Cops probing
2 arson incidents

Two incidents of arson are now being investigated by the police in Ilog and Kabankalan City, Negros Occidental, that caused damage to property and crops estimated by the police at P200,000.

Police said an unidentified suspect set fire to a sugarcane plantation owned by Aurora Mascuñana, 62, in Brgy. Dancalan, Ilog, on Saturday.

Senior Inspector Gabriel Gutierez, Ilog police chief, in his report to Senior Supt. Rosendo Franco, police provincial director, said 1.5 hectares of sugarcane field were razed by the fire.

Estimated damage was pegged at P100,000.

The police also reported that a cottage located inside the Oringao High School grounds in Kabankalan City, was believed to have been intentionally burned by a still unidentified person on Feb. 22.

Burned in the cottage were a microscope, school uniforms, and kitchen utensils, among others.

Supt. Calixto Mabugat, Kabankalan police chief, said no one was hurt during the incident.*GPB

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Cellphone
S snatcher apprehended

A peanut vendor who allegedly snatched the cellphone of a woman in Bacolod City late Saturday has been detained by the police.

Jerald Cantiga, 18, of Purok Pag-asa, Brgy. 17, Bacolod, said he surrendered to tanods and Police Station 2 members half an hour after grabbing the Alcatel cellphone of Judylyn Navajas, at the Capitol Lagoon, at about 9 p.m. Saturday.

Cantiga, a peanut vendor, said he hid in a vacant lot for a while after running from the law enforcers, but gave himself up when he was cornered.

He said his meager income from peddling roasted peanuts near a university in the city pushed him into stealing.

He said he had been imprisoned before at the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology in Brgy. Handumanan, Bacolod, also for stealing.*PP

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Traffic woes tackled

Bacolod Mayor Evelio Leonardia and Councilor Wilson Gamboa met and  discussed the traffic problems in the city, with members of the Bantay Banwa, at the Sylvia Manor, San Juan Street, recently, a City Hall press release said.

 Leonardia said traffic enforcers should apprehend violators, instead of the Land Transportation Office personnel.

Bantay Banwa representatives said this cannot be done, without the proper Temporary Operators Permit.  They vowed to donate road and traffic signs to improve the traffic situation of Bacolod, the press release said.

          Meanwhile, Bacolod Traffic and Order head, Senior Insp. Levy Pangue, said that out of the 172 traffic enforcers in the city, only 30 are regular employees of the city, and only 16 are qualified.  One of the main requirements to qualify as traffic enforcers is having at least 72 units in college.

Gamboa, chairman of the Committee on Transportation and Traffic Management, said that in three months, he will submit a resolution on traffic based on observations of other cities having very good traffic regulations, the press release added.*

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