Man draws 13 years
for killing of nephew

A farmer was found guilty beyond reasonable doubt and sentenced to 13 years in jail by a Regional Trial Court judge yesterday for killing his nephew in Sipalay City, Negros Occidental, almost six years ago, over a land dispute.

Ricardo Valdez, 30, was meted a minimum of eight years to a maximum of 13 years imprisonment by RTC Branch 61 Judge Henry Arles for stabbing to death his nephew, Stalyn Argoncillo, in Sitio Hinabla, Brgy. Gil Montilla in Sipalay on October 27, 2002.

Arles also ordered the immediate transfer of Valdez to the National Penitentiary in Muntinlupa City and to indemnify Argoncillo&rsquos heirs with P50,000 and to pay other costs.

Court records show that Valdez, who was originally charged with murder, repeatedly stabbed Argoncillo, 20, with a six-inch fan knife after chasing him at a rice field and surrendered to the police after the incident.

Although Valdez repeatedly stabbed Argoncillo, he could not be convicted for murder because the other elements for it were not committed in the attack, Arles said.

He also noted that although Rodolfo Carasaquit, who testified for Valdez, told the court that the attack happened after Argoncillo hit Valdez with a stone from a slingshot, it was not corroborated and the real cause of the killing was the land border dispute between the respective families of the accused and the victim.

The Valdezes and Argoncillos had a confrontation about the boundaries of their respective farms a days before the attack, court records show.*PP

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Pornographic
DVDs confiscated

Policemen arrested two persons for allegedly selling pirated digital video discs containing pornographic films in Brgy. 2 Poblacion, Sagay City, Negros Occidental, Monday, police said yesterday.

Senior Inspector Rico Santotome, chief of the Negros Occidental Police Special Operations, yesterday identified the arrested suspects as Hector Quirante of Guihulngan, Negros Oriental, and Amelito Villegas of Cadiz City, both workers of CTRJ General Merchandise.

Santotome said the buy-bust operation yielded 23 pieces of DVDs containing pornographic movies, one unit of Ace DVD player, NEC television set and P3,890 in cash believed to be proceeds from illegal activities, and a P50 bill in marked money.

The SOG operatives were assisted by Sagay policemen and troopers of the 611th Provincial Mobile Group in the buy-bust operations.

Quirante and Villegas are now detained at the lock-up cell of the Sagay police, pending the filing of charges against them for violation of Article 201 of the Revised Penal Code, or for selling and distributing pornographic materials.*GPB

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NOPPO set to receive
new vehicles from Crame

The Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office is expected is expected to be among the recipients of 500 new vehicles to be issued by Camp Crame soon, Senior Supt. Rosendo Franco, provincial police director, said.

Franco yesterday confirmed that NOPPO has been included in the priority list of recipients of new vehicles, although he has no idea yet how many will be allocated to the province.

The 500 new police vehicles recently commissioned by the PNP were acquired under the 2007 Procurement Program. They consist of 100 patrol cars, 255 police utility vehicles and 145 motorcycles, police records show.

Franco said he followed up the new vehicles for NOPPO yesterday with Director Charlemagne Alejandrino, chief of the PNP Directorate for Logistics.

The 500 new police cars and motorcycles will be added to the existing fleet of 8,000 vehicles of the PNP used for preventive patrols and police visibility operations nationwide.

Chief Supt. Isagani Cuevas, regional police director, yesterday said they have not been informed yet on how many new vehicles will be earmarked for Western Visayas.

Interior and Local Government Secretary Ronaldo Puno earlier announced Malacañang's approval of the PNP's P10-billion modernization program for logistics and recruitment, in addition to the separate P1.7-billion fund for housing and infrastructure development earlier approved by President Gloria Arroyo.

In the PNP's shopping list for 2008 are three helicopters, 211 patrol cars, 526 utility vehicles, 295 motorcycles, 1,000 shotguns, 10,000 handguns, and special equipment for anti-criminality and internal security operations.

PNP spokesman Nicanor Bartolome said the PNP leadership is pushing more resources and logistics to the field to meet the operational requirements of police units and personnel, to develop all police stations in the country into "fighting units" against criminality, insurgency and terrorism.*GPB

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