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The Bacolod City government has accepted the proposal of the SM Group to develop and manage the Manokan Country through a Public Private Partnership, City Administrator Pacifico Maghari III said Tuesday, January 17.The SM Group bid will be open to a Swiss challenge where counter-proposals can be made against the original bid, Maghari said.The SM Group is proposing to build a two-storey Manokan structure. It will elevate the quality of food served and make the site a tourist attraction for Bacolod, Maghari said.It will also ensure that there is adequate parking for visitors at the Manokan, he added.The city government has a responsibility to the public to ensure that they are served quality and healthy food in a good facility, Maghari said.The PPP will allow the city gov...

There are 59 newly reported dengue cases in Western Visayas as 2023 begins, the Department of Health said Tuesday, January 17.The report said for Morbidity Week 1 from January 1 to 7 there were 57 cases, which are 7 percent higher compared to 55 in the same period in 2022.The top three areas in WV with the highest number of newly-reported dengue cases are Negros Occidental – 21, Aklan - 17 and Bacolod - 9.Antique had 7 cases, Capiz – 5, and Iloilo City, Guimaras and Iloilo province - 0, the DOH reported.No new dengue deaths were reported.The dengue virus is transmitted by day biting Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquitoes, the DOH said.*

The heavy rain caused by a Low Pressure Area last week caused P30.4 million in damage to crops in Negros Occidental, Provincial Agriculturist Edmundo Raul Causing said Tuesday, January 17.The total amount of damage to rice crops was P29,774,965.06, corn - P136,800 and high value commercial crops (HVCC) - P553,600, he said in an initial report submitted to Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson.The LPA triggered rain damaged the rice crops of 1,489 farmers on 1, 471.12 hectares in Escalante City – P3 million, Cadiz City – 1.9 million, Sagay City – P1.2 million, Silay City – P547, 475, Valladolid – P5.5 million, La Carlota City – P411,383, Bago City – P13.3 million, San Enrique – P1 million, Cauayan - P1.9 million and Candoni – P635,520.There were 145 affected HVCC farmers in Escalante City an...

Danilo A. Abelita of PANAYFED, Aurelio Gerardo J. Valderrama Jr. of CONFED and Enrique D. Rojas of NFSP (l-r, seated) sign the agreement for the establishment of a Sugar Producers Coalition, which was witnessed by federation officers Emil Reyes, Francis dela Rama, Manuel Puey, Bernard Trebol, Dr. Miller Serondo, Paolo Severino, Jaime G. Golez and Dr. Mel Serondo (l-r, standing).*After collaborating on key issues affecting the sugar industry, three planters federations representing the majority of the national sugar production formalized their coalition with the signing of a memorandum of agreement in Bacolod City Tuesday, January 17.Enrique D. Rojas of the National Federation of Sugarcane Planters (NFSP), Aurelio Gerardo J. Valderrama Jr. of the Confederation of Sugar Producers’ As...

The smuggled sugar seized at the Port of Batangas*Sugar Regulatory Administrator David Alba said on Tuesday, January 17, that he will recommend to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to allow the sale of 80,000 bags of seized smuggled sugar to the public through Kadiwa rolling stores.The Bureau of Customs (BOC) seized the about 4,000 metric tons of refined sugar from Thailand valued at P240 million on board MV Sunward at the Port of Batangas on Friday, Alba said.The BOC earlier estimated the cost of the seized sugar, which had no import permit, at P261 million.Alba thanked the BOC enforcement unit and Commissioner Yogi Filemon Ruiz for their “vigilance that led to the seizure of the smuggled sugar.”Alba said that he will ask the President to have the seized sugar sold throug...

Mayor Javier Miguel Benitez delivers his first six months report as mayor of Victorias City*Steven Laborte photoMayor Javier Miguel “Javi” Benitez on Monday, January 16, said his administration is pushing for the creation of a Sidlak Victorias Global City.Benitez, who delivered his first six months report as mayor of Victorias at the Victorias Arts and Cultural Center, said it has been challenging but fulfilling.“Technology can be a big help in making the bureaucracy more efficient”, he said.Mayor Javier Miguel Benitez with his father Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez and his mother, Nikki* Steven Laborte photoHe said Victorias will be among the first cities in the Visayas to adopt integrated digital technology development, through its Sidlak City DNA.The Sidla...

Rep. Francisco Benitez (Neg. Occ., 3rd District)*Siquijor that is currently under Central Visayas wants to become part of the Negros Island Region (NIR) because of its proximity, Rep. Francisco Benitez (Neg. Occ., 3rd District) said Monday, January 16.A substitute bill filed by Benitez and the rest of the Negros Occidental representatives, seeks the creation of the NIR, which will include Siquijor.The bill was approved by the House Committee on Local Government on January 10.Benitez said its takes five hours to travel from Siquijor to Cebu, and 30 minutes to an hour to Dumaguete City in Negros Oriental.It means Siquijor would be closer to offices of national government agencies as part of NIR, he addedBefore Siquijor became an independent province, historically it w...

The driver of a fuel tanker that hit a motorcycle and caused the death of two at the intersection of Bangga Cory and the Circumferential Road in Brgy. Taculing, Bacolod City has been released from police custody.Released from police custody on Saturday was Laurence Dalida Pandes, 28, of Prk. Sambag, Brgy. Alijis, Bacolod, after an initial settlement was reached with the families of the victims, Capt. Dax Santillan, Police Station 6 chief, said Monday, January 16.Killed in the accident was the motorcycle driver Jim Carl Huertas Macaya, 26, of Barangay Singcang and his girlfriend Angelu Magdaraog, 20, of Barangay Handumanan, Bacolod.Pandes was traveling from west and executing a right turn when he accidentally hit the motorcycle, a police report said.*

Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson *Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said on Monday, January 16, that the rejection by the New People’s Army (NPA) of the call for local peace talks will not deter the government from continuing to entice its members to surrender.“We will continue to encourage their followers to come down, surrender their arms, and benefit from the programs of government,” he said.He cited the Task Force to End Local Armed Conflict, the multi-agency body created to assist former rebels.“It does not mean just because they rejected the local peace talks we will do nothing, we will continue to entice their followers to join the government,” Lacson said.The NPA in Negros, in a statement last week, said the call for local peace talks by Col. ...