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The Bacolod City government is availing of its P5.5 billion loan from the Development Bank of the Philippines because it has offered the lowest interest rates, Councilor Jude Thaddeus Sayson, Sayson, Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP) Committee on Appropriation and Finance chair, said.The Bacolod SP approved a resolution on Wednesday, March 29, granting Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez authority to give his conformity to the Term Loan Facilities approved by DBP in the amount of P5.5 billion.“We granted the mayor the conformity to submit DBP as the bank of choice of Bacolod City to the Bureau of Local Government Finance (BLGF),” he said.After the BLGF releases its approval the city can then go ahead and avail of the loan with DBP, Sayson said.The projects listed by the DBP in its not...

A plastic bag containing two severed human feet and a note with names and a warning was dumped near a gasoline station at CL Montelibano Avenue in Barangay Villamonte, Bacolod City, at 1 a.m. Wednesday, March 29.The feet appeared to have been cut off a few hours before they were found as they still had some fresh blood on them, PCapt. Greeky Cayao, Police Station 4 chief, said.They may have been cut from the ankles somewhere else between 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. Tuesday, Cayao said.Chopped off hands submerged in beef broth and a list of 22 persons linked to illegal drugs were also found in Purok Kagaykay, Brgy. 2, Bacolod City, on January 25. The police have yet to identify who owned the hands.Meanwhile, Cayao withheld the contents of the note found with the feet while the police ...

The Social Security System (SSS) Bacolod East Branch officials served notices to eight more non-compliant employers on Tuesday, March 28, as part of their Run After Contribution Evaders (RACE) Campaign.The eight establishments had SSS contribution delinquencies of P4.1 million, Dr. Lilani Benedian, SSS Vice President for Visayas West 1 Division, said.The SSS delinquencies have affected 179 employees of the eight establishments, which include a pastry shop, industrial firm, car care services, pet salon, seafood restaurant and coffee shops in Bacolod.Benedian said they were very happy that the employers they visited were very cooperative and were willing to avail of the SSS Contribution Penalty Condonation Program to settle their delinquencies.SSS Bacolod East also served not...

Dr. Ma. Girlie Pinongan*The appointment of Dr. Ma. Girlie Pinongan as officer-in-charge of the Negros Occidental Provincial Health Office (PHO) will help strengthen preventive measures against prevalent ailments to ensure that fewer Negrenses end up in hospitals, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said Tuesday, March 28.Pinongan, Hospital Operations Department head, will serve as OIC of the PHO in a concurrent capacity.Diaz said Pinongan is knowledgeable in public health and has extensive experience in hospital management.Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson designated Pinongan OIC of the PHO starting April 3 on the request of Dr. Ernell Tumimbang for a transition team to be oriented of the different programs and health activities of the PHO.Tumimbang is set to retire as P...

A 62-year-old Catholic priest wanted for rape was arrested at Camelot Subdivision, Barangay Estefania, Bacolod, 6:05 p.m. Monday, March 27.Fr. Conrado Ursua Mantac is facing criminal charges for the alleged rape of a 17-year-old choir girl in Sagay City in 2022 with no bail granted for his temporary liberty, the police said Tuesday.The alleged incident occurred while the priest was assigned in Sagay City.Mantac, who is from Brgy Balatocan, Municipality of Looc, Romblon, was arrested by virtue of a warrant of arrest issued by Executive Judge Reginald Fuentebella of the Sagay Regional Trial Court Branch 73 on March 7.Mantac was assigned to the Most Holy Rosary Parish in Barangay Paraiso, Sagay, and was preventively suspended when the Diocese of San Carlos received the complai...

Negros Occidental continues to export pigs to other parts of the country.*Richard Malihan photoNegros Occidental has adequate pork supply as production in the province remains good, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz assured Tuesday, March 28.The provincial government’s stringent bio-security measures have kept Negros Occidental African Swine Fever free, he said.The provincial government is also working to further upgrade its laboratory with equipment for testing against ASF and bird flu, he added.The ban against the entry of swine and poultry products from red zones or areas hit by ASF and bird flu remains in Negros Occidental and Bacolod, Diaz said.“We want to be stronghold of food security for the country,” he said.Negros Occidental continues to export hogs ...

A former police officer who is now the security chief of an agribusiness compound in Sta. Catalina, Negros Oriental, owned by former Governor Pryde Henry Teves allegedly played a vital role in the assassination of Negros Oriental Gov. Roel Degamo, an official of the Philippine National Police (PNP) said on Tuesday, March 28.PNP spokesperson Col. Jean Fajardo said Nigel Lagunay Electona, a former cop assigned at the Dumaguete City Police Office, was arrested during the service of a search warrant at the HDJ Bayawan Agri-ventures Corporation, Tolong compound, on March 24.“Based on the report given to us by STG PRO7 (Special Task Group Police Regional Office 7), Mr. Nigel played a big role because it appears from reports and information from the suspects arrested earlier, Nigel was in...

The scene of the killing in Isabela town.*Two persons on board a motorcycle were shot to death at the highway in Barangay 5, Isabela, 11 a.m. Tuesday, March 28.CCTV footage showed that the victims came from the direction of La Castellana, PCapt. RJ Dangaran, Isabela OIC police chief, said.The victims were described to be in their 40s to 50s.After the two were shot and their motorcycle fell, one tried to escape but was shot again by the suspect, witnesses said.The two who did not appear to be residents of Isabela, since no one was reported missing in the town, remained unidentified as of Tuesday evening.The police were still determining their identities.*

Operatives of the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) seized an assault rifle with a sniper scope, three magazines, and thousands of ammunition in the premises of a Teves owned sugar mill in Sta. Catalina town, Negros Oriental, Monday evening, March 27.The items were recovered at another area of the sugar mill on Monday evening, during the fourth day of the continuous implementation of a search warrant at the HDJ Bayawan Agri-venture Corp. at Sitio Tolong, Barangay Caranoche in Sta. Catalina, a report from the Joint Task Force Negros said.The series of raids, which started on Friday, was carried out by virtue of a search warrant for violations of Republic Act 10591 or the Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulation Act that was issu...

Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson and the executives of the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) led the launching of the Coconut Farmers and Industry Development Plan (CFIDP) On-Farm Coconut Hybridization Project in Brgy. Purisima, Manapla, on Tuesday, March 28.The project aims to mass produce single cross, high-quality coconut hybrids following standard hybridization protocols and good agricultural practices for distribution to the farmers and other coconut industry stakeholders, a press release from the Capitol said.It is also part of complementing the Regional PCA’s Accelerated Planting and Replanting Program.Lacson thanked the Department of Agriculture and PCA for choosing Negros Occidental, particularly the town of Manapla, to be part of PCA’s Coconut Hybridization...