IN ILOG:
Judge Arles shot dead
BY CARLA GOMEZ

Kabankalan City Regional Trial Court Judge Henry Arles was ambushed and killed in Ilog town last night, Senior Supt. Allan Guisihan, Negros Occidental police director, said.

Arles was on board his Nissan Sentra vehicle when the driver of a tricycle drove up to the driver's side of his car and the gunman shot him three times with a .45 caliber gun, Senior Inspector Joshua Villasis, Ilog police chief, said.

The incident occurred at about 6:45 p.m. in Barangay Manalad, Ilog, but it was difficult for witnesses to identify the gunman and driver of the tricycle because it was getting dark, Villasis said.

An estimated P2 million has already been spent by a millionaire- philanthropist to bail out several arrested leaders of the New People's Army, who later rejoined the revolutionary movement to wage a continuing armed struggle, Col. Oscar Lactao, 303 rd Infantry Brigade commander, said.

While he did not name names, he said that instead of putting up bail for arrested rebel leaders, the money should be used for good intentions, and not for destruction.

More than 10 suspected rebel leaders, including Romeo Natan, regional commander of the NPA in Negros island, who were arrested for various criminal offenses by the military and police in the past years, have again fled to the mountains, after being freed from jail.

MANILA - Coca Cola Bottler's Philippines Inc. is filing an appeal with the Central Valuation Review Committee of the Bureau of Customs on the ruling that CCBPI misclassified its imports as “premixes”, when what the company actually imported was refined sugar.

Cat Avelino, CCBPI corporate communications director, told the DAILY STAR "We are disappointed with the VCRC's ruling on premix importations. We believe any pre-mix importation is in full compliance with the provisions of the Tariff Code as well as all the international trade agreements entered into by the Philippine government."

Under the ASEAN Free Trade Agreement, all companies, including Coca-Cola, are able to competitively source raw materials, she said, "which ultimately benefits the consumers as product prices remain reasonable and competitive. We will be forwarding our appeal to the Central Valuation Review Committee."