Business

Dec262025 by Nanette GuadalquiverNo Comments

Bacolod City distributes P2.4-M allowance to college scholars

The city government here distributed PHP2.44 million worth of financial assistance to its college scholars under the Public Employment Service Office (PESO) on Wednesday.The beneficiaries, who are students of various private colleges and universities in the city, each received PHP3,000 for the first semester of the School Year 2025-2026.In a statement on Thursday, PESO-Bacolod coordinator Jovelyn Canoy, who supervised the payout, reminded the scholars to show appreciation for the city's assistance by following the scholarship program guidelines and continuing to serve the community."This is a privilege and a responsibility," she added.Starting this school year, each PESO scholar is entitled to receive an allowance of PHP3,000 per semester to supplement the tuition subsidy r...

Dec262025 by Joann VillanuevaNo Comments

Oil prices to increase again next week

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Geopolitical developments overseas are projected to result in up to PHP0.50 per liter increase in domestic fuel prices next week.Citing price developments as of Dec. 25, Jetti Petroleum president Leo Bellas, in a report, said diesel prices are expected to increase between PHP0.30 to PHP0.50 per liter, and gasoline by up to PHP0.10 per liter.“Oil prices have been supported by geopolitical developments as the tougher U.S. sanctions enforcement on Venezuela and intensified attacks by Ukraine on Russian oil infrastructures have raised the risk of supply disruptions,” he said.“Supporting prices as well is the prospect of a bigger supply risk due to new sanctions on Russia if Moscow does not agree to the Ukraine peace deal,” he added.The Trump government has intensified its sanct...

Dec262025 by Digicast NegrosNo Comments

SSS marks 2025 with pension reform, program upgrades

Business

The Social Security System closes 2025 with implementation of the Emergency Loan Program (ELP) capping off achievements that strengthened social protection for millions of Filipinos highlighted by successful implementation of the Pension Reform Program, loan program enhancements, expanded membership coverage, and significant strides in digital transformation, an SSS official said.SSS President and CEO Robert Joseph Montes De Claro, in a press release, said, “This year was a turning point for SSS. From the directive of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. and with guidance from former Finance Secretary Ralph G. Recto and current Finance Secretary Frederick D. Go, we delivered on our promise to provide better benefits and programs, faster services, and wider coverage for our members. These ...

Dec222025 by Nanette GuadalquiverNo Comments

1.6K jobseekers hired in Bacolod employment fairs since January

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Jobseekers file their applications during the Christmas Job Fair held at the Bacolod City Government Center on Sunday.*BCCO photoMore than 1,600 applicants in various job fairs conducted through the Public Employment Services Office (PESO) in Bacolod City have been hired since January. Among these are the 16 jobseekers hired on-the-spot during the Christmas Job Fair held at the Bacolod City Government Center on Sunday. Dec. 21. Data on Monday showed that 1,585 individuals were employed through PESO-Bacolod as of Nov. 21 alone. The figure excludes all those hired in the three other job fairs. In a statement, PESO-Bacolod coordinator Jovelyn Canoy said the Christmas Job Fair offered employment opportunities to Bacolodnons during the holidays as part the city government's commitment t...

Dec212025 by Carla P. GomezNo Comments

SRA: Importation ban extended until Dec. 2026, gov’t to export raw sugar to raise millgate prices

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Govt to export 400,000 tons of raw sugar.*Ronnie Baldonado file photoThe Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) clarified on Sunday, Dec. 21, that the ban on sugar importation will remain in place until December 2026 and not September, when the current crop year ends.The DA is extending protection for local producers amid improving supply conditions, SRA Administrator Pablo Luis Azcona said.Government officials and sugar leaders in a letter to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Friday, called for the declaration of a no sugar import policy for the next 18 months, unless domestic stock falls below a clear trigger point, to arrest the drop in millgate prices.Azcona expects millgate sugar prices to improve this week amid measures taken by g...

Dec212025 by Carla P. GomezNo Comments

Negros ACE leaders meet with SRA to discuss solutions to sugar price drop

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Valladolid Mayor Ricardo Presbitero, Toboso Mayor Richard Jaojoco and Cadiz Mayor Salvador Escalante - Negros Associations of Chief Executives president, meet with Andre Corro and SRA Administrator Pablo Luis Azcona (l-r) at Natures’ Village Resort in Talisay City on Sunday.* CPG photoLeaders of the Negros Association of Chief Executives (Negros ACE) met with Sugar Regulatory Administrator Pablo Luis Azcona on Sunday, Dec. 21, to discuss ways to raise millgate sugar prices and aid farmers.The recent drop in millgate sugar prices is the "utmost concern" of Negros ACE, its president, Cadiz City Mayor Salvador Escalante, said.“The welfare of our farmers is our priority, we should not kill the goose that lays the golden egg,” Escalante said.Escalante, along with Valladolid Mayo...

Dec212025 by Carla P. GomezNo Comments

Congress to conduct consultation on sugar industry in January: Javi

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Rep. Javier Miguel Benitez (Neg. Occ., 3rd District)*The Agriculture Committee of Congress will conduct a nationwide public consultation on the sugar industry in the third week of January, Rep. Javier Miguel Benitez (Neg. Occ., 3rd District) said on Saturday, Dec. 21.“We have heard the many voices calling for help for the sugarcane industry. This industry is now at a critical juncture and needs quick, effective, and well-studied moves to save it together,” Benitez said in a Facebook post.He said the Senate and the House of Representatives are “opening an opportunity to hear the voices of our stakeholders in this industry” in the third week of January.As representative from Negros where sugarcane is the main crop, Benitez said “we have lobbied to our fellow congressmen an...

Dec192025 by Carla P. GomezNo Comments

Fire destroys 20 Bacolod houses, 50 left homeless before Christmas

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The fire in Brgy 2 a week before Christmas.*BCCO photoFire destroyed 20 houses leaving 50 residents homeless in Purok Tahong, Barangay 2 in Bacolod City, at about 2:14 a.m. Friday, Dec. 19, a week before Christmas.The fire quickly spread because the houses were made of light materials, Fire Officer 2 Rolin Paulan, chief investigator of the Bacolod City Fire Station, said.There were 20 families affected with 50 members, Richelle H. Verdeprado, Bacolod Department of Social Services and Development head, said.There were 20 houses destroyed, not 26 as initially reported by the Bacolod Fire Station, the Bacolod City Communications Office (BCCO) clarified.The fire started at the house of Marcelino Pitogo rented by a certain Gerald Nessia.The fire damage was estimated...

Dec182025 by Mary Judaline PartlowNo Comments

URC Bais distillery operations still suspended, hearing starts

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The collapsed portion of the lagoon wall of the URC Bais Distillery in Negros Oriental is being reinforced and its height is being increased, as seen in this photo taken on Wednesday.*The operations of Universal Robina Corp. (URC) Bais Distillery in Bais City, Negros Oriental, remain suspended until the Environmental Management Bureau -Pollution Adjudication Board (EMB-PAB) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) lifts its suspension order, an official said on Wednesday, Dec. 17.DENR-Negros Island Region (NIR) Executive Director Charlie Fabre said it is the PAB that has the authority to decide whether the distillery can resume operations.Fabre said the firm has lodged an appeal with the PAB for the lifting of the suspension order against the Bais Distiller...

Dec182025 by Nanette GuadalquiverNo Comments

4 Bacolod JOs now regular employees after decades of service

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Mayor Greg Gasataya (right) tells job order worker Ronnie Cordova that he has been made a regular employee during their meeting at the Bacolod City Government Center on Tuesday.* BCCO photoFour job order (JO) workers got regular positions this month after more than three decades of serving the Bacolod City government.They are among the eight JO personnel regularized since November, data from the Human Resources Management Services Office released on Wednesday showed.Ronnie Cordova, 57, who has worked for 34 years at the City Engineer's Office (CEO) - Special Services Division, learned about his new employment status when he and his fellow workers were asked to meet with Mayor Greg Gasataya on Tuesday.Thinking they were summoned for something else, Cordova said he was surpri...