Tabuk PIA office burglarized

TABUK, Kalinga –  The Philippine Information Agency (PIA) office here was stripped of its computers and a  typewriter by burglars, forcing the staff to approach other government offices for them to do their work. Other items taken were a stove, LPG tank and a  karaoke. Provincial PIA Manager Peter Balocnit estimated  the value of the lost items at R40,000. The police and the staff concluded that the burglary took place in the night of last June 4 but on the identity of  the  culprits, the probers were still in the dark. Finding no signs of forcible entry, the Bulanao police theorized that any of the following might have taken  place: There was a person left in the building when it was closed Friday afternoon; the doors were not  properly locked; someone had duplicated the keys; and inside job. Provincial Manager Balocnit took exception to all the theories of the police, saying that there was no  one in the building when he left for the weekend, he properly secured the doors and that it is only he and  clerk Naty Genzola who have the key. On the possibility of inside job, he said, this is farfetched because they are well aware that the equipment are old and barely functional. Balocnit had sought the help of a ‘mammoyon’ (clairvoyant) who had described the culprit as a  neighbor of the PIA office. (Estanislao Albano Jr.)

VISAYAS

VMC exceeds mill targets

BACOLOD CITY –  The Victorias Milling Co. (VMC) has overshot its targets for crop year 2003-2004 in terms of cane volume and raw output-production. As of last May 30, VMC milled 2,792,614 gross tons of cane (GTC), which is seven percent higher than the projected volume of 2,615,629. The cane volume consisted of 1,199,376 GTC or 42.9 percent of district deliveries and 1,593,238 GTC or 57.1 of non-district deliveries. The volume of raw sugar due cane has reached 5,470,161 LKG or 10 percent higher than the projection of 4,993,833LKG, representing 13 percent of the national output. As one of the sugar mills in the province, VMC is expected to end its milling for CY 2003-2004 on June 27. It will resume its operation on Sept. 15 for  CY 2004-2005. Good weather condition and effective campaign during the crop season were cited as factors for high mill volume of VMC. (Edith Colmo)

MINDANAO

Suspect in coop heist held

DAVAO CITY — Elements of the Island Garden City of Samal (IGACOS) police office arrested recently a pump boat operator allegedly linked to the R326,000 robbery at the Davao del Norte Electric Cooperative (Daneco) sub-office in Babak District last May 26. Arrested at his residence in Jerome, Agdao District, this city was Caloy Montes, 31, said to be the owner of the pump boat used by the five men in fleeing from the island after robbing the Daneco office. IGACOS police director Chief Inspector Jose Carumba said the arrest of Montes could lead to the capture of other  suspects. He said the investigators have also identified two others as suspects. Witnesses identified one of them as the one who claimed himself as “Kumander Roy” of the New People’s Army (NPA) during the holdup. Police said the robbers entered Daneco suboffice at about 10:40 in the morning and declared a holdup. They disarmed the security guard and rounded up the employees at the cashier’s office, including a policeman who was in the office paying his electric bill. (Ben Arche)