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The culminating activity at the Bacolod City Police Office grounds on Monday, October 24.*BCPO photoThe Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO) said the just concluded MassKara Festival was successful and generally peaceful.The Balik Yuhum-themed festival which concluded Sunday, October 23, recorded no major criminal incidents from October 1 to 23, the police said.Col. Thomas Joseph Martir, city police director, said the 23-day-festival was a total success as far as peace and order and public safety is concerned.“The whole of nation approach involving other government agencies used in major events made the festivities peaceful and orderly. The security preparations and the deployment of PNP personnel with BCPO force multipliers also proved effective in all of the festival venues,...

The scene of the crime in Calatrava on Sunday.*Calatrava PNP photoA man was shot to death while he was at a store in Barangay Ani-e, Calatrava, Negros Occidental, Sunday, October 23.Killed was Danilo Cuales, 52.Police said the victim was eating bread with his partner when he was approached by the suspect identified as 42-year-old Ronald Abadilla, who shot Cuales multiple times.The victim died on the spot, while the suspect fled to an unknown direction.Cuales and Abadilla got into a fight in 2018, which led to the victim hitting the suspect in the face, the police said.The police said the suspect may have taken the chance to retaliate against the victim.He is currently at large.*

The scene of the accident in Don Salvador Benedicto.*A kagawad of Barangay Bunga, Don Salvador Benedicto, Negros Occidental, was killed after he figured in an accident on Saturday, October 22.Killed was 28-year-old Joelibert Toreno.The victim was found lying on the side of the road in Purok Estewetes in Barangay Bunga.Lt. Everly Canto, DSB deputy police chief, said the victim went drinking on Friday, October 21, and brought home his companion.Toreno's motorcycle overshot the road and hit the pavement that caused his death, the police said.*

The Provincial Veterinary Office has already been collecting blood samples of pigs in Negros Occidental for testing and the province still remains ASF free, Dr. Placeda Lemana, PVO officer-in-charge, assured Monday, October 24.President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ordered the Department of Agriculture (DA) Western Visayas office on Sunday, October 23, to test all pig breeding sites in the region to control the spread of the African Swine Fever (ASF) after cases were detected in Iloilo.ASF is a highly contagious viral disease of pigs, whose mortality rate can reach 100 percent.The DA has been conducting a nationwide surveillance against ASF and has been requiring the collection of blood samples from pigs for testing by the Animal Health and Welfare Division of the Bureau of Animal Indu...

Victorias Mayor Javier Miguel Benitez, Mark Molina, Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez and Eusebio Tanco (l-r) at the Paglaum Stadium on Sunday*STI Education Systems Holdings Inc. chairman Eusebio Tanco gave an additional P270,000 in cash prizes to the participating barangays in the MassKara street and arena dance competition at the Paglaum Stadium on Sunday, October 23.Tanco, who was at Paglaum enjoyed the performances and felt sorry for the performers who fainted, Mark Molina, STI West Negros University executive vice president, said Monday."As far as STI is concerned, it's not just the winning. It's the effort of every barangay that makes the festival a success," Molina said.STI, which owns WNC, gave the 17 participating barangays P10,000 each in prizes, he said....

Councilor Em Legaspi Ang*Councilor Em Ang is pushing for Bacolod’s famous chicken inasal to be registered as a significant cultural property of the city before the National Commission for Culture and the Arts.Ang, Sangguniang Panlungsod committee on history, culture and arts chair, held a public hearing Monday, October 24, on her proposed ordinance declaring the city’s chicken inasal as cultural property of Bacolod.Bacolod, among other things, is known for its juicy tasty chicken inasal, she said.Wherever you go in the Philippines you will find an eatery or restaurant with the name Bacolod chicken inasal to indicate that it taste good, she said.It is important that the chicken inasal is registered as a cultural property to help promote tourism that will redound to econo...

The Korean Air plane that overshot the runway of the Mactan Cebu International Airport.* PIO Lapu-Lapu City photoPhilippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific cancelled their Cebu-Bacolod and Bacolod-Cebu flights on Monday, October 24, after the Mactan Cebu International Airport (MCIA) was closed.The MCIA was closed after a Korean Air plane from Incheon, South Korea, overshot the runway after attempting to land during heavy rains Sunday night.The airport will be closed until midnight Tuesday, October 25 while the Korean Air plane is being removed, Glenn Napuli, MCIA legal manager, said Monday.He said the MCIA management is working on partially opening portions of the runway before midnight of October 25.A Cebu Pacific advisory said among its cancelled flights Monday was 5J 126/1...

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. (5th from left) at the culminating activity of the MassKara Festival at the Paglaum Stadium on Sunday, October 23.*Ronnie Baldonado photoPresident Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said Bacolod’s successful staging of its 43rd MassKara Festival has shown the entire country and world that the Filipino people are ready to return to their normal lives and that the Philippines is on its way back to economic recovery.Bacolod’s MassKara Festival also serves as an example for the rest of the Philippines, said Marcos, who spoke at a program during the MassKara Festival arena dance competition at the Paglaum Stadium in Bacolod Sunday afternoon, October 23.Marcos, whose supporters chanted “BBM, BBM” as he entered the stadium, said he will keep his promise to the Filipin...