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Provincial Legal Officer Alberto Nellas Jr.*Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson has denied the motions for reconsideration filed by four dismissed employees of the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist, Provincial Legal Officer Alberto Nellas Jr. said Monday, January 23.The governor denied the motions of engineers Ramelo Letran, German Abihay and Rein Palacios, and project development assistant Maria Luisa Abaño of the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist who were dismissed from the service for grave misconduct for the misuse of a provincial government vehicle.The governor denied their MR based on a resolution of Nellas that states that no new evidence had been discovered and submitted by the respondents that would materially alter or affect the January 3decisiond...

Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson.*Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said on Monday, January 23, that he supports the call of business leaders for President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to issue an executive order establishing the Negros Island Region, which includes Siquijor, ahead of the passage of a law on its creation.The governor is appealing for the issuance of an EO creating the NIR similar to the one issued by then President Benigno Aquino III that was later abolished by former President Rodrigo Duterte.“We appeal that the President issue an executive order which will re-establish theNegros Island Region with the inclusion of Siquijor Island" ahead of the passage of a law creating it,” the business leaders said in a joint statement released last week.Then ...

Negros Occidental Election Supervisor lan Lee Ananoria *The voter registrants for the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections have started to increase with the deadline set January 31, Negros Occidental Election Supervisor lan Lee Ananoria said Monday, January 23.The new voter registrants from December 12 to January 14 in Negros Occidental and Bacolod City were 35,801, he said.The voter registrants started at 4,318 on week one, 3,452 - week two, 2,036 - week three, 6,023 - week four, 8,161 - week five and 11,811 - week six.The majority of the registrants were in Bacolod City at 10,318.Ananoria is appealing to the public to register before the deadline to avoid long lines.The Bacolod Comelec will be holding its satellite registration at Robinson's Place Bacolod f...

What does it say about our society when the economy is up, but wages remain stagnant, prices are increasing, and the poor remain poor?Last January 13, Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno reported that the Philippine economy grew by 7.5 percent in 2022, and is expected to grow by 6.5 percent this 2023, a projection touted by President Marcos during the World Economic Forum just this week.Similarly this week, the price of a kilogram of onions reached P800. While the increase in the commodity’s price seems comical, its implications are not. Several farmers have already expressed frustration over their losses despite the increase in onion prices, with at least five farmers reportedly killing themselves because of it. The same farmers express concern over the plans to import more onions o...

SRA Deputy Administrator Guillermo C. Tejida III *The chairman of a famers federation has withdrawn a complaint for “grave misconduct, abuse of authority, and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service" that he filed against a deputy administrator of the Sugar Regulatory Administration in 2022.Enrique Tayo, chairman of the Negros Occidental Federation of Farmers Association (NOFFA), in an affidavit of retraction dated January 10, withdrew the complaint that he filed against SRA Deputy Administrator Guillermo C. Tejida III before the Office of the President for the issuance of an order to import 200,000 metric tons of refined sugar.Tayo has not withdrawn his complaint against Tejida’s co-respondent, then SRA administrator Hermenegildo Serafica.Tejida said with T...