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Instead of airplanes, Coscolluela said he prefers mobilizing an army of workers on the ground to conduct focused, targeted spraying.*SRA photoFormer Sugar Regulatory Administration chief Rafael Coscolluela expressed concern over the environmental impact of a proposed Negros-wide aerial spraying of chemical pesticides to combat red-striped soft scale insects attacking sugarcane fields."On paper, aerial spraying by airplane sounds good, but let us look at its practicality," Coscolluela said on Monday."What will be its effect on communities that might become unintended victims of the spraying, since they are saying chemical pesticides will be used?" he asked.He asked how the spraying can be kept within targeted farms when there is the  wind factor that must be considered....

In a ‘blitzkrieg’ operation, sugar farmers in Bukidnon deployed an army of 40 people in teams of ten, to conduct a one-week concentrated pesticide spraying to prevent the spread of Red Striped Soft Scale Insect (RSSI) infestation.Donning Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) reminiscent of the COVID pandemic, these men are fighting a different battle in the fields, a pest that is hard to see by the naked eye but is now a “serious threat” for the sugar industry as it spreads through sugar cane fields in Luzon, Visayas and now in Mindanao, a press release from the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA)  said Sunday, July 12.Each man carries a power sprayer with a load of 16-18 liters of pesticides and depending on the severity of the infestation and age of cane, an estimated 15 to...

United Sugar Producers Federation of the Philippines (UNIFED) President Manuel Lamata explains the aerial spraying plan to the media on Friday.*Ronnie Baldonado photoIt will cost approximately ₱200 million to implement an aerial pesticide spraying campaign across all sugarcane lands on Negros Island to combat the Red-Striped Soft Scale Insect (RSSI) infestation, United Sugar Producers Federation of the Philippines (UNIFED) President Manuel Lamata said on Friday, July 10.UNIFED convened a meeting with Negros Occidental mayors and their representatives at Nature’s Village Resort in Talisay City to discuss a unified, collective campaign against the pest.During the meeting, Lamata urged the mayors to individually declare a state of calamity within their respective local government...

Bacolod Mayor Greg Gasataya delivering his SOCA.*Ronnie Baldonado photoMayor Greg Gasataya presented the accomplishments of his first year in office, anchored on the HEART+MORE governance agenda, during his first State of the City Address (SOCA) held at the Bacolod City Government Center lobby on Wednesday, July 8.Gasataya highlighted the city’s achievements in Health, Education, Environment and Economic Growth, Accessibility to Basic Services, Resilience and Responsive Governance, and Tourism and Sports, while reaffirming his administration’s commitment to inclusive, transparent, and people-centered governance, a press release from the Bacolod City  Communications Office said..A key highlight of the address was the launch of the G-App, a mobile application that provides ...

Inflation in the Negros Island Region slowed further to 4.9 percent in June from 5.4 percent in May, the Philippine Statistics Authority reported.PSA in a report of Tuesday, July 7,  said NIR recorded the lowest inflation rate among all regions outside the National Capital Region during the month.Among the Visayas regions, NIR posted the lowest inflation, followed by Western Visayas at 6.8 percent and Eastern Visayas at 7 percent.Central Visayas recorded the highest inflation rate in the country at 10 percent, although this was lower than its 10.8-percent rate in May.NIR’s 4.9-percent inflation was also equal to the rate recorded in Metro Manila.PSA data showed that 13 regions outside Metro Manila registered slower inflation in June compared with the previous month...

A RSSI hit farm in Negros* SRA photoGov. Eugenio Jose Lacson has launched an emergency biosecurity task force to combat a massive pest infestation that has already crippled over 32 percent of the province's vital sugarcane fields.Negros Occidental is currently under a state of calamity due to the massive RSSI infestation.Lacson issued Executive Order No. 26-12 on Tuesday, July 7, to orchestrate an immediate containment strategy against the Red-Striped Soft Scale Insect (RSSI), an agricultural threat now jeopardizing the province's economic backbone.The Provincial Biosecurity Task Force for Agriculture to combat the Red-Striped Soft Scale Insect (RSSI) and other biological threats will strengthen coordination, containment, control, and management across affected plantati...

 Department of Education-Negros Island Region Director Ramir Uytico (4th from left) leads the Powering Empathy, Acceptance, and Connection Everyday at the Bacolod City National High School on Monday.*DepEd-NIR photoThe Department of Education (DepEd) and the National Police Commission (Napolcom) are collaborating to come up with a unified strategy to ensure a safe and secure learning environment in Negros Island Region (NIR).Following a dialog on July 3, DepEd-NIR Regional Director Ramir Uytico said a comprehensive school crisis management initiative will be immediately prepared as education officials have been tasked to audit campus readiness and identify security gaps to guide long-term police and stakeholder interventions.“We have crafted a regional memorandum to this effec...

A sugarcane farm hit by RSSI.* SRA photoThe General Alliance of Workers Associations (GAWA) on Thursday, July 2, called for immediate and direct government intervention to halt a Red-Striped Soft-Scale  Insect (RSSI) infestation before it completely paralyzes and collapses the country’s sugar industry.GAWA Secretary General Wennie Sancho warned that further delay would worsen the crisis, noting that agricultural damage is already spreading rapidly across major sugar-producing regions, including Negros Occidental, South Cotabato, and Bukidnon.The labor group sounded the alarm over the severe social cost of inaction, warning that the demise of the sector would bring widespread despair, uncertainty, and social disorder to the families who rely on it.The organization e...

A sugarcane federation is inviting Negros Occidental’s mayors to a meeting on July 10 to discuss the aerial spraying of insecticides to prevent the devastating and rapid spread of Red-striped soft scale insects (RSSI) in sugarcane fields.Manuel Lamata, president of the United Sugar Producers Federation of the Philippines (UNIFED), said on Wednesday, July 1, that they have invited Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson and the mayors to listen to a proposal from a Davao-based group.The Davao group conducts the aerial spraying of systemic chemicals that are not harmful to humans, Lamata said.The governor said what makes the situation alarming is that the RSSI has returned just as the planting season has started, which is expected to lower crop production.“The RSSI pro...

Rep. Julio A. Ledesma IV (Neg. occ., 1st District) is calling for  a massive, coordinated scaling of biological control measures to defend the country’s embattled sugar industry against the devastating impacts of the Red Stripped Soft-Scale Insects (RSSI).Ledesma, who chairs the House Committee on Science and Technology, on Tuesday, June 30,  issued a rallying cry to mobilize what he terms "Nature’s Army"—a multi-pronged biological warfare strategy utilizing native predators, parasites, and fungi to suppress the pest populations that are currently threatening planters' livelihoods.“The Filipino sugar planter is under siege. RSSI has weakened his crop, increased his costs, and threatened his livelihood. But let us not count him out,” Ledesma said."The challenge before ...