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.

Probers verify tipsters’ data

AT LEAST five persons called to give homicide investigators tips, after a mayor offered a reward of P200,000 for information on the gunman who killed his lover in Cebu City two weeks ago.

140 guests treated to cave, beach tour

ABOUT 140 participants of the Suroy-Suroy sa Sugbo experienced the different tourist sites in Camotes Islands.

The Suroy-Suroy sa Sugbo Camotes Isles Summer Interlude has the same number of participants during the Suroy-Suroy Southern Getaway last January.

Korean nabbed for drug use

FOR allegedly sniffing shabu with his friends in Consolacion, northern Cebu, a 59-year-old Korean national will face trial after he was charged by the Cebu Provincial Prosecutor’s Office.

Cebu disaster council asks for command center, cameras

A COMMAND center, the installation of closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras, the purchase of a new fire truck, and asphalting of accident-prone areas.

These are the projects the Cebu City Local Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (LDRRMC) intends to spend its more than P200-million calamity fund on this year.

Cebu’s P55-M trash stations project deferred

CEBU CITY – The City Government’s Solid Waste Management Board (SWMB) wants to put on hold the establishment of materials recovery facilities (MRF) in five barangays, which will cost P55 million.

The SWMB’s technical audit on the status of one of the MRFs in the city showed that the facility has not served its purpose.

'Circumferential road project should be revived'

THE circumferential road that was proposed more than two decades ago was the only project that was not implemented under the Metro Cebu Development Project (MCDP) 3.

Engr. Pedro Adonis Compendio, a former Cebu City consultant, believes this project is worth revisiting.

Independent senatoriables take the spotlight in Cebu

EMPIRICAL Manila, Ming dynasty and cholesterol. These were some of the words uttered by senatorial candidates for the 2013 elections when they came to Cebu for a forum sponsored by the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

“Nangunguna lagi sa empirical Manila,” independent candidate Ricardo Penson said of the services that trickle down to Cebu, which often refers to the country’s capital as “Imperial Manila.”

No sessions till after elections

THE Cebu City Council will take a break from having regular sessions because of the campaign season.

Vice Mayor Joy Augustus Young said it is more practical that they just cancel the regular sessions before the May 13 elections since everyone will be busy campaigning.

10,000 people watch actors reenact Kadaugan sa Mactan

FOR the sixth time in his life, Norman Casinillo changed into a loin cloth and wielded a fake sword at the Liberty Shrine in Barangay Mactan, Lapu-Lapu City yesterday morning.

The 30-year-old factory worker slew two Spanish warriors and wounded Portuguese Ferdinand Magellan during the reenactment of the April 27, 1521 Battle of Mactan.

2 suspects in taxi robbery in Lapu-Lapu in custody

TWO teenagers allegedly robbed a taxi driver last Friday dawn so they could have money to spend during Lapu-Lapu City’s Kadaugan Street Party.

Police caught Jap Marwin Cabalhug, 18, later that night on M.L. Quezon Ave. during the street party for allegedly concealing a deadly weapon, while Rene Jay Pelayo, 19, surrendered yesterday.