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The Negros Occidental Provincial Legal Office has been directed to investigate the former acting treasurer of Isabela for the loss of the town government’s funds.“We have received the official endorsement for appropriate legal action,” Provincial Legal Officer Alberto Nellas said Monday, February 6.Former Isabela acting municipal treasurer Nenette Mandadero Escarda said funds of the municipality that she brought to Bacolod City to be deposited in a bank were stolen from her house at Las Palmas Subdivision in Barangay Taculing, on January 21.Isabala Mayor Irene Montilla said according to Escarda the amount stolen was P3.8 million in checks and P2.6 million in cash but they are still investigating the exact amount.The Commission on Audit is investigating about P7 million in a...

These are among the Bacolod City government vehicles that have been inventoriedThere are still 90 out of the 500 Bacolod City government vehicles that have not been found, General Services Officer Gilda Lluisma said Monday, February 6.She said that 197 other city government vehicles are serviceable, 108 are unserviceable, 13 are undocumented and set to be verified, 88 were not reported and four were declared returned.Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez said show cause orders will be issued against those who fail to account for the vehicles assigned to them, which will be followed by investigations.Most of the vehicles that have not been found, including motorcycles, were assigned to the police, persons who have retired or are absent without leave.Lluisma said the uns...

Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo “Albee” Benitez is joining President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. during his official working visit to Japan from February 8 to 12.“I will be part of the official delegation to Japan,” Benitez said at a press conference on Monday, February 6.He will present Bacolod’s potential for tourism, manufacturing and information technology to investors, Benitez said.Just like when he joined the President on his trip to China, the mayor said he also hopes to find investors and investments for Bacolod City during the Japan visit to create more employment in the city.Benitez said his visit to China was very fruitful because investors who manufacture electric service vehicles are in Bacolod now doing their due diligence.Their proposal is to put up a factory in ...

The bodies of three unidentified suspected NPA rebels were found following a series of encounters with the 94th Infantry Battalion in Sitio Bugne, Barangay Oringao, Kabankalan City, Negros Occidental, on Saturday and Sunday, February 4 and 5, the Army reported.Kabankalan Mayor Benjie Miranda said 283 families with 822 individuals had evacuated to the Oringao covered court as of Sunday afternoon.The encounters took place at 5 p.m. Saturday and 6 a.m. Sunday.Fed-up by the rebels’ daily extortion of food, the Sitio Bugne residents reported their presence prompting the 94IB soldiers to conduct a security operation, the Army reported.While in the vicinity of Sitio Bugne, the 94IB soldiers encountered 15 armed rebels. Sensing the overwhelming firepower of the government troops, t...

Some of the nine persons rescued*EB Magalona PIO photoNine persons were rescued in the waters off barangays Tomongtong and Gahit in EB Magalona, Negros Occidental, by members of the Barangay Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council at 8 a.m. Saturday, February 4.Rescued were seven residents of Manapla town and two of Ajuy town (Iloilo), who all work in a fishpond in Ajuy, EB Magalona reported.Their boat capsized on Thursday, February 2.The Municipal DRRMO then endorsed them to the Manapla and Ajuy local governments.*

The E. B. Magalona Municipal Police Station (MPS) was awarded the Top Performing Municipal Police Station in Negros Occidental for January 2023.The EBM MPS has received the same award for two consecutive months. This January, it garnered a rating of 91.69, and in December - 92.90, an EB Magalona press release said.The award was given by the Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office.The E. B. Magalona MPS is led by PMaj. Kenneth Jay Gratones, chief of police, and PLt. Minardo Ellaga, deputy chief of police.*

Negros Oriental representatives Arnolfo "Arnie" Teves Jr. and Manuel Sagarbarria (right).*Negros Oriental representatives joined their Negros Occidental colleagues on Sunday, February 5, in opposing the proposal of Gov. Roel Degamo to create a third province in Negros Island.Degamo, in a meeting with Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson last week, said the planned Negros Island Region (NIR) should include four provinces to ensure equal voting at Regional Development Council (RDC) meetings.The bill pending in Congress calls for the creation of a new region composed of Negros Occidental and Oriental, and Siquijor which was co-authored by all of the representatives of Negros Island.Degamo wants the new region to include four provinces by creating a third one from Vallehe...

atrick Miguel Montilla and his sister, Tizza.*A businessman and his sister are pursuing their ownership claim over a portion of Sicogon Island that is part of the 809 hectares being developed under a joint venture agreement.The joint venture is between Ayala Land and Sicogon Development Corporation, they said at a press conference Sunday.Patrick Miguel Montilla and his sister Tizza said that they are not against any development in Sicogon island, all they want is that their parcel of land inherited from their father and believed to be part of that 809 hectares be identified.The land they inherited is 2.9 hectares, they said.Patrick Miguel is the judicial administrator and heir of the Intestate Estate of their father, the late Enrique Montilla Jr.They were accompanie...