Metrobriefs

Narrow Pateros roads hamper firemen

It took a while for firemen to put out a blaze in Pateros on Wednesday night, not because the flames spread quickly but due to the narrowness of the streets leading to the affected area. A total of 11 houses were destroyed on F. C. Cruz Street in Barangay (village) Magtanggol, resulting in the loss of property estimated at around P2 million. No one was killed in the three-hour fire, which broke out at 8:55 p.m. in the house of Ernesto Palhensio. The flames then spread to 10 other houses, which were all made of light materials, before it was put out at around midnight.—Nathaniel R. Melican

Ex-convict faces prison anew for LRT robbery

A former convict may end up going back to prison after the police picked him up for robbing a woman inside one of the Light Rail Transit (LRT) Line 2 stations in Manila on Wednesday. Domingo Lodor, a 29-year-old resident of G. Tuazon Street in the Sampaloc area, was arrested after Hazel Pangilinan claimed that he tried to rob her at knife-point. The victim told the police that she had just alighted from the Santolan-bound train at the Pureza station and was going down the stairs when she noticed Lodor walking closely behind her, trying to slash her bag. When she told him off, he took out a knife and demanded that she turn over all her valuables, including P300 in cash and a cell phone. She did as he demanded but called out for help before he could get out of the station, attracting the attention of two policemen, Police Officers 1 Emmar Bellem and Rommel Baylon, who were standing nearby. PO2 Jorlan Taluban of the Manila Police District robbery and theft section said that Lodor, a member of the Bahala na Gang, was released from prison in September after serving time for theft.—Julliane de Jesus

Grisly finds in QC include arm with rose tattoo

A street sweeper made not one but two grisly finds Thursday morning in Quezon City when he found a man’s left arm and then not more than 100 meters away, a right arm. Calixto Alberto, a Barangay (village) Sauyo volunteer, said that the left arm bore a rose tattoo. The body parts were discovered hours after the lower half of a man’s body was found at a vacant lot near a car parts shop on San Mateo Road in Batasan Hills. Tattooed on one of the thighs were the names “Boogie” and “Ventura.” The body parts were taken to St. Yves Funeral Homes for safekeeping and identification.—Rick Enriquez