Capitol willing to pay
only P3.6M to hotel
WE'LL OPPOSE ALL OTHER AMOUNTS - GUV
BY CARLA GOMEZ

Gov. Joseph Marañon yesterday said the Negros Occidental provincial government is prepared to pay Sugarland Hotel P3.6 million agreed on in a Memorandum of Understanding before the demolition of its fourth floor 11 years ago but will oppose all other payments stipulated in a recent court ruling.

Bacolod Regional Trial Court judge Ramon Delariarte has ordered the Negros Occidental and Bacolod City governments, and their co-defendants, to jointly pay Sugarland Hotel P21.6 million plus interest for failure to comply with the MOU.

The case stemmed from the order of Capt. Panfilo Villaruel Jr., then chief of the Air Transportation Office, on May 13, 1994 for the closure of the Bacolod airport.

Shabu seized on bus
BY GILBERT BAYORAN

Two San Carlos City residents on board a Ceres Liner bus were arrested by the police at a checkpoint along the Escalante City highway last night for having about 90 grams of suspected shabu worth P270,000 in their possession.

Nabbed were Manguntabar Halem, 42, of Ilagan Street, and Umpa Abdul Malik of San Juan-Bonifacio streets, Barangay 5, all in San Carlos City.

They were intercepted by a combined team of the Escalante PNP and the 602nd Regional Mobile Group led by SPO3 Marvin Melleza and Inspect Joseph Cayat, respectively. Inspector Mateo Maguate, Escalante police chief, told the DAILY STAR that while they were conducting a checkpoint at about 7:20 last night, they flagged down a Ceres Liner bus from San Carlos City bound for Bacolod and requested all male passengers to disembark.

'DENR will appeal
Bilbao case ruling'
BY CARLA GOMEZ

The lawyer of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources yesterday said she will appeal the order of Bacolod Regional Trial Court Judge Rodney Bolunia Monday dismissing the case against Hinobaan Mayor Francisco Billbao for possession of illegally-cut lumber.

Lawyer Virgilia Dioquino said she had not received a copy of the order yet, but was disappointed with the ruling and would appeal it.

On Nov. 27, 2002 Bolunia issued a search warrant to confiscate lumber in the cock farm of Bilbao in Barangay Po-ok, Hinobaan on the request of Task Force Ilahas. On Nov. 28 , 2002 Task Force Ilahas members composed of members of the 2nd Provincial Mobile Group and some Department of Environment and Natural Resources personnel conducted a raid but the items described in the search warrant were not found inside the cock farm, the judge noted.