Metrobriefs

Hunt on for Makati cop who killed teenage boy

The Southern Police District (SPD) chief has ordered a manhunt for the Makati policeman who allegedly shot dead a 13-year-old boy scavenging for trash on Bagtikan Street on Monday night. In a phone interview, Makati police officer in charge Supt. Victor Loares said that SPD director, Chief Supt. Jose Arne de los Santos, ordered a manhunt for Chief Insp. Angelo Germinal who shot  Christian Serrano. The victim was reportedly gathering scrap material in  an abandoned building on Bagtikan Street in Makati City when police officers on board a patrol vehicle tried to scare him and his companions away, Loares said. Germinal allegedly fired two warning shots, with the second one hitting the boy in the back. The victim was rushed to a hospital, but died while being treated, he added. “We are exerting efforts to locate Germinal,” the official said in a phone interview. In a text message, Makati Mayor Jejomar Erwin Binay also instructed the police to conduct an investigation of the incident, as he condoled with the victim’s family. Miko Morelos

Fire destroys P1-M property

A fire broke out in a residential building at 81 Bignay St. in Project 2, Quezon City, after midnight yesterday, and razed an estimated P1 million worth of property. Arson investigator SFO1 Felipe Areza of the Bureau of Fire Protection office stationed at the Quezon City Hall said the blaze started in the building owned by Chinese-Filipino businessman Larry Wy at around 1 a.m. It reached the third alarm before it was put out at 1:37 a.m. The arson investigator said the cause of the fire had yet to be determined. Sara Pacia

Seniors, PWDs can now use pay toilets for free

Senior citizens and persons with disabilities (PWDs) are now exempt from paying the fee for pay restrooms in San Juan City, thanks to an ordinance unanimously approved by the city council. Authored by Councilor Angelo Agcaoili, the measure was signed into law by Mayor Guia Gomez and Vice Mayor Francis Zamora. “If you will notice, pay lounges have proliferated in malls and other establishments. Who would want to pay just to use the [restroom]?” Agcaoili told the Inquirer yesterday. “But PWDs and senior citizens are less mobile and [unable] to walk further and look for free restrooms and it is also difficult for them to hold their need to relieve themselves.” A fine of P5,000 and one year imprisonment will be imposed on owners or principal officers of establishments violating the ordinance. Niña Calleja

Six men rob ‘sari-sari’ store in Manila

A GROUP of men robbed a sari-sari store on Monday afternoon at the height of a heavy downpour spawned by Tropical Storm “Bebeng.” Manila Police District Station 2 commander Supt. Ernesto Tendero said that the robbers were the first to target a sari-sari store in the city. “It is unbelievable,” Tendero said. Based on the complaint lodged by sari-sari store owner Roland Gutierrez of Lakandula corner Lualhati Streets in Tondo, Manila, the robbery happened at around 3:30 p.m. Monday while his 23-year-old helper Alexis Cordial was tending the store. Six men stopped in front of the store, barged inside and took around P30,000 in cash and valuables. Jeannette I. Andrade