It’s our turn to investigate: NBI

NATIONAL Bureau of Investigation (NBI) 7 Director Antonio Pagatpat insists they are the lead agency in the investigation on the death of a shopper inside the Metro Gaisano on Colon St., Cebu City last April 12.

“The PNP had the opportunity to investigate the case before, but they let it go,” Pagatpat told reporters yesterday, adding that the family of victim Mario Alfie Ducayag asked them to conduct the probe.

6 more Cebu City policemen participate in absentee voting

“DAPAT man gyud siguro tang mobutar kay kada boto nato importante kaayo (We should all vote because every vote counts),” said PO3 Elver Mabatid, one of six policemen who participated in the local absentee voting at the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) yesterday.

Mabatid, who is assigned in the Public Safety Battalion, will be deployed in the mountain barangay of Sibugay, Cebu City on May 13.

5 towns, cities in Cebu identified as highly critical

WHAT makes a town or city an election watch-list area (EWA)?

If there was an occurrence of poll violence in the last two preceding elections, an area will be included in the list, said Supt. Pablo Labra II of Police Regional Office (PRO) 7.

Boy, 8, finds gun, hits self

A LITTLE learning proved to be a dangerous thing after an eight-year-old boy mistook a gun for a toy and accidentally shot himself in San Fernando, Cebu last Sunday night.

This is the second incident since last month following the death of a boy in Bantayan Island who was killed by his brother when a gun they played with went off.

Veco to probe bets’ power-tapping

THE Visayan Electric Company (Veco) is investigating allegations that Talisay City’s ruling administration bloc is illegally tapping electricity to light up their tarpaulins.

TRS asks 3 shrine guards about burglary

THE Theft and Robbery Section (TRS) of the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) invited yesterday three guards who were assigned at the St. Pedro Calungsod Chapel to gather information on the burglary that happened on Sunday dawn.

The chapel lost P100,000 and P34,000 worth of bank checks.

2 ‘BOPK supporters’ file plaint vs Rama, de los Santos

TWO guardians of Cebu City high school graduates filed a complaint against Mayor Michael Rama and Lahug Barangay Councilor Mary Ann de los Santos for alleged vote-buying.

They were referring to what allegedly happened during the distribution of scholarship vouchers to high school graduates from Barangays Lahug, Apas and Barrio Luz last April 3 at the Lahug Elementary School.

Magpale seeks bigger budget for agri programs in 2014

ACTING Gov. Agnes Magpale wants a bigger allocation for agriculture next year to promote “rice-self-sufficiency.”

This is in line with the government’s advocacy to achieve this, starting this year.

Yellow submarine halted

THE Lapu-Lapu City Government ordered a halt yesterday to the operations of a yellow submarine, one of Cebu’s newest tourism attractions, that ferries passengers to view Mactan Channel below the surface.

What prompted it? A video, shot by a diver, which showed the vessel hitting a coral reef, causing some pieces to fall off.

Education, health care top candidates’ pledges

EDUCATION, infrastructure and health services are among the common programs that 10 candidates from both Cebu Province and Cebu City are willing to champion.

Among the more specific campaign promises they made in a forum yesterday are a proposal to push for a shift to the jury system, a sewage treatment system for Cebu City, and the creation of the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Boy, 7, shoots 4-year-old brother

A SEVEN-YEAR-OLD boy shot and killed his four-year-old brother while playing inside their house in Barangay Bantigue in Bantayan Island, Cebu last Sunday morning.

Mark, 7, accidentally shot Carl, 4, with a .45 pistol. The bullet hit Carl in the philtrum, the midline groove between the upper lip and the nose.

CCPO lets NBI assume probe on killed shopper

THE City Intelligence Branch (CIB) of the Cebu City police released yesterday morning the security camera operator of a department store, a day after arresting him for allegedly mauling to death a shopper.

This, after the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) decided to forward the case against 31-year-old Jeffrey Aquino, the Gaisano Metro-Colon security camera operator who allegedly mauled to death Mario Alfie Ducayag, to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) 7.

All set for May 13 elections

WITH two weeks more to go before the May 13 elections, the police, military and Commission on Elections (Comelec) ironed out their final plans yesterday and are nearing completion on their preparations.

Cebu Provincial Police Office (CPPO) Director Patrocinio Comendador said the third and fourth districts of Cebu Province, which have 10 potential election watch-list areas, will be given extra attention.

Tip from Australian police leads to arrest of ‘pedophile’

A 65-YEAR-OLD Australian national said he only gave money to minors he met in the streets because he felt sorry for them.

But one of Keith Robert Hutton’s alleged victims said in her sworn statement that he offered her P1,000 to have sex with him. When the girl refused, he opted to touch her genitals instead.

Some chiefs to miss out on voting

SOME members of the police force and the military have already cast their ballots during the local absentee voting that began last Sunday.

Twenty-one military personnel voted inside Camp Lapu-Lapu yesterday, said Central Command spokesperson Lt. Mark Enriquez.

Calungsod chapel burglarized

THE San Pedro Calungsod Chapel lost P100,000 and an undetermined amount of bank checks to burglars Sunday dawn.

Chapel employees discovered the burglary at 10 a.m. Sunday and reported the incident to the Mambaling Police Station.

Rama ‘walks out of meeting, challenges councilor to a fight’

DID Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama challenge Kasambagan Barangay Councilor Franklin Ong to a fistfight?

No one would confirm but Ong said that was what he heard from his colleagues during the first general assembly of the Barangay Councilors League of the Philippines (BCLP) last Sunday at the SM Trade Hall 3. He is the league’s president.

City to go after Ermita re-blocking saboteurs

THE Cebu City Government may file charges against some residents of Sitio Bato in Barangay Ermita who are trying to stop its clearing operation and re-blocking project in the area recently hit by fire.

The move of the City followed after some of the heavy equipment it deployed in the fire site were damaged.

‘Strictly tourism, no politics, in Suroy Camotes’

IT’S purely tourism.

This was how Cebu Provincial Tourism Officer Grace Paulino described the Suroy-Suroy sa Sugbo Camotes Isle Summer Interlude when no officials from the Provincial Government and local government units joined the three-day tour.

Ruling bloc denies using CCT program in campaign

OFFICIALS of Talisay City’s ruling administration bloc denied allegations that they were using the national government’s conditional cash transfer (CCT) program for political leverage.

In a press conference, Talisay City Administrator Richel Bacaltos, who is also Alayon Party’s campaign manager, told reporters that that they have never forced the beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) to join their campaign sorties in exchange for their retention in the list of registered beneficiaries.

Council asks for spending review

THE Cebu City Council has asked the executive department to explain how it spent the City Government's funds last year.

The move came from the council's committee on budget and finance, after a review of the statement of income and expenses for 2012 that the City Accounting Office submitted to the legislative body.

Drivers choose TUCP over transport groups

CEBU CITY -- A transport group in Cebu announced Sunday it will support a labor-oriented party-list with roots in Cebu, instead of at least two other groups for drivers and transport operators.

In a press conference, Rudy Laconza, president of the Alliance of Transport Organization Members Intra-Cebu (Atomic), said they "feel at home" under the fold of the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP).

BOPK: Celebrities no bearing on results

THE Bando Osmeña Pundok Kauswagan (BOPK) is not threatened by the endorsement of several celebrities of the slate of Mayor Michael Rama’s Team Rama.

BOPK chief Rep. Tomas Osmeña (Cebu City, south) believes celebrities will not make Team Rama win.

Ombud launches program on solid waste

CEBU CITY -- To monitor the local government units’ (LGUs) compliance with Republic Act (RA) 9003 (Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000), the Office of the Ombudsman has launched its Solid Waste Management Compliance Program.

Debate turns into yell match

A CANDIDATES’ forum organized by Talisay City’s concerned citizens turned into a shouting match between the supporters of the city’s two major political parties.

Supporters of Talisay City’s Alayon Party and Liberal Party were placed in the spotlight during the candidates’ forum held at the St. Therese de Avila Parish covered court in Barangay Poblacion last Saturday night.

Big crowd attends Lapu’s Kadaugan

THE Kadaugan Street Party (KSP) in Lapu-Lapu City last Friday and Saturday nights drew almost half a million people, the police said.

Despite the overwhelming crowd, which is four times bigger than in 2011 when the KSP was first held—Lapu-Lapu City Police Office Chief Rey Lyndon Lawas said no crime or any untoward incident was reported during the street parties.

Ducayag, 23, laid to rest

MARIO Alfie Ducayag, 23, who reportedly died after being allegedly tortured and mauled by security officers of a popular mall chain in Cebu City, was finally laid to rest in his hometown in Naga City yesterday.

His family and friends continue to cry out for justice for what had happened to Ducayag, a 23-year-old housekeeping student.

City launches ‘I am Mandaue’

MANDAUE City officials want their constituents to proudly say, “I am Mandaue.”

As it kicked off its fiesta celebration last Saturday, the City Government launched the “I am Mandaue” movement with the aim of encouraging each resident to contribute to the city’s progress.

Angara: Campaign sorties expose him to country’s poverty

SENATORIAL candidate Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara who is running under the Liberal Party (LP) said he was touched to see poor and hungry people in the countryside during his campaign sorties.

He said he will initiate laws in the Senate that will secure food and jobs for the poor.

No one shows up for 1st day of local absentee voting

THE first day of absentee voting proved to be a quiet one in Cebu yesterday.

Commission on Elections (Comelec) Cebu Provincial Election Supervisor Eddie Aba said he did not receive any report about a policeman, soldier or teacher who cast his or her ballot yesterday.