'BRIGHTER SIDE OF 9/11'
SP gives mayor nod to sign
P400M loan for gov't center
BY CHRYSEE SAMILLANO

A resolution authorizing Mayor Evelio Leonardia to sign a P400 million loan agreement with Land Bank of the Philippines for the construction of a government center was unanimously passed yesterday by the Sangguniang Panlungsod during the special session requested by the mayor.

The signing of the memorandum of agreement between the city and Land Bank of the Philippines will be held at 3 p.m. today at the City Mayor's Office.

"This is the brighter side of 9/11!" Leonardia said as he thanked the SP for the unanimous expression of support. "Henceforth, September 11 will be day of beautiful remembrances for Bacolod City," he added.

Suatengco faces raps
before Ombudsman
BY CARLA GOMEZ

The Office of the Deputy Ombudsman for the Visayas confirmed yesterday that a complaint has been filed against Negros Occidental Board Member Lorenzo Peña Suatengco for his involvement in a multiple-vehicle accident in Bacolod City that resulted in the death of a school teacher.

The complaint sent by Bendie Granada, a concerned citizen, said "Suatengco must be made accountable for his actions, not just as a private citizen but as a public official. Public officials must be held to a higher standard of public behavior."

In the complaint received at the Ombudsman's office in Cebu City on Aug. 14 and docketed at CPL-V-060516, Granada cited reports that on the evening of July 21, Suatengco was racing down Lacson Street against Marvin Ortiz, 17, and that led to the multiple car accident.

Two nabbed,
P.5 million in shabu seized
BY GILERT BAYORAN

Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency men seized yesterday P500,000 worth of shabu from an alleged financier of the illegal drug trade and his courier in Brgy. Punta Taytay, Bacolod City.

The arrest of Alex Casalda and Florenio Bautista during a buy-bust operation yielded about 100 grams of suspected shabu, Inspector Joemarie Occeño, PDEA provincial officer, said The street value of shabu per gram costs P5,000, PDEA investigations show.

Occeño said Casalda,48, used to be a partner of Jose Kim Cuadra who is now serving his sentence for drug-related charges at the national penitentiary in Muntinlupa. Bautista served as the shabu courier, police said.