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Officials of e-Future Motors Philippines Inc., chief executive officer BK Shin (left), and chief operating officer Robert Cerrada present updates on the e-jeepneys that would soon arrive in the country at a press briefing at their office in Bacolod City on Friday.*Nanette L. Guadalquiver photoChinese-Korean electric vehicle company e-Future Motors Philippines (PH) Inc. has set up its headquarters in Bacolod City with an initial investment of USD200,000 (around P11.5 million).It is a subsidiary of Jiangsu Fengchuen New Energy Power Technology Co. Ltd. with head office in Wuxi, Jiangsu province and factory in Jiangyin City in China, which manufactures new energy commercial vehicles such as e-jeepneys and battery systems.Chief executive officer BK Shin, a Korean national, said the...

Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson*Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said on Friday. September 22, that he is confident the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan polls in Negros Occidental on October 30 will be peaceful despite the declaration of 51 barangays in the province as election areas of concern.There is no need to be alarmed because declaration of areas of concern does not necessarily mean intense political rivalry between the candidates, other factors are also considered, he said.“We should not be alarmed,” he said.The Regional Joint Security Control Center (RJSCC) approved the declaration of 172 barangays in Western Visayas as election areas of concern during its command conference at Camp Martin Delgado in Iloilo City on Thursday.Of the 172 barangays, 51 are in Negros Occidental, ...

Senator Joseph Victor Ejercito, Special Assistant to the President Antonio Ernesto Lagdameo, Negros Oriental Gov. Manuel Sagarbarria, Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri, Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson, and vice governors Jaime Reyes and Jeffrey Ferrer (l-) at the meeting in Manila Thursday.*Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri will report to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Saturday, September 22, that the governors of Negros Occidental and Oriental, and Siquijor are now all in agreement on the creation of the Negros Island Region (NIR), Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said.The impression that they got from their meeting with Zubiri on Thursday is that if the three provinces all support the NIR, the president will sign its creation into law, Lacson said on Friday.Negros O...

Bago Mayor Nicholas Yulo welcomes the the participants of the 3rd Quarter 2023 Western Visayas Regional Development Council meeting hosted by the city government at its Community Center Friday, September 22.*Western Visayas has the potential capacity to produce 16,500.7 MW of renewable energy, Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla said on Friday, September 22.Lotilla, in his speech at the 3rd Quarter Western Visayas Regional Development Council meeting delivered for him by Energy Undersecretary Giovanni Carlo Bacordo, said the Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded 113 renewable energy service contracts in WV, with an existing installed capacity of 775.7 MW and potential capacity of 16,500.7 MW.It is worth noting that majority of these contracts are wind energy sources, with a vas...

Six alleged high profile New People’s Army (NPA) rebels were killed in an encounter with the Army’s 47th Infantry Battalion at Sitio Lubi, Brgy. Tabugon, Kabankalan City, Negros Occidental, at about 7:50 p.m. on Thursday, September 21, Brig. Gen. Joey Escanillas, 302nd Infantry Brigade commander, said Friday.The Negros encounter took place two weeks after 74th IB soldiers also killed six alleged NPA rebels in a series of encounters in Bilar, Bohol.MGen. Marion Sison, 3rd Infantry Division commander, said “this incident is not only a big blow to the communist terrorists’ group that brings them closer to becoming inconsequential, but most importantly, this is justice being served to the victims of their willful killings”.Killed in Kabankalan were Alejo Delos Reyes, alias Peter an...

Bacolod Councilor Celia Flor says discrimination should never be tolerated.* Ronnie Baldonado photoCouncilor Celia Flor called on employers in Bacolod to train their employees on how to deal with the public and help create safer spaces in the city after a university student was body-shamed in a modern jeepney on Wednesday, September 20.In a statement on Thursday, September 21, the councilor said she was disturbed by the body-shaming incident that subjected the victim to discriminatory treatment by a modern jeepney conductor.On the same day that the incident happened, netizens slammed the conductor of the modern jeepney for body- shaming Lanimae Joy Mag-aro, a psychology student at the University of Negros Occidental-Recoletos.“This incident is a stark reminder that discrimi...

Bago Mayor Nicholas Yulo*A price freeze remains and the distribution of assistance to flood victims is still ongoing two weeks after the city government declared a state of calamity in Bago City, Negros Occidental, Mayor Nicholas Yulo said Friday, September 22.Yulo said that the city government continues to give out non-food assistance to the households affected by the flooding brought on by Typhoon “Goring”.The provincial government earlier reported that 78 houses were destroyed and 69 were damaged by the “Goring” floods affecting 5,967 families with 23,302 members in Bago.The city’s Sangguniang Panlungsod declared Bago under a state of calamity on September 4.Yulo said there has been a lot of assistance given to the city, including those from the offices of senators L...

A man was killed and another was injured after being stabbed multiple times in Purok 1, Brgy. 3, Sipalay City, the police reported on Friday, September 22.Joemedez Doceo, 60, died after being stabbed thrice by his friend Rolando Halco, 57, on September 7, the police said.Doceo and Halco had been drinking liquor at a wake. When the victim rode the motorcycle driven by Raymundo Lala, the suspect stabbed the victim and the driver got no apparent reason.Lala managed to get a wooden stick and hit the suspect on the head.They were brought to the City Health Office but Doceo was declared dead on arrival.The suspect was transferred to Sipalay City Police Station after receiving medical attention.*

Rien Vic Gersabalino on his arrest.*BCPO photoA fisherman was arrested in a buy-bust operation and P149,600 worth of suspected shabu was seized from him in Purok Makawiwili, Brgy. Punta Taytay, Bacolod City, on Friday, September 22, the police said.Arrested was Rien Vic Gersabalino, 38, who was tagged as a drugs street-level target.Seized from him were 22 grams of shabu, the police said.*

One of the bodies found in Dulao, Bago.*The bodies of two unidentified men believed to have been strangulated with hoses were found in Barangay Dulao, Bago City, Friday morning, September 22.There were hoses wrapped tightly around their necks, and their mouths and noses were covered with thick packing tape that could have caused suffocation, PSSgt. Armando Arao, Bago police investigator, said.Only their eyes were visible, he said.They were also hogtied with their hands and feet bound together with packing tape, he added.No stab or gunshot wounds were found on their bodies that bore bruises, Arao said.The victims were believed to have been dumped in the area not long after they were killed as when investigators arrived their bodies were not stiff yet, Arao said.O...