SC keeping close watch
on murder case of Arles
BY CARLA GOMEZ

The Supreme Court is closely monitoring the progress of the case filed against the suspects in the killing of Kabankalan Regional Trial Court Judge Henry Arles, SC Court Administrator Midas Marquez said yesterday.

“The case involved our judge, we are interested in the prosecution of those behind it ,” Marquez told the DAILY STAR in a telephone interview.

“The soonest it is filed (in court) and we get a conviction, the better. We want an early solution to the case,” he added.

Negros Occidental Gov. Alfredo Marañon Jr. yesterday called on “Imperial Manila” to rethink its development strategy and relocate industries to the provinces, after heavy floods inundated Metro Manila this week.

If the national government makes it a policy to really develop the countryside and disperse the industries to the provinces, the people who make up the large illegal settler populace of the metropolis would be encouraged to return to their hometowns, a Capitol press release quoted the governor as saying.

The governor made the call during the regular meeting of the Provincial Development Council meeting at the Nature’s Village Resort Hotel in Talisay City, where he gave an update on the achievements of the provincial government in the implementation of its Negros First Development Agenda.

The Department of Social Services and Development has set up a donations booth at the lobby of the Bacolod City Government Center to accept donations for the flood victims in Manila and Luzon after the city reactivated its Bacolod Cares Program.

Bacolod Mayor Evelio Leonardia called up from Bangkok Wednesday and said that he will meet with acting Mayor Jude Thaddeus Sayson when he arrives to finalize the amount of cash assistance they will allocate for the victims hit by intense rain and devastating floods for more than a week now in Manila and Luzon.

As suggested by Manila, cash donations will be coursed through the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office headed by Jose Marie Vargas. who said it will take time and some difficulty to send goods, unlike cash that can be sent speedily and be received immediately by the flood victims, a press release from City Hall said.