Business

Jan292026 by Digicast NegrosNo Comments

Bacolod gov’t provides assistance to family of 12-year-old who drowned

The Bacolod City government has provided assistance to the family of a 12-year-old student who drowned in a river in Barangay Vista Alegre on Wednesday afternoon, January 28.The victim, identified as Johneil Beligan, was a Grade VI student.Reports indicate that Beligan and several classmates went to the river after an early school dismissal, a press release from the Bacolod City Communications Office (BCCO) said on Thursday..According to witnesses Beligan jumped into the water and his chin accidentally hit a classmate’s head. The blow caused him to lose consciousness and sink, the BCCO said.A nearby resident attempted a rescue, but the depth of the water delayed retrieval by approximately 10 minutes.Beligan was rushed to a hospital but was pronounced dead despite resusc...

Jan292026 by Digicast NegrosNo Comments

Gamboa warns of no water supply, calls for return of water district to BACIWA

Business

The hot and dry season is here and Bacolod Councilor Wilson Gamboa Jr. warned on Wednesday, January 28, of another “no water supply situation” in Bacolod City, citing a repeat of issues about the non-payment of past dues and loans owed by the BACIWA-PrimeWater to its suppliers.Gamboa, in a press release, expressed concern that Bacolod residents may once again face threats of total water supply cuts thus reiterated his call for BACIWA to be restored and returned to consumer-households and re-assert BACIWA’s mandate as a government owned and controlled corporation (GOCC).He questioned the usefulness of the Bacolod Bulk Water, Inc. (BBWI) system if half of Bacolod’s water consumer-households have no pipeline connection, no access to pipelines and the other half are connected to aging,...

Jan272026 by Digicast NegrosNo Comments

Ministry of Social Services and Development-BARMM partners with GCash to expand cashless disbursement under FAST Project, roll out Bangsamoro Cards

Business

The Ministry of Social Services and Development of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (MSSD-BARMM) has partnered with GCash, the Philippines’ leading finance super app and largest cashless ecosystem, to expand its cashless disbursement system under the Financial Assistance System Transformation (FAST) Project, an initiative designed to make the distribution of social assistance faster, more efficient, and more transparent for beneficiaries across the region.The Ministry of Social Services and Development–BARMM partners with GCash to expand cashless disbursement under the FAST Project, enabling faster and more accessible delivery of social assistance through Bangsamoro Cards powered by GCashWhile MSSD-BARMM has already begun transitioning to digital payouts, the par...

Jan272026 by Digicast NegrosNo Comments

Grab, MOVE IT Strengthen On-trip Protection with Expanded COCOLIFE Partnership

Business

Grab Philippines and motorcycle taxi platform MOVE IT have expanded their emergency insurance support with COCOLIFE, widening hospital assistance and financial protection for both rider-partners and passengers in a bid to make coverage more accessible and comprehensive for users of the on-demand mobility services.Through the deepened partnership, rider-partners and passengers gain 24/7 access to a wider network of more than 700 COCOLIFE-accredited hospitals nationwide for emergency situations involving a Grab or MOVE IT ride.The expanded hospital assistance with COCOLIFE strengthens Grab Philippines and MOVE IT’s protection ecosystem by addressing the most time-critical gap in on-trip incidents: emergency care and hospitalization support for both rider-partners and passengers. ...

Jan262026 by Carla P. GomezNo Comments

Guv calls for nat’l government action as artificial sweetener imports surge

Business, Top Stories

Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson (second from right) at Congress' public consultation on the sugar industry last week*Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson is calling on the national government to protect the local sugar industry and public health amid the increasing importation of artificial sweeteners.The sugar industry of Negros Occidental continues to face serious pressures that call for thoughtful and balanced policy responses, Lacson said in a statement issued Monday, Jan. 26.“As the country’s major sugar-producing province, we are particularly concerned about recent developments in the local sugar and sweetener market and their implications on economic sustainability, consumer protection, and public health”, he said.“We respectfully stress the importance of balanced reg...

Jan262026 by Digicast NegrosNo Comments

Bacolod City, DOE sign partnership for waste-to-energy, solar programs

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Energy Secretary Sharon Garin and Mayor Greg Gasataya (2nd and 3rd from left) after the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement witnessed by Bacolod Environment and Natural Resources Office head Allyn Luv Dignadice on Monday.*The Bacolod City government and the Department of Energy have taken a major step toward sustainable urban development with the signing of a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) for Waste-to-Energy (WTE) development, along with the launch of the “Solar Solutions for Government: Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy in Public Buildings” program on Monday, Jan 26.The solar program aims to institutionalize energy efficiency in the public sector by deploying technologies such as light-emitting diode (LED) lighting systems, inverter-type air-conditioning units, smart m...

Jan262026 by Digicast NegrosNo Comments

NACUSIP calls for release of Sugar Board minutes

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Ronnie Baldonado file photoCiting a crisis of transparency within the industry, sugar workers and small-scale farmers have formally petitioned the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) to release the minutes of meetings involving controversial sugar orders.The National Congress of Unions in the Sugar Industry of the Philippines (NACUSIP-TUCP) and the NACUSIP Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Council in a letter Monday, Jan. 26, requested full disclosure from Department of Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel and Sugar Regulatory Administrator Pablo Luis Azcona of the minutes of Sugar Order No. 8 (Series of 2025), as well as Sugar Orders No. 2 and 3 (Series of 2026).The request follows a public consultation held on January 23, where stak...

Jan232026 by Carla P. GomezNo Comments

Losses in sugar revenues ‘could exceed P20B’

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Rep. Manuel Frederick Ko, Rep. Alfredo Abelardo Benitez, Senator Francis Pangilinan, Rep. Mark Enverga, Rep. Javier Miguel Benitez, Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson. Rep. Jeffrey Ferrer and Rep. Mercedes Alvarez (l-r) at the public consultation.* If low millgate sugar prices remain unchecked, losses in revenues to the sugar industry could exceed P20 billion by June 2026, Rafael Coscolluela, former Sugar Regulatory Administrator, said on Friday, Jan. 23. Coscolluela was one of a battery of speakers from planters, millers, and labor groups who spoke at a public consultation on the decline in sugar prices led by Senate Committee on Agriculture, Food, and Agrarian Reform chairperson Sen. Francis Pangilinan and House Committee on Agriculture and ...

Jan222026 by Carla P. GomezNo Comments

Panay sugar farmers stage protest ahead of congressional inquiry

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The Panay farmers protesting in Passi, Iloilo, on Thursday.* About 1,000 farmers from 14 planters associations in Panay Island held a protest rally against low sugar and molasses prices in Passi City, Iloilo, on Thursday, Jan. 22, ahead of the congressional hearing on the plight of sugar industry on Friday.Sugar leaders are hoping something good will come out of the joint Senate and House inquiry on the decline in millgate sugar at Nature’s Village Resort in Talisay City, Negros Occidental.“I hope something good will come out from it that will help the sugar industry survive,” Enrique Rojas, National Federation of Sugarcane Planters president, said.“For the record UNIFED hopes they will act on its request to pass a bill enforcing crop loans from all banks so that the farmer...

Jan222026 by Carla P. GomezNo Comments

P55M slaughterhouse inaugurated in Murcia

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The inauguration of the slaughterhouse in Brgy. Alegria, Murcia.* Richard Malihan photoNegros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson inaugurated the P55 million Municipal Abattoir in Brgy. Alegria, Murcia, on Thursday, Jan. 22, marking a significant upgrade to the town’s agricultural infrastructure.The state-of-the-art slaughterhouse was designed to ensure the sanitary processing of livestock, safeguarding public health by meeting national food safety standards and improving the quality of meat products, the governor said.The project was implemented through the Department of Agriculture’s Philippine Rural Development Project (PRDP), with shared funding from the World Bank, the national government, and the provincial government of Negros Occidental.The establishment of the...