Page 07

O2

CEBU DAILY NEWS | FRIDAY, 15 FEBRUARY 2008

COPYAEDITOR

Dennis B. Singson

ASEAN SUMMIT PROJECTS

Solon to ask House to probe ‘irregularities’ CORRESPONDENT

T

ASEAN 39

Ø TODAY’S WEATHER

O

O

23 C to 30 C METRO CEBU Partly cloudy to at times cloudy with isolated rainshowers

METRO MANILA Partly cloudy to at times cloudy with isolated rainshowers

by Jolene R. Bulambot

he reports of looting and vandalizing of the alleged overpriced lampposts and streetlights in Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu cities prompted a party-list congressman to seek a congressional inquiry on the alleged irregularities in the implementation of several projects during the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit. Rep. Teddy Casiño of Bayan Muna said yesterday he would refile a resolution asking the committee on good governement to look into the alleged anomalies committed by several government officials in implementing the projects. Casiño said he is alarmed by the persistent reports that the alleged overpriced lampposts and streetlights have been looted and cannibalized while others have not been used since they were installed. He said that it would be a waste of public funds if the government would not act on the reported pilferage and vandalism of these multi-million project and prosecute those who could have benefited from the multimillion projects.

NEWS

M E T R O D AVA O Mostly cloudy with scattered rainshowers and thunderstorms

SUNRISE

SUNSET

6:22 a.m.

5:58 p.m.

S U P E R LOT TO 6 / 4 9

38 02 22 39 30 10 ANY ORDER

JACKPOT PRIZE: P52,835,814.00 S U E R T R E S MID-DAY DRAW RESULT

EVENING DRAW RESULT

314

555

INSIDE 1 Main News 7 Police 9 Across The Visayas

AN X-RAY scanning truck of the Bureau of Customs scan a container van inside the Cebu International Port.

CDN FILE PHOTO

400 smuggled cars report slammed OFFICIALS of the Bureau of Customs yesterday denied allegations that about 400 smuggled vehicles pass through the port of Cebu every week. Florante Ricarte, assistant assessment chief, said that the allegation was unfair and meant as a demolition job to discredit the bureau. Ricarte said they have documents to show that the bureau had scanned several container vans that had been marked red, which had later been the basis of several confiscations of smuggled vehicles. “That is not true. It seems that there is a demolition job against Collector (Ricardo) Belmonte. We can show documents that will refute that allegation,” he said. Ricarte was reacting to an Inquirer report that at

least 400 luxury cars loaded in some 100 container vans had been arriving every week at the Port of Cebu since Belmonte assumed as collector in July 2006. The report said that about 370 cars are declared as replacement parts or tires and some 40 containers have these kinds of declaration. Belmonte denied the allegations, saying the information was very unlikely. The House committee on good government is investigating the alleged rampant car smuggling in Cebu. Camiguin Rep. Pedro Romualdo, committee chairman on good governance, said the committee members will look into the report when they meet on the hearing on March 5. CUSTOMS 39

10 Islands 12 World 13 Opinion 16 Text React 17 Community 18 Life 19 Horoscope 23 Café 24 Movies/Puzzles 26 Job Hunt 28 Classified Ad 32 Enterprise 34 Sports

Thieves run off with brgy multicab’s battery THIEVES put one over b a r a n g ay t a n o d s i n a southern Cebu town after they stole the battery of the barangay’s ser vice multicab. The multicab, which was parked in front of the barangay hall of barangay Pa k i g n e , M i n g l a n i l l a town, was to be used by the barangay tanods to patrol the town's streets to stop thieves from conducting their operations. Councilor Raul Pabli of

barangay Pakigne reported the theft to Minglanilla police about 9 p.m. on Wednesday. Pabli told police that he and the tanods were about to start patrolling their barangay on the service multicab but the driver could not start the vehicle. They later found out that the battery of the vehicle was stolen. Senior Insp. Romeo Santander, Minglanilla

police station chief, chided the barangay officials for not noticing the theft of the vehicle's battery. “Grabe sab nila, wa gyod sila kabantay nga ang battery dugay kaayo na tangtangon (how can they not notice the theft when it takes a while for somebody to remove the battery),” said Santander. Santander said the stealing of car batteries and multicab CDIs are rampant in the town.

A CDI or a capacitor discharge ignition is a type of automotive electronic ignition system which is widely used in motorcycles, lawn mowers, chain saws, small engines and recently in some cars, according to Bosch Automotive Handbook. He said four men have reported losing their batteries and CDIs to thieves this month in the town. He called for intensiTHIEVES 39