ANTIPOLO CITY – A man who allegedly held up a taxi driver and then drove away with the taxicab struck some bad luck when a subsequent vehicular accident led to his arrest in this city, the other day. Senior Superintendent Manuel Prieto, Rizal Police Provincial Office (PPO) director, said suspect Catungal Camelo, 35, of Phase 4, Barangay Dela Paz, here, landed in the hospital after a passenger jeepney accidentally bumped the taxicab he was driving along Marcos Highway. When police started investigating the collision, the Toyota Avanza taxicab (TYS-161) turned out to be reported as a stolen vehicle by its taxi driver Federico Daguing. This resulted in the arrest of Camelo, who is now detained and facing charges of robbery and carnapping. (Nel B. Andrade)

2 BUS DRIVERS PROSECUTED

CAMP GEN. LIM, Laguna – Formal charges were filed Tuesday in relation to last Saturday’s accident involving a CUL Transport bus in Quezon province that led to the death of five people and the injury of 51 others. Multiple homicide with multiple serious physical injuries charges were filed before the Pagbilao Prosecutor’s Office against two bus drivers of CUL Transport, said Senior Superintendent Antonio Gardiola, Highway Patrol Group (HPG) 4-A chief. Gardiola identified them as bus driver Oscar Pedrigosa, 36, married, of Navotas, Metro Manila, and co-bus driver Joseph Laudino, of Camarin, Caloocan City. Bus owner Carolina Lam was not included in the charges but Gardiola said she is under investigation after it was found that CUL Transport’s franchise expired as early as Mar. 22, 2009. (Ferdinand F. Castro)

S.B.M.A. GIVES AID TO MORONG

SUBIC BAY FREEPORT – Remote areas in Morong, Bataan have received some much needed help from the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) last week as part of the agency’s thrust for community outreach projects under its corporate social responsibility program. Under the supervision of SBMA Public Relations Manager Armie Llamas, the SBMA outreach team gave out food aid to some 35 families from sitio Timak and sitio Dose in Morong, and also fed some 100 children in the two remote areas. Each child also received a new pair of slippers and candy packs, while their families received food packs consisting of rice, canned goods, coffee, sugar, and instant noodles. (Jonas Reyes)

BENGUET OFFICIALS SLAM ROADWORKS

MANKAYAN, Benguet – Provincial and municipal officials here lashed out at the contractor of the over P700-million rehabilitation of the 43-kilometer Benguet-Ilocos Sur Road for alleged sloppy works and warned all efforts will be exerted to stop the full payment of the project if no remedial measures will be done to correct the project defects. Governor Nestor B. Fongwan said the contractor allegedly erred in the implementation of the multi-million rehabilitation project, thus, the need for concerned agencies to strictly monitor the remaining works and to stop the payment of completed works if they are found to be substandard. The Infrastructure Monitoring and Advisory Group (IMAG) said there were numerous cracks in the Mankayan section of the road which were covered with epoxy seal which is not in accordance with engineering practices. (Dexter A. See)