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The Operation Smile volunteers at work at the Adventist Medical Center – Bacolod on Wednesday*Operation Smile volunteers began reconstructive surgery on indigent children with cleft lip and palate deformities at the Adventist Medical Center – Bacolod this week.They conducted 60 surgeries from Monday to Wednesday and hope to hit 73 by Thursday, November 10, Emiliano Romano, Operation Smile Philippines executive director, said.Among the beneficiaries of this year’s Operation Smile mission were 4-year-old twins who were abandoned by their parents, Edith Villanueva, Hope Foundation chairperson, said.The Operation Smile Negros Mission Team 2022*One twin underwent cleft lip surgery, while the other for the palate.The twins from Salvador Benedicto were abandoned by their 1...

The videoke house where the shooting incident took place in San Carlos City, Tuesday, November 8.*San Carlos PNP photoTwo men sustained injuries after they were shot in a videoke house at Barangay 5 in San Carlos City, Negros Occidental, Tuesday, November 8.The victims were identified as 28-year-old Arnel Canete and 30-year-old Kier Sabordo.The victims were singing and drinking inside the videoke house when the unidentified gunman entered and shot Canete, while Sabordo was hit by a stray bullet, the police said.Canete had an altercation with someone before the incident, the police added.The police investigation is still ongoing.

Authorities consolidate Bacolod City’s drugs watchlist.*PIO photoThe Bacolod City Anti-Drug Abuse Council led the consolidation of the watchlist of illegal drug personalities in the city on Tuesday, November 8, at Balay Silangan, Barangay Singcang-Airport.With them were officials of the Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO) and Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency-6 (PDEA-6).PDEA provincial officers, chief intelligence police non-commission officers and police-community relations officers from all 10 police stations of the city counterchecked and consolidated local, regional, and national watchlists with the aim of having a coordinated and efficient drug clearing operation, especially at the barangay level.The participating law enforcement agencies and offices identified the stat...

The recovered drugs in Barangay Alijis, Bacolod City, Tuesday.*BCPO photoA barangay kagawad and her companion were arrested in a drug bust operation at Alijis-Taculing Road, Barangay Alijis, Bacolod City, on Tuesday, November 8.Nabbed were Barangay Alijis Kagawad Abby Araneta, 28, and Freely Aldas, 39, of Barangay Mansilingan.Both were tagged by the police as high-value individuals.They were caught selling suspected shabu to a police poseur buyer in exchange for marked money.Confiscated from Araneta were 14 sachets of suspected shabu, the P5,000 buy-bust money, a cellphone, a sling bag, and P700 in cash believed to be cash proceeds.The recovered drugs have an estimated weight of 201 grams with a standard drug price of P1,366,800.The arrested persons are now lock...

Confirmed cholera cases in Negros Occidental have increased to 28 with Talisay City still having the most number, Dr. Ernell Tumimbang, Provincial Health Officer, said on Tuesday, November 8.Talisay City’s cholera cases increased to 13, he said.The other cholera cases were detected in Silay City with 8, EB Magalona - 6 and Victorias City - 1.One cholera case listed under Calatrava was counted to Bacolod City, he said.The cholera deaths in the province remain at two with Silay City and EB Magalona having one each.Tumimbang said of the water samples sent to the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine, only one from EB Magalona was positive for cholera.Cholera can also be food-borne, he said.The food and water borne suspected and confirmed cases in Negros Occident...

Bacolod Rep. Greg Gasataya filed House Bill 293 *The House Committee on Transportation is set to hold a hearing on a bill seeking the creation of a Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) office in Bacolod City on Wednesday morning, November 9.The committee will hear House Bill 293 filed by Bacolod Rep. Greg Gasataya.Gasataya, in his explanatory note on the bill, said with the rising economy in the Western Visayas region, particularly in the Metropolitan Bacolod area, motor vehicle use has been on an upward trend.This is evident in the growing volume of traffic especially in major thoroughfares, he said.Gasataya said this has resulted in a rise in the demand for services provided by the LTFRB in relation to franchise application, registration, regul...

Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran announcing the LTFRB's granting of a two-week ceasefire.*The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) has agreed to a two-week ceasefire on the arrest of Public Utility Vehicles in Bacolod City without franchises for failure to join the PUV Modernization Program of the national government, Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran announced on Tuesday, November 8.The LTFRB, on the intervention of Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez, agreed to the ceasefire, Familiaran said.However, PUV operators without franchises and business permits must agree to join cooperatives or corporations to become part of the PUV Modernization Program, he said.Familiaran said during the two week period they need to submit deeds of undertakings and the requir...

Social Security System president and chief executive officer, Michael Regino, in Bacolod City on Tuesday.*Social Security System president and chief executive officer, Michael Regino, on Tuesday, November 8, urged employers to settle their delinquencies so that their employees can enjoy the SSS benefits due them.Regino, who was in Bacolod City for an SSS Stakeholders Forum, said their RACE (Run After Contribution Evaders) program is not designed to arrest employers with delinquencies but is a reminder for them to pay, which is required by law.He said the SSS offers payment schemes for employers who have delinquencies.Employers who did not remit SSS contributions from March 2020 to February 2022 at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic will not be charged penalties when they p...

The Women and Children Protection Desk (WCPD) of the E. B. Magalona Municipal Police Station was awarded "Best WCPD- Municipal Police Station Level" in Negros Occidental for having the highest number of cases filed against violators from October 2021 to October 2022.The EBM WCPD is manned by PMSgt. Hazel Badian and PCPL Ronna Rose Adrias, a press release from EB Magalona said Tuesday, November 8.The EBM MPS is now headed by PMaj. Kenneth Jay Gratones as officer-in-charge."Your laudable accomplishment and expression of goodwill through exemplary and praise-worthy performance signifies your high sense of devotion and responsibility, and brings pride and honor not only to your unit but also to the entire PNP organization," the citation reads.Badian accepted the certificate of ...