Miaa extends runway closure to noon

Airport authorities have extended the runway closure until noon of Saturday “to

give way for the demobilization” of heavy equipment used to recover the stuck

Xiamen Air flight MF8667 which skidded off the runway on touchdown Thursday

night.

In an advisory, the Manila International Airport Authority (Miaa) said the

closure set at noon would be its “final extension” after being extended thrice on

Friday.

Miaa added that the Boeing 737 aircraft has already lifted from the incident

area and is now being transported to Balagbag ramp.

Miaa General Manager Ed Monreal apologized for the inconvenience the incident had

caused the passengers.

Monreal also advised airline companies to continue informing its passengers

for any cancellations or diversions of flights.

Lawyers of Makati bar released after 24-hour detention

After spending more than 24 hours in detention at the Makati police station, the three
lawyers, who were arrested by police for allegedly obstructing the implementation of
a search warrant inside a Makati bar, walked out of jail on Friday night.
An order signed by Senior Assistant City Prosecutor Romel Odronia recommended
the release of lawyers Lenie Rocel Rocha, 25; Jan Vincent Sambrano, 32; and Romulo
Bernardo Alarkon, 33, lawyers from the Desierto and Desierto law firm which
represents the owners of Time in Manila bar on Makati Avenue.
The order dated Aug. 17 was recommended for approval by Deputy City Prosecutor
Henry Salazar and approved by Senior City Deputy Prosecutor Emmanuel Medina.
The three lawyers, however, are not yet off the hook as they need to return to the
Makati Prosecutor’s Office for the preliminary investigation scheduled on Aug. 28.

“There is a necessity to conduct a preliminary investigation to give complainants

opportunity to submit additional evidence in support of their complaint, and for the
respondents to submit controverting evidence,” Odronia wrote.
The order was given to the custodians of Makati police station at 7:30 p.m. on Friday.
The freed lawyers were silent when they stepped out of the police station at around 8
p.m. They were welcomed by their families and friends.
Police said the lawyers have undergone inquest proceedings for charges of
constructive possession of illegal drugs under Section 11 of Republic Act No. 9165,
as well as obstruction of justice, resistance and disobedience to persons of authorities,
and violation of a city ordinance that bars civilians from crossing a police line.

According to the Makati police, the three lawyers were arrested on Aug. 16 initially
for obstruction of justice after they “entered the premises of the bar, took several
pictures and videos of the scene, and intimidated the members of the searching team
without proper and prior coordination.”
 Fugitive inmate killed in Bacoor City police ops

An escapee from the Bacoor City Jail last July was killed in a shootout with police early

Saturday morning.

According to the Bacoor City Police, they got a lead from a tipster that fugitive

Michael Salac is usually at the Mary Homes Subdivision to visit his relative, according to a

report from dzMM.

Salac allegedly opened fired at the approaching police officers who were about to

arrest him. A shootout then erupted which ended in Salac’s death, the report said.

Police said Salac was among 24 inmates who bolted the Bacoor City Jail last July.

With Salac’s death, only six other fugitives remain at large and are being hunted

down, police said.

 Typhoon outside PAR to
enhance ‘habagat’

A typhoon, with an international name Soulik, will enhance the southwest monsoon in
the country and will bring scattered rainshower, the state weather bureau said on
Saturday.
The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration
(Pagasa) said that as of 3 a.m., Soulik was located at 1,870 kilometers (km) east of
extreme Northern Luzon, outside the Philippine area of responsibility (PAR)
The typhoon has a maximum sustained winds of 125 kilometers per hour (kph) near
the center and gustiness of up to 155 kph. It is moving west northeast at the speed of
10 kph.
Despite this, Pagasa said that Soulik will enhance the southwest monsoon in the
country that will bring cloudy skies with scattered rains and thunderstorms over Metro
Manila, Ilocos Region, CAR, Cagayan Valley Region, Western Visayas, Zambales,
Bataan, Cavite, Batangas, Mindoro, and Palawan.
Pagasa warned the residents in these areas of possible flooding and landslides caused
by the inclement weather.
Meanwhile, the rest of the country will have partly cloudy to cloudy skies with
isolated rainshowers but due to localized thunderstorms.
Pagasa added that the agency was also monitoring Tropical Storm Rumbia
(international name) outside PAR.
Also as of 3 a.m., Rumbia was spotted 1,395 km north northwest of extreme Northern
Luzon. It has a maximum sustained winds of 80 kph near the center and gustiness of
up to 130 kph.
Rumbia is moving west at the speed of 15 kph.
 Average of 6 drug suspects killed every day—PNP

A total of 4,410 suspects, or an average of six people a day, have been killed since President

Rodrigo Duterte started his administration’s war on drugs.

The Philippine National Police recorded 105,658 operations against illegal drugs from

July 2016 to July 31, 2018, in which 87 antinarcotics policemen were killed and more than 200

others were injured, according to PNP spokesperson Senior Supt. Benigno Durana Jr.

“As much as possible, we want it not to be bloody. But you are dealing with drug-crazed,

armed criminals,” he said during a #RealNumbersPH press briefing in Malacañang on Friday.

Data from the PNP showed that 152,123 drug suspects, of whom 569 were government

employees, have been arrested. Law enforcement agencies have seized P21.48 billion worth of

drugs. —JULIE M. AURELIO