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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...

The burned backhoe*PNP photoA backhoe was burned by unidentified persons at Hda. San Juan Del Monte, Purok Narra, Brgy. Malingin, Bago City, Negros Occidental, 8:30 p.m. Saturday, February 4.The backhoe is owned by Jorge Clavecillas Sian, 32, of Sta. Clara Subdivision, Brgy. Mandalagan, Bacolod CityThe backhoe was parked more or less 100 meters away from a river when it was burned.The owner and the caretaker said that they did not receive any threats and extortion letters from anybody prior to the incident.The Bago police are still conducting a follow-up investigation and are coordinating with the Bureau of Fire Protection to determine the cause of the fire.*

The suspected shabu seized in Baranggay 10, Bacolod.*PDEA photoThe Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) and the police seized more than P3.5 million in suspected shabu in two buy bust operations in Bacolod City, Saturday, February 4.The PDEA Negros Occidental Provincial Office, PDEA 6 Special Enforcement Team and Bacolod City Police Station 1 personnel arrested Noel Quilaton Palacios, alias Toto, 22, in Barangay 10 at 4:20 p.m. Saturday.About 500 grams of suspected shabu with an estimated value of P3. 4 million was recovered from Palacios, including the buy bust money, the PDEA reported.The PDEA also arrested Nemia Aguilar Jalando-on, 43, in Barangay Banago, Bacolod, at 7:43 p.m. Saturday.Seized from her was 20 grams of suspected shabu estimated to cost P136,000 an...

The fisherman's body was found on the shoreline of Cadiz Viejo.*PNP photoThe body of a 35-year-old fisherman who went missing was found on the shoreline of Brgy. Cadiz Viejo, Cadiz City, Negros Occidental, 7 a.m. Saturday, February 4.The victim was identified as Elmero Fernandez Padayao, 35, of Villa Luisa, Brgy. Luna, the police said.The victim left his house at 4 a.m. on February 1 to go fishing and was reported missing when he failed to return home.His body was positively identified by his siblings, the police said.*

The search for a stolen carabao resulted in the killing of three persons in Sitio Buyong, Brgy Cabia-an, Candoni, Negros Occidental, at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, February 4.Killed were farmer Edmund Pacheco Castro and his 9-year-old son of Brgy Haba, and Analie Oreta Emaray, 44, of Brgy Cabia-an all in Candoni.The police already have a person of interest in the killing whose name is being withheld pending his arrest, Maj. Ruel Culanag, Candoni police chief, said.He said Castro and son went to Cabia-an in search of their stolen carabao and the suspect chased and killed them.The 9-year-old boy was found near Amara, who may have been killed because she could identify the suspect, Culanag said.Emaray sustained a gunshot wound on her upper eyebrow and Pacheco suffered from mul...

The Bacolod Committee on Good Governance is currently conducting an inventory of all the equipment in the various departments of the city government, City Administrator Pacifico Maghari III said Friday, February 3.This is on top of its search for the 122 city vehicles that have yet to be accounted for, he said.The Central Processing Unit or CPU of some computers of the city government cannot be found, he said.The employees who were issued memorandum receipts for the equipment that cannot be found will be held accountable, he said.The inventory is also being conducted to identify unserviceable equipment that can no longer be repaired, so they can be sold through bidding, Maghari said.The various departments are expected to submit their inventory lists this February, he s...