Marchel P. Espina

The sacked Bacolod City Water District (BACIWA) employees are demanding that the utility firm give them their jobs back.At a press conference Monday, August 30, Leny Espina, BACIWA Employees Union president, said they will continue to “pursue what is just and right.”“We demand for our immediate reinstatement. The longer we are denied our right, the more this comes at the expense of the consumers,” she said.The employees were separated from BACIWA effective Dec. 31, 2020.Earlier, the Civil Service Commission (CSC) in Western Visayas ordered BACIWA to reinstate the terminated workers and to pay their back wages.The CSC resolution came eight months after the positions of the 60 workers were declared redundant by the BACIWA board after its joint venture agreement (JVA) with...

Police Station 1 photoThe Police Regional Office-6 has ordered a thorough investigation into the killing of a Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO) drug operative.Brig. Gen. Rolando Miranda, police regional director, has ordered Col. Manuel Placido, city police director, “to exert all efforts to bring justice to the BCPO fallen operative.”On Sunday, August 29, SSgt Joseph Nepomuceno Jr., 37, of the BCPO City Drug Enforcement Unit, was on board on his motorcycle when he was attacked by unidentified motorcycle-riding suspects at Rosario St. in Barangay 15. He succumbed to multiple gunshot wounds.Placido dispatched the police operatives and Police Station 1 investigators to identify and arrest the motor-riding suspects.“The BCPO is saddened by the loss of one of its dedicated ...

A police drug operative was gunned down by unidentified motorcycle-riding suspects at Rosario Street in Brgy. 38, Bacolod City, Sunday, August 29.*Police Station 1 photoA police drug operative was gunned down by unidentified motorcycle-riding suspects at Rosario Street in Brgy. 38, Bacolod City, at 5:15 p.m. Sunday, August 29.The fatality was identified as SSgt Joseph Nepomoceno, 37, of the Drug Enforcement Unit of the Bacolod City Police Office.The victim was on board his motorcycle when he was waylaid and shot several times by the riding-in-tandem suspects, a police report said.Maj. Ramel Sarona, Police Station 1 commander, said the victim, who was on duty, was going somewhere when he was attacked by the suspects, who wore helmets and jackets.He was brought to Corazo...

Another Moises Padilla councilor surrendered to the authorities, Friday, August 27, after a warrant for his arrest was issued early this year.Councilor Vincent Garcia was among the town officials tagged in the killing of Moises Padilla Councilor Jolomar Hilario in March 2019.Garcia, who took a leave from his work at the municipal council, yielded to the police to clear his name.This came four days after Councilor Jose Morito Flores, Quintin Remo barangay captain Felisa Villaflor and her husband, Jonathan, who were also tagged in the murder of Hilario, also surrendered at the town police station where they are now detained.Garcia is the nephew of Moises Padilla Mayor Ella Garcia-Yulo and the brother of the late Councilor Michael Garcia, who died in an ambush together with Yu...

The members of the Bacolod City Water District (BACIWA) board are seeking advice from their lawyer after the Civil Service Commission (CSC) in Western Visayas ordered the reinstatement of 60 terminated employees.The members of the board, in a statement, said they received the copy of the CSC decision Thursday, August 26, that ordered the reinstatement of the sacked employees and to pay their back wages.It also granted BACIWA 15 days from receipt to file either a motion for reconsideration or a petition for review with the CSC Manila Office, wherein the execution of the decision would then be held in abeyance pending resolution of the case.“BACIWA will refer this issue to its lawyer, the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel (OGCC) for advice and appropriate action,” the st...

Nonoy Espina file photoThe 60 terminated employees of the Bacolod City Water District (BACIWA) will get their jobs back after the Civil Service Commission (CSC) ruled in their favor and ordered their reinstatement.This came eight months after their positions were declared redundant by the BACIWA Board of Directors following the joint venture agreement (JVA) between the utility firm and PrimeWater Infrastructure Corp. (PrimeWater), which is owned by the Villar family.PrimeWater took over the operations of BACIWA on Nov. 16, 2020, and the 60 employees were separated from the utility firm effective December 31.The dismissed workers were given options to either re-apply with PrimeWater or to avail of the early retirement package, which they refused since they are “regular gover...

Contributed photoThree people, including a town councilor, surrendered to the authorities Monday, August 23, after warrants for their arrest came out early this year.Councilor Jose Morito Flores, Quintin Remo barangay captain Felisa Villaflor and her husband, Jonathan, who were tagged in the murder of Moises Padilla Councilor Jolomar Hilario in March 2019 surrendered at the town police station, where they are now detained.Also linked to the murder of the town official were Vice Mayor Adrian Villaflor, councilors Vincent Garcia and Jimmie Don Plaza.All vehemently denied their alleged participation in the crime.Mayor Ella Garcia-Yulo said the councilor and the village official, who were on leave for months, came out “to end everything.”The vice mayor and the other cou...

Himamaylan PNP photoAn alleged depressed man killed his live-in partner on her birthday and their two children, and a shot himself in Barangay 4, Himamaylan City, Negros Occidental, Saturday, August 21.The police identified the slain live-in partner as Mary Rose Egca of Binalbagan town, and withheld the names of her near 2-year-old daughter and 7-month-old son.The suspect Raymundo Diaz, 59, later died in a hospital in Bacolod City.Lt. Arturo Margallo Jr., Himamaylan City deputy police chief, said the couple were reportedly arguing inside their house when their helper heard four gunshots.The helper then ran out of the house to ask their neighbors to call the police, he added.When the police arrived, Egca was already on the ground with a lone gunshot wound to the head...

A mural painting of slain human rights activist Zara Alvarez along Lacson Street in Bacolod City.*Paghimutad photoThe police have yet to establish the identity of the assailant of human rights activist Zara Alvarez who was gunned down at Eroreco Subdivision in Barangay Mandalagan, Bacolod City, a year ago.This is because no witnesses have come out to help the police with the investigation.On Aug. 17, 2020, Alvarez was headed for her boarding house when she was attacked by a lone gunman. She succumbed to multiple gunshot wounds.Col. Manuel Placido, city police director, said that it has been a challenge to talk to potential witnesses in the area. Aside from the COVID-19 pandemic situation, some have already transferred residence while others don’t want to be involved, and “w...