Top Stories

The green sea turtle being rescued.*Sagay PIO photoA green sea turtle stranded in the coastline of Brgy. Taba-ao, Sagay City, in Negros Occidental was rescued and freed on Sunday, December 4, a Sagay Marine Reserve (SMR) report said.Two fishermen saw the turtle stranded in a fishnet of a fishing boat in Brgy. Taba-ao and informed the authorities of its presence.Representatives from the SMR, Sagay police, Philippine Coast Guard, and barangay tanods then freed the male turtle weighing 150 kilograms into the sea near Carbin Reef. It was 47 inches in length and 38 inches in width.The SMR thanked the team for ensuring the safe release of the turtle.*

Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez*Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez has issued an executive order creating a Bacolod City Land Banking Committee.Proposals of all interested parties who want to sell land will be accepted by the committee, Benitez said on Sunday, December 4.The Committee on Land Banking will identify, evaluate and recommend the possible acquisition of real properties for future use of the Bacolod City government.The committee will be chaired by the city assessor.It is tasked to submit a report and recommendation to the mayor on its evaluation conducted taking into consideration the factors of site location, area and appraised value of the property.Meanwhile, Benitez said tenants at the Manokan Country have until the December 31 to abide by their compromise ...

Sugar leaders on Sunday, December 4, welcomed the holding of an industry summit and the consolidation of sugar farms to boost production.Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez met with senators Sherwin Gatchalian and Joseph Victor Ejercito on Friday, December 2, to discuss the holding of a summit in January to craft a plan to make the Philippine sugar industry globally competitive for it to survive.There is a need to consolidate sugar farms in the Philippines for efficient, productive and sustainable economies of scale, Benitez said.Enrique Rojas, National Federation of Sugarcane Planters president, said “We welcome the proposed consolidation of sugarcane farms. Sugarcane is a plantation crop which demands economies of scale. A farmer needs to cultivate a wide area to minimize ...

The Negros Occidental provincial government is no longer requiring passengers to present COVID-19 vaccination cards at the Bacolod-Silay Airport, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said Sunday, December 4.Diaz in a letter to Roel Aranzado, acting airport manager, last week said that inspection of vaccination cards would end on December 1.The vaccination inspection team at the airport has reported back to the CapitolThis was implemented to harmonize with domestic airport protocols, especially in Manila, Diaz said.Cebu Pacific, Philippine Airlines and Air Asia have 21 flights that arrive at the Bacolod-Silay Airport a day, Diaz said.Meanwhile, Diaz said a vendor who returned to the North Capitol Road sidewalk next to the provincial government’s property in Bacolod Ci...

The recoveries from a drug bust at Barangay 35, Bacolod City, December 3.*BCPO photoTwo alleged street-level drug suspects were arrested in a buy-bust operation Saturday night, December 3, at Barangay 35, Bacolod City.Nabbed were 41-year-old Jake Jimenez and his partner, 24-year-old Eliza Mae Dejole.Recovered from them were 26 grams of suspected shabu worth P176,800, the P1,500 buy-bust money, the P200 cash proceeds, and other paraphernalia.Both are detained at Police Station 1, facing drug charges.*

The dismissal order of the Office of the Ombudsman against Barangay Captain Noli Villarosa of Tangub, Bacolod City, is not final and he still has the right to file a motion for reconsideration or an appeal before the Court of Appeals, his lawyer Caesar Distrito said Saturday, December 3.“It was purely a harassment case filed against Villarosa, and clearly a result of his performance of his lawful duty. This is not a case of graft and corruption,” Distrito said.The case against Villarosa was filed by Candido Medalla.Villarosa was charged because he allegedly demolished a cyclone fence that encroached on the right of way and sidewalk along Ramylu Drive in Tangub in compliance with an order of former President Rodrigo Duterte to clear all roads and sidewalks from obstructions, Dis...