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The country's sugar industry getting financial boost next year.*Ronnie Baldonado photoActing Administrator David Alba of the Sugar Regulatory Administration on Monday, August 29, welcomed the announcement that the national government’s subsidy for the SRA will be increased next year.Deputy House Speaker Ralph Recto said, in a press statement Sunday, that the Department of Agriculture, with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. at its helm, will see its budget shoot up by 44 percent, from P71 billion this year to P102.15 billion next year. A budget subsidy of P1 billion has been earmarked for the SRA, up by 41 percent, from this year’s P712.2 million, Recto said.“We welcome the budget increase for SRA for next year’s utilization as the industry is in dire need of programs to be implem...

Rescuers trying to revive the drowning victims in Cadiz City.*PCG Cadiz photoAn excursion turned fatal at the Kabilang-Bilangan Reef in Barangay Sicaba, Cadiz City, Negros Occidental, after four persons, including two minors, drowned on Sunday, August 28.The victims were on a pumpboat going to the sandbar when a 15-year-old boy fell into the water due to the strong waves.This prompted his mother, 33-year-old Marlyn Aguirre, to jump into the sea to save her son, but she, too, was swept away by the strong current.Their companion - Remymar Ocon, 31, and a 13-year-old boy - also jumped to rescue the two, but they also drowned.Attempts were made to revive the victims at the Cadiz City Emergency Clinic but they didn’t make it.They had five other companions who were also t...

Rescuers help the three persons on board a tricycle that collided with a truck at Barangay Bata, Bacolod City, on Friday, August 26.*Amity Volunteer Fire Brigade photoFive people were killed in separate accidents in Negros Occidental in three days.Killed on Friday, August 26, were 40-year-old Marciano Mahilum Jr., his 17-year-old daughter, whose name was withheld, and brother-in-law, 35-year-old Reynald Porras, of Barangay Matab-ang, Talisay City.The victims were onboard a tricycle driven by Mahilum when it collided with a truck at Barangay Bata, Bacolod City.The tricycle overtook a truck, but it collided with another truck on the opposite lane.On Saturday, August 7, a 13-year-old boy was killed at Hacienda San Jose, Barangay Katilingban, Talisay City.The tricycle d...

The two kilos of suspected shabu estimated to cost P13.668 million.*Silay PNP photoTwo sisters, tagged as high-value drug suspects, were arrested in a buy-bust operation at Brgy. Lantad, Silay City, Negros Occidental, on Sunday, August 28, which led to the recovery of P13.668 million worth of drugs.Nabbed by operatives of the Regional Police Drug Enforcement Unit 6 and the Silay City Police Station were Angie Dumdumaya, 30, and her sister, Angielyn Dumdumaya, 25, both tagged by the police as high-value drug individuals.The suspects were arrested after they sold illegal drugs worth P30,000 to a police-poseur buyer.Recovered from their possession were two kilos of suspected shabu estimated to cost P13.668 million and the buy-bust money.The suspects are now detained at the...

The Negros Occidental National Science High School in Victorias City.*Victorias Mayor Javier Miguel “Javi” Benitez said on Sunday, August 27, that classes will resume at the Negros Occidental National Science High School (NONSHS) on Tuesday, after they were suspended late last week when tremors were felt in the area.Strong tremors were felt in barangays 10 and 14 in Victorias City on August 24 and 25 but the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said it had not recorded any earthquakes in the area.Benitez has asked the PHIVOLCS, Mines and Geosciences Bureau, and the Department of Public Works and Highways to investigate what caused the tremors and to check on the safety of classrooms.Classes at the NONSHS were suspended late last week, but Benitez said “on Tues...

The family of Dauin, Negros Oriental, Mayor Galicano Truita and their helpers were held hostage by their security escort at their home on Saturday, August 27.Lt Col. Roland Lavisto, public information officer of the Negros Oriental Police Provincial Office (NORPPO), said in a statement Sunday, August 28, that the suspect, identified as 57-year-old Venirando Dalope of Pangasinan, surrendered to authorities after hours of negotiations.He held captive the mayor’s wife, Maria Carmen Truita, and, daughter Jemimie Truita, and their helpers, Liza Tuban and Maricon Abarientos.The suspect has been working as a security escort for the family for several years, and was suffering from a nervous breakdown prior to the incident, the police said.It was the mayor who informed town police c...

The DSWD payout at SM City in Bacolod City.* Bacolod City PIO photoThe Department of Social Welfare and Development distributed P22,786,000 in educational assistance payouts to 7,852 indigent students in Western Visayas on Saturday, August 27.There were 1,687 beneficiaries in Negros Occidental who received P5,306,000, May Rago-Castillo, DSWD 6 information officer, said Sunday, August 28.She said 276 beneficiaries were elementary students, 194 - high school, 226 - senior high school and 991 – college from Negros Occidental.The payout on Saturday was “generally peaceful, organized and smooth. It was way better and improved. The additional assessment and payout sites really helped to ensure that no untoward incident would happen,” Rago-Castillo said, after a previous near stam...

Gina Martin - Philippine Sugar Research Foundation Inc. director general, David Alba - acting Sugar Regulatory Administrator and Terence Uygongco - PHILSURIN Foundation president (l-r) at the 68th Philippine Sugar Technologists annual convention in Bacolod City on Thursday, August 25.*Suitable high yielding sugarcane varieties are a prime necessity for sustainability of the Philippine sugarcane industry, Gina Martin, Philippine Sugar Research Foundation Inc. (PHILSURIN) director general, said Sunday, August 28.PHILSURIN has developed better high yielding varieties that would help growers attain profit despite high production cost, Martin, former Sugar Regulatory Administrator, said.She said PHILSURIN has released commercial varieties that could serve as replacement to the deter...

The demand letters being served Friday.*The Bacolod City Legal Office (CLO) served final notices or demand letters to 17 tenants of the Manokan Country to pay their delinquent accounts totaling P8.64 million or face closure.The serving of the notices on Friday, August 26, was a collaborative effort of the CLO together with the City Treasurer's Office, Permits and Licensing Division and Socio-Economic Enterprise Unit – Markets, a press release from the Bacolod City Government Center said.Legal Assistant II April Rose Mae B. Morada reminded stall owners and their representatives that they only have until the end of September to settle their accounts.Failure to settle their accounts will result in the closure of their business establishments, the notices signed by City Legal O...