Wednesday, November 23, 2005 (Philippines)

From a helicopter, 2nd Lt. Luel Adrian Benedicto (above) shows the spot where he and 17 other soldiers had a 45-minute gunfight in San Agustin, Palo, Leyte with NPA rebels.(Sunstar photo/Mia E. Abellana) Cebu City’s Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Bureau (CIIB) is again entangled in a controversy, a day after its operatives were accused of summarily executing a suspect. A Talamban jeepney driver accused PO2 Albert Luardo of mauling him and stapling his ears last Monday night. His offense: he blocked Luardo’s multicab along Gov. Cuenco Ave. in Barangay Banilad as he tried to pick up some passengers. The CIIB policeman allegedly put Oscar Sarte, 30, in the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) detention cell since Saturday night, without a case filed. [full story]