MORE NEWS, TARLAC

‘Chopped’ car parts seized in fiscal’s house
BAMBAN, Tarlac -- “Chop-shop” spare parts from five supposedly stolen vehicles were recovered by a joint police team in a follow-up raid on a rest house reportedly owned by a prosecutor identified as a certain Claudio Dayaon, here on Oct. 15, authorities said.

In a report to the regional police command in Camp Olivas, Pampanga, Supt. Nicanor Bartolome, Tarlac police director, said the cannibalized vehicle parts were seized as the combined team of the Tarlac police. Criminal Investigation and Detection Group and Traffic Management Group conducted a follow-up to the Oct. 12 raid that yielded stolen vehicles in Sitio Gumain, Barangay Lourdes in Bamban.

Bartolome said the confiscated spare parts were cannibalized from a Mitsubishi Adventure, Isuzu Crosswind, Honda Civic, Mitsubishi Pajero, and Toyota.

Two of the recovered vehicles were taken to Camp Crame – a Nissan Urvane with license plate ZGA-972 owned by Eugenio Gonzales Gorospe Jr. and stolen last Oct. 10 while it was parked along Davao street in Baong Bantay, Quezon City; and a Honda Civic with license plate UGL-163 owned by Mary Jane Redona and stolen last Oct. 8 along Seminary Road in Project 8, Quezon City.

Two other vehicles – a Honda Civic with license plate WJF-887 and a Mitsubishi Strada with license plate CNV 138 – were impounded at the Bamban police station while their owners are being established.

Chief Supt. Errol Pan, Central Luzon police director, said he has ordered Bartolome to unmask those behind the illegal activities.

Most stolen vehicles are usually “chop-chopped” or stripped of their parts, which end up in dealers of second-hand vehicles accessories in Central Luzon, Quezon City and Makati City.

Police invited a certain Mario Tomado and Luzviminda Garcia, the caretakers of the rest house of fiscal Claudio Dayaon, to explain the presence of stolen vehicles in the place.

The two claimed that a certain Lester was the one who brought the vehicles there in the afternoon of Oct. 10 for reasons they refused to elaborate on, Bartolome said.

Senior Supt. Guillermo Eleazar, regional officer of the CIDG, said they are still gathering evidence on the case.

The “chop-chop” spare parts were found in a canal covered with banana leaves.

In an interview with reporters, Dayaon vehemently denied any knowledge of the stolen vehicles and cannibalized car parts and vowed to even accompany the caretakers of his rest house to appear before the TMG in Tarlac City.


US humanitarian group gives hospital equipment
BY GEORGE TRILLO TARLAC CITY -- A US-based humanitarian organization that has provided millions of dollars worth of food, shelter and medicine to people in war-torn places recently donated medical equipment to the provincial hospital of Tarlac.

Knightbridge international handed over 20 manual hospital beds, two Hilrom Electric hospital beds, an OB Gyne exam table, 10 pairs of crutches, five aluminum walkers and 10 bags of hospital gowns and linens to the government-run hospital.

Ed Artis, Knightbridge co-founder, said they were very pleased to distribute the hospital equipment to the provincial equipment to the provincial hospital and vowed to give more in the future. “We want to be your partner in improving the health services of the Filipino people. We have with us $24 million worth of used, serviceable equipment which we want to donate tax-free,” Artis told Dr. Ricardo Ramos, the hospital’s medical director, recently.

Ramos thanked Knightsbridge for the donation, saying the hospital still needs baby incubators, dialysis machines and OB Gyne equipment.

Ramos also said the hospital needs to additional medical personnel.

Knightsbridge International has been donating lifesaving humanitarian aid to the people of Basilan, Sulu and other provinces in Mindanao since 2002 through its partnership wit the US-Joint Special Operations Task Force (JSOTF), the US Embassy and the Joint US Military Assistance Group (Jusmag).

In the Philippines, Knightsbridge has delivered $30 million worth of food, electric hospital beds, X-ray machines, incubators, wheelchairs, crutches, high-tech hospital equipment and medicine in the last five years.

Jolo, the capital of Sulu, is one of the biggest beneficiaries of Knightsbridge.