Rob gang preying on Koreans busted

BAGUIO CITY — Police busted a robbery syndicate preying on Korean nationals with the arrest of seven of its suspected members.

A joint team of the city police and the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group nabbed suspects Jayson Reynaldo, 22; Nomer Tabligan, 29; Rolando Sumalag, 28; James Borlongan, 29; Angelito Tenerife, 36; Joenl Esperal, 20; and Neil Dagami, 27, following two months of surveillance after they robbed a group of Koreans en route to this city from Rosario, La Union last July.

News about their arrest brought a sigh of relief to the 10,000-strong Korean community in this city, which has sisterhood ties with the South Korean city of Taebaek. — Artemio Dumlao

3 dead in 4-hour Bislig City blaze

BISLIG CITY — A 60-year-old woman and two other residents were killed in a blaze that razed three blocks of this city’s commercial district, including the newly rehabilitated public market, for more than four hours last Tuesday.

The fire, according to the city fire office, started in Purok 1 in Bongaitan district and quickly spread, reaching as far as Picasales street lined up with stores and houses. Flames also blew up a gasoline station in Purok 3.

The fire, the biggest to hit the city, also left 25 others hurt and displaced more than 1,000 families now temporarily housed in the city’s oval grounds. — Ben Serrano

DILG swears in new San Pascual mayor

SAN PASCUAL, Batangas — The regional director of the Department of the Interior and Local Government has sworn Antonio Dimayuga into office as this town’s mayor, finally putting a stop to the impasse at the town hall.

DILG-Region 4-A director Roberto Abejero did so on orders of Interior and Local Government Secretary Ronaldo Puno.

Armed with a writ of execution and a special order from Batangas Regional Trial Court Judge Ruben Galvez, Dimayuga "ousted" Mario Magsaysay Jr. as mayor when he and his followers sneaked into the town hall last Friday, a day after typhoon "Milenyo" battered the region.

Magsaysay has a pending appeal with the Commission on Elections en banc.

In a text message, Magsaysay said the DILG memorandum recognizing Dimayuga was "highly questionable," adding that they were taking "legal means" to contest it. — Arnell Ozaeta