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Officers of the Bacolod City Police Office underwent surprise drug tests Wednesday, April 19, on orders of PCol. Noel Calderon Aliño, the new city police director.Forty- three police officers, including Aliño and commanders of the ten police stations in Bacolod underwent the tests.Aliño said it was part of their ascertaining that non of them were engaged in the use of illegal drugs.He said the police officers had to set the example or they would have no ascendancy over the men under them.Aliño also assured that he would personally act on complaints lodged by residents against the Bacolod police before the “Isugid Kay Mayor” app.He was also inspecting the Bacolod police stations, Aliño said.*

National Bureau of Investigation agents apprehended the former head of the Negros Occidental General Services Office in an entrapment operation and filed a complaint against her before the Office of the City Prosecutor of Bacolod for alleged “swindling” through misrepresentation, NBI Bacolod Chief Renoir Baldovino said Wednesday, April 19.The NBI complaint against Lucille Chavez Pines for Violation of Article 315 - Swindling (Estafa) of the Revised Penal Code as amended by Republic Act 9287 was filed Tuesday, he said.Senior Assistant Prosecutor Elnathan Lim in his inquest resolution Tuesday, April 18, converted the complaint against Pines into a regular preliminary investigation and ordered her release from NBI detention.Pines was ordered to file her counter-affidavit and other...

Elective surgeries at the Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital (CLMMRH) in Bacolod City resumed Wednesday, April 19, Dr. Julius Drilon, CLMMRH chief, said.The elective surgeries at the CLMMRH operating room complex had temporarily been suspended starting April 16 when nine of its staff tested positive for COVID-19.After a thorough investigation and disinfection at the operating room complex, the spread of COVID-19 infection is currently under control, Drilon said in a Facebook post.“All operating room staff were swabbed and all high risk personnel were already quarantined“, he added.He assured the public that the safety of its personnel and patients are their ts utmost priority.A symptomatic OR personnel tested positive for COVID-19 on April 12. The per...

Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson continues to wear a face mask.*Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson said he will not order the mandatory wearing of face masks at Negros Occidental provincial government offices but is urging its continued use.Although it is optional, he still encourages the wearing of face masks especially in crowded areas, Lacson said Wednesday, April 19.Mayor Salvador Escalante Jr. on Monday ordered the mandatory wearing of face masks in all government offices of Cadiz, Negros Occidental, after the heads of a city government department and a national agency tested positive for COVID-19.Lacson said he is in favor of the wearing of face masks because the COVID-19 threat remains.In fact he has never stopped wearing a face mask, he pointed out.Independent monitor...

Senior Undersecretary Domingo Panganiban .*DA photoDepartment of Agriculture (DA) Senior Undersecretary Domingo Panganiban is now the officer-in-charge of the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA), Malacañang confirmed Wednesday, April 19.Enrique Rojas, National Federation of Sugarcane Planters president, said the designation of Panganiban as OIC of the SRA sends mixed signals to the sugar industry stakeholders.On one hand, it assures that Malacañang is concerned over the vacancy in SRA’s top post, he said.“On the other hand, Panganiban’s designation raises eyebrows, considering his direct involvement in the highly irregular awarding of import rights to three hand-picked traders, and the questionable release of imported sugar which arrived prior to the issuance of the sugar...

The April 26 deadline for the SIM card registration period remains "at this point", the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) said Wednesday, April 19.The agency made the statement after the request of public telecommunications entities Globe, Smart, and DITO Telecommunications to extend the registration period."With the 26 April 2023 registration deadline drawing near, we encourage everyone to register to promote the responsible use of SIMs and provide law enforcement agencies the necessary tools to crack down on perpetrators who use SIMs for their crimes, consistent with the declared policy of the law," the statement read.The DICT also reminded the public that non-registration of SIM cards would result in their deactivation, barring them from receivin...

Police investigators at the scene of the crime in a remote village in Guihulngan City.*PNP photoSuspected members of the New People’s Army shot and killed two civilians in the mountainous Barangay Trinidad in Guihulngan City, Negros Oriental, close to midnight Tuesday, April 18.The victims were identified as Juven Patagatay Pasinabo, 24, of Barangay Trinidad, and Jinny Boy Rapol Tubias, 29, of Barangay Montilla, Moises Padilla in Negros Occidental.Reports said the two victims were attending a fiesta celebration in the remote Sitio Cambairan in Barangay Trinidad, around 42 kilometers away from the city proper, when four armed men believed to be NPA rebels, arrived.Two of the suspects approached Pasinabo, who was sitting in a chair, and shot him several times.The suspects...

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. , flanked by Vice President Sara Duterte and Local Government Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr. presides over the meeting of the peace and order councils,*President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has directed the heads of the country’s national and regional peace and order councils (RPOCs) to act against political violence and the illegal drug trade, the two biggest concerns threatening peace and order in the country, Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said Wednesday, April 19.Lacson, Western Visayas RPOC head, attended the first joint national and regional POCs meeting for 2023 presided by the president in Malacañang Tuesday night, April 18.The meeting was also attended by Vice President Sara Duterte.The governor also took his oath as chairman of t...

The Kadalag-an Festival performers of Victorias City*Ronnie Baldonado photoThe Kadalag-an Festival of Victorias City was the champion at the Panaad sa Negros Best of Festival Dances Competition at the Panaad Stadium in Barangay Mansilingan, Bacolod City, Tuesday night, April 18.The Victorias performers, who were cheered on by Mayor Javier Miguel Benitez, won P100,000, Rudy Reveche, cultural competitions chairman, said.First runner up was the Tinabu-ay Festival of Murcia, second runner up – Kansilay Festival of Silay City, third runner up – Pinta Flores of San Carlos City and the fourth runner up - Kisi-Kisi Festival of Ilog, Reveche said.The Victorias City winners with Mayor Javier Miguel Benitez Tuesday night.*Avelyn Agudon photoThe first runner up won P75,000, second ...