Top Stories

Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson and Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez (right)*Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson was ranked second among the six governors in Western Visayas, and Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez was ranked sixth among the country’s city mayors, according to two performance surveys.The RP Mission and Development Foundation Inc. (RPMD) said its independent, non-commissioned performance appraisal survey of the governors of Western Visayas showed Iloilo Governor Arthur Defensor in the top slot with a score of 92.36 percent.In second place were Jose Enrique Miraflores of Aklan and Lacson of Negros Occidental who achieved a statistical tie for the second spot, attaining scores of 87.25 percent and 86.81 percent, respectively, the RPMD sa...

Ambulances at the Bacolod City College respond to the fainting spells Monday afternoon*CDRRMO photoColored special effects smoke for a presentation at a Bacolod City College activity caused 22 persons to feel sick and six were rushed to hospitals at past 3 p.m. Monday, May 29, Bacolod City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (DRRMO) chief, Anna Maria Laarni Pornan, said.Four students who developed numbness and had chest pains, and two Public Order and Safety Office personnel, one of whom fainted and another suffered from high blood pressure, were brought to hospitals, she said.Pornan said there was a physical education examination, which included presentations by students, at the BCC activity center.One team used colored smoke as their props. It had no smell but becau...

TFM protestors in Bacolod City on Monday, May 29.*Task Force Mapalad members staged a rally in front of the Department of Agrarian Reform-Negros Occidental (North) Office in Bacolod City, Monday, May 29, to express their dismay at the delay in land acquisition and distribution in the province.Lanie Factor, TFM National Deputy Coordinator, said the rally was about their dismay at the “worse land distribution implementation” in Negros and called for the agency to expedite the program.The rally was participated by TFM members who are farmers and farm workers, agrarian reform beneficiaries, and landless individuals from Negros, who carried placards and streamers bearing their demands.One streamer said President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. should fulfill his promises of land distributi...

Councilor Dino Acuña at the Victorias SP session on Monday*The Victorias Sangguniang Panlungsod passed three resolutions on Monday, May 29, that aim to seek help from the offices of Mayor Javier Miguel Benitez and Environment Secretary Ma. Antonia Loyzaga in concretizing the mitigating measures of Victorias Milling Company against the molasses spillage that resulted in the emission of foul odor in 11 barangays of the city.Resolution No. 235 calls on the city executive department under Benitez to forge a memorandum of agreement with VMC for their rehabilitative actions to address the spillage, Resolution No. 236 asks the city legal office to explore, study, and recommend possible legal actions and remedies related to the incident, and Resolution No. 238 seeks the assistance of Loyza...

A man died after his motorcycle crashed into a wing van truck parked on the roadside in Escalante City, Negros Occidental, Sunday afternoon, May 28, the police reported.Jamesde Flor, 20, of Brgy. Balintawak, Escalante, died after his motorcycle bumped into the rear of a wing van truck parked at the right side of a road along Sitio Varca in Brgy. Jonob-Jonob, PMaj. John Ganzon, Escalante police chief, reported on Monday.Flor was traveling from north to south direction and on reaching the ascending portion of the area, he bumped into the wing van truck.The driver of the truck was identified as Rommel Gelera, 27, a resident of Brgy. Jonob-Jonob where the accident happened, the police reported.Flor sustained injuries on different parts of his body which caused his instantaneous...

A man tagged as a “high value drug target” was sentenced to two counts of life imprisonment for violation of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2022 on Friday, May 26.Bacolod Regional Trial Court Branch 52 Judge Raymond Joseph Javier sentenced Ramon Descutido Vertudes Jr. to life imprisonment and to pay a fine of P500,000 for the sale of 50.437 grams of shabu to a police poseur buyer in Purok Villa Baradas, Barangay Alijis, Bacolod, on July 28, 2022.On his arrest 147 grams of shabu were recovered from his possession for which he was also sentenced to life imprisonment and to pay a fine of P1 million, the judge added.The judge ordered the immediate transfer of Vertudes to the National Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City, Metro Manila.He also ordered the turnover of the c...

A heart operation at the CLMMRH on Monday.*CLMMRH photoSurgery on 13 indigent heart patients from Negros Occidental and Bacolod City began at the Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital (CLMMRH) in Bacolod City on Monday, May 29.Philippine Heart Center (PHC) and CLMMRH doctors are participating in the 1st Cardiovascular Surgical Mission and will operate on patients aged 3 to 49 years old from May 29 to June 2, Dr. Julius Drilon, CLMMRH chief, said.Nine are pediatric cases and four are adults, he said.Drilon and Dr. Joel Abanilla, PHC executive director, also signed a memorandum of agreement on Monday for the training of CLMMRH’s doctors in cardiovascular care in preparation to its becoming a fully operational Regional Heart Center.The MOA formalizes the pa...

The evacuees in Sipalay City on Saturday.*Dionilo Bogtae photoTwo towns and one city in Negros Occidental preemptively evacuated 1,082 families composed of 3,659 persons amid fears of flooding caused by Super Typhoon Betty rains on Saturday night, May 27, the Office of Civil Defense said.However, no flooding occurred and the residents returned home Sunday morning.The OCD said 793 families composed of 3,150 persons were preemptively evacuated in Hinoba-an, 270 families (450 persons) in Sipalay City, and 19 families (59 persons) in EB Magalona.Food packs were provided to those who were preemptively evacuated.Sea travel was also cancelled between EB Magalona and the Ajuy Port in Iloilo, Cadiz Commercial Port and Bantayan, Cebu, EB Magalona and the Manta-angan Port and the ...

The entry of pigs and pork products from Bacolod City, where African Swine Fever (ASF) has been detected, to Negros Occidental towns and cities is now restricted.Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez announced on Friday that two pigs in Barangay Taculing, Bacolod, tested positive for ASF.The Negros Occidental provincial government following the announcement of Benitez and in compliance with the Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Animal Industry (DA-BAI) protocols is enforcing the required restrictions, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said on Sunday. May 28.The movement of live hogs, boar semen, raw meat, and locally processed meat, including lechons and chorizo, regardless of their source, from Bacolod to Negros Occidental towns and cities are now restricted, he said.Exem...