The 50-year-old St. John the Baptist Parish Church at MH del Pilar Street in Barangay 1, Ilog town, was razed by fire at about 4 a.m. yesterday.

The town has no working fire truck so the blaze was put out only when help came from firefighters of neighboring areas, Fr. Custodio Ananoria, Ilog Parish priest, said. He is grateful that, at least, the church was not gutted during Holy Week, Ananoria said.

Ananoria estimated the value of the Church that went up in flames in about one hour at P5.5 million. Faulty electrical wiring was tagged as the cause of the fire, he said.

Solon denies camp
behind black propa
BY CARLA GOMEZ

"They are barking at the wrong tree."

This was the reaction of Bacolod Rep. Monico Puentevella to suspicions that it was his camp that was responsible for distributing black propaganda materials during the Holy Week portraying Mayor Evelio Leonardia, Vice Mayor Renecito Novero and City Legal Officer Allan Zamora in very despicable sketches. The materials were distributed starting Holy Wednesday in the coffee shops of SM City and Robinson's Place Bacolod, particularly in their comfort rooms.

Leonardia said it must be an act of desperation on the part of his political opponents to resort to such acts while the Christian world was reflecting on the sufferings of Jesus Himself.

Mike undergoing surgery,
prayers helping first family
BY CARLA GOMEZ

The First Family called for prayers for First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo who was undergoing what doctors called a "very high-risk surgery" as of press time for a "dissecting aortic aneurysm" at the St. Luke's Medical Center in Quezon City.

The operation started at about 6:30 last night and was expected to last about 10 hours, his doctor Juliet Gopez-Cervantes said.

"We eventually diagnosed him to have dissecting aortic aneurysm," Cervantes said.