Benguet, Philippines

LA TRINIDAD, Benguet — Court employees here remember the late Commission on Elections Commissioner Romeo Brawner as a “model judge” who knew how to manage his sala (courtroom) well.

Brawner died of a heart attack at around 9:30 a.m. Thursday at the St. Luke’s Medical Center in Quezon City. He was 72.

Lawyer Norma Lucero-Carranza, clerk of court at the regional trial court here, said Brawner inspired his fellow employees to live their role as public servants.

“At first, we did not believe the news [of his death] since he looked healthy the last time he visited us,” Carranza said.

Brawner was RTC Branch 10 presiding judge here when he was appointed to the Court of Appeals.

INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines - At least 20 passengers were injured after a bus they were riding fell into a 50-foot ravine in Benguet province Wednesday night.

Radio dzRH reported that the incident occurred at 6:20 p.m. along a highway at Natubleng village in Buguias town, a fourth-class town with a population of 33,177 people.

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China’s Zijin Mining Group is close to acquiring a 20-percent interest in a Benguet gold-copper deposit for $70 million as it completed its initial assessment of the project.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), Lepanto Consolidated Mining Co. president Bryan U. Yap said Zijin has finished the feasibility study on developing the deep-seated gold-copper porphyry project in Mankaya, Benguet of Far Southeast Gold Resources, Inc., a subsidiary of Lepanto.

“Lepanto and Zijin are now in active negotiations towards finalizing the definitive agreements contemplated in our memorandum of understanding for the development of the project,” Lepanto vice president and assistant corporate Secretary Odette A. Javier said.

Zijin is one of the biggest gold producers in China and is listed on the stock exchange of Hong Kong.

Far Southeast is estimated to have a mineral ore deposit of 657 million tons at 0.65-percent copper and 0.94 gram gold per ton. Mineable ore reserves stands at 123 million tons at 0.8-percent copper and 1.51 grams of gold per ton. By Ma. Elisa P. Osorio

PhilStar

THE prime suspect in the gruesome killing of the one-legged tilapia raiser of Km. 6 in Tuba, Benguet in October 2005 was finally captured in Sabangan, Mountain Province, a police official said.

Senior Superintendent Cedrick Train, regional chief of the PNP-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG), identified the suspect as Pedro Mario Comelet.

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Comelet, 32, a resident of Sabangan, Mountain Province, was listed as the CIDG’s second most wanted person in the Cordillera.

According to Train, the suspect was arrested on May 19 by virtue of a warrant issued by Judge Edgardo de Rivera Jr. of La Trinidad’s Regional Trial Court Branch 10 for murder. By Ernie N. Olson Jr.

Sun.Star Baguio

Zijin Mining Group Co. Ltd. has completed its initial feasibility study on a gold-copper mine in Benguet province owned by Far Southeast Gold Resources Inc. (FSGRI).

China’s second largest gold miner is in the process of negotiating a final agreement, it said in a disclosure filed with the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

Listed local miner Lepanto Consolidated Mining Co. made a similar disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange Tuesday.

Zijin Mining Group Co., Ltd. is a leading Chinese gold, copper and nonferrous metal producer and refiner listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

In November 2007, the company entered into a memorandum of understanding with Lepanto, under which Zijin will acquire 20% of FSGRI from Lepanto for $70 million.

Lepanto, which also operates the Victoria and Teresa gold deposits in Mankayan, Benguet, owns 60% of FSGRI. Lepanto officials declined to provide more details of the study.

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