Carla P. Gomez

Atty. Jose Ma. V. Valencia*The former Negros Occidental Provincial Legal Officer (PLO) and Chief of Staff to former governors Joseph Marañon and Alfredo Marañon Jr. has passed away.Lawyer Jose Ma. V.  Valencia, 75, passed away in his sleep at the Riverside Medical Center shortly before 8 a.m. Thursday,  his wife, lawyer Lily Valencia, told DIGICAST NEGROS .While serving as PLO, Valencia chaired the Negros Occidental Task Force Ilahas, which fought to protect the province's remaining forests.He also supported numerous programs to assist the poor and was widely known for his helping those in need.Valencia had  also served as a labor arbiter.He is survived by his wife and their daughter, Dr. Celeste-Jo Valencia Pramio.In a Facebook post announci...

Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano* Senate photoRep. Julio Ledesma IV (Negros Occidental, 1st District) said Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano is a disgrace to the Senate and as a former member of the House of Representatives.Ledesma said he will urge the local government units of the 1st District of Negros Occidental to declare Cayetano persona non grata.“This is my ask of our district and I will get this,” he said.He said Cayetano has trivialized his duty as a legislator twice.Ledesma said Cayetano committed “acts inimical and deleterious to the common good.”“He held us hostage for three weeks. His acts are a redux of his stead as House speaker. He has demeaned both chambers spanning two administrations. Enough is enough,” Ledesma said.The criticism that Cayetano "trivialized" C...

The Bureau of Soils and Water Management (BSWM) scheduled cloud seeding operations in Negros Occidental have been put on hold, a Department of Agriculture (DA) official said Wednesday, June 3.Negros Island Region DA Director Jose Albert Barrogo said everything will depend on the pronouncements of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) regarding the impact of  the El Niño.Barrogo earlier said that the BSWM would conduct cloud seeding operations over Negros Occidental and Western Visayas in early July to mitigate the effects of a dry spell.PAGASA has since announced that the rainy season will start in June and there will be heavy rains in some parts of Negros Occidental."The cloud seeding was prepared because of the pron...

Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro at the wake of Private First Class John Rey Brasil in Sagay City.*DND photoDefense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro on Wednesday, June 3, called on those protecting communist terrorists to also investigate the killing of a 79th Infantry Battalion soldier in Escalante City, Negros Occidental.Private First Class John Rey Brasil, 29, was shot in the head by New People’s Army (NPA) rebels in Barangay Tamlang on Monday, said Teodoro, who visited the soldier's wake at the Sagay District Hospital in Sagay City,  Negros Occidental.Brasil, who was originally from Iloilo, was residing in Murcia, where his 24-year-old wife is from. They have been married for a year, and his wife is devastated and has been given help for post-traumatic stress disorder, Teod...

The Police Regional Office Negros Island Region (PRO NIR)  reported a  18.42 percent decline in focus crimes from January to May this year.The five-month period culminated in May marking the lowest monthly crime volume of the year so far, with only 62 incidents reported across the region, the PRO NIR report said on Wednesday, June  3.Regional police officials attribute this positive trend to strengthened law enforcement operations, strategic crime prevention, and robust community cooperation.Data  released by the Regional Investigation and Detective Management Division showed  77 focus crime incidents in January,  81 in February, and  93 in March.The crime incidents then dropped to 76 in April before hitting the record low of 62 in May, the PRO NIR said.When c...

The Indigenous People representatives ay the NCIP hearing.*The National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) 10th Commission has formally approved the Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title (CADT) for the Bukidnon Indigenous Cultural Communities in Negros Occidental, concluding a 25-year legal process.The decision was finalized during an NCIO En Banc session on May 27.Led by NCIP Secretary and Chairperson Nancy A. Catamco, the approved CADT secures a total of 16,476.7607 hectares of ancestral land based on official survey results, an NCIP Facebook posts said.The titled property covers Barangay Codcod in San Carlos City, Barangay Igmayaan in Don Salvador Benedicto, and Barangay Minoyan in Murcia.The milestone decision marks the culmination of a bureaucratic and communi...

Hot meals being provided to the evacuees.*Escalante PNP photoResidents of Barangay Tamlang, Escalante City, Negros Occidental, who evacuated following an encounter between the 79th Infantry Battalion and remnants of the New People’s Army, returned home on Tuesday, June 2.A total of 150 families, comprising 554 individuals, who had evacuated to the Tamlang Elementary School, decamped and returned home, 1st Lt. Fevie Fajardo, the 79th IB civil-military operations officer, said.A stress debriefing and psychosocial support activity was held,  and food assistance was given to  the evacuees before they returned home.A 79th Infantry Battalion (IB) soldier was killed during the encounter with about five remnants of the NPA in Barangay Tamlang on Monday afternoon, Fajardo earlier s...

Asenso Ka Barangay has corrected its first Facebook post.*The Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) will be held on November 2,  there will be no postponement.This was stressed by Negros Island Region Commission on Elections Director Lionel Marco Castillano on Tuesday, June 2, following a post circulating on social media that the polls will be postponed."It’s fake news," he said.The BSKE will be held on November 2 pursuant to Republic Act No. 12232, which was signed into law by President Ferdinand  Marcos Jr. on August 13, 2025.There is no new law that has been passed granting its postponement, he said.Meanwhile, Election Registration Board (ERB) hearings began Monday to determine the final list of voters for the BSKE, Castillano said.When...