Wardens sacked
GOV. Gwendolyn Garcia yesterday relieved the provincial jail warden and his assistant when she learned that a guard had allowed, without court approval, a former mayor detained in jail to have lunch in a restaurant after his hearing.
The Department of Justice (DoJ) will also ask the court...
I did not kill broadcaster: former mayor
THE alleged gunman in the killing of a broadcaster in 2004 denied assassinating him, and told the court he was somewhere else when the shooting happened.
Alfredo Arcenio, former mayor of Lezo town in Aklan Province, took the witness stand yesterday for the continuation of his direct...
Ellah Joy’s death haunts father
ONE year ago today, six-year-old schoolgirl Ellah Joy Pique was abducted outside her school in Minglanilla town, south of Cebu City.
The following day, her body—wrapped in white cloth and tied with wires—was found dumped at the foot of a cliff in Barili town.
The victim’s father,...
Slain rob suspect armed during PUJ heist: witness
SLAIN robbery suspect Ronron Go was armed when he and his companion robbed a passenger jeepney near a Chinese restaurant in the North Reclamation Area in Cebu City eight years ago, a defense witness told the court yesterday.
Kimberly Corro cried when she took the witness stand as the...
Quake sparks panic, traffic
A MAGNITUDE 6.9 earthquake, the strongest recorded in Central Visayas in 90 years, struck Tayasan in Negros Oriental at 11:49 a.m. yesterday.
No major damage and no deaths were reported in Cebu Province. But the official report listed at least seven killed—two of them girls under 12 years...
39 votes save aspiring chief
BARANGAY Calamba in Cebu City has a new captain.
The court yesterday declared Esther Concha as “the winner and duly elected punong barangay” of Calamba during the October 2010 elections.
Cenro worker faces graft case in court for asking money from a lot owner
AN employee of the Community Environment and Natural Resources Office-Department of Environment and Natural Resources (Cenro-DENR) in Cebu City is facing a graft case in court for allegedly demanding money from a woman and her son who wanted their lot titled in Talisay City in 2006.
Edwin...
Oguto’s drug case is closed, says NBI
THE National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in Central Visayas considered “closed” the case of Kenyan tourist Asha Atieno Oguto, who was convicted on Monday by a trial court in Lapu-Lapu City for transporting illegal drugs into the country in September last year.
NBI 7 Deputy Director...
Banks, firms turn down court sheriff’s demand
TWO government-run banks and two giant real estate firms turned down the demands of a court sheriff to satisfy the P133-million award the Cebu City Government owed the heirs of a private lot supposedly used for a public road.
The Philippine Veterans Bank, Philippine Postal Savings...
Prosecutors clear security guard of P1.7M Sinulog fund theft
AFTER dismissing the qualified theft complaint against a security guard last Monday, government prosecutors want the police to identify who really carted away close to P1.7 million of the Sinulog Foundation Inc.’s funds last Jan. 16.
City Prosecutor Nicolas Sellon approved the resolution...
Couple lured child into car, says witness
THE hearing on the defense panel’s bid to allow detained kidnap-slay suspect Bella Ruby Santos to post bail resumed yesterday, with a tricycle driver taking the witness stand as the prosecution’s second witness. He testified what he supposedly witnessed when Ellah Joy Pique was snatched outside...
Case vs guard in Sinulog theft dropped
CEBU CITY -- There was nothing but “suspicions and insinuations” against the security guard previously blamed for the loss of some P1.68 million from a government office during the Sinulog in Cebu City.
Saying that, the Office of the Cebu City Prosecutor (CCPO) dismissed Monday the...
Lawyer charged in court for annulment ‘anomaly’
A LAWYER from Cebu City is facing a criminal case in court for allegedly issuing a fake court decision to his client who sought annulment of her marriage in 2008.
Cebu City Assistant Prosecutor Rodulph Joseph Val Carrillo found Luis Diores Jr. liable for estafa for duping one Aileen...
Police chief faces case in military court for ‘hitting’ ma
A CEBU City police official will face a formal investigation before the Office for the Military and Other Law Enforcement Offices (Moleo) for allegedly hitting a mother and her four-year-old son over a scratch on his vehicle.
Graft investigator Cynthia Maturan-Sibi forwarded to Moleo the...
3 drug suspects acquitted
A TRIAL court judge yesterday acquitted three people involved in drug cases, including a controversial drug suspect who was the subject of a botched operation carried out by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) 7 that seriously wounded five resort workers in 2002.
Roberto Hegremosa...
Judge acquits ex-cop in homicide charge
A TRIAL court judge yesterday acquitted a former police officer who was charged for shooting to death a member of an anti-crime group in 2002.
Judge Bienvenido Saniel Jr. found former policeman Levi Ortiz innocent of a homicide charge, after the prosecution failed to prove his guilt...
2 get life terms for trafficking
TWO women were sentenced to life in prison yesterday for trafficking eight people, mostly minors, to work as “entertainers” in a bar in Cebu City in 2008.
Judge Ester Veloso also fined Jillian Moring Ferrer and Dhayme Jamuad P2 million each after they were found guilty of violating...
Castro drops cases vs. ‘boss’
SAYING the issue stemmed from a mere “misunderstanding,” Cebu City Assistant Prosecutor Mary Ann Castro dropped the criminal and administrative charges she filed against her boss, Regional State Prosecutor Fernando Gubalane, before the Office of the Ombudsman Visayas five months ago.
...
Suspension of officials from Customs affirmed
THE anti-graft office has affirmed its decision suspending two personnel of the Bureau of Customs (BOC) in Lapu-Lapu City for simple neglect of duty.
Graft investigator Amy Rose Soler-Rellin said their decision suspending Jane Maye, former customs operations officer, and Carilo Arong, BOC...
Finder of valuables urged to return items to city, mayor
WHOEVER finds something that is abandoned cannot claim it for himself.
The idiom “finders keepers” may not be applicable to the case of the scavengers who found pieces of jewelry in Umapad dumpsite in Mandaue City last Jan. 12.
Execs undergo lie test in P1.7M heist
SINULOG Foundation Inc. (SFI) executive director Ricky Ballesteros and Cebu City Sports Commission (CCSC) executive director Eldibrando Velasquez underwent a lie detector test at the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) 7 yesterday as police continue its investigation into the Sinulog...
Bergers file human rights case against PH before UN
KAREN and Sven Erik Berger made good their threat to file a human rights violation case against the Philippine Government before the United Nations (UN).
Glen Villariza, the couple’s lawyer, said his clients filed the complaint before the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland...
Court execs, lawyers: Do it to ensure transparency
PUBLIC disclosure of the statements of assets, liabilities and net worth SALNs) of court officers and employees will promote transparency in the judiciary.
This was stressed by some members of the judiciary and officers of the court in Cebu yesterday.
To set an example, Court of...
2 ‘notorious’ robbers charged in court
CRIMINAL charges were filed in court against two suspected robbers arrested by the police for allegedly duping several people and taking away the victims’ valuables.
The Office of the Cebu City Prosecutor found basis to charge Eduard Teves, 28, and Michael Reyes, 29, with possession of...
Judge orders demolition of 15 houses occupying private lot in T. Padilla
A LOWER court has ordered the demolition of 15 houses in Barangay T. Padilla, Cebu City.
Judge Rosabella Tormis of the Municipal Trial Court in Cities Branch 4 instructed the court sheriff to implement a final notice to vacate a six-hectare property in Sitio F. Villa, Barangay T. Padilla...
