Community

The Negrense Volunteers for Change (NVC) has launched a worldwide ‘Write to Fight Hunger’ essay writing contest.The essay writing contest is open to young writers aged 9 to 18 years old from all over the world, NVC president Millie Kilayko said Friday, July 23.“It is National Nutrition Month in the Philippines and we wanted to kick off a special project to feed Mingo Meals” to more kids, she said.Mingo Meals produced by NVC are nutritious instant complementary food made of rice, mongo (mung beans), and malunggay (moringa) that it provides to undernourished children.Judges will determine the top five essays. They will then be posted on NVC Foundation’s Facebook page and people can vote for their favorite essay, Kilayko said.The essay with the most number of votes wins, s...

Rep. Francisco Benitez (center) with Mayor Gerry Rojas (right) and Vice Mayor Johnny Reosura at the blessing of the ambulances for Murcia.*Five new ambulances were recently turned over by the Department of Health regional office to the Third District of Negros Occidental, Rep. Francisco “Kiko” Benitez said Thursday, July 22.Murcia and EB Magalona got two ambulances each and Victorias City received one.Benitez, who facilitated the release of the ambulances, said they are a big boost to the delivery of health programs and services especially in the far-flung communities of the Third District.The turn-over program was held at the Western Visayas Sanitarium in Barangay Inangayan, Sta. Barbara, Iloilo, with the DOH Western Visayas Center for Health Development represented by ...

CHMSC president Norberto Mangulabnan and TUP president Jesus Rodrigo TorresThe Carlos Hilado Memorial State College and the Technological University of the Philippines signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) in a ceremony held on July 16 at the Function Hall, Green Building, CHMSC Talisay campus.This is to promote friendship, cooperation, and advance their shared vision and common goals.As stated in the MOA, there will be exchanging/sharing of academic information, publications, and expertise.Also, conducting joint research, extension and community development, advocacy, and training, as well as providing internship, on-the-job training, and professional development opportunities were also declared.In a welcome remark given, Rhoderick Samonte said that this pandemic is n...

Asenso Party leaders from all 26 barangays of Victorias City in Negros Occidental received 50-inch smart television sets from Javier “Javi” Benitez Friday that will be used for the Asenso Party convention, a first in Metro 3rd and in the province, on Saturday, July 17.The virtual party convention will tackle the identification of candidates for the 2022 local election in the city and is designed to give access to all leaders to participate in the process of naming the most qualified to the party slate, Benitez said in a press release.“It is time for our Asenso leaders to have a bigger stake in the political decision-making process,” Benitez said.He also stressed that the process of getting all leaders to participate in party activities further strengthens party unity.“The d...

The turnover of 36 printers to school heads of DepEd Murcia District I headed by Supervisor Dr. Erna Dogelio, and turnover of 12 laptops to the members of the Sangguniang BayanMurcia Mayor Victor Gerardo M. Rojas recently turned over 72 printers to all public elementary and secondary schools in Murcia to help the teachers print the modules for students, in line with the Distance Learning Modality.“Education is one of the primary thrusts of my administration. We allocate a budget for the Special Education Fund so that we can have the resources to support the needs of Murcia’s Local School Board for the benefit of our learners and welfare of our noble teachers,” Rojas said.The printers were received in separate turnover ceremonies by the school heads of Murcia’s public schools,...

Capitol photoNegros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson led the turn over of 239 laptops worth P8,365,000, and checks worth P3,080,000 to the Department of Education - Division of Negros Occidental, Tuesday, July 13.The financial assistance, which is for the Alternative Learning System (ALS) Program, will be for the 40 literacy volunteers, 3,694 ALS learners, 15 Special Education (SPED) literacy volunteers, and 928 SPED learners, while the laptops are intended for use of teachers, a press release from the Capitol said.The turn over ceremony was held at the Capitol Social Hall in Bacolod City.The projects were funded through the Provincial School Board.Negros Occidental Schools Division Superintendent, Marsette Sabbaluca, thanked the provincial government for the educati...

Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson and Department of Agriculture Region VI Executive Director, Remelyn Recoter, led the groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of a Muscovado Mill Plant, a Philippine Rural Development Project (PRDP) subproject, in Brgy. Oringao, Kabankalan City, Wednesday, July 14.The P25 million project had two components - the infrastructure worth P12,176,549 and enterprise component worth P13,801,177, a press release from the Capitol said.It is jointly funded by the loan proceeds from the World Bank, Department of Agriculture, Provincial Government of Negros Occidental, and Kalibutan Society, Inc., as the proponent group.PRDP Provincial Project Management and Implementation Unit (PPMIU) - Negros Occidental head, Dr. Narissa Lemocito, said the ma...

All 26 barangays of Victorias City will receive 50-inch smart television sets from Javier "Javi" Lopez Benitez, for use of their Asenso organizations, on Friday, July 16."The donation is a step towards modernizing information-education-communication (IEC) activities in the barangays of Victorias", Benitez said."The smart tv units will be first utilized in the first-ever Victorias-based Asenso Party virtual convention slated July 17, to identify candidates for the coming 2022 election," he added.Asenso leaders in all barangays will be able to participate in the process of identifying the party slate, Benitez explained."It is time for our Asenso leaders to have a bigger stake in the political decision-making process," Benitez said.Benitez, son of former Rep. Alfredo "Albe...

The new officers of RC Bacolod North immediate past president Romy Lopez, vice president Jude Quingco, director Shirley Maghari, Kendall Ang, past president Robert Cerrada, PP Alex Lee, director Vic Singh, director Baba Nellas, treasurer Con-Con Parreño and secretary Junjun Jalandoni (l-r).*Kendall “Kenny” Ang will be the 49th president of the Rotary Club of Bacolod North starting this month for the new Rotary Year.Ang is a Rotary Fellowship Exchange alumnus that represented Rotary International District 3850 to a 14-day visit to Latvia and Sweden in 2018.He will take over the presidency from Immediate Past President Romy Lopez during their induction and turnover ceremony in Hacienda Pag-asa, Cadiz City next week.*

PRRCFI photosIn celebration of Plastic Free July, a global movement that helps millions of people be part of the solution to plastic pollution, 11 business establishments in the cities of Bacolod and Talisay, Negros Occidental will pioneer innovations to reduce single-use plastics from their operations.These innovations include elimination of disposables and the promotion of zero-waste and circular business models and systems for refilling, reusable containers, deposit-return schemes, and native packaging.The 11 business owners who took on this challenge all come from the micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSME) category, an important sector to tap for reducing plastic waste at source and for educating consumers and other businesses about how we can prevent more litter from ...