A lady ghost may jog with you in the football field. Some says that the lady will chat with you and vanishes after passing a certain area of the field. On the ruby hall at night, employees and students are scared of what may be passing by. They had noticed a classroom whose lights are turned on while the others are shut off. They even witness extraordinary creatures moving inside the room. The building was the creepiest site in the campus because it was believed to be the house of cadavers that was used by medical students.

Rev. Valentine was beheaded during the war. Valentine Hall was named after the priest. Some say that his headless ghost appears at night at the hall’s doorway. Aside from this, a lady ghost frequently appears in the mirror of the girl’s restroom while they girls are fixing their hair. Most of the times, classes are disturbed with the loud screaming of the girls who can see the ghost.

Because of this, the PDEA regional office is deploying its agents to the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA) here “to give sharper teeth” to its anti-drug courier campaign.

PDEA regional director Ronald Allan Ricardo declined to say how many agents will be assigned to the airport.

But he said the number would be “enough to be of help to the DMIA security force in ensuring that no drug courier or drug mule enters or exits the country via Clark.”

Ricardo cited reports that recruitment of drug couriers is prevalent in Bulacan, Pampanga and Subic and that the recruiters mostly belong to West African drug syndicates operating in the country.

“One strategy of these recruiters is to make recruits, specifically women, their intimate partners, who are later taught to recruit as many as 50 drug couriers per single recruiter,” he said.

Ricardo said the recruiters lure victims by offering them at least $2,000 for a certain number of recruits.

China, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Thailand are among the usual destinations of drug couriers, he added.

In China, Filipinos who were caught while apparently acting as drug mules are now facing the death penalty.

Clark International Airport Corp. (CIAC) president Victor Jose Luciano said he fully supports the PDEA move to deploy agents to DMIA.

CIAC is the government corporation that runs the international airport here.

“The country may be lacking in terms of detection devices, but with intensive manning and strict inspection procedure at our airports, the PDEA expects that a decrease and eventual elimination of drug couriers will be attained,” Ricardo said.

He said PDEA is also into massive information campaign in the region against drug mules, tying up with the Philippine Information Agency.

“The drug courier problem emanates from an emerging trend in transporting illegal drugs using Filipinos, and this poses a major concern for our government,” he said. – With Ric Sapnu

Dubbed as the “glass mansion” worth at least P40 million, it allegedly belongs to a member of the Aquino Cabinet.

In his February 23 column in The Philippine Star, Boo Chanco identified the alleged owner as Executive Secretary Pacquito Ochoa Jr.

Chanco described the property as “a new gleaming glass mansion said to belong to the current Executive Secretary.”

If true, the so-called Little President failed to declare it in his 2009 Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Networth (SALN), which he submitted to the Commission on Appointments for his confirmation last year.

In his SALN, he declared a net worth of P19 million.

His list of properties included a house and lot and a condo unit, both located in Quezon City. The property in White Plains was not on the list.

ABS-CBN News followed the paper trail and found that Ochoa is not the registered owner of the “glass mansion.”

The property is owned by a certain Hedgerow Retain Holdings Inc, according to two sources: Rodsy Construction, the company that built the house, and the directory of homeowners in the gated subdivision.

The website and Facebook page of Rodsy Construction showed the house as one of its “on-going projects.”

A check with the Securities and Exchange Commission revealed that the people behind Hedgerow are close to Ochoa.

Hedgerow’s corporate papers also show that its 10,000 common shares were subscribed by the following:

5,000 shares

Joseph Tan (corporate treasurer)

2,498 shares

Benedict Amponin Reyes

2,500 shares

Ma. Theresa O. Acuzar

1 share

Paolo Teston (president)

1 share

Karl Steven Co (corporate secretary)

Sources familiar with the real estate industry say Acuzar is a sister of Ochoa and a wife of a property and construction magnate.

Teston, Co and Tan, meanwhile, are lawyers of the Marcos Ochoa Serapio Tan (MOST) Law Firm, which was put up by Ochoa, Tan and 2 other partners in 2006.

Among the law firm’s roster of lawyers, Teston and Co are two of the youngest. They are 31 and 29 years old, respectively, and hold key positions in Hedgerow.

They both joined the law firm in February 2008.

Hedgerow was incorporated a few months after: December 5, 2008. It has been an inactive company.

MOST Law Firm and Hedgrow have the same address: 30th Floor, Tycoon Centre, Pearl Drive, Ortigas Center, Pasig City.

They also share the same contact phone number.

In the subdivision directory shown to ABS-CBN News, Hedgerow also appears as the registered owner of the glass mansion.

Pinky Ochoa, the wife of the Executive Secretary, is listed as the contact person.

ABS-CBN News visited the glass mansion recently and noted that construction is nearly finished.

Ochoa’s office promised to give a statement to ABS-CBN News about the mansion, but it has yet to follow through on that pledge.

Regional military spokesman Lt. Col. Randolph Cabangbang says 20-year-old Sali Said was arrested by military intelligence agents at the Jolo town port in Sulu province on Tuesday.

Cabangbang said Wednesday that Said was involved in a 2009 attack on Jolo’s marine brigade headquarters and the burning of an elementary school in Sulu’s Patikul town. Investigators are trying to determine if he was involved in the 2009 killing of a Sulu provincial police chief and other deadly attacks.

The Abu Sayyaf, which has about 410 fighters, has been blacklisted by Washington as a terrorist group.

Another detainee was recaptured while the fifth one made good his escape and is now the subject of a massive police manhunt.

Mario Cruz, 50, sustained multiple gunshot wounds in the body while Garry Borja, 35, and Reynaldo Tampepe, 34, sustained minor injuries.

A detainee, Norman Pollarca, 24, was captured in a brief chase but Jomer Cruz, who is facing three drug-related charges managed to elude his pursuers.

Superintendent Amado Concepcion, the chief of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) in Teresa town in Rizal was sacked hours after the incident.

Senior Superintendent Manuel Cesar Prieto, Rizal police provincial director said the five detainees, facing drugs and murder charges in Taytay town bolted jail by destroying the exhaust fan at the ceiling of the District Jail building located inside the municipal compound of Teresa town at about 2 a.m. yesterday.

Prieto said the detainees, using an improvised knife (pointed fork), took hostage Jail Officer 1 Lito Panganuran and disarmed his companion, JO1 Roy Bangawan.

The detainees destroyed the cyclone wire surrounding the jail compound, and commandeered a tricycle and directed its driver to drive toward nearby Morong town.

However, the beleaguered jail guards sought the help of the nearby elements of the Teresa police who immediately gave chase and caught up with the escapees in Morong.

Cruz, who is facing five counts of drug charges, opened fire at the pursuing lawmen, who returned his fire.

Borja, Tampepe and Pollarca were cornered after a brief chase, said Prieto.

Borja and Pollarca are facing drug charges in Taytay town while Tampepe was charged with rape. The trio are now back in jail.

Calabarzon police director Chief Superintendent Samuel Pagdilao Jr. directed Prieto to join the BJMP team in tracking down Jomer Cruz who was charged with three counts of illegal drugs possession.

Upon receipt of the jailbreak report, BJMP chief Director Rosendo Dial sacked Concepcion under his command’s “one strike policy.”

Meanwhile, Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo yesterday ordered the relief of the warden of the Teresa District Jail in the province of Rizal, following the escape of five inmates early yesterday morning.

Robredo ordered the immediate relief of Teresa District Jail warden Superintendent Amado Concepcion, who was immediately replaced by Chief Inspector Melchor Antigua as officer-in-charge of the district jail.

The DILG chief said the incident yesterday was the third jailbreak in the country this year.

The first was in Cotabato City Jail last Jan. 20 where one was recaptured out of the 16 escapees, while the second was in Caloocan City on Jan. 21 with three escapees. – With Cecille Suerte Felipe – By Non Alquitran and Ed Amoroso

Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama has created a panel of investigators to check the incident, while Vice Mayor Joy Augustus Young instructed Councilors Osmena and Ronald Cuenco to pursue an inquiry.

Councilor Cuenco plans to suggest to the City Council to create a fact-finding committee.

But Osmeña said they all have the same goal, which is to find out what really happened, so why can’t one fact-finding committee do it?

“Ako man nang responsibilidad, gusto man kaha silang muapil, okay ra ug muimbistigar sab sila kay transparent man ta, ila sab na (It’s my responsibility [to find out what happened] but if they want to investigate as well, that’s fine. We’re transparent),” Rama said.

The mayor has instructed former city health officer Dr. Tomas Fernandez, City Attorney Joseph Bernaldez and City Administrator Jose Marie Poblete to proceed with the inquiry.

Osmeña said she just wants city officials to work closely to come up with safety measures in CCMC so the incident won’t happen again.

“I have no problem working with anybody, it doesn’t have to be separate kay we want to know the same thing man, so, why can’t we work together? I thought, together we can make things happen,” Osmeña asked.

She said after a visit to Chong Hua Hospital that one of the newborn babies remains in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) but his condition is stable, while the other one is now recuperating in the pediatric ward.

The third baby, who sustained minor burns, was released from CCMC last Thursday, the day when the two other babies were transferred to the CHH.

CCMC chief Dr. Eduardo Sedoripa, in a previous interview, said the government-run hospital is not turning its back on the three infants, even if the two of them were already transferred to a private hospital.

He said they are willing to face any investigation and emphasized the explosion of the gooseneck lamp was an accident.

Chief Superintendent Benito Estipona, director of the Special Investigation Task Group (SITG), said the girlfriends of the Dominguez brothers – sexy actress Katrina Paula, who is Angeline Samonte in real life; and Julliane Allysa Crisostomo – were included in the formal filing of murder charges.

“We are still hunting down six other suspects, including Rolly, Joel, Marlon, Napoleon Salamat, and the two girlfriends,” he said.

Estipona said each time Raymond staged a heist, Paula would reportedly fetch him from a safehouse, while Julliane was the one who allegedly took “bakla,” referring to suspect Alfred Mendiola, away from the scene following Evangelista’s abduction.

He said investigators were forced to file charges against the girlfriends, who ignored the summons issued by the SITG. So far, the SITG director said 11 persons have been charged for Evangelista’s murder and five are in police custody.

Estipona said among their witnesses are a security guard who saw Lozano’s Kia Carnival taken by the suspects, a resident who saw them when set the vehicle on fire in Dinalupihan, Bataan and another one who saw them dumping Sensil’s body. – By Cecille Suerte Felipe