METROBRIEFS

Stolen car recovered

A stolen car was recovered on Tomas Morato Avenue in Quezon City Wednesday, just a few blocks away from where it was stolen last month. Superintendendent Ferdinand Villegas, head of the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) district anticarnap unit (Dacu), said that after the car, a silver Honda Civic (XRC 814), was spotted, he ordered his men to watch it in the hopes of arresting the ones who took it. When no one came to retrieve it, the police cordoned off the area and inspected the vehicle for bombs although they found nothing. Police investigators later checked the car for fingerprints to get a lead on the people who took it. The car owner, Rosalinda Cerezo, said that the vehicle was stolen on July 22 while it was parked near a gasoline station at the corner of Tomas Morato and E. Rodriguez Sr. Boulevard. The disappearance of the car was reported to the Highway Patrol Group on July 29. “It’s not very often that a stolen car is found near the site where it was taken,” investigator Police Officer 1 James Castro said. He added that more often, stolen vehicles are recovered in the provinces near Metro Manila such as Bulacan or Pampanga. “Some gangs steal cars and use it as getaway vehicles,” he said. Villanueva said that this was the modus operandi used by members of the Marteja-Briones car theft and robbery ring who were arrested recently. “We have to investigate if there were crimes committed in this area during the period [the vehicle] was declared missing,” he added.  A witness who refused to be named for fear of reprisal said the car had been in the area for four to six days before it was found by the police.—Penelope Endozo

Osmeña HS homecoming

President Sergio Osmeña High School in Tondo, Manila, will have a grand homecoming on August 27. The event starts 5 p.m. at the Department of Tourism Clamshell Tent, Arzobispo cor. Anda Streets in Intramuros, Manila. “Osmeña, Astig Pa Rin @ 50!” is also a celebration of the school’s 50th foundation day. The school produced its first graduates in 1964. It recently added a new building, made possible through the initiative of Mayor Alfredo Lim, the Division of City Schools and City Engineer’s Office. For more information, call Gene Marcial at 0915-7700688 or 4132321, Lita Marquez at 0918-6320466 or Sergio Osmeña HS at 253831. You can also check Pres. Sergio Osmena High School on Facebook.