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Tropical cyclone Chedeng has intensified into a typhoon but is still not forecast to affect the country's weather condition as of Thursday, June 8, the weather bureau said.Chedeng packs maximum sustained winds of 120 kph near the center and gustiness of up to 150 kph. It was last tracked 935 km east of Central Luzon, moving northwestward at 15 kph.The hoisting of tropical cyclone wind signals remains unlikely, but Chedeng is forecast to enhance the southwest monsoon in the next three days, resulting in gusty conditions in some areas.The Visayas, Romblon, Occidental Mindoro, the northern portion of Palawan including Kalayaan, Calamian, and Cuyo Islands, Surigao del Norte, Dinagat Islands, and Camiguin may experience gusty winds on Friday.On Saturday, gusty conditions may als...

NFA-NegOcc Acting Branch Manager Glenda Paz shows the rice stocks set for distribution under the One-Time Grant of Rice Assistance Program.*Mark L. Garcia photoThe National Food Authority in Negros Occidental assures the beneficiaries of the One-Time Grant of Rice Assistance to government employees that the rice it is distributing is safe and edible.NFA-Negros Occidental Acting Branch Manager Glenda Paz said that the rice is good and fit for human consumption, debunking the allegations that it was inedible, during a press conference on Thursday, June 8.This came after national media outlets reported that rice assistance given to the teachers in Bacolod was inedible and had “bukbok” or rice weevils.House Deputy Minority Leader and Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) Party-l...

Nine local government units in Negros Occidental have exceeded the 95 percent measles rubella vaccination target set by the Department of Health (DOH), Provincial Health Office (PHO) data on Wednesday, June 7, showed.Negros Occidental is also still No. 1 in the Chikiting Ligtas vaccination campaign in Western Visayas, the DOH said Thursday.The nine Negros Occidental LGUs that have exceeded the DOH target are Murcia with 107.97 percent vaccinated children or an excess of 939 from the 7,244 target, followed by Himamaylan City at 105.76 percent;Silay City - 102.78 percent, Talisay City - 99.56 percent, Kabankalan City - 98.03 percent, La Castellana - 96.97 percent, Moises Padilla - 95.88 percent, Sagay City - 95.76 percent, and Candoni – 95.57 percent.Twenty-two other Negros O...

Tangub Barangay Captain Noli Villarosa*A criminal complaint filed against three barangay captains, including Noli Villarosa of Tangub, Bacolod City, who was tagged as a financier of illegal Small Town Lottery (STL) operations in Kabankalan City, has been dismissed.The Kabankalan City Prosecutor’s Office dismissed the charges filed by the National Bureau of Investigation for lack of sufficient evidence, NBI special investigator William de Arca Jr. said Thursday, June 8.Cleared along with Villarosa were Kabankalan City village chiefs Joel Alibango of Barangay 5 and Franz Leonard Siguero of Barangay 6 who were alleged to be “protectors” of illegal STL operations.The NBI had filed a complaint for violation of Presidential Degree 1602 as amended by Republic Act 9287, for illegal...

The Bacolod police seized P680,000 worth of suspected shabu in Brgy. Handumanan*The police seized about P800,000 worth of suspected shabu in a series of buy-bust operations in five local government units in Negros Occidental on Wednesday and Thursday, June 7 and 8.The Bacolod police arrested Jomarie Tapalla, 55, after confiscating P680,000 worth of suspected shabu in a buy-bust operation at Purok San Roque 1, Barangay Handumanan, at 1:55 a.m. Thursday.Seized from the suspect was 100 grams of suspected shabu, the police said.In Escalante City 16.18 grams of suspected shabu worth about P110,024 was turned over to the police on Wednesday.The police received a call that alleged illegal drugs were found in a restobar in Brgy. Balintawak, Escalante City.The police said th...

The Anti-JVA Coalition press conference Thursday morning.*The Anti-Joint Venture Coalition on Thursday, June 8, served notice to Central Negros Electric Cooperative and Primelectric Holdings Inc. officials that legal action may be taken against them.“We are serving them notice today that if they do not desist from continuing a path that endorses the joint venture agreement despite its being clearly baseless and contrary to law then we will be compelled to file charges against them”, Aaron Pedrosa, Sanlakas secretary general, said at an Anti-Joint Venture Coalition press conference in Bacolod City.“We will sue them not only to stop this nonsense, but also to hold them administratively accountable,” he said, adding that they are also exploring criminal liability.“We are pro...

Noli Rosales, Bayan-Negros spokesperson, declaring Wennie Sancho persona non grata.*CPG photoLabor leaders and labor rights advocates on Thursday, June 8, declared Wennie Sancho, Power Watch secretary general, persona non grata in Negros Occidental workplaces for his support of the Central Negros Electric Cooperative (CENECO) and Primelectric Holdings Inc. joint venture agreement, a leader of a coalition opposing the move said Thursday, June 8.“Sancho's statements are a complete turnaround from the worker's cause. His assertion to open up CENECO to a Joint Venture Agreement is an attack on the rights of all CENECO employees to security of tenure, just and living wages, and trade union rights”, Noli Rosales, Bayan-Negros spokesperson, said at an Anti-JVA Coalition press conference....

Hinigaran Mayor Nadie Arceo*Mayor Nadie Arceo ordered the lockdown of two barangays in Hinigaran, Negros Occidental, where pig deaths were discovered, on Wednesday, June 7.Movement of pigs in and out of barangays Anahaw and Cabahug is no longer allowed, Arceo said, following the announcement on Tuesday that seven pigs from his town tested positive for African Swine Fever (ASF) in Victorias City.Arceo said he accepts that the seven pigs that tested positive for ASF in Victorias City were from Barangay Anahaw in his town.The Provincial Veterinary Office (PVO) representative in Hinigaran cleared the pigs for sale to Victorias since there was no recorded pig deaths in Barangay Anahaw.Arceo said following the announcement of Victorias Mayor Javier Miguel Benitez it was disco...

Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez has been elected Visayas Area chairman.“I would like to thank my colleagues in the NEDA Board-Regional Development Committee, Visayas Area Committee (NB-RDCOM VAC) for electing me as Visayas Area Chairman,” he said in a Facebook post Wednesday, “ June 7.“I am honored by your vote of confidence. Rest assured, I will continue to work with purpose towards our shared future,” he added.Benitez is also the current chairman of the Western Visayas Regional Development Council.*

Director Kurt Soberano during the shoot of his film “Golden Bells"*Two Negrense filmmakers are finalists in the short film competition of this year’s Cinemalaya, the country’s biggest independent film festival.Cinemalaya, in a Facebook post on Tuesday night, June 6, announced that Kurt Soberano from Bacolod City and Kent John Desamparado of Sagay City are among the 10 short filmmakers in the Philippines that were shortlisted in this year’s festival.They are the only filmmakers that came from Negros Island and Western Visayas.Soberano’s film “Golden Bells” is a family drama about a small business thriving in the downtown area of Bacolod, while Desamparado’s “Ang Kining Ambahanon kag Binalaybay ko Para isa Imo” tells the story of an elderly man and his relationship to his gra...