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Police investigators in Simon Village, Barangay Mansilingan, where the body was found.*BCPO photo The body of a fish vendor formerly jailed for illegal drugs was found hogtied with multiple gunshot wounds at Simon Village in Brgy. Mansilingan, Bacolod City, 7:20 a.m. Friday, January 27. Found dead was Henry Paul Javier Bombate, 22, of Sitio Sibucao, Brgy. Banago in Bacolod City. The victim sustained four gunshot wounds on the head and three on his body, Maj. Elmer Bonilla, Police Station 7 chief, said. His hands and feet were tied, and his mouth and eyes were covered with duct tape. Bombate, who is a father of two, was last seen by his family when he left his home in Barangay Banago at 4 p.m. Thursday, his sister Bea Bombate said. Someone was using her brother’s Facebook...

Labor leaders present their manifesto opposing the importation of 450,000MT at a press conference Friday.*Nico Delfin photo Labor groups in Negros Occidental issued a manifesto expressing their strong opposition to government’s planned importation of 450,000 MT of refined sugar at a press conference in Bacolod City on Friday, January 27. The labor leaders and advocates, who represent the majority of labor organizations in Negros, said they are opposing the importation to safeguard the welfare of farmers, and farm and mill workers in the sugar industry. Copies of their manifesto will be sent to the Office of the President, Department of Agriculture, Sugar Regulatory Administration and sugar planters’ groups, Wennie Sancho, convenor of the Save the Sugar Industry Movement, said. ...

The Bacolod City government may start the bidding for the sale of its vehicles and office equipment that are no longer in use next week. The City Appraisal Committee has received a memorandum from the Commission on Audit on the allowable rates for the sale. The items to be sold range from printers, a city bus, trucks, motor boats to heavy equipment, Councilor Israel Salanga, chairperson of the Sangguniang Panlungsod Committee on Assets, said. The Bids and Awards Committee will put the items up for public bidding, Salanga said. Salanga said the bidding may be done by lot to hasten the disposal of the items. Through the sale the city government will be able to earn money and clear large spaces where the items up for bidding are being stored, he said.*

The bodies of the victims were found in a sugarcane field.*PNP photo A grade nine student and his companion were found dead with multiple stab wounds in Barangay 6, Kabankalan City, on Friday, January 27. The 16-year-old minor from Purok Baganihan B, Barangay Binicuil, Kabankalan, sustained 21 stab wounds on his back and five in the front, a police report said. His companion was identified as Ervin Onlayao Colorado, 22, of Purok Masinadyahon, Barangay Binicuil, who sustained seven wounds on his back and 10 in the front. Residents saw a person, who had stab wounds on his back, crawling and crying for help but when the police arrived they did not immediately find the victims. Bloodstains led them to a sugarcane field where they found the bodies, the police said. A person of i...

There have been four suspected leptospirosis cases, including one death, in Bacolod City this January, the City Health Office (CHO) reported Friday, January 27. The 69-year-old male fatality from Taculing developed fever, chills, cough and jaundice on December 30 and died in a Bacolod hospital on January 4, Dr. Grace Tan, CHO Environment Sanitation Division head, said The three other suspected leptospirosis cases were in barangays Bata, Estefania and Punta Taytay. Leptospirosis is a bacterial infection acquired through coming in contact with food, water or soil contaminated by urine or any body fluids of infected animals, especially rats. Prevention and control includes not swimming or wading in water possibly contaminated with urine of infected rats or animals, Tan said. ...

More than P100,000 in suspected shabu was seized in buy bust operations in Bacolod City and in other areas of Negros Occidental on Thursday, January 26. Police Station 7 operatives nabbed Bernadette Javelosa Prado, 40, in a buy bust operation in Prk. Kabugwason, Brgy. Mansilingan, Bacolod City, at 7:10 p.m. Thursday. Seized was about 8 grams of suspected shabu valued at P54,400, the police reported. Police Station 4 operatives also nabbed Rey Altas Nasis, 48, in a buy bust operation in Purok Hervias 3, Brgy. Villamonte, Bacolod City, at 10:47 p.m. Thursday. Seized from him were 5 grams of suspected shabu valued at P34,000, the police said. In Kabankalan City Louie Fred Sansano, 41, and Carlito Sansano, 68, were nabbed at Purok Dalawidaw, Brgy. Binicuil, at 6:45 p.m. Thu...

The RCEF Inbred rice seeds *DA photo To sustain the increase in palay production and yield, the Department of Agriculture’ Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) has positioned 430,196 bags of certified inbred seeds under the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) Program for distribution to rice farmers in Western Visayas this wet planting season, the DA announced Friday, January 27. The seed allocation, which aims to benefit 223,156 master-listed rice farmers across the region, will be delivered to 133 local government units (LGUs) beginning in March, Engr. Rojen F. Austria, PhilRice-Negros RCEF coordinator, said. Iloilo will get 166,351 bags of certified inbred seeds, Negros Occidental - 101,216, Capiz - 63,391 – 55,735, Aklan – 31,975, and Guimaras- 11,528, the D...

Steven DeVries and Chloe Doutre Roussel* A firm plans to put up a factory in Negros Occidental that will produce craft chocolates from unique locally grown cacao with a distinct taste. Ricardo Dominic Lopez, CY & Sons Group general manager, said on Thursday, January 26, that his mother Celina Yanson Lopez (CYL) wants to put Negros’ chocolate on the world map. The CY & Sons Group has a 50-hectare plantation in Barangay Dos Hermanas, Talisay City in Negros Occidental, with 35,000 Criollo variety cacao trees planted on 40 hectares, he said. “My mother wanted a unique business to stand out from any other business and put Negros on the chocolate map,” he said. “Our long term plan is penetrating the world chocolate market,” he said. Negrense farmer Chris Fadriga and CY...

A police official on Thursday, January 26, denied the allegation that a policeman assigned to the Bacolod Police Station 2 is a drug protector. A note found along with two chopped off hands soaked in beef broth in Purok Kagaykay, Brgy. 2, Bacolod City, on Wednesday, January 25, linked 22 persons to illegal drugs and alleged that a certain RR from Police Station 2 is a drug protector. Capt. Jonito Pastrana, Police Station 2 chief, said that the RR referred to in the note is an anti-illegal drugs operative who was previously assigned at Police Station 2. He is no longer assigned to the station as he went for further schooling, in fact he no longer wants to be assigned to anti-illegal drugs operations, Pastrana said. “I can vouch for the integrity of this policeman because he ju...