The Environment Report

Ex-mayor nabbed for graft

CEBU CITY

Cebu-City, Philippines--A former Cebu town mayor convicted of graft eight years ago was arrested on Wednesday at a shopping mall here.

The National Bureau of Investigation arrested Gilbert Wagas, former mayor of Compostela town, eight years after he was convicted by the Sandiganbayan of failing to account for more than P370,000 in advances he made from the town’s funds.

Wagas was convicted on Oct. 8, 2001 with Dominador Maravillas, then municipal treasurer. They were sentenced to life in prison and perpetually barred from holding public office. Jhunnex Napallacan, Inquirer Visayas

Deranged man triggers outage

BACOLOD CITY

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines--A deranged man triggered an hour-long blackout in Bacolod City Wednesday night after he climbed a 9-ft post and survived being electrocuted at a high voltage transformer of the Central Negros Electric Cooperative (Ceneco) Burgos substation in Barangay Estefania here.

Roel Venus, Ceneco spokesman, said the still unidentified man’s electrocution caused a power shutdown.

The man was taken to the Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital emergency room but before he could be treated, he ran to a bathroom in the hospital where he poured water into his body while screaming, radio station dyEZ said.

The man walked out of the hospital, jumped over an 8-ft wall and hid in one house in Barangay 9 where he was later found.

Police captured the man and brought him back to the hospital. Power was restored at past 9 p.m. on Wednesday. Carla P. Gomez, Inquirer Visayas

Collect trash, mayor orders

BAGUIO CITY

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines—With Christmas fast approaching, Mayor Reinaldo Bautista Jr. on Thursday ordered government workers to work overtime and collect trash left piling up for weeks at street corners and in villages here.
He directed the trash to be stored temporarily at the city’s closed dump in Barangay Irisan until the government gets funds to take these to a landfill in Capas, Tarlac.

Once the streets are cleared for the Christmas season, the city government is converting Session Road in downtown Baguio into a “green lane.” Vincent Cabreza, Inquirer Northern Luzon