Hanjin boats capsize

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO -- Two boats that the Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction Phil. Inc. uses to ferry its workers capsized in separate incidents on Friday, nearly drowning five crew members of one of the boats, a Hanjin official told the Inquirer in a telephone interview.

Tirso Rosal, Hanjin safety manager, said the two boats that capsized off the Redondo Bay, near the villages of Nagtulong and Calapacuan in Subic, Zambales, were not carrying passengers.

The second boat, which carried a crew of five, capsized at 1 p.m., Rosal said.

The boats, both made of wood and fitted with floaters, could carry 50 to 70 workers, he said. Hanjin’s rescue team plucked the crewmembers to safety. Rosal said the boats might have capsized due to strong waves. Tonette Orejas, Inquirer Central Luzon

Cop, grandson gunned down

MARILAO, Bulacan -- A policeman and his year-and-a-half grandson were killed when a group of armed men fired at their car near the public market in Barangay Tabing Ilog here on Friday.

Reports from the Marilao police said SPO4 Benjamin Bautista, 56, and his grandson, Anthony James Doloiras, died while being taken to the Nazarenus Hospital in nearby Meycauayan City.

Police said Bautista’s wife, Racquel, 56, suffered from a bullet wound in the left shoulder and was taken to the Saint Michael Hospital in this town.

The suspects, according to the report, took Bautista’s .45 cal. service firearm and about P11,000 he was carrying. Carmela Reyes, Inquirer Central Luzon

Drowning victim found

LEGAZPI CITY -- The body of a 10-year-old girl who drowned in a swollen river in Polangui, Albay was found Thursday noon, the Philippine Navy reported Friday morning.

Ensign Elmer Sumunod, acting spokesperson of the Naval Forces Southern Luzon, said the body of Ma. Sarah Penolia, of Barangay Kinale, was found in the Sta. Cruz River in Libon town, east of Polangui. Ephraim Aguilar, Inquirer Southern Luzon

Increase in number of enrollees seen

DIGOS CITY -- Education officials in Davao del Sur have predicted a minimal increase in the number of enrollees for the elementary level this year.

Education officials said new teachers are needed as they project a 2.5-percent increase in the number of enrollees.

Marilyn Deduyo, in charge of the Davao del Sur DepEd planning office, said the 2.5-percent forecast is the total increase expected in the province’s public elementary schools, which are already categorized as “hot-colored schools.”

Schools are categorized as hot-colored when the number of students exceeds 40 per classroom per session. Eldie S. Aguirre, Inquirer Mindanao