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The drugs recovered from a buy-bust operation in Brgy. Singcang-Airport, Bacolod City.*PDEA photoAnother suspected drug den in Bacolod City was dismantled while four persons were arrested in a buy-bust operation at Brgy. Singcang-Airport, Bacolod City, on Sunday, September 25.Nabbed were suspected drug den maintainer Jonnel Canete Cordero, and his three visitors, Danilo Villaram Dela Cruz, Mayu Tadayca Sayson and Mary Jane Bedoa Cordero.Seized during the operation were 15 grams of suspected shabu worth P102,000, the buy-bust money, and drug paraphernalia.The suspects are now in the custody of PDEA and facing drug charges.*

The Bacolod City Police Office will enforce a gun ban during the MassKara Festival from October 1 to 23.Lt.Col. Sherlock Gabana, BCPO public information officer, said not only guns and bullets will be banned but also deadly weapons such as knives.The police will also implement checkpoints, as well as monitor the festival sites every night.Smoking and the use of vape will also be prohibited in non-designated areas, he said.The send off ceremony of the police force along with other security personnel who will be deployed during the MassKara will be on September 29.The MassKara welcome party will be held on October 1.*

The Department of Social Welfare and Development announced on Monday, September 26, that it has provided P129.7 million in educational assistance to 46,055 indigent students in Western Visayas.The DSWD Educational Assistance Payout covered the period from August 20 to September 24.There were 10,375 elementary pupils, 8,639 students in high school, 6,037 in senior high school and 21,004 in college who received assistance, the DSWD 6 said.Distributed in Iloilo province was P45.3 million to 14,999 recipients, Negros Occidental – P37.2 million to 13,292, , Capiz – P14.4 million to 5,277, Antique – P13.9 million to 4,983, Aklan – P12.5 million to 4,872, and Guimaras - P6.1 million to 2,632.*

Rescue operations in Cauayan town on Monday*Cauayan BFP photoThe suspension of travel from Negros to Manila was lifted Monday morning, September 26, and classes in 24 Negros Occidental towns and cities are set to resume on Tuesday.Typhoon “Karding” exited the Philippine Area of Responsibility Monday night.The Philippine Coast Guard lifted sea travel from Bacolod to Batangas and Manila Monday morning.Rains brought on by “Karding” caused the evacuation of 4,822 families with 16,448 members in two towns and a city in southern Negros Occidental, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said.There were 16,091 residents of barangays Gil Montilla, Mambaroto and Maricalum who evacuated, 317 residents of barangays Bagroy, San Teodoro and San Vicente in Binalbagan, and 40 from bar...

Former Sugar Regulatory Administration head Hermenegildo Serafica*A Himamaylan Regional Trial Court judge on Monday, September 26, found former Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) head Hermenegildo Serafica guilty of indirect contempt of court for issuing a memorandum allowing the importation of sugar in violation of a writ of preliminary injunction.Himamaylan RTC Branch 55 Judge Walter Zorilla sentenced Serafica to suffer the straight penalty of imprisonment for 15 days and to pay a fine of P30,000.Zorilla also issued a warrant of arrest against Serafica for the service of the imprisonment imposed upon him.The judge on March 2, 2022 issued a writ of preliminary injunction directing the SRA, its agents and representatives or persons acting in its behalf to cease and desis...

Megaworld is bringing another iconic addition to its 34-hectare The Upper East township in Bacolod City with the construction of The Upper East House, a three-level township showroom that will be designed to pay tribute to the historic institution that used to occupy the township’s current location, the Bacolod-Murcia Milling Company (BMMC), its officials announced Monday, September 26.The vintage look of The Upper East House takes inspiration from the design of BMCC guest house known then as the “Balay Puti” or “Balay Daku” inside the former sugar milling complex, ” where members of the Araneta family spent their vacations.It will be the crown jewel of the township that will be a perfect blend of the old and new, and will open to the public in the fourth quarter of 2023, Harold Ge...

Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez and the Bacolod City officials with Rep. Francisco Benitez (Neg. Occ., 3rd District) at the closing of the Negros Trade Fair at Glorietta 2 in Makati City Sunday, September 25.* Bacolod PIO photoThe 36th Negros Trade Fair (NTF) at Glorietta 2 in Makati City ended Sunday night, September 25, with an increase in sales by 45 percent compared to 2019, Sybel Nobleza, Association of Negros Producers (ANP) external affairs manager, said.Their initial sales tally was P33.3 million, she said.Nobleza said they will probably have a final tally on Monday.The sales figure this year could increase as they were still waiting for the confirmation on the big bookings, Nobleza said.MaryAnn Colmenares, Association of Negros Producers, vice president for advo...

A member of the Civilian Armed Forces Geographical Unit (CAFGU) was gunned down at Sitio Kabayabasan, Brgy. Montilla, Moises Padilla, Negros Occidental, on Saturday, September 24.Killed was Joselito Raboy, 40, a member of the Delta Company of the Army 62nd Infantry Battalion (IB) based in Barangay Quintin Remo, Moises Padilla.The victim, who was off duty and unarmed, was onboard his motorcycle from the detachment when he was ambushed by four suspected members of the New People’s Army, Brig. Gen. Inocencio Pasaporte, Army 303rd Infantry Brigade commander, said.Recovered from the scene were slugs of a .45 caliber pistol.*