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A backhoe operator unearthed a smoking vintage bomb while excavating along a river for a flood control project in Talisay City, Negros Occidental on Wednesday afternoon, July 22.The explosive was discovered at around 2:45 p.m. in Hacienda Minulu-an, Brgy. Matab-ang, the Talisay police reported.Police said the backhoe bucket accidentally struck and exposed the ordnance, which began emitting white smoke and prompted workers to flee the area.Responding personnel cordoned off the site, temporarily closed the affected road, rerouted vehicles and cleared people from the vicinity.The Negros Occidental Provincial Explosive Ordnance Disposal and Canine Unit identified the object as a corroded M47 100-pound white phosphorus unexploded ordnance.The EOD team conducted a render-safe...

New roads are paving the way for inclusive infrastructure growth in three villages of Don Salvador Benedicto, Negros Occidental.The Department of Social Welfare and Development-Negros Island Region (DSWD-NIR) said the three community road sub-projects costing P8.614 million have been implemented through the agency's Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (Kalahi-CIDSS) program.The completed projects were turned over by DSWD-NIR Director Arwin Razo to Mayor Nehemiah Joe Dela Cruz on July 10.“All subprojects focused on concreting and improving critical access roads to enhance mobility, support local economies, and ensure safer travel for residents accessing basic services,” the DSWD-NIR said.The 230-meter access road in Purok B...

A 20-year-old man was arrested after police seized about 38 grams of suspected shabu worth P258,400 during a buy-bust operation in Purok Langis, Brgy. Banago, Bacolod City, on Tuesday, July 21.Police identified the suspect only as alias “Toto,” an unemployed resident of the area who was classified as a street-level individual.Authorities said the operation was conducted after surveillance and validation allegedly showed that the suspect was using his residence for illegal drug transactions and allowing only trusted individuals to enter.Recovered from the suspect were 11 sachets containing suspected shabu, including the buy-bust item.Police also seized P500 in buy-bust money, P1,000 believed to be proceeds from illegal drug transactions, and a coin purse.The suspect was ...

The Bacolod Sangguniang Panlungsod  has approved on First Reading a proposed ordinance seeking to institutionalize the provision of free school bags, school supplies, physical education (PE) uniforms, and other essential educational materials to qualified public secondary school students who are bona fide residents of Bacolod City, including the Negros Occidental High School.The proposed ordinance is principally authored by Councilor  Caesar Distrito, with Councilor Al Espino, Councilor Celia Flor, Councilor Em Ang, and Councilor Israel Salanga as co-authors.The proposed measure aims to ease the financial burden of parents while ensuring that students are adequately equipped to participate in school activities and pursue quality education, Distrito said on Thursday, July ...

More than 21,000 government workers and pensioners affected by a dengue outbreak in La Union and a sugarcane pest infestation in Negros Occidental may tap PHP520.08 million in emergency loans from the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS).In a news release on Wednesday, the GSIS said 21,153 eligible active members and old-age and disability pensioners could apply for financial assistance following separate emergency declarations in the two areas.“The emergency loan underscores GSIS's continuing commitment to provide immediate financial relief to its members and pensioners in areas placed under a state of calamity, disaster, or state of public health emergency,” the agency said.Borrowers in Bagulin, La Union, which declared a state of public health emergency due to a dengue...

The Negros Occidental Biosecurity Task Force launched mobile spraying operations using bio-control fungi to prevent the spread of Red-Striped Soft Scale Insects (RSSI) in the sugarcane fields of Bago City on Wednesday, July 22.Operations will resume in Bago City before moving to the municipality of Murcia on Thursday, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said.RSSI is an invasive, sap-sucking agricultural pest that primarily attacks and destroys sugarcane crops.The target farms for the team's spraying belong to agrarian reform beneficiaries and local farmers who submitted monitoring forms and reported infestations through the Task Force's official Facebook and Messenger accounts, Diaz added.Diaz said that just 15 days after Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson issued Executive O...

Mayor Matthew Louis Malacon on Tuesday, July 21,  issued an executive  order creating the  Municipal Crab Industry Task Force (MCITF) to address the economic  crisis that has hit the blue swimming crab industry in EB Magalona, Negros Occidental.Known as the "Blue Crab Capital" of Negros Occidental, E.B. Magalona relies heavily on the blue swimming crab industry to sustain the livelihoods of fisherfolk, crab pickers, traders, and processors across its nine coastal barangays, the mayor said.The local industry suffered a major setback following a recent export ban imposed by the United States National Marine Fisheries Service under the Marine Mammal Protection Act.The restriction effectively cut off local producers from their primary international market, leading to severe market ...