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Poll workers who are serving as Electoral Board (EB) members are set to receive higher honoraria in the upcoming Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE), the Commission on Elections (Comelec) announced on Thursday, March 23.Comelec Chairperson George Garcia said the teachers who will be part of the October 2023 polls are set to receive a minimum of P8,000 to as high as P10,000.“We will make it P10,000, P9,000 and P8,000. We will match it to what teachers receive in automated elections,” he said in a press conference Thursday.“We will make it effective in the Barangay and SK elections,” the poll body chief added.Bu the payment for teachers is not exempted from the Value Added Tax (VAT) deductions, he said.The new payment is higher than what the teachers receiv...

The televisions being removed at the Bacolod City Government Center.*Nico Delfin photoMore than 100 televisions are being removed from offices at the Bacolod City Government Center, City Administrator Pacifico Maghari III said Thursday, March 23.Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez ordered their removal after he caught five persons watching a TV program at the Cash Division of the City Treasurer’s Office during office hours.Maghari said records show that there are 133 televisions but he could not determine the actual number removed yet as it was ongoing.All department heads have been directed to coordinate with the General Services Office for the proper procedure on returning the televisions, Maghari said.The televisions are being pulled out so city employees are not ...

Negros Occidental hog raisers are happy that their pigs and pork products being shipped to Metro Manila are now selling at higher prices, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said Thursday, March 24.The Negros hog raisers shifted their sales to Metro Manila after Cebu province banned the entry of their products as a precaution against African Swine Fever (ASF).Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson has appealed to Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia to lift the ban but has not received a reply.Lacson pointed out that Negros Occidental remains ASF-free and the ban has prevented hog shipments from passing through Cebu on their way to Leyte and other parts of Eastern Visayas.This forced Negros hog raisers to find alternative markets in Metro Manila where prices were initially lo...

Relieved Negros Oriental Police Director, Col. Reynaldo Lizardo.*Judy Flores Partlow photoNegros Oriental Police Director, Col. Reynaldo Lizardo, has been relieved of his post effective Wednesday, March 22.His relief was part of the ongoing investigation on the death of Governor Roel Degamo and eight others during the March 4 gun attack at the governor’s residential compound in Pamplona town.Lizardo told the Philippine News Agency that he received a copy of the relief order on Thursday and immediately held an exit briefing with the police chiefs and other unit commanders.His new assignment was not immediately known.“This is an administrative process within the organization where a commander is relieved of his or her current position to give way to an impartial investiga...

Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson has invited President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Vice President Sara Duterte Carpio to the Panaad sa Negros Festival set on April 17 to 23.Letters have been sent to their offices but no confirmations have been made yet, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said.“Vice Governor Jeffrey Ferrer will be very instrumental in assisting us in convincing our top two national leaders to come to the Panaad,” he said.Once they confirm specific dates, plans will be made to adopt to their schedules, Diaz said.Senators have also been invited to the festival, he added.“Preparations are 100 percent full speed ahead … everything is on the right track” for one of the most memorable Panaad sa Negros Festivals, he said.The festival that return...

Administrator David John Thaddeus Alba told reporters on Wednesday, March 22, that he has not resigned from the Sugar Regulatory Administration yet.Sugar industry sources on Tuesday said he had submitted his resignation but President Ferdinand Marcos, concurrent agriculture secretary, has yet to act on it.Alba gave a brief response to reporters but they did not have a chance to ask about his allegedly having submitted his resignation letter earlier.Meanwhile, sugar industry leaders had mixed reactions to Senator Risa Hontiveros claim that three sugar traders “handpicked” by Agriculture Senior Undersecretary Domingo Panganiban to import 440,000 metric tons of sugar into the country may “outrageously” rake in billions of pesos in “super profits”.“|It's understandable that bus...

Teves says he's a victim of a scripted plot*The House of Representatives by a unanimous vote suspended embattled Rep. Arnolfo Teves Jr. (Neg. Or., 3rd District) for 60-days for his continued absence despite an expired travel authority, on Wednesday, March 22.All 292 representatives present voted to adopt the House Committee on Ethics and Privileges’ findings that the continued defiance by Teves of the orders to return to the country and perform his duties “constitute disorderly behavior affecting the dignity, integrity and reputation of the House of Representatives, which warrant disciplinary action,” the committee report read.“My only advice to Cong. Teves is as time goes by, your situation will become harder. If you come home earlier, then there will be more options for you,”...

A motorcycle driver and his 12-year-old minor passenger died in an accident at Sitio Nabutahan, Brgy. Quezon, San Carlos City, Negros Occidental, at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 21.The mortorcycle driver was identified as Ariel Guarin of Brgy Codcod, San Carlos City, while the minor’s name was withheld.A 15-year-old male passenger of Guarin was also injured.The black Rusi 110 motorcycle driven by Guarin with the two minor pillion riders accidentally hit a white Isuzu Panel Van driven by Ian Ceralvo, 35, of Cauayan, Negros Occidental, the police said.*

The Negros Occidental provincial government pledged more bridges for Sagay to help farmers and communities in the upland barangays during the groundbreaking and inauguration of the P139 million bridge projects in two barangays of the city on Wednesday, March 22.Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson together with officials and representatives from the city and provincial governments led the groundbreaking of the P62.8 million Himogaan Bridge III in Brgy. Puey, and inauguration of the P76.2M Himogaan Bridge in Brgy Bato.Lacson, in his speech during the inauguration program in Bato, said that many lives have been lost in the area before the bridge was built and more than saving lives, the infrastructure will also help in ensuring food security in the area and the city.“Let’s ...