NEWSBRIEFS

ZAMBOANGA SIBUGAY

Spa owner abducted

Armed men posing as spa customers abducted the owner of a health establishment in Ipil town on Sunday night.

Brigadier General Santiago Baluyot, chief of the Army’s 102nd Brigade, identified the victim as Luisa Galvez, 34, owner of RL Salon and Spa. Galvez is the common-law-wife of Scottish national Raymund George Morrison, according to Mayor Eldwin Alibutdan.

The yellow multicab used by the abductors as getaway vehicle was later found in Sitio (sub-village) Simanal in Barangay (village) Bankerohan, 3 kilometers from the spa.

Baluyot said intelligence agents had been dispatched to find the abductors and their victim.

As of press time, Alibutdan said there has been “no contact or communication with them.” Julie S. Alipala, Inquirer Mindanao

GENERAL SANTOS CITY

City councilor survives attack

A city councilor has survived multiple bullet wounds during an attack early Saturday by the live-in partner of a woman he has been dating.

On Monday morning, Councilor Ronnel Rivera, the son of a fishing tycoon, was declared out of danger by the attending doctor.

Police said Rivera was shot by Janwarth dela Cruz, an insurance company sales agent when he caught Rivera and his live-in partner, Shiela Taneda, together inside a car.

One of Rivera’s bodyguards shot Dela Cruz, who died before reaching a hospital here. The bodyguard remains at large.

Taneda, a former overseas worker, owns Crocodillos Bar in Barangay Lagao. Aquiles Z. Zonio, Inquirer Mindanao

ILOILO CITY

Grenade blast rocks new hotel

Two unidentified persons lobbed a fragmentation grenade at a newly constructed city hotel early Monday.

There were no casualties in the still unoccupied Bali Hotel, but the explosion damaged the building, Senior Superintendent Marietto Valerio, city police director, told the Inquirer in a telephone interview.

The blast, 2 meters from the street, shattered the glass panels and parts of the building’s stairs.

Valerio said investigators were still determining the identity of the attackers and their motive. Nestor P. Burgos Jr., Inquirer Visayas

CEBU CITY

Fire displaces 50 families

Two persons were wounded while at least 50 families were displaced before noon on Saturday after a fire destroyed about 30 houses in Barangay Guadalupe.

Vincent Mañigo suffered serious burns after he reportedly went back to his house that was engulfed by flames to save his belongings. Another resident, Nestor delos Arcos, suffered a cut in his right leg after he stepped on a broken glass during the commotion, said Fire Officer 2 Rudipher Comeros, fire investigator.

City Fire Marshall Aderson Comar said the cause of the fire was still being looked into. Damage to property was pegged at P300,000 as the fire destroyed 30 homes. Chito O. Aragon and Jhunnex Napallacan, Inquirer Visayas