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A Bacolod traffic enforcer was dismissed from the service for allowing a husband and wife onboard a motorcycle without helmets to escape after he was given P50.A video posted on Facebook showing a woman handing money to the traffic enforcer at La Salle Avenue in Bacolod had reached the attention of Maj. Junji Liba , Bacolod Traffic Authority Office head.Liba said two traffic enforcers flagged down the motorcycle of the couple but did not issue a violation ticket.The traffic enforcer who was handed the money was dismissed on Tuesday, while his companion was reprimanded.Liba said he hopes this serves as a lesson to other traffic enforcers.*

Governors Eugenio Jose Lacson and Roel Degamo.*Negros Oriental Gov. Roel Degamo has agreed to a meeting with Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson to discuss the proposed creation of the Negros Island Region, which will include Siquijor.It is just a matter of setting the date, he has already spoken with Degamo, Lacson said Wednesday, January 25.Lacson said Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz is coordinating with the representative of Degamo, and he hopes the meeting can be held soon.It is possible that it could be next week, he said.Lacson and all of the representatives of Negros Island are supporting the move to create the NIR.Degamo, on the other hand, is against the move.Lacson earlier said he wants to meet with Degamo to discuss why he is oppose...

The Alfredo E. Marañon Sr. Memorial District Hospital in Sagay City.*The Alfredo E. Marañon Sr. Memorial District Hospital in Sagay City, Negros Occidental, has temporarily suspended accepting new patients, unless they are extreme emergency cases.Sagay City Administrator Ryan Bonghanoy said the hospital only has a 25-bed capacity.There are times when their admission hit 130 but at present they are down to 88.He said the hospital that is run by the Sagay City government also has patients from neighboring towns and cities.The increase in gastroenteritis cases has caused the hospital to reach full capacity, Bonghanoy said.The provincial government will assist in referring patients to other district hospitals, Lacson said.He called on the officials of the Sagay hosp...

The 4th tranche salary hike was tackled during the Bacolod SP session Wednesday*The Bacolod Sangguniang Panlungsod has approved the appropriation of P30,590,000 for the fourth tranche salary increases of the city government employees, Councilor Jude Thaddeus Sayson, SP Committee on Appropriation and Finance chairman, said Wednesday, January 25.The allocation of the funds for the fourth tranche that will take effect this month is in compliance with the "Salary Standardization Law of 2019", Sayson said.Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez had requested the SP to pass the appropriation ordinance.City Budget Officer Maria Imelda Williams informed the SP that her office had considered the provisions of Republic Act 11466 and included the allocation for the fourth tranche in th...

The hands were found inside a plastic ice cream container,*BCPO photoChopped off hands submerged in beef broth with jackfruit and a list of 22 persons linked to illegal drugs was found in Purok Kagaykay, Brgy. 2, Bacolod City, at about 6:50 a.m. Wednesday, January 25.The left and right hands inside a plastic ice cream container along with the list was found by a tricycle driver in the garbage.The 22 persons on the list are from puroks Kagaykay and Sigay that are thickly populated areas in Barangay 2, Capt. Jonito Pastrana, Police Station 2 chief, said.The list also stated that there was a certain RR from Police Station 2 who is a drug protector, Pastrana said.They are still determining who “RR” is, he said.The message on the note said “tanan kamo kung indi mag-untat...

Former Commissioner Rowena Guanzon*Rowena Guanzon, the outspoken former commissioner of the Commission on Elections, called on President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to decide on how much sugar to import this year based on actual data of local production.Marcos should not make decisions based on knee jerk reactions to information whispered to him by some people, the Sugar Regulatory Administration should give accurate and reliable data on the exact amount of sugar shortage expected and how much do they plan to import, Guanzon said Tuesday, January 25.She also asked what made it wrong for the previous Sugar Regulatory Administration board members to import 300,000 metric tons of sugar last year, and right for the Department of Agriculture (DA) to now decide to do the same thing.The ...

The body of Jose Rammel Europa was found in this area in Sitio Cabadingan, Brgy. Camandag, La Castellana.*Two persons were killed in La Castellana and Murcia, Negros Occidental, the police reported Tuesday, January 24.Jose Rammel Dagsa Europa, 47, was found dead with a gunshot wound beside a creek in Sitio Cabadingan, Brgy. Camandag, La Castellana, on Monday.A nephew of the suspect is a person of interest in the killing, the police said.Meanwhile, Lito Hilado Pabrua, 42, was hacked to death in Purok Guinam-an, Brgy. Minoyan, Murcia, Negros Occidental, Monday night, by his uncle, the police said.The suspect is Francisco Belegorio Roce, 59.A police report said the Pabrua and Roce were having a drinking session inside the house of the suspect.A heated altercation o...

PLt. Judeses Catalogo, Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office spokesman*Six illegal drugs groups in Negros Occidental have been dismantled, the police said Tuesday, January 24.Dismantled were the Ramos, Divinagracia, Bacus, Macundato, Virtucio and Burgos drug groups through Oplan Tokhang and other illegal drugs operations, PLt. Judeses Catalogo, Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office (NOCPPO) spokesman, said.They are closely monitoring the remaining members of the drug groups individually engaging in the illegal drugs trade, he said.The new approach of the police in the campaign against illegal drugs is to give attention to drug rehabilitation and education, he said.The NOCPPO was the topnotcher in the anti-illegal drugs operations in Western Visayas in 2022. It...