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Mayor Evelio  Leonardia, whose term  ends on  Thursday, June 30, leaves behind infrastructure projects worth over P1 billion based on a consolidated report submitted by the City Engineer's Office (CEO) covering   January 2021  to March 2022.The amount will hit P3 billion as the CEO has yet to include the P350 million appropriations for the already completed new activity center and buildings at the  Bacolod City College, the P800 million state-of-the-art MassKara Coliseum,  and  museum that received P260 million  from the national government through Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri, a press release from  the Bacolod City Government Center said Tuesday, June 28.Leonardia said the infrastructure undertakings for 2021 and the early part of ...

Talisay Mayor Neil Lizares takes his oath before Rep. Francisco Benitez during the inauguration and oathtaking ceremony at the Talisay City Public Plaza, Tuesday, June 28.*Numerous town and city officials took their oaths of office Tuesday, June 28.In Talisay  mayor Neil Lizares and  vice mayor-elect  Nicolai Jalandoni led the oath taking rites of the city officials before  Rep. Francisco Benitez (Neg. Occ.,  3rd District).Isabela mayor-elect Irene Montilla, vice mayor-elect Juan Miguel Montilla, and Sannguniang Bayan members  Eduardo Española, Raymund Gerard Montilla, Joe Al Williams, Arjay Ansag and Rene Iturriaga took their oaths of office before Negros Occidental  Gov. Eugenio Jose  Lacson at the Negros Residences in Bacolod City.La Castellana mayor Rhumyla Nicor Mangil...

Three proposed power plants   targeted to generate 362 megawatts could make Negros Occidental self-reliant in the next three years, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said Monday, June 27.“If that happens the whole province will prosper because we will have available energy at low cost,” Diaz said.He cited the proposed 300-megawatt Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) power plant of   Reliance Energy Development Inc., a subsidiary of San Miguel Corp., in San Carlos City, the 32-megawatt hydroelectric power plant of Alson’s Energy in Bago City and the planned 30-megawatt combined solar power and biomass plant in Hinoba-an town by the Zabaleta group.The Negros Occidental Sangguniang Panlalawigan granted a Resolution of No Objection on June 14 for the construction ...

If president-elect Ferdinand Marcos Jr. issues and executive order (EO) reviving the Negros Island Region (NIR) it is hoped that funding for it is included in the 2023 national budget, Negros Occidental Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said on Monday, June 27.Marcos may issue an EO creating the NIR ahead of the passage of a law, Bacolod mayor-elect Alfredo Benitez said on Saturday, June 25.Then president Benigno Aquino III issued an EO creating the NIR that existed from May 29, 2015 to Aug. 9, 2017, when it was abolished by president Rodrigo Duterte.The Negros Island and Siquijor representatives are planning to file a bill for the revival of the NIR when the 19th Congress convenes on July 1.Diaz said if the NIR is revived through an EO pending the passage of law on i...

The lives of six Moises Padilla residents, five of whom are local officials, will at last return to normal with their recent release from detention after posting bail, Mayor Celestina Garcia Yulo said Monday, June 27.The six have been falsely accused of the murder of Moises Padilla councilor Jolomar Hilario in 2019, she said.Moises Padilla Vice Mayor Ian Villafor and Councilor Jimmie Don Plaza were released from the custody of the National Bureau of Investigation on Saturday.Councilors Morito Flores and Vincent Garcia, and Quintin Remo Barangay Captain Fely Villaflor and her husband, Jonathan, were released from the custody of the Moises Padilla police on Friday.The Guihulngan Regional Trial Court allowed them to post bail of P200,000 each, the mayor said.The six have d...

Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz at the 1st Provincial Local Conservation Area Management Summit.*The Negros Occidental provincial government launched its 1st Provincial Local Conservation Area Management Summit to advance river basin conservation with a new adaption technique at the Provincial Capitol Social Hall in Bacolod City, on Monday, June 27.The summit, which is part of the 30th Provincial Environment Month celebration, highlighted the Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) technique as a high-tech yet cheaper solution to the aquatic environment problems, Julie Ann Bedrio, Provincial Environment Management Office head, said.The EbA technique requires the integrated management and multi-level participation among different sectors like the LGUs, private sector partnershi...

The seized shabu in San Carlos City*The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency and the San Carlos City police arrested four persons and seized P102,000 in drugs at 12:58 p.m. Monday, June 27.Nabbed in Barangay 6, San Carlos City, were James "Jinggoy" Santillan, 29, Edjun Artaba, 33, Roger Libre, 42, and Johnrhey Garnica, 29, a police report said.The law enforcers conducted a buy- bust operation against Santillan that also resulted in the arrest of the three others.Seized were 15 grams of suspected shabu estimated to cost P102,000 and the P500 buy bust money, the report said.*

Mayor Evelio Leonardia cuts the ribbon at the inauguration of the widened Gonzaga Bridge .*Mayor Evelio Leonardia honored the frontliners who risked their lives in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, and called them "modern-day heroes" who paved the way for Bacolod City’s de-escalation to Alert Level 1, at rites held on Monday, June 27.Leonardia led officials, along with Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran, chair of the local Inter-Agency Task Force, in paying tribute to the Emergency Operations Center-Task Force and COVID Vaccination Council volunteers, headed by Councilor-elect Em Legaspi Ang, with her deputies Dr. Chris Sorongon and Dr. Anna Maria Laarni Pornan of the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office at the Bacolod City Government Center, a press release said....