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Two Negrenses were nabbed and suspected shabu and guns were seized in a buy-bust operation in Brgy. Balintawak, Escalante City, Negros Occidental, on Sunday morning, July 30, the police said.Nabbed were Rodney Miradol, 51, of Purok Buhay 1, Brgy. Balintawak, Escalante, and Marlo Jimenez, 30, from Brgy. Rafaela Barrera, Sagay City.Seized from them were four grams of suspected shabu worth P27,200, a .22 caliber rifle with 42 live ammunition, .45 caliber pistol with magazine loaded with seven live ammunition, cellular phones, a weighing scale and drug paraphernalia, the police reported.The suspects are now under the custody of the Escalante police.*

Flooded houses in San Enrique.*MDRRMO photoSan Enrique town that was the hardest hit by Typhoon “Egay” induced flashfloods and strong winds in Negros Occidental last week has declared a state of calamity, Mayor Jilson Tubillara said Monday, July 31.The foul weather affected 5,579 families with 19,594 members in San Enrique, the Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office (PSWDO) reported.Also destroyed were 16 houses and damaged were 426 in nine out of ten barangays of the town, the PSWDO also reported.The Office of the Provincial Agriculturist placed the initial damage to crops in San Enrique at P4,763,295 affecting 310 farmers. Damage to livestock was also placed at P520,080 by the Provincial Veterinary Office.Tubillara said San Enrique was hit by flash floods wi...

The current state of the Talave Bridge is more of a "skeleton", Andoni Valencia said.*A Negrense heritage advocate is asking the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) to issue a cease and desist order against the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to halt the ongoing clearing of the 90-year-old Talave bridge in San Carlos City, Negros Occidental, that could lead to its possible destruction.Andoni Llantada Valencia on Sunday, July 30, said he made the appeal in a letter to Dr. Emmanuel F. Calairo, NHCP chairman, on Friday.The 90-year-old Talave Bridge built in 1933 by the United States Steel Products Company is located between San Carlos City and the municipality of Calatrava.The Talave Bridge in 2021 was still in use, he said.However, its ...

Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson has granted the request of the Bacolod City government to use the RT- PCR machine of the provincial government for the processing of its African Swine Fever (ASF) test kits, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said on Sunday, July 30.Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez in a letter to Lacson on Friday, July 28, said with the present threat of ASF in Bacolod City and Negros Occidental, the city government has acquired a number of ASF test kits to ensure the safety and protection of local hog raisers.He requested Lacson to allow the Bacolod City government to use the Qiagen Rotor Gene RT- PCR Machine of the provincial government.Meanwhile, the daily pig deaths in Negros Occidental from various diseases were down to 22 on Saturday a...

The flooded rice fields*The Southwest Monsoon enhanced by Typhoon “Egay” brought on flooding and strong winds that destroyed and damaged 1,645 houses and caused P46.7 million in losses to crops, fisheries and livestock in Negros Occidental, a final situational report submitted to Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson on Saturday, July 29, said.The Provincial Disaster Management Program Division (PDMPD) reported that the typhoon damaged 1,585 houses and destroyed 60 in 71 barangays in 18 local government units in Negros Occidental.“Based on the report, it can be handled by the respective LGUs,” Lacson said, in reference to the assistance needed by those affected.The foul weather also affected 15,138 families or a total of 61,022 individuals in Negros Occidental from July 22 to 28, it add...

Former Negros Occidental governor Rafael Coscolluela*The People’s Movement for Truth, Justice and Reform – Negros Occidental chapter is supporting a petition for mandamus filed before the Supreme Court that calls for the Commission on Elections’ full disclosure of the 2022 presidential and vice presidential election returns, former Negros Occidental governor Rafael Coscolluela said on Sunday, July 30.The Negros chapter was formed during “Electoral Fraud Explained” forum in Bacolod City on Saturday with former Information and Communications Technology Undersecretary Ret. Gen. Eliseo Rio Jr as guest speaker.Rio is a member of the TNTrio, a group that has been seeking the truth about the elections last year.“If Comelec refuses to submit to our call for full disclosure, they de...

Rescuers trying to revive Joven Buenaflor in Brgy. Aguisan, Himamaylan City.*Three persons were found dead in two towns and a city in Negros Occidental on Friday and Saturday, July 28 and 29, the police reported.Venancio Sumilhig, 63, was found dead on a mountain trail in Purok Kinabong 2, Brgy. Igmayaan, Salvador Benedicto town, on Friday, the Murcia police reported.The cause of his death is yet to be determined, and further investigation is ongoing to ascertain the circumstances surrounding the incident, the police said.Meanwhile, Joven Buenaflor, 25, of Purok 6, Brgy. Aguisan, Himamaylan City. drowned at about 5:30 p.m. on Saturday.
Buenaflor went fishing with his friends in the sea fronting Purok 12, Barangay Aguisan, when he shouted for help after suffering from cr...

Monsignor Guillermo “GG” Azcona Gaston*RBaldonado photoMonsignor Guillermo “GG” Azcona Gaston will be buried at the Silay Catholic Cemetery in Silay City, Negros Occidental, on Thursday, August 3, his nephew Joey Gaston said.He will be buried after a 2 p.m. funeral mass at the San Diego Pro-Cathedral in Silay City.Gaston, 91, succumbed to cardiac arrest in Bacolod City on July 20.The fifth of eight children, Gaston was born in Hacienda Santa Rosalia, Manapla, on March 7, 1932, to Jose and Consuelo Gaston.He obtained his college degree from the Ateneo de Manila and studied to become a diocesan priest at the San Jose Seminary and later at the San Carlos Seminary.In 1956, he began higher theological studies at the Pontificio Collegio Pio Latino Americano in Livorno, It...

A Bacolod resident was arrested in a buy-bust operation and P61,200 worth of suspected shabu was seized in Purok Boulevard, Brgy. 13, Bacolod City, on Friday, July 28.Billy Orolan, 40, of Purok Boulevard was arrested by Station 1 operatives on Friday night, the police reported.Eight heat-sealed sachets of suspected shabu weighing nine grams were recovered from him, the police added.A tactical interrogation is still ongoing to locate the source of illegal drugs, links and accomplishes of Orolan for follow-up operations, the police said.*

A Polish national driving an SUV accidentally hit a motorcycle causing the death of its driver at the Murcia-Mansilingan Road in Brgy. Mansilingan, Bacolod City, Saturday evening, July 29.Konrad Aleksander Wieczorek, 31 hit the motorcycle with couple Aljun and Ma. Mariel Gual, residents of Alunan-Yulo, Brgy. 35, Bacolod City, on board.Capt. Andy Ofalia, Bacolod Police City Station 7 chief, said that both vehicles were heading from west to east direction when the SUV driven by Wieczorek accidentally hit the motorcycle.Ofalia said that due to impact the motorcycle was tossed a few meters away resulting to the death of Aljun and injuries to Ma. Mariel on her hands and feet.The station commander said representatives of the victims and the suspect have reached a settlement and n...