10 Murcia gov’t workers
found positive for drugs
BY CARLA GOMEZ

Ten permanent employees of the Murcia town government in Negros Occidental have been found positive for the use of drugs, Mayor Andrew Montelibano said yesterday.

This is being subjected to further confirmation at a Department of Health laboratory in Manila before their names can be divulged and action can be taken against them, he added.

Montelibano said he and other elected officials of Murcia, who were among the 268 who underwent the drug tests on May 29, tested negative for the use of drugs by the Delta Heritage Drug Testing Center.

Raps filed vs. man
with P7M in shabu
BY SHIELA GELERA

A fighting cock breeder, who was nabbed in a buy-bust operation Monday afternoon at a parking lot of Gaisano City Mall in Bacolod City, was charged yesterday for violation of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, before the Bacolod City Prosecutor’s Office.

Director Paul Ledesma, of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency-Region 6, said the charges for the sale and possession of illegal drugs were filed against Edgardo Justo, alias “Rey Roman”, 36, of Brgy. Santa Cruz in Murcia, Negros Occidental, who also owns a cock farm in the town.

Ledesma told the DAILY STAR that the seized white crystalline substance weighing 994.4568 grams was determined to be methamphetamine hydrochloride, or shabu, in the tests conducted by the Provincial Crime Laboratory.

Businessman files P31.7M
damage suit versus bank
BY CARLA GOMEZ

A Bacolod businessman yesterday said he has filed a P31.7 million damage suit against a commercial bank before the Bacolod City Regional Trial Court.

Joe Marie L. Sy said, in his complaint filed against the bank, that his deposits were fraudulently withdrawn and to cover up the fraud, bank records and checks under his name were electronically falsified.

In his complaint filed Monday, Sy is claiming damages of P21,755,525.84 and moral and exemplary damages of P10,000,000.