TO PREVENT HEIST
Detail security guards,
LBC management told
BY DONALYN M. GUERRERO

Chief Insp. Jimmy Fortaleza, Police Precinct 1 commander, yesterday said that LBC Express Inc. should detail security guards at its branches in Bacolod City to prevent hold-up incidents.

Employees of the LBC Express Inc. branches at Gatuslao and Lacson streets in the city were held up by unidentified persons posing as "customers" on Feb. 11 and 18, Fortaleza said.

He said he believes the hold-uppers belong to the same group because they have identical modus operandi.

The LB branches had been a targeted by the hold-uppers because they lack security guards, Fortaleza said. On Saturday, LBC Express Inc.- Gatuslao Branch employees Maelyn Terry, 32, and Lovella Diaz, 29, reported to Police Precinct 1 that an unidentified person held them up and took their collection of P16,770 in cash.

On Feb 11, Charlotte dela Cruz Abancio, 28, of Victorias City, also reported to Precinct 1 that an unidentified person posing as customer held her up and took her collection of P10,000.*DMG

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1st Scout Ranger,
47th IB commanders relieved
BY GILBERT BAYORAN

The commanding officers of the 1st Scout Ranger and 47th Infantry Battalions whose nine soldiers died in an ambush in Calinog, Iloilo in November last year, were relieved from their respective positions, three months after the incident, a regional Army spokesman said.

Maj. Lyndon Sollesta, 3rd Infantry Division spokesman, yesterday confirmed the relief of Lt. Col. Noel Buan as 1st SR Battalion commander, and Lt. Col. Mariano Antonio Perez as commanding officer of the 47th Infantry Battalion.

Meanwhile, Chief Supt. Geary Barias yesterday replaced Chief Supt. Rene Elumbaring as director of the Caraga region in Mindanao, following the recent rebel attack of Lingig Police Station in Surigao del Sur.

Aside from Elumbaring, Surigao del Sur director Admirante Josue and the Lingig police station commander were also relieved from their respective positions by PNP chief Arturo Lomibao, outgoing PNP spokesman Leopoldo Bataoil said.

Surigao del Sur is among the provinces of Caraga region.

Barias and Bataoil, incoming director of the Northern Police District in Metro Manila, had both served as provincial police directors of Negros Occidental.

On the other hand, Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim, commanding general of the Scout Rangers Regiment, has designated Lt. Col. Allen Capuya as the new 1st SRB commander, replacing Buan.

Lt. Col. Earl Baliao also replaced Perez as commander of the 47th IB. His troops are now undergoing re-training at Camp Macario Peralta in Jamindan, Capiz.

Baliao also served as commanding officer of the 3rd Scout Ranger Company, which used to be stationed in Brgy. Carabalan, Himamaylan City, Negros Occidental.

The Calinog ambush, responsibility over which was claimed by the NPA Waling-Waling Chiva Command in Panay, also resulted in the injuries of 20 other soldiers.

Military records show the number of casualties is the biggest among government troops in a rebel attack in the Visayas in the last two years.*GPB

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More firearms recovered
BY GILBERT BAYORAN

Seven more unlicensed firearms were accounted for by the police, while five persons were arrested in the municipalities of Binalbagan, La Castellana and Valladolid, Negros Occidental, for illegal possession of firearms, during the weekend, the police said yesterday.

Arrested for illegal possession of firearms in La Castellana were Ofrobert Sebua, Rey Amar and Ronnel Monteflor. while apprehended in Binalbagan for a similar violation were Bernabe Payahay and Reynaldo de Leon.

Senior Inspector Virgilio de la Cruz, Binalbagan police chief, yesterday said the arrest of Payahay and De Leon also yielded a .38 caliber revolver with seven ammunition, and a homemade 20-gauge shotgun with five bullets.

De la Cruz added that the recovery of two unlicensed firearms was a product of the Negros Occidental police neighborhood watch program, which is now being implemented in Binalbagan.

La Castellana police chief Placido Composa, on the other hand, said a .357 caliber magnum revolver, a .38 caliber revolver, a homemade .45 caliber pistol, and ammunition for various firearms were recovered from arrested Sebua, Amar and Monteflor.

Another homemade 12-gauge shotgun was also recovered by the police from Kim Sudayon in Brgy. Mabini, Valladolid, on Feb. 17, Senior Inspector Rico Santotome said in his report to Negros Occidental police director Charles Calima. Santotome said Antonio Trabasas, a resident of Brgy. Tabao, Valladolid, also surrendered his .38 caliber revolver yesterday to the police.

Within a period of 45 days, the Valladolid police has recovered 29 firearms under its Balik-Baril program, Santotome, who has been adjudged as junior police commissioned officer in Region 6 and Negros Occidental for 2005, said.*GPB

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