that’s why when the fire started, it quickly spread,” Fire Officer 1 Julius Vasquez said.

The streets leading to the affected area were also narrow, making it hard for firefighters to maneuver their trucks closer to the burning houses. The blaze was put out at 11:53 a.m. with no fatalities or injuries reported while the cause is still under investigation.—Kristine Felisse Mangunay