Tension up at Daalco
as police arrest PUVs
BY ADRIAN NEMES III & CHRYSEE SAMILLANO

Tension arose at the DAALCO waiting station at Libertad Street in Bacolod City yesterday, when businessman Hermilo Lizares intervened with the members of the Bacolod Traffic Authority, Traffic Management Unit and took a stub of violation tickets from a member of the BTAO who was issuing them to drivers, and he and TMU head Chief Insp. Luisito Acebuche engaged in a heated argument.

City Police Director Senior Supt. Ricardo de la Paz, who was also in the area, ordered Acebuche and his personnel to continue the apprehension and not allow Lizares to intervene.

To ease the tension at the DAALCO waiting station, de la Paz sent the city police’s 25-man Special Weapons and Tactics unit to the area to ensure peace and order while members of the City Legal Office enforcement team were also there to assist the security.

Negros Occidental Gov. Alfredo Marañon Jr. yesterday said he expects the Commission on Audit to approve the contract of the provincial government on the sale of its 7.7-hectare property to AyalaLand because nothing is wrong with it.

The contract is currently under review by the COA head office.

If the COA approves the contract, the provincial government will consult with its lawyers on whether they can proceed with the signing, the governor said.

Is Chief Supt. Cipriano Querol on his way out as regional police director of Western Visayas?

The question came up when the names of Chief Supt. Reynaldo Rafal and Chief Supt. Marcelo Garbo cropped up yesterday among those being groomed to replace Querol in Region 6.

Rafal is now the police regional director of Caraga, while Garbo served as the deputy director for the PNP Directorate for Operations, police records show.