Police, Comelec to set rules for citizens’ arrest

TO PREVENT abuse from political candidates, the Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 and the Commission on Elections (Comelec) agreed to establish protocols in implementing citizen’s arrest for poll violators.

PRO 7 Director Marcelo Garbo Jr. said they want to set up protocols that would limit such practice to prevent candidates from harassing its opponents.

Santos’ relatives welcome release

A BIG part of homicide suspect Bella Ruby Santos’s life had been taken away while she stayed in prison for almost two years.

“Hayahay ang iyang kinabuhi, kani ra gyud nga kasuha ang nakapabati niya (Her life was good until this case made her miserable),” said her cousin Bogs.

Lapu says no bets on Kadaugan

THE Lapu-Lapu City Government will refrain from inviting political candidates to the reenactment of the Battle of Mactan to keep politics out of the celebration honoring the country’s first hero.

Though candidates are welcome to witness the event, which is expected to draw thousands of spectators, they are not allowed to display campaign posters and tarpaulins in the vicinity.

Police beef up checkpoints vs. crimes

WITH at least five shooting incidents involving motorcycle-riding-in-tandem suspects recorded in the Homicide Section of the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) per month, constant checkpoints and police visibility are two factors that will help lessen crimes.

CCPO Acting Director Mariano Natuel Jr. said the police must be on guard especially in crime-prone areas.

P10M needed for Fort San Pedro repairs

THE manager of Fort San Pedro is pushing for a P10-million facelift for the 275-year-old facility.

Fort San Pedro Executive Director Erwin dela Cerna said the facility needs to be renovated since its walls have been damaged. The roof of the Cuerpo de Guardia, which is the area located above the fort, is starting to fall.

Foreigner who wed 2 women in 9 months among tell-tale cases

AMERICAN national Buddy Gayland Weaver got married twice in a span of just nine months in 2007 without submitting the required papers.

This case was among the “glaring pieces of evidence” that prompted the Supreme Court (SC) to dismiss four judges in Cebu City for gross inefficiency or neglect of duty and gross ignorance of the law.

Pro-lifers endorse candidates who oppose RH Law

LAY members of various church-based organizations in the Archdiocese of Cebu will support and campaign for 12 senatorial candidates, eight candidates for Congress and three party-list groups.

The Lay Initiatives for Election (LIFE) 2013 announced their support for Milagros “Mitos” Magsaysay, Gregorio Honasan III, Antonio Trillanes IV, Aquilino Pimentel III, Joseph Victor Ejercito, Nancy Binay, Cynthia Villar, Richard Gordon and Juan Miguel Zubiri, who are all running for the Senate.

GPS installed on Citom vehicles

PERSONNEL from the Cebu City Traffic Operations Management (Citom) will now be able to immediately respond to vehicular incidents.

It has installed global position system (GPS) units to its fleet of vehicles last Friday.

Police arrest late vice guv’s son

THE son of the late vice governor Gregorio Sanchez Jr. was arrested while allegedly having a pot session inside a house in Barangay Mabolo, Cebu City late Friday night.

Seized from Leodegreco “Greco” Sanchez’s possession was a large pack of shabu, said Supt. George Ylanan of the Police Regional Office 7.

Soc ‘denies’ he will turn in Joavan

JOAVAN Fernandez will surrender to authorities tomorrow.

Talisay City Police Station Chief Elmer Lim said Joavan’s father Talisay City Mayor Socrates Fernandez assured him of this yesterday.

Carcar mayor wants PB to give purok ordinance another chance

CARCAR City will ask the Provincial Board (PB) to reconsider the changes it made on the City’s purok ordinance.

City Ordinance 9-12 seeks to institutionalize the purok system in all 15 barangays, serving 110,000 residents.

Sitoy backs fight vs diaper brand

LAPU-LAPU City Mayor Paz Radaza has found an ally in the battle against a diaper manufacturer.

Mayor Adelino Sitoy of the adjacent Cordova town has expressed his support for Radaza’s call to stop the airing of an advertisement that makes the Battle of Mactan “look funny on TV.”

Tuburan’s One Cebu holds rally

WITH movie star Gabby Concepcion as one of their guests, Tuburan’s One Cebu Party candidates held a caravan and political rally yesterday.

In the rally, the party’s mayoralty candidate criticized Mayor Democrito “Aljun” Diamante for allegedly not prioritizing health that resulted in a typhoid fever outbreak in the town last year.

Veloso asked: Reconsider order

JUDGE Ester Veloso has been asked to reconsider her order granting Bella Ruby Santos the right to post bail while the hearing of her kidnapping with homicide case continues.

Private prosecutors Inocencio dela Cerna and Hazan Bargamento filed a motion for reconsideration late Friday afternoon asking Veloso to hold in abeyance the enforcement of her ruling.

Mandaue Peso sets 2 job fairs

JOBSEEKERS, including fresh graduates, are encouraged to take advantage of the job fairs in Mandaue City this week.

Two malls will host the job fairs that will offer local and overseas jobs.

Car shop worker survives gunshot, blames Joavan

A WEEK after he allegedly intimidated a woman who refused to allow him to post a campaign poster, the son of Talisay City Mayor Socrates Fernandez is in the news again.

This time, Joavan Fernandez was accused of shooting a car shop watchman in the South Road Properties (SRP) area of Barangay San Isidro around 12:30 a.m. yesterday.

Suspect in kidnap-slay of girl, 6, allowed to post bail

FOR almost two years, homicide suspect Bella Ruby Santos spent her life behind bars in the Naga City Jail for allegedly conspiring with her boyfriend, Ian Charles Griffiths, to abduct and murder six-year-old Ellah Joy Pique two years ago.

Her stay in her small cell may soon end after Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 6 Judge Ester Veloso granted her petition for bail.

Guard who shot snatcher receives award

THEY say good deeds never go unnoticed. This rings true for a security guard who shot an alleged snatcher outside the establishment he was manning on Magallanes St., Cebu City.

Yesterday, Andy Pacana Carnay, who is employed under Sealion Security and Investigation Agency, received a cash incentive for his “heroic act” from the City Government.

DEPW lacks workers to monitor projects

THE suspension of three engineers means the Cebu City’s Department of Engineering and Public Works (DEPW) has fewer workers to monitor the implementation of government projects.

Gov’t needs community, stakeholders

TOURISM can uplift a community, but it can also ruin lives, including those of children.

This is why the Department of Tourism (DOT) stepped up its campaign against child-sex tourism by creating a hotline and forging partnerships with hotels, local government units, the police and other tourism stakeholders.

Police found bullet stuck in woman’s brain

THE woman who was found dead inside her car in Barangay Pajo, Lapu-Lapu City may have committed suicide.

Dr. Nestor Sator of the PNP Regional Crime Laboratory 7 said a bullet was lodged in the brain of Lynette Tagimacruz Stone.

Old bridge to be named ‘Serging’

THE Mactan Cebu Bridge Management Board (MCBMB) approved the proposals to name the first Mandaue-Mactan bridge as Serging Osmeña Bridge and to create one more link between the islands.

Cordova Mayor Adelino Sitoy proposed to the board the two motions during the MCBMB meeting presided by National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) 7 Assistant Director Efren Carreon yesterday.

PB junks Carcar ordinance creating city’s purok system

THE Cebu Provincial Board (PB) returned a Carcar City ordinance that seeks to institutionalize the purok system in the city.

The PB called the ordinance unconstitutional, harsh and subject to abuse, and recommended some changes.

Breast milk bank to open in VSMMC soon

THE Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC) will soon host the first breast milk bank in the Visayas.

Sen. Pia Cayetano will allocate P1 million from her Priority Development Assistance Fund for a pasteurizer that will “kill microorganisms in breast milk without changing the composition of the milk,” Dr. Lilibeth Espinosa, medical specialist of VSMMC’s Department of Pediatrics, told Sun.Star Cebu yesterday.

Osmeña mulls Guadalupe-Tisa access road...

REP. Tomas Osmeña (Cebu City, south district) is pushing for the opening of an access road that will connect Barangay Guadalupe and Barangay Tisa.

The access road, the congressman said, is seen to ease vehicular traffic on Escario and M. Velez Streets, among others.

Tomas: No stars during BOPK rally, just PNoy

NO celebrities, no entertainment and no “hakot” crowd.

This is how Rep. Tomas Osmeña (Cebu City, south district) described the Bando Osmeña Pundok Kauswagan (BOPK)-Liberal Party’s (LP) rally on April 18 at the Cebu Provincial Capitol.

Talisay VM unfazed by pelting

TALISAY City Vice Mayor Alan Bucao remains confident about being reelected, whether he gets pelted with tomatoes, which he denied, or rocks, which his allies confirmed.

Mike suspends 3 CH engineers

CEBU City Mayor Michael Rama finally heeded the order of the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas to suspend three engineers of the Department of Engineering and Public Works (DEPW) for six months without pay.

Rama issued yesterday the suspension order to Assistant City Engineer June Nadine Sison, construction division head Juanito Pua and project inspector Joel Pasatiempo.

Woman found dead inside car

ON the day she turned 44, a mother of two was found dead inside her car parked just outside their house in Pajo, Lapu-Lapu City.

Lynette Tagimacruz Stone was found dead on the driver’s seat of her green Honda Fit, which was parked outside their house on Ybanez St. in Barangay Pajo early yesterday morning.

Police, media discuss security preparations for May 13 elections

NO ONE, not even journalists, is safe in hotly contested areas during the election, a top police official said.

“Having a press card is not (an assurance) that reporters will be protected,” said Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 Director Marcelo Garbo Jr., in response to a question raised during a dialogue between the police and media yesterday.