Top Stories

Students and friends hold a candle lighting ceremony to honor Dee Supelanas and the rest of the Kabankalan 7 at the UP Cebu entrance gate Tuesday afternoon.* Tug-ani Facebook page photoThe bodies of six of seven alleged New People Army rebels, including a University of the Philippines Cebu alumna, killed in an encounter with government troopers Barangay, Tapi, Kabankalan City in Negros Occidental, have been claimed by their families.Meanwhile, a civilian wounded during Sunday’s armed clash in stable condition, Col. Erwin Rommel Lamzon, 3rd Infantry Division spokesperson, said.The civilian identified as Marcel Camangyan Anguit was immediately brought to the Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital in Bacolod City, where he is currently receiving medical care, Lam...

EU election observers Robert Lismanis and Luisa Lupascu meet with Negros Occidental Provincial Election Supervisor Ian Lee M. Ananoria on Tuesday.*The Negros Oriental security forces will be augmented by 310 policemen from Bacolod City during the May 12 polls, Commission on Elections (Comelec) Regional Director Lionel Marco Castillano of the Negros Island Region said on Tuesday, April 29.The Bacolod policemen will be deployed in Negros Oriental three days before the elections, he said.Bacolod City residents have nothing to worry about because the pull out of the policemen will be temporary, he said.The 200 policemen deployed in Negros Oriental from the Police Regional Office 7 have been returned to the Central Visayas now that the NIR is in place, Castillano said.The ca...

Spox says Albee has no objection to manual count if Comelec allows it BY CARLA P. GOMEZ Mayor Alfredo Abelardo “Albee” Benitez will not object to former mayor Evelio Leonardia’s request for manual counting of the May 12 votes in Bacolod City and will leave it to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to decide, his spokesman said on Tuesday. Leonardia and Benitez are running for representative of the Lone District of Bacolod. Benitez will not file an objection to the former mayor’s request so he can accept the outcome of the elections if he does not win again, his spokesman Caesar Distrito said. Leonardia lost to Benitez in the 2022 mayoral race. “Mayor Albee will not even file his objection before the Comelec, and will leave it to them to decide whether to go for...

The drugs seized in the buy-bust operation in Purok Manayawsayaw, Brgy. Mansilingan.*BCPO photoThe police arrested two persons and seized suspected shabu worth P1.8 million in a buy-bust operation in Purok Manayawsayaw, Brgy. Mansilingan, Bacolod City, Monday night, April 28.Arrested were July Gustilo alias “Toto”, 40, a high-value drug personality, and Antonio Pasustento, Jr., alias “Totong”, the police said.,The City Drug Enforcement Unit seized shabu weighing 270 grams with anestimated street drug price of P1,836,000.The suspects will be charged in violation of the Republic Act 9165 of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.They are now detained at Bacolod Police Station 7

The sale of rice at P20 a kilo under the government’s food security emergency program is expected to start next week if the local government units have complied with the required documents, a Department of Agriculture (DA) official said Tuesday, April 29.Senior citizens, persons with disabilities, indigents and those under the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program can avail of the P20 per kilo rice, DA Regional Director Jose Albert Barrogo of the Negros Island Region, said.Under the program to be implemented in the Visayas each family can buy 10 kilos of rice per week, he said.The Food Terminal Incorporated will buy rice from the National Food Authority at P33 per kilo. The P13 difference will then be subsidized by the Department of Agriculture and local government unit, he said....

A man died when a barangay tanod allegedly shot him after he fired his firearm during a purok fiesta in Sitio Caballohan, Purok 11, Brgy. Inayawan, Cauayan, Negros Occidental, on Monday, April 28.Alias “Jiboy”, 38, died after alias “Rafael”, 40, a barangay tanod, shot him, Lt. Col. Lowell Garinganao, Cauayan police chief, said.Garinganao said that Jiboy allegedly fired his firearm upwards, which resulted in a hand injury to alias “Julieta”, 46, who was hit by a stray bullet.The barangay tanod confronted Jiboy and seized his firearm.He then shot alias Jiboy multiple times with the firearm that he had confiscated causing his death, the police said.Jiboy was brought to the Cauayan Municipal Health Office but was declared dead on arrival, while the tanod fled.Julieta wa...

A construction worker was found dead inside a post hole in Purok Kulasi, Brgy. Kumaliskis, Don Salvador Benedicto, Negros Occidental, on Monday, April 28.Alias “Ronald”, 51, of Purok 7, Brgy. Bulata, Sipalay City, was found dead by his co-workers inside a post hole that was about 4 to 5 feet deep on Monday morning, the police said.Ronald had been at a drinking session with his co-workers prior to the incident.A week before the incident, the victim who was suffering from hypertension and shortness of breath was rescued by the personnel from the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office, a co0worker said.The family of Ronald believe that there was no foul play involved in his death, the police said.*

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Provincial Agricultural and Fishery Council (PAFC) are pushing for compliance with the price tag requirement for consumer products in public markets in Negros Occidental.PAFC Resolution 03-2025 seeks to institutionalize the mandatory price tagging of agricultural and fishery commodities in all public markets within Negros Occidental.To promote the initiative, both institutions organized last Friday an online awareness session attended by 75 representatives from various concerned sectors.The session discussed provisions of relevant laws such as the Consumer Act of the Philippines, the Price Tag Law, and pertinent DTI department administrative orders, all of which require the proper display of prices on retail goods to uphold con...

The roofrop of the Cadiz City food court wil soon be converted into a farming haven. *Cadiz City PIO photoCadiz City's rooftop farming advocacy got a P15 million boost from the Tingog Party-list group."It's flattering that Tingog noticed our quest for rooftop farming", Mayor Salvador Escalante Jr. said in a press release on Tuesday, April 29.He also thanked Tingog Partylist for the funds to expand its rooftop farming initiative.Cadiz started to model rooftop farming during the Panaad sa Negros Festival in 2024.Then, it made a repeat in this year's Panaad sa Negros, getting more praises from citizens and netizens, not just across the country, but in other parts of the world, the press release said.The farming initiative aims to showcase green spaces by converting g...

Police intensify checkpoints in Kabankalan City following encounter that left seven rebels dead.*Romeo Subaldo photo The encounter in Kabankalan City, Negros Occidental, on Sunday that left seven alleged New People’s Army (NPA) rebels dead will not affect the May 12 polls in Negros, a Commission on Elections official assured on Monday, April 28.The Army informed him that the death of the seven rebels in Barangay Tapi has in fact reduced any NPA threat in the area, Lionel Marco Castillano, Comelec-Negros Island Region director, said.“The Philippine National Police and the Philippine Army have assured that, as of now, there is no evidence suggesting the NPA intends to disrupt the elections,” he said.There are also no voting centers in the area where the encounter occurre...