Marchel P. Espina

The Moises Padilla municipal hall was closed Friday, April 16, after one of its department heads tested positive for coronavirus.Employees who had direct contact with the patient were also directed to go on quarantine pending the result of their reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests.Among those who went on isolation was Mayor Ella Garcia-Yulo.While she had no direct contact with the department head, who had gone to the different offices including the Mayor’s Office at the municipal hall, she went on quarantine and was swabbed to ensure that she has not contracted the virus, Yulo said.She said that the department head was supposed to have had an eye check-up in Bacolod City but she was required to submit an RT-PCR test result.The department head ...

A 17-year-old boy was arrested in a police drug bust operation at Purok Ylac, Barangay 1 in Bacolod City Friday, April 16.The teenage suspect, whose name was withheld by the police, yielded six sachets of suspected shabu worth P20,400 and a .38 caliber pistol loaded with live ammunition.The suspect will be charged for illegal possession of drugs and a firearm.*

The Sipalay City government has closed down its tourism establishments amid the increasing number of coronavirus cases in the locality.Sipalay Mayor Maria Gina Lizares, in an executive order issued Thursday, April 15, said that all tourism activities will not be allowed.All big events, mass gatherings will not be allowed, and that all tourism accommodation establishments will temporarily be closed.Those who have confirmed bookings must contact the accommodation establishment.Accommodation establishments such as pension houses, inns and lodges in the city proper will also operate at a 30 percent capacity and will only accept authorized persons outside residence and delivery personnel of essential goods.The mayor also said that all establishments will be closed for disinf...

The groundbreaking rites for the rehabilitation of the provincial road in Moises Padilla was held Thursday, April 15.The provincial government has earmarked P35 million for the project, while the Department of Public Works and Highways will allocate P80 million this year, and another P63 million next year.Mayor Ella Garcia-Yulo, who was upbeat about the development, said that the rehabilitation of the more than 20-kilometer road starting from Crossing Magallon to Barangay Guinpanaan is expected to be completed next year.The project was a dream come true for them, she said.The mayor earlier said that the dilapidated provincial road creates a major socio-economic problem as this is the main route for trade and commerce, education, health and emergency services since it leads ...

DOT-6 and Capitol photosFormer Negros Occidental tourism officer Cristine Mansinares was appointed officer-in-charge of the Department of Tourism Region 6.DOT-6 outgoing director Helen Catalbas said that Mansinares will assume the position effective April 17 because of her retirement Friday, April 16.Catalbas had served the government for more than 44 years.Mansinares said that Catalbas was supposed to retire in 2020, but had to extend for a year as she was leading the rehabilitation of the world-renowned Boracay Island.She said that the pandemic has been challenging to the tourism sector as “there is no template on how to weather the situation.”However, she pointed out that the current situation has resulted in the “intense collaboration of the stakeholders because...

NOCPPO photosA man, who posed as a woman on Facebook to lure and rob unsuspecting victims, was arrested in a police entrapment operation at Crossing Gaston, Barangay Punta Mesa in Manapla, Negros Occidental, on Tuesday, April 13.The suspect identified as 27-year-old Alvin Amandog of Hda Bayabas in Barangay Tortosa is a sugarcane worker.The police said the suspect posed as a woman and took fictitious identities to seduce victims and lure them for a meet-up, then robbed them at gunpoint.The Manapla police received complaints on the suspect’s modus operandi.During his arrest, the suspect yielded two sachets of suspected shabu, two live ammunition and one empty shell of a .38 caliber pistol, a victim’s cellphone and a sling bag.The suspect is now in police custody.C...

BCPO photoMore than P500,000 worth of drugs were recovered while five persons were arrested in separate buy-bust operations in Bacolod City in two days.Nabbed at Purok Malipayon in Barangay Taculing Tuesday night, April 13, were Jim Estacio, 30, of Barangay Granada, and Nico Calates, 33, of Barangay Alijis.The suspects sold a plastic sachet of shabu worth P20,000 to a police poseur buyer.Recovered from the suspects were eight sachets of suspected shabu, with an estimated weight of 45 grams and worth P306,000.The operation was conducted by the Regional Police Drug Enforcement Unit-6 (RPDEU-6), and Bacolod Police Station 6 in coordination with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency-6.The RPDEU-6, along with Police Station 7 policemen, also nabbed James Andrew Estañol,...

About P15 million worth of heavy equipment was torched by suspected members of the New People’s Army at Barangay Consing, EB Magalona, Negros Occidental, on Tuesday, April 13.A police report said the caretaker discovered at around 5 a.m. that three backhoes were burned.Recovered from the scene were a red flag, and an “NPA checkpoint” signage, Lt. Robert Petate, officer-in-charge of Silay City Police Station, said.However, he stressed that the police could not establish yet if the rebels were behind the incident.He said the investigation was turned over to the neighboring EB Magalona Police Station as the place of the incident was under their jurisdiction.It was initially reported that the incident happened in Silay.*

RPDEU-6 photoA construction worker was arrested in a drug bust operation at Henrieta Village in Barangay Singcang-Airport, Bacolod City, Tuesday afternoon, April 13.Police identified the suspect as 32-year-old Samuel Talaman, a street-level individual of Purok Magsungay, Barangay Singcang-Airport.The suspect sold one plastic sachet of suspected shabu to a police poseur buyer worth P15,000.After the arrest, police recovered five sachets of suspected shabu, with an estimated weight of 30 grams and worth P204,000, a gun replica without a magazine, and a cellphone.The operation was conducted by the Regional Police Drug Enforcement Unit-Western Visayas, and Bacolod Police Station 8.The suspect is now in the custody of Police Station 8.*