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The ceremonial send-off on Saturday of troops who will secure the weeklong the Panaad Sa Negros Festival” at the Panaad Park and Stadium in Barangay Mansilingan, Bacolod City.*About 680 members of the Philippine National Police and other security forces are in place to secure the weeklong “Panaad Sa Negros Festival” at the Panaad Park and Stadium in Barangay Mansilingan, Bacolod City, which kicks off Monday, April 17.Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson and Vice Governor Jeffrey Ferrer will lead the 4 p.m. grand opening ceremony to be attended by Negros Occidental representatives and mayors at the Panaad Stadium.Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco and senators Bong Go and Francis Tolentino will be among the guests at the opening program, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz sa...

Witnesses to the Pamplona massacre board a Philippine Air Force C-130 aircraft bound for Manila at the Dumaguete-Sibulan airport led by Pamplona Mayor Janice Degamo* Judy Partlow photoWitnesses to the Pamplona massacre and other killings in Negros Oriental departed for Manila on Saturday, April 15, two days ahead of a Senate hearing and the Department of Justice (DOJ) preliminary investigation into the gunslay of Governor Roel Degamo and eight others last month.The group of about 40 people, led by Pamplona Mayor Janice Degamo, the slain governor’s wife, boarded a Philippine Air Force C-130 aircraft at the Dumaguete-Sibulan airport at about 10:30 a.m.They are scheduled to attend the Senate Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs hearing on Monday and the DOJ proceedings, D...

Jerry Montefalcon, alias “Bulhot”*The military and police arrested a wanted New People’s Army member in Canlaon City, Negros Oriental, Saturday, April 15, the Army’s 62nd Infantry Battalion reported.Jerry Montefalcon, alias “Bulhot”, 49, a NPA Central Negros 1 member, was arrested at Sitio Anatuling, Brgy Budlasan, the 62nd IB said.Montefalcon is the subject of several warrants of arrest issued by the Regional Trial Court Branch 64 in Guihulngan City, Negros Oriental, for murder and for illegal possession of firearms, ammunition, and explosives with no bail recommended.He was involved in various harassments and liquidations of CAFGU Active Auxiliary (CAA) members and civilians in Moises Padilla and La Castellana in Negros Occidental, and Guihulngan City and Canlaon City in ...

The police seized P176,800 in suspected shabu in separate buy bust operations in two towns and one city in Negros Occidental on Friday and Saturday, April 14 and 15.The police arrested Nicakandro Mendoza Arroyo, 44, at F. Maravilla Street, Barangay 3 Poblacion in EB Magalona, at 6:10 p.m. Friday.Recovered from him were 20 grams of shabu valued at P136,000, the police said.Also recovered were an improvised tooter and test tube with traces of white crystalline substance of suspected shabu, the P500 buy bust money, and a .38 caliber pistol loaded with three live ammunition, the police added.In Pontevedra Jony Hagonoy Sanogal, 56, was arrested at Purok 1, Brgy Gomez at 9 a.m. Friday.Confiscated from him were 3 grams of shabu valued at P20,400.Meanwhile, Alex Berona Peña...

The house that was peppered with bullets*PNP photoA farmer and his live-in partner were killed when armed men peppered their home with bullets at Sitio Mansulao, Brgy. San Isidro, Toboso, Negros Occidental, 9:40 a.m. Saturday, April 15.Leonardo Argoncillo Lagada, 60, and Miguela Martinez Hedorio, 65, sustained multiple gunshot wounds in different parts of their bodies that resulted to their instantaneous death, the police reported on Sunday.P/Maj. Jun Ray Batadlan, Toboso Police Station chief, said that they were still investigating the motive of the killing. Lagada had also served as a “force multiplier” in his village, Batadlan said.The remains of the victims .*PNP photoThe victims were at their residence when the four armed male suspects arrived and shouted for Lagad...

Cloud seeding sought to save sugarcane*Ronnie Baldonado photosRep. Emilio Bernardino Yulo (Neg. Occ., 5th District) is asking the Department of Agriculture, the Sugar Regulatory Administration and the Negros Occidental provincial government to prep-up for eventual cloud seeding amidst the extreme heat recently.“We are in the middle of planting and cultivation particularly in the sugar industry and getting this extreme heat and probably a dry spell in the coming weeks will have a drastic effect on our agriculture,” Yulo said on Sunday, April 16.Yulo is appealing to the DA, the SRA and the province to “come up with a plan and start preparing for scheduled cloud-seeding to ensure that our industry will not suffer from this extreme weather condition.”Negros Occidental is the la...

The dry spell is expected to affect Negros Occidental’s sugar production, industry leaders said Friday, April 14.Although intense heat is already being felt, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration said El Niño will likely develop in the July-August-September (JAS) 2023 season and may persist until 2024.Manuel Lamata, United Sugar Producers Federation president, said the dry spell will definitely cause a drop in sugar production.Government should help download solar powered irrigation pumps to help the farmers irrigate the sugar fields, he said.Enrique Rojas, National Federation of Sugarcane Planters president, said by the time that El Niño sets in, most planters will most probably have finished harvesting their canes. Thus, the El N...

April 21, which falls on the observance of the Eid’l Fitr or Feast of Ramadan, is a regular holiday, Malacañang announced on Friday, April 14.President Ferdinand R. Marcos declared April 21 a regular holiday nationwide “to allow the entire Filipino nation to join their Muslim brothers and sisters in peace and harmony in the observance and celebration of Eid’l Fitr”, Presidential Proclamation No. 201 dated April 14 said.The proclamation also said the declaration will “bring religious and cultural significance of Eid’l Fitr to the fore of national consciousness.”It said the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos had recommended the declaration of the holiday.Eid’l Fitr, also known as Festival of Sweets, is the earlier of the two official holidays celebrated within Islam....

The faces of the Panaad sa Negros Festival.*Ronnie Baldonado photosA seven-day gunban throughout Negros Occidental and Bacolod City will begin on Monday, April 17, as the 27th Panaad sa Negros Festival kicks off at the Panaad Park and Stadium in Barangay Mansilingan, Bacolod, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said Friday, April 14.The festival is returning after a three-year hiatus caused by the COVID-19 pandemic with the 31 local governments of Negros Occidental and Bacolod City participating.Philippine National Police chief Gen. Rodolfo Azurin Jr., in a memorandum, ordered the suspension of the Permits to Carry Firearms Outside of Residence (PTCFOR) in the entire Bacolod City and Negros Occidental during the festival from 12:01 a.m. April 17, to 11:59 p.m. April 23....