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Allan Punay, CAAP Dumaguete-Sibulan airport manager explains why some structures and trees pose danger to aircraft coming to Negros Oriental.* Judy Flores Partlow/PNA photoTrees inside 18 private lands in the vicinity of the Dumaguete-Sibulan airport in Negros Oriental will be cut or trimmed to allow for safe airspace.Allan Punay, Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) airport manager, said Wednesday, September 27, that after several negotiations, the property owners were finally convinced to have the trees cut or trimmed and will be provided remuneration.“In coordination with Sibulan Mayor Jose Pepe Abiera and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, we talked to these owners recently, and they signed an agreement with computations as to how much they w...

Sari-sari store owners who are compliant with the rice price cap will receive P15,000 each.*PNA photoThe Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) will distribute cash assistance to 335 sari-sari (retail) store owners in Negros Occidental and Bacolod City, who are affected by the implementation of the mandated price cap on rice, at three venues on Thursday, September 28.Each recipient will receive P15,000 each for a total of P5.025 million, May Rago-Castillo, DSWD-6 information officer, said Wednesday, September 27.The distribution centers will be in Bacolod City, Escalante City and Kabankalan City.The DSWD will distribute P2,730,000 to 182 beneficiaries from central Negros at the Bacolod venue, P1,005,000 to 67 northern Negros beneficiaries in Escalante, and P1,2...

Provincial Election Supervisor Ian Lee Ananoria*The Commission on Elections served a show cause against a candidate in Bacolod City for premature campaigning, while complaints have been lodged against two others in Negros Occidental, Provincial Election Supervisor Ian Lee Ananoria said on Tuesday, September 26.The show cause order served by the Bacolod City Election Field Office came from the Task Force Against Premature Campaigning of the Comelec central office, Bacolod Election Officer Kathrina Trinio-Caña said.The candidate was issued a show cause order for alleged premature posting of posters.Meanwhile, the complaints against two candidates for premature campaigning in Negros Occidental is still subject to validation, Ananoria said.They were unverified and not notar...

The 51 barangays tagged as election areas of concern (EACs) in Negros Occidental are located in 12 towns and three cities, Provincial Election Supervisor Ian Lee Ananoria said Tuesday, September 26.They were tagged for security purposes ahead of the barangay and Sagguniang Kabataan polls on October 30.Calatrava town has the most number barangays classified as EACs with nine, followed by Kabankalan City, Sipalay City, Isabela and Cauayan with five each, data from Ananoria showed.Escalante and Toboso have four barangays each tagged as EACs followed by Moises Padilla with three, Candoni, Don Salvador Benedicto, Binalbagan and Himamaylan City with two each, and La Castellana, Ilog and San Enrique with one each.There are three barangays in Negros Occidental tagged as yellow or a...

Bacolod Regional Trial Court Judge Raymond Joseph Javier*Bacolod Regional Trial Court Judge Raymond Joseph Javier has been promoted to associate justice of the Court of Appeals.Javier replaced Associate Justice Loida Posadas-Kahulugan who compulsorily retired on January 19.Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin informed Supreme Court Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo on Tuesday, September 26, that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. had appointed Javier to replace Kahulugan.Javier will take his oath before Gesmundo at the SC session hall on Wednesday, September 27.Javier had serve as Bacolod RTC judge for almost 12 years.*

Beth Mondejar, MaryAnn Colmenares, Michael Claparols, Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson, Vice Gov. Jeffrey Ferrer, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz, Arlene Infante and Bing Gonzaga (l-r) at the opening of the 37th Negros Trade Fair.*All photos by Ronnie BaldonadoNegros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said he hopes the 37th Negros Trade Fair (NTF) will motivate Filipinos to redirect their purchasing habits toward the consumption of locally manufactured goods.“It will invigorate domestic travel, fostering support for Filipino-owned and operated businesses and services,” Lacson said in his speech at the program to kick off the NTF at the Glorietta 2 Ayala Center in Makati City Tuesday evening, September 26.The event that drew a huge crowd was attended by senato...

Twenty-four teeners from various barangays in Bacolod City are vying for Mr. and Ms. Teen MassKara, which is one of the highlights of the upcoming MassKara Festival in October.The MMTM Foundation presented the 12 male and 12 female candidates to the press at the Acacia Hotel in Bacolod City on Tuesday, September 26.The candidates for Ms. Teen MassKara are Ma. Antonette Acot of Brgy. Sum-ag, Rochelle Anne Padasas of Brgy. Granada, Liz Danielle Claveraz of Brgy. Tangub, Juliana Marie Benitua of Brgy. Mansilingan, Mhizzy Dalaoro of Brgy. Felisa, Princess Dianne Garcia of Brgy. 22;Precious Batiancila of Brgy. Bata, Alessandra Beatrice Artesano of Brgy. Taculing, Cielo Marie Omboy of Brgy. Mansilingan, Clarisse Mole Geriane of Brgy. Estefania, Katharine June Mcomish of Brgy. Taculin...

Three houses were destroyed and one was damaged in a fire that broke out in Purok Paho, Brgy. Taculing, Bacolod City, 11:48 a.m. Tuesday, September 26.The fire at Fuentebella Subdivision caused damages estimated at P249,000, the Bureau of Fire Protection Bacolod reported.Five families were affected.The BFP said the owners of the houses are Emmanuel Celestial, Pedro Celestial, Jasier Celestial, and Eleonor Fuentes.The BFP-Bacolod declared fire out at about 12:38 p.m.*

The Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office (NOCPPO) reported that they seized suspected shabu worth P493,000 in 11 buy-bust operations in the province from September 17 to 23.The NOCPPO weekly accomplishment report said 13 individuals were arrested and 74 grams of suspected shabu valued at about P493,000 were seized in 11 operations.The police also confiscated last week six firearms from six operations and arrested six Negrenses.They arrested 16 individuals in six anti-illegal gambling operations and seized P3,657 worth of bet money, the police added.Four most wanted persons and 43 other wanted persons were arrested in 49 operations, the report also said.*

The wing vans that were carrying 1,000 bags of sugar*The alleged hijacking of two wing vans carrying 1,000 bags of sugar estimated to cost about P3 million in La Carlota City, Negros Occidental, on Monday night, September 25, was a hoax.There was no hijack, it was an inside job staged by the drivers of the wing vans and their cohorts who brought the sugar to a warehouse in Bago City, said Negros Occidental Vice Governor Jeffrey Ferrer, who closely monitored the progress of the police investigation.“It was all a drama, the claim of the drivers that five armed men staged a hijack in La Carlota City is not true, they were the ones who hijacked their own vehicles”, PLt. Col. Lowell Garinganao, La Carlota police chief, said.The sugar was recovered by the police in a warehouse in...