Police go on red alert
for opening of classes
BY GILBERT BAYORAN ADIRAN NEMES III

The 1,400-strong Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office was placed on red alert status yesterday, as about 300,000 students at various levels in the province as reported by the Department of Education, will troop to schools today.

Senior Supt. Manuel Felix, provincial police director of Negros Occidental, yesterday said “Oplan Balik Paaralan” is now in effect in all towns and cities of the province, as policemen and traffic enforcers will be deployed near the schools to ensure the safety of students and teachers.

Under the campaign plan, Felix said the priority concerns of the PNP are incidents of street crimes such as pickpocketing, snatching, swindling, and robbery/hold-up.

Three teams will be fielded to ensure that classes begin on schedule today, Negros Occidental Schools Division Superintendent Rizalino Tortosa said yesterday.

The teams will be fielded in southern, northern and central Negros, he said.

Teachers have been instructed to begin classes immediately so they do not lose a school day, which district supervisors have also been instructed to monitor, he added.

The Supreme Court has denied the bid of two sugar mills to intervene in the intestate proceedings of the late sugar czar Roberto Benedicto who died on May 15, 2000.

The SC, in a decision promulgated May 8, upheld the rulings of the Manila Regional Trial Court and the Court of Appeals on the petitions filed by sugar planter Alfredo Hilado, Lopez Sugar Corp. and First Farmers Holding Corp.

The petitioners had gone to the SC to seek action against the CA, the Manila RTC and administratrix Julita Campos Benedicto.