City officials to seek
dismissal of 12 cases
GOVT' CENTER HAS LAND TITLE: PETIERRE
BY CHRYSEE SAMILLANO

There is no doubt about it, Bacolod City is the true and rightful owner of the lot on which the new Government Center stands.

With the title of the lot already turned over to the city, a motion to dismiss the 12 cases filed by retired policeman Victor Eduardo against Bacolod Mayor Evelio Leonardia and several city officials will be filed before the Ombudsman this week, Vicente Petierre III, secretary to the mayor, said yesterday.

He also said this belies claims of detractors that the government center was built without a land title.

Two septuagenarians were brutally killed by a still unidentified suspect Monday in Hinobaan, Negros Occidental, in an incident believed to be related to a land conflict, police said.

Senior Insp. Arnold Mesias, Hinobaan police chief, yesterday said the bodies of the victims identified as Mariano Palmares, 75, and his friend, Marcos Valence, 71, bore multiple hack and gunshot wounds.

Police investigations show that the victims were having a drinking spree in a nipa hut, when an unidentified suspect entered, hacked and shot without any provocation.

Vice Mayor Antonio Suatengco yesterday said residents of Barangay Ubay in Pupulandan, have been cautioned against going into the river after crocodiles were reported to have been spotted in the area.

Two crocodiles were reportedly seen near the old abandoned fishpond of Fritz Montinola, Suantengco said, adding that that would be about 300 meters from his house.

One of the crocodiles reportedly has eyes as big as those of a carabao, which are a foot away from the creatures' nostrils, he said.