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Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla being welcomed by Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson to the Governor's Night at the Provincial Capitol's Social Hall in Bacolod City Wednesday night*Richard Malihan photoJustice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla assured on Wednesday, June 15, that although the quest for justice in the massacre of Gov. Roel Degamo and nine others in Pamplona, Negros Oriental, has been slow it will be attained.Remulla, who was in Bacolod City for the Department of Justice Region VI National Prosecution Service 1st Regional Convention at L’Fisher Hotel, in an interview said “we have to be patient with the process”.Suspects in government custody have recanted their initial confessions tagging fugitive congressman Arnolfo “Arnie” Teves Jr. as the masterm...

Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla (3rd from left) receives tokens from Aklan Provincial Prosecutor Maya Bien Mayor Tolentino, Bacolod City Chief Prosecutor Ma. Theresa Ditching, and WV OIC Regional Prosecutor Louie Doligosa (l-r) at L’Fisher Hotel on Thursday.*CPG photoJustice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla reminded the prosecutors of Western Visayas to never allow their offices to be used to fight unjust cases lodged against the innocent.Remulla was the keynote speaker at the Department of Justice Region VI National Prosecution Service 1st Regional Convention at L’ Fisher Hotel Thursday morning, June 15.“Be honest about your work,” he said.Remulla said in the war against drugs some suspects are included in complaints for accomplishment purposes whether or not they a...

Fifty-six police officers of the Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office (NOCPPO) tested negative for the use of illegal drugs at Camp Alfredo Montelibano Sr. in Brgy. Estefania, Bacolod City, on Wednesday, June 14.The surprise drug tests were conducted during the visit of PBrig. Gen. Sidney Villaflor, Western Visayas acting police regional director, to the NOCPPO.Among the officers who underwent the drug tests were PCol. Leo Pamittan, Negros Occidental police provincial director, NOCPPO staff, chiefs of police of various city and municipal police stations, and the chiefs of the National Administrative and Operational Support Units of the Philippine National Police, a NOCPPO press release said.All of them tested negative for the use of illegal drugs, it added.Villaflor s...

The scene of crime in Sitio Kankiling, Brgy. Buenavista, Himamaylan City,*Four members of a family, including two minors, were massacred by unidentified suspects who peppered them with bullets in Sitio Kankiling, Brgy. Buenavista, Himamaylan City, Negros Occidental, 10 p.m. Wednesday, June 14.Killed in their home was farmer Emilda Susano Fausto, 49, and her sons aged 11 and 15 years old.The body of her husband, Rolly Sabanal Fausto, 52 was found in a corn field about 500 meters away from their house on Thursday morning.Their bodies sustained multiple gunshot wounds, PLt. Col. Reynante Jomocan, Himamaylan police chief, said.The Himamaylan police are searching for the witness who guided the gunmen to the home of the Faustos. He is vital to establishing the identities of t...

The police, after almost a year of pursuit, arrested Bacolod's most wanted person for the crime of murder on Wednesday, June 14.Antonio Uy, 49, was arrested at Purok Kagaykay, Brgy. 2, by the police at about 3:35 p.m., the police reported.A warrant of arrest for Uy was issued on Aug. 31, 2022, by Presiding Regional Trial Court-6 Branch 45 Judge Phoebe Gargantiel-Balbin.During the operation, the suspect was served the warrant of arrest for murder, which is a non-bailable offense.Uy is currently under the custody of the Bacolod Police Station 2 for documentation and proper disposition.*

Heavy equipment worth P7.5 million were burned by alleged members of the New People’s Army (NPA) in Brgy. Carabalan, Himamaylan City, Wednesday night, the police reported on Thursday, June 15.The two backhoes are owned by the construction company of Engineer Kenneth Gensulin of Brgy. Saraet, Himamaylan City, the police said.The company is currently working on the P100,000 Himamaylan-Tayasan road project in Brgy. Carabalan.P/Capt. Arturo Magallo Jr., Deputy for Administration of the Himamaylan City Police Station, said according to a watchman on duty the armed suspects introduced themselves as members of the NPA.The armed men told the watchman they were burning the backhoes because the construction firm had not paid revolutionary taxes and workers were receiving low wages....

Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez said on Wednesday, June 14, that Bacolod City is also releasing assistance to hog raisers whose pigs have been hit with African swine fever.He said hog raisers should not dump their dead pigs in rivers or they will not be given assistance.How can they claim compensation if that is what they do? he asked.So far more than 200 Bacolod pigs have been hit by the disease, which is being validated, Benitez said.ASF positive cases have been detected in barangays Taculing and Tangub in Bacolod City.Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said on Wednesday that the provincial government aims to release aid to backyard pig raisers whose animals died from various diseases before the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan election period starts.The e...

The current employment rate in Western Visayas is 95.7 percent, records from the Philippine Statistics Authority showed Wednesday, June 14.Western Visayas recorded a 95.7 percent employment rate, 1.3 percent higher than January at 94.4, it said.The unemployment rate in the region is at 4.3 percent, records added.The recent record is also higher than the same period last year. The April 2022 employment rate was at 94.4 percent, 1.3 percent lower than this year, the PSA added.Out of the 95.7 percent, 12.5 percent are underemployed. PSA defines underemployed are persons who expressed the desire to have additional hours of work in their present job or in an additional job, or to have a new job with longer working hours.The region’s Labor Force Participation Rate increased b...

Groups in favor of the Central Negros Electric Cooperative and Primelectric Holdings Inc. (PHI) joint venture agreement (JVA) called for a peaceful plebiscite to ensure that the collective decision of the CENECO member-consumers will be heard, during a press conference at the Negros Press Club in Bacolod City on Wednesday, June 14.Wennie Sancho, Power Watch secretary-general, told DIGICAST NEGROS that despite their differences with other groups on the move to privatize CENECO, a peaceful and orderly plebiscite must be adhered to.Leaders of Power Watch Negros, Pro-JVA Multisectoral Group, Utilities Consumer Advocates for Reform, among others at the NPC to air their support for the JVA and call for a peaceful plebiscite.The plebiscite is set on June 24 to 25, and July 1 to 2, San...