■ 5 TOWNS GET NEW POLICE CHIEFS
Supt. Mina Domingo assumed office yesterday as police chief of Consolacion town, whose mayor is also a woman. Consolacion Mayor Teresa Alegado had urged Police Regional Office-Central Visayas Director Noli Taliño to replace Chief Insp. Roderick Gonzales, whom she accused of failing to stop an illegal gambling activity during the Holy Week. Apart from Consolacion, the other towns with new police chiefs are Bantayan, Sibonga, Santander, and Pinamungajan. Cebu Provincial Police Office Director Eric Noble led the turnover ceremony in Barangay Lahug, Cebu City. The new police chiefs are Chief Insp. Florendo Fajardo (Bantayan), Chief Insp. Stephen Amamag-id (Sibonga), Senior Insp. Alejandro Batobalonos (Santander), and Senior Insp. Alfredo Kuhay Jr. (Pinamungajan).
Police raids in two warehouses in Sitio Camarin, Vito, Minganilla last Friday yielded P3.5 million worth of butane-refilling items.
Jayson Lozano, of the Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office, said the buy-busts were conducted following the confession of an apprehended retailer of butane canisters, Roger Bernabe Amadeo.
Two suspects were arrested in the raid of the first warehouse. Police found the second warehouse abandoned.
Lozano said the registrations of the two refilling stations are not for butane business.
“All business engagement should have a business permit, but they don’t have one. Although they were authorized by the Province as a refilling station, our team retrieved a document of their business registration as LPG tank refilling station. What they have are butane materials,” Lozano told reporters. Refilling butane canisters is illegal.
Among the seized items were 419 tanks, seven refilling machines, nine air compressor units, four weighing scales, two delivery vans and 15,830 butane canisters.
Lazano said the filled canisters and tanks were impounded in Mandue City and the empty canisters in Naga City.
It took a dump truck two days and a total of 22 trips to transfer the seized items, said Lozano.
The two suspects, Razel Gaballo and Logie Pacultad Gabuya, were detained at the Minglanilla Police detention cell.
“We already have the names of people involved in the business, but we will still confirm their identities. Although the neighbors knew the operation, they don’t don’t know who are the owners because the workers are from other places like Negros and Davao,” said Lozano.