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The City Legal Office is clearing the Bacolod Public Plaza and the roads beside the Capitol Lagoon Park in Bacolod City of illegal food vendors.Bacolod City Legal Officer Romeo Carlos Ting Jr. said on Friday, June 9, that these illegal vendors also have no business permits and health cards.Some vendors even sleep at the plaza and have made the shed house their home, he said.The roads beside the Capitol Lagoon Park are also not designated areas for vending, Ting said.He said only registered vendors will be allowed to sell at the public plaza.Next week they will be very strict about not allowing illegal vending, he added.*

The protest in front of the Department of Agrarian Reform- Negros Occidental South office in Bacolod City on Friday,*Two groups called on government to fast track the unfinished land acquisition and distribution (LAD) in Negros Occidental on Friday, June 9, a day ahead of the 35th anniversary of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program.Damayan ng mga Manggagawa, Magsasaka, at Mangingisda held a protest in front of the Department of Agrarian Reform- Negros Occidental South office in Bacolod City to call for government action.Guillermo Barreta Jr., Damayan vice president for Visayas, said they are calling on government to fast-track the land distribution and remove all corruption activities that are delaying the process.The protest was also intended to call for a dialog wit...

The hog industry losses in Negros Occidental hit P131, 674,075 on Friday, June 9, the Provincial Veterinary Office (PVO) reported.This was attributed to the rise in pig deaths from various illnesses to 11,666 representing 8.90 percent of the province’s hog population.The deaths in 126 barangays in 16 out of the 31 local government units in the province have affected 2,211 hog raisers, the PVO reported.This has prompted more local government units in Negros Occidental to order inter-LGU bans on the entry of pigs and pork products from other towns and cities in the province as they strengthen their bio security measures.The latest LGUs to issue such orders are Himamaylan and San Carlos cities, and the municipalities of Hinigaran, La Castellana, Isabela, and Moises Padilla....

About 600 Bacolod City policemen and novn-commissioned officers will undergo drug tests, Acting Bacolod police director, Col. Noel Aliño, said on Friday, June 9.Aliño said the testing is part of their mandate to ensure that the uniformed personnel are drug free.Drug testing will also include non-uniformed personnel like workers who are under under job order contract at the police headquarters.Forty-six police officers have already undergone drug testing and the results were all negative, Aliño said.He warned that policemen found positive for drug use will be restricted and disarmed.*

More than 9,000 local and foreign jobs will be open to job seekers at the 2023 Kalayaan Job Fair at SM City Bacolod on Philippine Independence Day, Monday, June 12,There will be 51 companies offering 8,021 local jobs, and 1,213 overseas jobs will also available, Regional Director Sixto Rodriguez Jr. of the Department of Labor and Employment said on Friday, June 9.Some firms may hire applicants on the spot, he said.Job applicants can check out the list of job vacancies and pre-register at bit.ly/2023KalayaanJobFair or visit the DOLE NOFO Facebook page.Rodriguez said other government agencies will also provide on-site services to assist applicants in their pre-employment requirements.The National Bureau of Investigation, Philippine Postal Corp., Department of Fo...

Lawyer Lionel Marco Castillano (center), Comelec Central Visayas acting regional director, in a meeting with Army Col. Joey Escanillas of the 302nd Infantry Brigade and lawyer Eddie Aba, Negros Oriental provincial election supervisor, on Thursday.*The Commission on Elections (Comelec) said the public hearings on the proposed deferment of the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections (BSKE) in Negros Oriental is open to all but cautioned against politicizing it.Lawyer Lionel Marco Castillano, acting Comelec regional director of Central Visayas, wrapped up on Friday his three-day visit to the province in preparation for the series of public hearings on June 27-29 on the proposed BSKE postponement.Castillano said that he met with officials of the Philippine National Police, the ...

Fire destroyed two houses and damaged a store at Mabini-Filipina Street, Barangay Zone 7, Talisay City, at 6:22 a.m. Friday, June 9.Destroyed were the houses of Priscila Emance, 70, and Rechillyn Elisan, 39, while damaged was a sari-sari store owned by Van Metano Glaraga, 66, the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) - Talisay reported.The fire was put out at 7:05 a.m., the BFP reported.Estimated damage was placed at P800,000.*Also damaged in the fire was a Mitsubishi Adventure vehicle.

Regional Director Sixto Rodriguez Jr. of the Department of Labor and Employment during an interview in Bacolod City on Friday, June 9.*DOLE 6 photoThe Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) will begin consultations in July on two petitions seeking an increase in the daily minimum wage in Western Visayas, Regional Director Sixto Rodriguez Jr. of the Department of Labor and Employment said on Friday, June 9.The United Labor-Western Visayas and the Iloilo Pepsi Cola Workers Independent Union have filed separate petitions for a daily wage increase of P100 before the RTWBP, he said.He said the Western Visayas RTWPB will only hear petitions filed in the region, while the push of Senate President Juan Miguel Zibiri for as a P150 wage increase across all regions...

The Negros Oriental Provincial Hospital in Dumaguete City.*PNA photoGovernor Manuel “Chaco” Sagarbarria announced his plans to improve the delivery of health services in Negros Oriental on Thursday, June 8.In a press statement, Sagarbarria said he would implement a zero-bill policy at the Negros Oriental Provincial Hospital (NOPH) and in all district and community primary hospitals in the province.“I intend to implement a zero-balance billing. It is very hard to do but I will implement it,” Sagarbarria said, referring to a government policy that ensures that qualified members of Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) shall not be charged or be forced to spend out of pocket for services rendered to them in government hospitals.The governor will also purchase new medi...

The African swine fever virus*Blood samples taken from pigs in two locked down barangays in Hinigaran, Negros Occidental, tested negative for African Swine Fever (ASF), Mayor Nadie Arceo said on Thursday, June 8.“The initial results from the Provincial Veterinary Office were negative but we are waiting for the validation report from the (Department of Agriculture) regional office”, he said.Arceo ordered the lockdown of barangays Anahaw and Cabahug in Hinigaran on Wednesday after it was discovered that hog raisers had concealed the deaths of their pigs from the town government.Seven pigs from Barangay Anahaw had tested positive for ASF in Victorias City.Pig deaths in Negros Occidental from various diseases were at 11,367 with total losses at P128 million, the Provincial ...