PALACE SPOKESMAN’S OFFICE TO BE OPENED IN CEBU
NEWLY appointed Malacanang spokesman Harry Roque, who visited Cebu on Sunday, said a satellite office will be opened in Cebu for local media members so they can have access to Malacañang press releases and updates. “Since I joined the [Cabinet], the provincial media have been complaining that they have not been accorded the same kind of attention and representation as the Malacañang Press Corps, so I decided to bring the spokesman’s office to the provinces,” Roque explained. Satellite offices will not be exclusive to Cebu as other such offices will also be put in place in some provinces with organized press corps. Roque said he will maximize use of government radio and TV stations like Radyo ng Bayan and PTV- 4 as means to reach the masses.
MORE IMPROVISED WEAPONS SEIZED IN ‘ OPLAN GREYHOUND’
JOINT operatives seized more improvised tools during a surprise inspection for possible contraband at the Quezon City Jail on Monday, or three days after a riot at the jail left a detainee dead last Friday. Jail Officer 2 Lucila Abarca said improvised weapons from steel bars, forks and other pointed objects were found in two dormitories of the Sputnik and Sigue Sigue Commando gangs. Authorities also seized a rock used as a whetstone to sharpen metals and makeshift water heaters inside one of the Sputnik Gang’s dormitories. In the jail riot last Friday, inmate Hermano Alfredo was stabbed dead by Jerry Balajadia, another inmate. Abarca said Balajadia’s weapon is yet to be identified. Twelve others were wounded in the melee. Quezon City Jail officers are conducting regular surprise inspections to further tighten security measures inside the extremely congested cells, which house about 3,400 detainees, exceeding the city jail’s 800- ideal inmate capacity.
8 NPA REBELS SURRENDER IN SULTAN KUDARAT
SHARIFF AGUAK, Maguindanao: Eight communist New People’s Army ( NPA) rebels belonging to Cloudphone, GF 73 under Commander Bobby surrendered to Joint Task Force ( JTF) Central in Sultan Kudarat on Saturday. They yielded to the men of the 33rd Infantry Battalion ( 33rd IB) under Lt. Col. Harold Cabunoc, the 1st Mechanized Battalion and the local government unit in Senator Ninoy Aquino town and turned over two M16 rifles, two improvised explosive devices, two magazines and 28 live rounds of ammunition. Cabunoc said Bobby and Jimboy, former NPA rebels who recently returned to the fold of the law, facilitated the surrender. To date, 59 members of GF73 have surrendered to the troops in Sultan Kudarat, while one member of GF68 surrendered to the troops in Iligan City, all under JTF Central. Twenty- four members of the NPA Western Mindanao Regional Party Committee surrendered to the JTF ZamPeLan ( Zamboanga Peninsula Lanao).
2 DROWN IN BATAAN BEACH
MORONG, Bataan: Two excursionists, one celebrating his 25th birthday, drowned in a beach here on Sunday afternoon while four others were rescued after a strong current engulfed them while swimming. Senior Insp. Christopher Lalic, Morong police chief, identified the fatalities as Arnold Pasague, 25, truck helper/ messenger, and JM Flores, 15, both from Caloocan City. Members of the Philippine Coast Guard, police and other rescuers found Pasague’s body on Sunday afternoon and brought it to the Morong municipal health center where an attending physician declared him dead. Flores’ body was recovered on Monday morning. Police Officer 1 Reymar Gaffud, investigator, said the victims were having a picnic and swimming at the public shoreline in Barangay Poblacion when they were suddenly engulfed by a strong current along a deep portion of the South China Sea. Rescued were Bryan Tan, 25; Ruben Guray, 37; Rudy Dapat, 39; and Janice Tan, 23, all from Monumento, Caloocan City. Janice was transfered to the James Gordon Hospital in Olongapo City for observation. Pasague’s mother said her son was celebrating his 25th birthday and was invited by his friends to a picnic in Morong.
2 CAUGHT ‘ CANNIBALIZING’ STOLEN MOTORCYCLE
CAMP VICENTE LIM, Laguna: Two suspected car thieves were redhanded by elements of Calabarzon Highway Patrol Unit while “cannibalizing” a stolen motorcycle in Calamba City. Regional Highway Patrol Unit 4A Chief and Supt. Peter Dionisio identified them as Arnel Reyes and Jerome Manolong of Calamba City. Recovered from them was a stolen Yamaha Mio Soul ( 3687 DP) owned by Jose Osis Quiras Jr. of Barangay Banadero, Calamba City. The motorcycle was reportedly taken at about 2 a. m. last Friday while parked in front of Quiras’ residence.