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Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez said on Friday, September 9, that he has asked the Bacolod City Water District-PrimeWater officials to hasten finding solutions to the public’s water complaints.The water firm officials informed him that their problems have stemmed from lack of water supply and 746 kilometers of old pipelines, Benitez said.Benitez said it appears that they have already found a solution to their bulk water supply, which they are aiming to source from Murcia town.They explained that the problem of murky water has been caused by old pipelines that have yet to be replaced and power outages, the mayor added.Of the 746 kilometers old BACIWA pipelines only 4.5 kilometers have been replaced so far, the mayor was told.Brownouts have also affected water dist...

A street-level drug personality was arrested in a buy-bust operation at Nacab Village, Brgy. Bubog, Talisay City, Negros Occidental, Thursday night, September 8.Nabbed was 36-year-old John Richard “Pedro” Mabansag.Recovered from his possession were four grams of suspected shabu worth P27,200, the P500 buy-bust money, P320 in cash proceeds, drug paraphernalia, and an improvised shotgun with 12-gauage ammunition.The suspect is in police custody and will face charges for illegal possession of drugs and firearm.*

The drug paraphernalia recovered from a barangay kagawad.*Kabankalan PNP photoA kagawad of Barangay Dancalan, Ilog, Negros Occidental, was arrested at a police checkpoint in Brgy. 1, Kabankalan City, Thursday, September 8, for possession of drug paraphernalia.Nabbed was Cyrell Castañares, 40.While at the checkpoint, the motorcycle ridden by the kagawad stopped, and when the policemen approached him and his companion, the suspect allegedly threw something to the ground.It turned out to be an improvised glass tooter and plastic straw scoop with traces of suspected shabu.Also recovered from him were an improvised aluminum canister and disposable lighter.The kagawad is now in police custody.*

The scene of the crime in Barangay Alijis, Bacolod City, Thursday, September 8.*Police Station 8 photoThe Bacolod City police were continuing to investigate the killing of a commercial sex worker in Barangay Alijis on Thursday, September 8.Capt. Elmer Bonilla, Police Station 8 chief, said one of the motives they are looking at is that the victim and her customer did not agree on the price that is why she was killed.Bonilla also said that they are also looking at the possibility that the customer may have been tricked and was not able to get the end of the deal.The victim was found at a vacant lot in the barangay and had a hematoma on the right side of her face and bruises on her neck.The police have not found the suspect. They are still looking for a witness and the pim...

The PDC meeting on Friday*The Negros Occidental Provincial Development Council passed a resolution endorsing the Panay-Guimaras-Negros bridge project on Friday, September 9.The endorsement was passed during the 3rd Quarter PDC meeting at the Social Hall of the Capitol in Bacolod City, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said.Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said on Monday that the national government is sticking to its original plan to connect the Guimaras bridge to Negros Occidental through Pulupandan town.Regional Director Arecio Casing Jr. of the National Economic and Development Authority had asked the Negros Occidental PDC for the endorsement of the original plan, Lacson said.*

Senate President Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri said on Friday, September 9, that the Senate is likely to postpone the barangay elections for a year.Zubiri, who was in Bacolod City, said 80 percent of the senators favor the postponement of the polls from December 2022 to December 2023.He said Senator Imee Marcos, Senate Committee on Electoral Reforms and People’s Participation chairperson, already has a committee report that will be taken up by the Senate in a plenary session next week.The Lower House is also expected to postpone the barangay polls by a year, Rep. Juliet Marie Ferrer (Neg. Occ., 4th District) also said earlier.*

Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said the use of face masks inside the Capitol building in Bacolod City will still be required.He pointed out that what the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) has recommended is the voluntary use of face masks outdoors.It did not say that masks may no longer be used in indoor public places, he said.The IATF-EID recommendation has not been acted on by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. yet.The provincial government will comply with the order of the national government, Lacson said.The active COVID-19 cases in Negros Occidental were 162 on Friday.Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez said he is okay with the optional wearing of masks in public places.He also noted that new CO...

The Commission on Elections Second Division has dismissed an election protest filed by former Bacolod mayor Evelio Leonardia against incumbent Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez for being “improperly filed” and “insufficient in form and content.”However, in compliance with COMELEC Rules of Procedure the case was referred to the Law Department for further investigation of the alleged violation of the Omnibus Election Code for vote-buying, illegal campaigning, wearing of uniforms and bearing of arms, the order issued Wednesday, September 7, said.“It bears stressing that the process of manual recount is not a tool intended to replace proof with suppositions or evidence with assumptions. Baseless and unsubstantiated protest remains impermissible in order to fully protect the true will of t...

Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez and Regional Director Adriano Suba-an of the Department of Health (seated, l-r) signed a A Memorandum of Agreement for the DOH allocation of P250 million for the construction of the BCGH’s main building in the presence of Rep. Emilio Yulo III, Rep. James Ang Jr., Vice Governor Jeffrey Ferrer, Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri, Bacolod Rep. Greg Gasataya and DPWH Regional Director Nerie Bueno (l-r, standing).*Andy Alvarez photoSenate President Juan Miguel Zubiri pledged an additional P400 million for the construction of the Bacolod City General Hospital (BCGH) at its groundbreaking rites in Barangay Vista Alegre, Bacolod City, on Friday, September 9.This will bring the cost of the BCGH buildings to P850 million, Bacolod Rep. Greg Gasataya sa...