The family of Dauin, Negros Oriental Mayor Galicano Truita was held hostage inside their house last Saturday, according to the Unang Balita report this Monday.
Their long-time family driver, Venerando Dalope was the suspect in the hostage-taking.
The victims were the mayor’s wife Maricar Truita; their daughter, Jemimie; Lisa Tuba, and Maria Carmen Truita, Negros Oriental Provincial Police Office (NOPPO) reported.
The police found out about the incident when Mayor Truita, who was in Manila at the time, called them. The suspect is said to be armed with three guns.
The police requested the help of the SWAT or Special Weapons And Tactics Team and negotiations took place.
It took seven hours before the suspect surrendered to the authorities.
Dalope, who is now in jail, has denied carrying guns. He also said he did not hurt the mayor’s family.
According to Dalope, his brain is cluttered with so many problems.
COVID-19 spread in PH slows down
It is said that the spread of COVID-19 in the country is gradually slowing down, based on the data shared by the OCTA Research Group.
According to OCTA Fellow Dr. Guido David, the reproduction number of COVID-19 in the country, or the number of individuals that a patient can infect, has dropped to just 0.91 on August 24, from 0.96 on August 17.
A reproduction number less than 1 indicates a slow viral infection.
David also reported that the number of new COVID-19 cases in the country today has dropped to just 2,959, or less than 3,000 per day, until August 27, 2022.
He said this was a 15% decrease from last week’s average of 3,487.
“The 7-day average was at its highest of 4,071 two weeks ago,” he said.
The current average daily attack rate (ADAR) is at 2.69 per 100,000 population, or is considered in low classification.
Even the positivity rate in the country also dropped to 14.3 on August 26, from 16.2%.
In their prediction, if the current trend continues, the country will record less than 1,000 cases of the disease per day by mid-September.
They said it might drop to 500 cases at the end of the same month.
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