Palawan fish is safe – BFAR
PUERTO PRINCESA CITY — Fish harvested in Palawan is safe, the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) regional office here said. It also said the "fish kill" that hit recently three villages in this city was not caused by toxic elements. The fish kill in the villages of Napsan, Bagongbayan and Simpocan in Puerto Princesa was caused by the depletion of oxygen, which scientists call anoxia, in deep waters and near the shores, Puerto Princesa City Mayor Edward Hagedorn said. In a statement, Hagedorn said anoxia caused fish and other marine animals living to suffocate. This conclusion is based on dissolved oxygen measurements made by a composite team headed by BFAR, Hagedorn said. Readings from a monitoring station in barangay Bagongbayan showed that the dissolved oxygen levels had dropped to 2.08 mg/liter in that area, he said. Anoxia, he also said, is often caused, as it was in this case, by blooms of tiny marine plants. Weather factors such as wind direction and strength, and temperature, play a major role by providing favorable conditions for the blooms, he added. (TB)
VISAYAS
Probe on jail escape ordered
CEBU CITY — Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia ordered yesterday a thorough investigation on the escape last Sunday of an inmate from the newly-built, modern jail facility of the province. Garcia ordered the investigation following the recapture of Marcus Montana, who managed to escape from the new Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center (CPDRC), despite the presence of surveillance cameras, high-perimeter fences, and armed jail guards. Lawyer Joe Sepulveda, who was tasked by Garcia to oversee the operation of the new jail, said Montana was arrested by elements of the Cebu Provincial Police Office (CPPO) in his hometown in Daanbantayan yesterday morning. Sepulveda said Garcia had also called for a meeting of the members of the provincial committee on discipline and investigation to identify the people liable for the escape. It was the first time an inmate had managed to escape from the facility since it became operational in mid-December last year. Sources said Montana allegedly bore through the wall a hole big enough for his frail body to get through. Outside of his cell, he scaled two perimeter fences securing the jail before he regained his freedom. This claim, however, was still unconfirmed by authorities. The same jail facility hugged the limelight days ago after it was discovered that at least 16 inmates had died under mysterious circumstances. (Mars Mosqueda Jr.)
MINDANAO
Troops confiscate ‘hot logs’
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY — Two squads of soldiers from the Headquarters and Headquarters Service Battalion (HHSB) of the Army’s 4th Infantry Division confiscated 42 cubic meters of illegally cut lawaan round logs on the highway in barangay Dansulinon, Cagayan de Oro City at about 4:30 p.m. last Saturday. Reports reaching the Army commanding general, Lt. Gen. Generoso S. Senga. stated that the troops led by Capt. Rhodeline Divinagracia and detailed with the Anti-Illegal Task Force of the DENR were conducting a checkpoint operation in the area when they flagged down two 10-wheel trucks loaded with lawaan logs. The logs were reportedly cut in the municipality of Kapal, Lanao del Sur and were about to be delivered to Vicmar sawmill in Cagayan de Oro City. The confiscated logs were turned-over to DENR in the area for disposition.
