Newsbriefs

‘PADRE’ TO BE SWORN IN BY DAVIDE

SUSPENDED priest and barangay Kawit chairman Oscar Banzon will be sworn in by Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III in Medellin town, northern Cebu on Nov. 15.

Banzon was elected barangay captain of Kawit and will assume his post on December 1. “I will go to Medellin. That’s the arrangement we had with Vice Gov. (Agnes) Magpale,” Davide said.

Davide said he has yet to meet Banzon, whom Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma suspended after filing his certificate of candidacy.

Banzon paid a courtesy call on Magpale and asked that he be sworn in by Davide last Monday.

Banzon was prohibited from performing his priestly functions and duties and is under investigation by the Cebu Archdiocese after he admitted having a relationship with a councilwoman. /Reporter Ador Vincent Mayol

CARGO COORDINATOR PASSES AWAY AFTER BOHOL RELIEF DRIVE

A 50-YEAR-OLD Cebuano cargo coordinator died of a heart attack at dawn last Sunday after distributing relief goods to earthquake victims in Bohol province.

Renato Cañete, a resident of Purok Sampaguita, Poblacion, Liloan, Cebu suffered a heart attack while heading back to Cebu.

He insisted on going despite advice from his superiors not to proceed even if he was not feeling well, his 47-year-old wife Helen said.

She said her husband had coughing and vomiting episodes before his death.

Two Japanese companies sent some family kits to earthquake victims in Bohol through the cargo company Renato worked for last week.

“My husband was a very kind person, he loved to help people especially those who are in need,” she said.

Helen said her husband texted one of their children, saying he would be in Cebu by Sunday morning and visit the cemetery.

Renato was one of the 39 employees who volunteered in the distribution of relief goods instead of spending All Souls’ Day and All Saints’ Day with their families.

“His co-workers told me that when they reached Bohol, my husband helped them in unloading the goods. I believe this got him stressed,” she added.

Helen said their youngest son kept asking when his father will wake up. “I just told my son that his father won´t wake up anymore since he is now with our Lord,” she said. /Correspondent Michelle Joy L. Padayhag

SC MULLS HALL OF JUSTICE STATUS

SUPREME Court administrator Midas Marquez arrived in Cebu City yesterday to assess the viability of the computerization program in the city’s courts amid the damage sustained by the Palace of Justice.

Marquez was with Robert C. La Mont, of the American Bar Association and Reed Aeschliman and Gerardi Porta of the US Agency for International Development (USAid) to inspect the damages on the Palace of Justice.

“We will be spending for the computerization program so we’re assessing things. Because, if it will be temporary, we might be wasting money,” Marquez said.

“As to the Palace of Justice, we’re still studying whether or not it will be renovated, retrofitted, or maybe we need to find another location to put up the Hall of Justice,” he added./ STC Intern Fresha Anne Endico