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The protest in front of the NEA office in Quezon City on Monday.*National consumer rights, energy advocacy, labor, and multi-sectoral groups staged a protest against the joint venture agreement (JVA) of Primelectric Holdings Inc. (PHI) and Central Negros Electric Cooperative (CENECO) at the National Electrification Administration (NEA) office in Quezon City on Monday, July 3.They claimed in a press release that the CENECO Office was taken over by the newly-elected interim Board of Directors after the Member-Consumer-Owners (MCO) Federation ousted the incumbent BOD through a unanimous vote.Several groups accompanied Luke Espiritu, legal counsel of Laban ng mga Mamamayan sa Monopolyo at Pribatisasyon (LAMP), filed resolutions from the Special Meeting of Members calling for the re...

The police seized P56,508 worth of suspected shabu in a series of buy-bust operations in three cities and a town in Negros Occidental from Friday to Sunday, June 30 to July 2, the police reported.Larry Bronda, alias “Junjun Bangrus”, 47, was arrested in a buy-bust operation and 3 grams of suspected shabu estimated to cost P27,200 was seized from him in Brgy. 6, Victorias City, Sunday, the police said.The police also said a search warrant was served to Wenifredo Quidong, 44, of Brgy. Poblacion 1, Sagay City, and two grams of suspected shabu worth P13,600 and drug paraphernalia were seized from him on Friday.Meanwhile, Edgar Gramonte, alias “Panoynoy”, 20, was also arrested in a buy-bust operation in Brgy. 1-A, Manapla, on Saturday.The police recovered 0.81 grams of suspected...

Three persons were found dead in Negros Occidental on Sunday, July 2.A driver was found dead in a makeshift hammock in Purok Cherry Blossom, Brgy. Calumangan, Bago City, Sunday afternoon.Bernie Cabrera, 45, a delivery truck driver, suffered from difficulty in breathing due to the hot weather, the police reported on Monday.The victim drank water and slept on his hammock attached to a tree and perimeter fence and at about 4 p.m. when his companions tried to wake him, he was found lifeless, the report said.In Cauayan, Recardo Catalonia Jr. was found dead near the shore at Purok 5-A, Brgy. Guilungan.The victim was drunk and was seen swimming in the sea, but was later found lifeless close to the shore, the police said.Meanwhile, Jose Marlo Barba, 55, of Phase 3, Brgy. Ri...

Power transmission service provider National Grid Corp. of the Philippines supports the energy sector’s move towards green energy or alternative renewable sources of power, a press release from NGCP said Monday, July 3.NGCP’s Transmission Development Plan (TDP) already considers variable renewable energy and committed RE plants which will connect to the grid in the next few years, it said.“The annual TDP prepared by NGCP and presented to stakeholders in public consultations is aligned with the Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Program 2020-2040. This targets 50 percent integration of renewables in the grid’s installed capacity by 2040”, NGCP said.The State Grid Corporation of China (SGCC), NGCP’s technical partner, owns world-leading grid technologies as it runs ...

The dead bottlenose dolphin.*Sagay Marine Reserve photoA bottlenose dolphin was found dead in the northern portion of Carbin Reef at the Sagay Marine Reserve in Sagay City, Negros Occidental, early Monday morning, July 3.The dolphin was found by a fisherman near the Carbin Reef at around 5:40 a.m., Jose Roberto Togle, Resource Management Section Head of the Sagay City Environment and Natural Resources (SCENRO), said.SCENRO is yet to determine the dolphin’s cause of death but initial findings showed that the mammal might have been hit by a hard object on its blow hole, he said.The dolphin is an adult male and about 1.92 meters in length and 90 kilograms in weight.Scratch marks on its left eye and nape, and soft tissue at the back of the head were also seen, Togle sai...

The pig deaths from various diseases in Negros Occidental hit 15,422 with two-thirds of the fatalities from the fourth district of the province, the Provincial Veterinary Office (PVO) reported on Sunday, July 2.The 15,422 deaths represent 10.19 percent of Negros Occidental’s Hog population with total losses at P174,448,750, the PVO reported.This has affected 3,161 hog raisers in 146 barangays in 18 local government units in Negros Occidental, it added.The pig deaths in the 4th District are at 10,405 or 26.16 percent of the area’s hog population.The 6th District of Negros Occidental has the second highest number of pig deaths in the province at 1,799, followed by the 3rd District with 1,235, 5th District with 1,107 and 2nd District with 876, the PVO said.But the daily pi...

Irene Bel Ploteña*Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson has appointed Irene Bel Ploteña Provincial Disaster Management Program Division (PDMPD) head, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said Sunday, July 2.Ploteña served as focal person of the PDMPD prior to her appointment as permanent head of the division.She has a Bachelor of Arts in History from the University of the Philippines Visayas and is graduating with a Master of Arts in Asian Studies from the Asian Center of UP Diliman.Ploteña was a Project Development Officer II of the province of Negros Occidental, part-time instructor at the Bacolod City College, a freelance researcher and history instructor at UP Visayas.*

Another Bacolod Regional Trial Court judge denied a second bid to halt the Central Negros Electric Cooperative (CENECO) and Primelectric Holdings Inc. (PHI) joint venture agreement plebiscite.Acting Presiding Judge Ferdinand Elbert Jomilla of Bacolod RTC Branch 50 said the prayer for the issuance of a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) “is groundless, as the great or irreparable injury to prevent was not established”.After careful consideration, the Court finds that the prayers for the issuance of TRO lacks merit and is therefore denied, the judge said in his order dated June 29.The judge was acting on a special civil action filed by CENECO consumer Joaquin Dagohoy Malacad against CENECO and PHI seeking a writ of preliminary injunction and/or temporary restraining to halt the pl...

Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said the Negros Occidental provincial government will source funds for the distribution of fertilizer to the farmers of four local government units whose supply went missing.“We will source funds to have our own fertilizer distribution with the LGU's affected by these missing fertilizers as recipients,” Lacson said on Sunday, July 2.The Department of Agriculture is asking the Negros Occidental provincial government to replace the 789 bags of missing fertilizer intended for farmers in four local government units, DA OIC Regional Director Jose Albert Barrogo said on Friday, June 30.The missing fertilizer was part of 4,170 bags sent by the DA to the Negros Occidental provincial government as aid to high value crop farmers who were victims of Typhoon Odette...

Rep. Emilio Yulo III (Neg. Occ., 5th District)*The Professional Regulatory Commission (PRC) is holding a weeklong road show in two venues in the fifth district of Negros Occidental starting Monday, July 3, Rep. Emilio Yulo III (Neg. Occ., 5th District) said Sunday.PRC personnel will process professional licenses at the 5th District Congressional Office in Isabela town from Monday to Wednesday, July 3 to 5, and at the covered court in Binalbagan on Thursday and Friday, July 6 and 7, he said.Those with expired licenses can also renew and avail of the other services of the PRC, Yulo said.Yulo said because of the large number of applicants for the PRC Mobile Service, his office will be posting the list and scheduled date of the second batch of applicants.Pre-registration is...