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The burning historic Colegio De Sta. Rita building Monday night*Kit Saldua photoStudents of Colegio de Sta. Rita whose historic main building was gutted by fire Monday night, August 14, have launched a fund raising drive for the school.Chief Inspector Rufino Tañedo, San Carlos City fire marshal, placed the damage to the historic building built in 1933 at an initial P18 million.The fire began at the accounting office and they were still determining what caused it, Tañedo said.Destroyed in the blaze were the accounting office, treasurer’s office, classrooms and the area where the Augustinian Recollect Sisters who run the college reside, he said.The fire spread fast because the building is made mostly of wood, he added.What looked like a person looking out of a window ...

Western Visayas Police Regional Director, BGen. Sidney Villaflor, awarded medals of honor and cash assistance to the policemen who died and were injured in an encounter with the New People’s Army in Calatrava town, Negros Occidental.Villaflor together with other police officials from the region visited the wake of Cpl. Jaime Nuñez in Cadiz City and gave a posthumous Medalya ng Kadakilaan to him on Saturday, August 12, a Police Regional Office-6 press release said.He also gave P100,000 cash assistance to the family of Nuñez and ordered NOCPPO to extend all assistance in processing the claims and benefits of the late police officer.The regional director also visited Cpl. Dennis Nacis, wounded during the August 9 encounter, who was confined at the Metro Bacolod Hospital and Medica...

The Colegio de Sta. Rita fire.*San Carlos City LGU photoA fire hit the Colegio de Sta. Rita – Main Campus in San Carlos City 7:30 p.m. Monday, August 14.“Seeing this iconic building ablaze saddens me so much, just like all of us. It has long been the city's mighty edifice for decades, that resembled as a great institution of quality Christian education that shaped thousands of lives,” San Carlos Mayor Renato Gustilo said in a Facebook post.“The building may have fallen, but the values and teachings remain, as its true foundation are those who passionately impart their knowledge to every student who seeks to learn, and wants to build a better future,” he added.Gustilo said “let us have faith and hope for Colegio De Sta. Rita will continue to bring better education for all. C...

The Negros Occidental provincial government is seeking the permission of the Commission on Elections to continue implementing several projects during the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan election period, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said on Monday, August 14.The Provincial Legal Office has asked all provincial government department heads to submit a list of their projects in the barangays to be submitted to the COMELEC for exemption, he said.This will include the distribution of P2,000 cash assistance to hog raisers whose pigs died from various diseases, he said.The provincial government has allocated P10 million for the purpose, Diaz said.Meanwhile, Diaz said solar lights will be put up at the children’s playground at the Capitol Lagoon Park in Bacolod City to ...

Measures are being taken by the city traffic management team to improve the flow of traffic in Bacolod City, Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez said Monday, August 14.Benitez said the initiatives to improve traffic are being implemented by city traffic consultant Patrick Lacson and his team.“It is a matter of ensuring the smooth flow of vehicular movement," he said.Drone footage of areas with heavy traffic are being taken to address problematic areas, Benitez said.The city government is also buying more dynamic traffic light control systems, he added.They work by adapting their timing to current traffic conditions. When there are more vehicles at one intersection, they will adjust timing to let traffic flow better, Benitez said.Also being planned is the setting up of lo...

Four fishermen were apprehended at sea for alleged illegal fishing in E.B. Magalona and Sagay City, Negros Occidental on Sunday, August 13, the police said.Three suspects were apprehended at the protected Sagay Marine Reserve when the police and Bantay Dagat personnel caught them illegally fishing using a compressor.Roel Vargas, 46, Ronnie Vargas, 28, and Welson Taliksik, 32, all from Brgy. Molocaboc, Sagay City, were arrested, the police said.The police seized their motorized banca, compressor, improvised spear, fishing paraphernalia, and five kilos of assorted fish.The fishermen are temporarily under the custody of the Sagay City Police.Meanwhile, Ramses Llena, 31, was apprehended during a seaborne patrol operation in the waters of Brgy. Tomontong, E.B. Magalona, Sund...

A JVA proxy form booth.*YES to JVA Facebook page photoEight Central Negros Electric Cooperative joint venture agreement (JVA) booths have been set up at six malls and two city government buildings in Bacolod City.The booths will allow the cooperative’s member-consumers to fill out proxy forms indicating their yes or no votes to the CENECO and Primelectric Holdings Corp. JVA, if they do not wish to vote on the actual plebiscite dates, Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez said.The National Electrification Administration has set the plebiscite dates on August 19, 20, 26 and 27 and September 2 and 3.The JVA proxy form booths are located at Ayala Malls Capitol Central, Robinson's Place Bacolod, City Mall Mandalagan, SM City Mall, Gaisano Mall, 888 Mall, Old Bacolod City Hall...

The performers in the street dance competition during the 2023 MassKara Festival in Bacolod City will be limited to 10 barangays, Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez said Monday, August 14.The top ten barangays from last year will be asked to join, he said, adding that this will allow for better financing and more spectacular performances.It will also mean the streetdance competition will not be too long, he said.The barangays who fail to liquidate the city’s assistance for their participation in 2022 MassKara streetdancing tilt will not be allowed to join this year, he said.The MassKara activities that will be held again this year will be those that were well attended in 2022, he said.The festival will be held from October 6 to 22.Benitez said aside from a lit...

Kurt Soberano won for his film titled “Golden Bells”*A family short drama directed by a Bacoleño filmmaker won the best short film at the 71st Film Academy for Movie Arts and Sciences (FAMAS) awards night held at the Manila Hotel on Sunday, August 13.Kurt Soberano’s film titled “Golden Bells” won the Best Short Film in the country out of five nominees under the category.Soberano said that he is thankful to the FAMAS organizing committee for recognizing the work of his production, and for showing appreciation for the story of his family.“As my story is about my uncle, and his father (my grandfather), I would like to dedicate this award to my dad, whose birthday was two days before the awards night,” he said.Golden Bells is set in the year 1979 in Bacolod’s downtown area ...

A freezer van driver sustained multiple gunshot wounds that resulted in his death at the highway in Escalante City, Negros Occidental, Sunday night, August 13.John Mark Sotto, 34, of Brgy. Estefania, Bacolod City, was shot multiple times by an unidentified suspect at Sitio Beatingo, Brgy. Old Poblacion, Escalante, the police reported on Monday.Witnesses said that the victim, accompanied by his helper, was driving his freezer van and stopped in the area to meet with his co-worker to pick up his weekly salary.Minutes after a gray car without a plate number stopped in front of van and its driver asked for water claiming that his car was overheating.Witnesses said that when Sotto responded, the suspect drew his firearm and shot the victim several times resulting in his death....