Mary Judaline Partlow

Sta. Catalina residents opposing mining exploration in their town.*Mayor Peve Ligan FB page photoMunicipal and barangay officials and residents of Sta. Catalina, Negros Oriental, urged the provincial government to stop the mining exploration in the town before this could become a full-scale operation that would endanger humans and the environment.Sta. Catalina Mayor Peve Ligan said they are seeking the help of Governor Carlo Jorge Juan Reyes before the problem gets worse as tension is now brewing in Sitio Taruga, Barangay San Francisco, where the gold mining exploration has started.“This situation is now brewing between those who favor or are opposed to the mining exploration, and in fact, a protest rally was held yesterday,” Ligan said.Three villages within the immediate v...

Police have identified three members of the New People’s Army as persons of interest in the killing of a civilian in a remote area of Guihulngan City, Negros Oriental, Tuesday, April 11.Lt. Col. Romeo Cubo, Guihulngan police chief, said the victim, Armando Duran Babor, was a former NPA supporter but had already turned away from the insurgency movement.Three armed men shot and killed the 33-year-old Babor while having breakfast with his wife inside their house at Sitio Mag-ubay in Barangay Maniak, Guihulngan City.The armed men fled towards the mountainous part of Barangay Calupaan in Guihulngan.Police recovered three empty shells of caliber 5.56 mm.Cubo said they are gathering more information before the filing of charges against the suspects and declined to elaborate fu...

The Joint Task Force Negros continues to provide security and peacekeeping efforts in Negros Oriental.* Judy Flores Partlow photoThe Joint Task Force Negros (JTFN) will continue its peace and security mission even as government operatives concluded their search operations at a sugar mill compound in Sta. Catalina, Negros Oriental, during the weekend.Maj. Cenon Pancito III, JTFN spokesperson, told the Philippine News Agency on Monday that security threats remain in Negros Oriental, especially with recent developments related to the murder of Gov. Roel Degamo and eight others in Pamplona town on March 4.“Based on the search warrant that the CIDG (Criminal Investigation and Detection Group) had obtained, the series of operations ended already this past weekend. However, we really ...

Police operatives recover belongings reportedly owned by suspects in the murder of Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo.*Joint Task Force Negros photoGovernment operatives seized personal items belonging to the suspects in the March 4 murder of Governor Roel Degamo and eight others at a sugar mill compound in Sta. Catalina, Negros Oriental, Thursday evening, the Joint Task Force Negros (JTFN) said Friday, March 31.The items were found with the use of a backhoe in the premises of HDJ-Bayawan Agri-Venture Corp. Tolong in Barangay Caranoche, Sta. Catalina, reportedly owned by former Negros Oriental governor Pryde Henry Teves.The recovered items included burned clothes, identification cards, automated teller machine cards, and assorted documents that reportedly belonged to some ide...

Operatives of the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) seized an assault rifle with a sniper scope, three magazines, and thousands of ammunition in the premises of a Teves owned sugar mill in Sta. Catalina town, Negros Oriental, Monday evening, March 27.The items were recovered at another area of the sugar mill on Monday evening, during the fourth day of the continuous implementation of a search warrant at the HDJ Bayawan Agri-venture Corp. at Sitio Tolong, Barangay Caranoche in Sta. Catalina, a report from the Joint Task Force Negros said.The series of raids, which started on Friday, was carried out by virtue of a search warrant for violations of Republic Act 10591 or the Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulation Act that was issu...

Operatives of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) seized more firearms and ammunition in another search on the premises of a sugar mill in Sta. Catalina, Negros Oriental, Sunday night.The Joint Task Force Negros (JTFN) announced on Monday, March 27, that a search that took place around 7:20 p.m. and onwards at the HDJ Bayawan Agri-Vet Corp. compound yielded one short firearm with 24 rounds of live ammunition and three magazines, one disassembled pistol, one shotgun with 29 rounds of live ammunition, 852 rounds of live ammunition for a 7.62 mm caliber, and 1,169 rounds of live ammunition for a 5.56 mm caliber.The items were discovered at the back of the compound near a molasses tank following an intensive search of the sugar mill's premises.The CIDG, assisted b...

Relieved Negros Oriental Police Director, Col. Reynaldo Lizardo.*Judy Flores Partlow photoNegros Oriental Police Director, Col. Reynaldo Lizardo, has been relieved of his post effective Wednesday, March 22.His relief was part of the ongoing investigation on the death of Governor Roel Degamo and eight others during the March 4 gun attack at the governor’s residential compound in Pamplona town.Lizardo told the Philippine News Agency that he received a copy of the relief order on Thursday and immediately held an exit briefing with the police chiefs and other unit commanders.His new assignment was not immediately known.“This is an administrative process within the organization where a commander is relieved of his or her current position to give way to an impartial investiga...

The suspects arrested during the two-day raid at HDJ sugar mill in Sta. Catalina, Negros Oriental board a government aircraft from Dumaguete - Sibulan Airport en route to Manila on Sunday.*JFP photoLaw enforcers are looking at possible “terrorist-related” activities in Negros Oriental following the confiscation of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and components during a series of raids at a sugar mill in Sta. Catalina town during the weekend.Col. Thomas Valmonte, legal counsel of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG), told reporters in a press briefing at the Dumaguete-Sibulan airport Sunday afternoon, March 26, that they will do a trace on the IEDs.He believes the presence of these IEDs would indicate possible “terroristic” activity.“If you possess that,...

The Negros Oriental Provincial Police Office (NOPPO) simultaneously carried out the order to shut down Small Town Lottery (STL) operations on Thursday evening after the termination of Four Aces’ STL Authority to operate.This was in line with the memorandum order issued by the NOPPO dated March 9, on the termination of Four Aces’ STL Authority to Operate, under a letter from the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO).That letter from PCSO General Manager Melquiades A. Robles was addressed to Christopher R. Santiago, president of Four Aces Resources Management Group Corp., informing him of the termination by PCSO of the Agency Agreement and Authority to Operate STL in Negros Oriental.Lt. Col. Richard Gadingan, Tanjay City police chief, told the Philippine News Agency (PNA) ...