Business

Officials led by Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson and Negros Oriental Gov. Manuel "Chaco" Sagarbarria ring the bell to signal the opening of the trade fair.*Ronnie Baldonado photoForty years after Negrense women banded together during a devastating sugar crisis to sell homemade goods in Manila, Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson said the landmark 40th Negros Trade Fair at the SMX Convention Center in SM Aura that opened on Tuesday, Sept. 22,   has proven that the  province is "more than just sugar".Lacson and Local Government Secretary  Benjamin Abalos Jr.  lauded the Negros producers  and the Association of Negros Producers for  the quality of their goods and their  creativity that has spanned  40 years.N...

Protestors marking the 54th anniversary of the declaration of Martial Law in Bacolod City on Monday, Ronnie Baldonado photoAbout 100 Negrenses  marked the  54th anniversary of the declaration of Martial Law by accusing President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. of being no different than his father, at a rally in front of the Bacolod City Government Center replica  in Bacolod  City on Monday, Sept. 21.Noli Rosales, secretary-general of Bayan Negros, said the vast majority of people in Negros continue to live in poverty amid a sugar industry crisis reminiscent of the Martial Law era under former President Ferdinand Marcos Sr.Rosales slammed government’s sugar importation, and  government’s failure to address the industry’s decline.He also said  land grabbi...

 Atty. Allan Barcena, Net Zero Carbon Alliance Executive Director; Jerome Cainglet, President and Chief Operating Officer of Energy Development Corporation; DENR Secretary Juan Miguel Cuna; and Francis Giles Puno, President and Chief Operating Officer of First Gen Corp. Inc. (l-r)*  Net Zero Carbon Alliance photoFirst Gen Corp. will supply more than 24 megawatts (MW) of renewable baseload power to 10 electric cooperatives (ECs) in the Visayas under 15-year Power Supply Agreements (PSAs) forged following a competitive selection process.The power will come from First Gen’s Unified Leyte Geothermal Power facilities and will be supplied to the ECs on a 24/7 baseload basis, First Gen said in a media release.Among the 10 recipient cooperatives are Negros Oriental I Electric Cooperati...

A scene from the Escalante massacre* NFSW Facebook page photoProgressive groups led by Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN) Negros and Mothers and Relatives of Victims of Tyranny (MARTYRS)  on the  41st anniversary of the Escalante Massacre in Negros Occidental  on September 20 paid tribute  to the 20 civilians “martyrs” killed during the 1985 protest.The victims were killed on September 20, 1985, when Philippine Constabulary forces and paramilitary units opened fire on a peaceful Welgang Bayan (People's Strike) demanding an end to the Marcos dictatorship, they said in a press statement.The fatal dispersal also left hundreds injured in front of the town center.They military  forces for attempting to suppress public commemorations and alter historical...

PNA file photoDomestic fuel prices are likely to increase by as much as PHP10.50 per liter due to the sustained escalation of tensions in the Middle East.Citing price developments in the Asian market and the movement of foreign exchange as of Thursday, Jetti Petroleum president Leo Bellas, in a message to journalists on Friday, Sept. 18, said diesel prices are forecast to rise between PHP10 and PHP10.50 per liter and gasoline between PHP4.50 and PHP5 per liter. These figures are way higher than the PHP4.69 per liter hike in gasoline prices and PHP5.18 per liter for diesel this week, based on data released by the Department of Energy (DOE) on Tuesday. Kerosene also rose by PHP5.58 per liter. “Oil prices surged higher after attacks in the Strait of Hormuz and the ...

The Land Transportation Office-Negros Island Region has issued show cause orders against the operator, driver and conductor of a modernized public utility jeepney following an alleged passenger harassment incident in Bacolod City.LTO-NIR said on Sept. 16, that the incident involving modernized jeepney occurred in Brgy. Pahanocoy on Sept. 14.The agency’s Intelligence and Investigation Unit issued show cause orders to the UNETCO operator and the vehicle’s driver and conductor as part of an administrative investigation.LTO-NIR said the incident involved allegations of body shaming, verbal abuse and passenger intimidation.UNETCO has separately placed the driver and conductor under a 30-day suspension, while the LTO investigation remains ongoing.The agency warned that violat...