A SOURCE said that last Dec. 27 at 6:40 p.m., a Norwegian national identified as Andres Ovenstad, holder of Norwegian passport 27448686 and a departing passenger of Cathay Pacific flight CX 920 bound for Hong Kong, was arrested by elements of the Police Center for Aviation and Security (PCAS) at the Mactan-Cebu International Airport for alleged possession of illegal firearms.
But when a city prosecutor was about to conduct inquest proceedings the following day, airport police failed to produce Ovenstad. The source said Ovenstad was allowed to leave Cebu, despite his alleged violation, in exchange for a sum of money.
When sought for comment by radio dySS reporter Guam Logronio, PCAS Chief S/Supt. Joselito Salido confirmed the arrest, but denied allegation that bribery took place. He also confirmed that they released Ovenstad, saying they failed to meet the reglamentary period in filing the case against the foreigner because the fiscal’s office was closed that time.
What? As simple as that? Dec. 28, a Monday, was not a holiday.
How come there was no office? Salido said the Norwegian was able to post bail and was placed under the custody of his lawyer. Salido was inconsistent. How could the foreigner post bail when he was not charged?
I smell something fishy here that is why I am calling on the superior of Salido to conduct further investigation to get to the bottom of this issue.
The PCAS is a national police support unit in charge of security in our airports. This unit is not directly under the operational and administrative control of the Police Regional Office. Maybe our MCIAA authorities or the anti-graft office can also look into this.
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Twelve beauty contestants will vie for this year’s Miss Cebu title, one of the highlights of the annual celebration of the Sinulog festivities. Last year’s selection was marred by controversies following the “mix-up” during the awarding of the texter’s choice award sponsored by Globe Telecom. The award should have gone to Kimberly Burden, who garnered the highest votes. However, during the awarding, Kris Tiffany Janson’s name was read by the emcee. Janson also ended up bagging the Miss Cebu title.
City Hall investigated the fiasco and found out that there was “sheer negligence” during the production and blamed production manager Bruce Bollozos for the mix-up. Bollozos admitted the blunder, but claimed it was an honest mistake. He publicly apologized.
Miss Cebu organizers also apologized to Burden’s camp.
However, the controversy did not stop there. Kim’s mother, Dr. Rowena Burden, further questioned the selection process, claiming there was favoritism and manipulation.
She said Janson was not even on the original list of candidates and her name was just inserted without going through a thorough screening because of the insistence of one of the council’s officers.
The Burdens threatened to go to court but did not pursue their cause after getting insults from Mayor Tomas Osmeña who had just returned to Cebu following the operation on his cancer in the US.
So is designer Philip Rodriguez still with the Miss Cebu Council? If he is, the selection for Miss Cebu will never be credible. Why? Most of the candidates are fashion models handled by Rodriguez’s clique. And if a candidate does not belong to any of their “stables,” she has a remote chance of winning the title.
I hope the organizers have learned their lesson from last year’s controversy that tainted and destroyed the image of the erstwhile prestigious beauty pageant.
(bgnalzaro@gmanetwork.com)