. NEWS ROUNDUP .

THE Blas F. Ople Policy Center will hold its annual job fair on March 8 to 9 at the Activity Center of Robinson's Galleria Mall in Ortigas Avenue.

The job fair is in commemoration of International Women's Day and hopes to draw in job applicants and fresh graduates looking for employment opportunities here and abroad.

Former labor undersecretary Susan Ople, head of the Ople Center, said the job fair hopes to bring together prospective employers in search for qualified applicants. "We believe this is a worthy undertaking that also helps re-connect my father's legacy to the younger generation," she said, adding that they are targeting a broad range of job vacancies for applicants of all ages and skills.

The job fair is also raising funds for the scholars of Samahang Plaridel, an association of senior journalists and PR practitioners. The scholarships are for the children of journalists and those who wish to take up journalism in college.

The Center is involved in the distribution of school shoes to indigent children around the country and in an outreach program for distressed overseas Filipino workers and their families.

All companies on hiring mode are invited to contact Jaypee Espinosa and Estelle Osorio at the Blas F. Ople Policy Center thru telephone 833-5337 and 833-9562, or at blasoplecenter@gmail.com.

THE family that owns Green Cross Inc. has decided not to appeal a Department of Justice ruling charging them with estafa, saying it would be a futile exercise since the DOJ appears to give more weight to the say-so of the complainant, Co It, than the several contrary documentary evidence presented.

Atty. Estelito Mendoza, counsel for the Co family led by Anthony Co, said in a manifestation filed with the department yesterday that the resolution of the department is "not in accord with the evidence and the conclusions not in accord with the applicable law."

He said the Co family will challenge the DOJ findings in court.

Mendoza said he presented to the justice department several documents Co It himself had signed showing that Co It gradually sold his shares from 1971 until his last sale in 1986; that Co It knew of the transfers of shares among his siblings in the 1970s and 1980s at the times those transfers were being made; and documents signed by Co It, his children and their lawyer in 2001 where they all affirmed that his siblings and their children were the true owners of GCI, among others.

Mendoza said Co It did not present any contradictory evidence.

Co It is suing his siblings and relatives, claiming he still owns shares in the company that has grown tremendously since he sold out in 1986.

Cop gets life for killing of ex-FVR security

A MAKATI court yesterday sentenced a Pasay cop PO3 Dominador Gonzalez to life imprisonment and ordered his immediate transfer to Muntinlupa for the 1996 murder of a security officer of former President Fidel Ramos.

Judge Zenaida Laguilles also ordered Gonzalez to pay the heirs of victim Eleuterio Rodriguez P75,000 as civil indemnity, P2,464,000 for loss of earning capacity, P100,000 as moral damages and P100,000 for exemplary damages.

In handing out the guilty verdict, the court gave weight to the detailed testimony of the prosecution's witnesses, including the victim's wife, Alona that positively identified Gonzales as the one who shot Rodriguez on May 3, 1996 at Tropical Village in Gen. Trias, Cavite.

The accused and the victim were former residents of Pasay City who availed themselves of Ramos' Pabahay 2000, a low-cost housing project for some 3,000 families in Cavite. The killing apparently stemmed from their bitter rivalry over the presidency of the homeowners' association.

Gonzalez was proven to have threatened and bullied the victim and of going into hiding after the killing. He also tried to settle the case with the victim's widow while he remained at large. - Ashzel Hachero