Newsbriefs

BATANGAS

Drowning victim found

Rescuers recovered the body of one of two guests at a resort in Nasugbu town who were swallowed by big waves while swimming on Sunday noon.

Chief Petty Officer Juan Ramirez, commander of the Coast Guard detachment in Nasugbu, on Tuesday said Jay-ar Villanueva was found floating by a resident amid strong currents off the coast of Barangay (village) Bucana, 1,000 meters from Alix beach resort at past 1 p.m. on Monday.

His companion, Erickson Espino, was found near the resort but died on arrival at the hospital.

Ramirez said Villanueva’s body was brought to his family in Bulacan.—Jerome Balinton, Inquirer Southern Luzon

CEBU CITY

Cop faces rape rap

A police officer was arrested on Tuesday by his colleagues to face a complaint of raping a 16-year-old girl inside a motel in Mandaue City.

Since the crime is nonbailable, the lawyer of Inspector Gerardo Fiel Jr. asked Judge Teresita Galanida of the Regional Trial Court Branch 56 in Mandaue that he be detained at the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) facility in Central Visayas instead of the Mandaue City Jail.

CIDG personnel led by Chief Insp. Fermin Armendarez served the warrant of arrest issued against Fiel by Judge Galanida on September 22, at the office of his lawyer, Noel Archival.

Fiel is a former deputy chief of the Subangdaku police precinct in Mandaue when the rape reportedly took place.—Chito Aragon, Inquirer Visayas