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Jan252023 by Carla P. GomezNo Comments

Guanzon: Don’t import sugar based on knee jerk reaction

Former Commissioner Rowena Guanzon*Rowena Guanzon, the outspoken former commissioner of the Commission on Elections, called on President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to decide on how much sugar to import this year based on actual data of local production.Marcos should not make decisions based on knee jerk reactions to information whispered to him by some people, the Sugar Regulatory Administration should give accurate and reliable data on the exact amount of sugar shortage expected and how much do they plan to import, Guanzon said Tuesday, January 25.She also asked what made it wrong for the previous Sugar Regulatory Administration board members to import 300,000 metric tons of sugar last year, and right for the Department of Agriculture (DA) to now decide to do the same thing.The ...

Jan242023 by Martian MuycoNo Comments

Relatives eyed in killing of 2

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The body of Jose Rammel Europa was found in this area in Sitio Cabadingan, Brgy. Camandag, La Castellana.*Two persons were killed in La Castellana and Murcia, Negros Occidental, the police reported Tuesday, January 24.Jose Rammel Dagsa Europa, 47, was found dead with a gunshot wound beside a creek in Sitio Cabadingan, Brgy. Camandag, La Castellana, on Monday.A nephew of the suspect is a person of interest in the killing, the police said.Meanwhile, Lito Hilado Pabrua, 42, was hacked to death in Purok Guinam-an, Brgy. Minoyan, Murcia, Negros Occidental, Monday night, by his uncle, the police said.The suspect is Francisco Belegorio Roce, 59.A police report said the Pabrua and Roce were having a drinking session inside the house of the suspect.A heated altercation o...

Jan242023 by Nico DelfinNo Comments

NOCPPO dismantles six drug groups in NegOcc

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PLt. Judeses Catalogo, Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office spokesman*Six illegal drugs groups in Negros Occidental have been dismantled, the police said Tuesday, January 24.Dismantled were the Ramos, Divinagracia, Bacus, Macundato, Virtucio and Burgos drug groups through Oplan Tokhang and other illegal drugs operations, PLt. Judeses Catalogo, Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office (NOCPPO) spokesman, said.They are closely monitoring the remaining members of the drug groups individually engaging in the illegal drugs trade, he said.The new approach of the police in the campaign against illegal drugs is to give attention to drug rehabilitation and education, he said.The NOCPPO was the topnotcher in the anti-illegal drugs operations in Western Visayas in 2022. It...

Jan242023 by Carla P. GomezNo Comments

Consumers push for affordable, reliable power at Ceneco dialog

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The dialog at CENECO on Tuesday.*“Our goal is reliable, renewable, available, affordable and sustainable energy for Negros Occidental”, former governor Rafael Coscolluela said Tuesday, January 24.Leaders of consumers groups led by Coscolluela and Fr. Chris Gonzales, head of the Diocese of Bacolod Social Action Center, met with Central Negros Electric Cooperative officials at the CENECO board room Tuesday.“While we favor dialog as the means to resolve issues, we are not averse to resorting to constructive criticism when called for. We thank the CENECO Board and management for being open to this,” Coscolluela said.“The healthy communication of ideas involved the discussion of electricity rates, power contracts and environment concerns. The consumer groups also sought clarific...

Jan242023 by Carla P. GomezNo Comments

Alvarez: EO creating NIR would boost passage of law

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Vice Governor Jeffrey Ferrer and Rep. Mercedes Alvarez*Rep. Mercedes Alvarez (Neg. Occ., 6th District) said on Tuesday, January 24, that if President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. issues an executive order creating the Negros Island Region, it will be a big help in influencing the passage of a pending bill in Congress seeking its creation by law.After all it is the president who will sign the Congress’ approved bill creating the new region into law, she said.A bill seeking the creation of the new region composed of Negros Occidental and Oriental and Siquijor has been approved by the House Committee on Local Government. It is up for deliberation before the House Committee on Appropriations before its passage on second reading, Alvarez said.All of the Negros and Siquijor representativ...

Jan242023 by Digicast NegrosNo Comments

97 more modernized jeepneys for six Bacolod routes launched

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The Class 2 FAW Modernized Public Utility Vehicles (MPUV) that arrived in Bacolod City.*Bacolod PIO photoThe United Negros Transport Cooperative (UNETCO) held the blessing and launching of 30 of 97 Class 2 FAW Modernized Public Utility Vehicles (MPUV) for Bacolod City at the Ayala Malls Capitol Central on Monday, January 23.Thirty out of the 97 MPUV units have been delivered to Bacolod and 67 more are also set to arrive, a press release from the Bacolod City government said Tuesday.A caravan and official ribbon cutting ceremony led by UNETCO Chairperson Romelie Soliguen, Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) Region VI Director Richard Osmeña, and Cooperative Development Authority (CDA) Region VI Director Nora Patron were held.“Mayor (Albee Benitez) ex...

Jan242023 by Digicast NegrosNo Comments

Garbage trucks’ tracking app up staring next week: Albee

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Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez presides over the Solidwaste Management Board Meeting on Tuesday, January 24.*The garbage trucks of IPM-Construction and Development Corp. (IPM-CDC) will be using a tracking app starting next week to improve garbage collection in Bacolod City, Mayor Alfredo Abelardo “Albee” Benitez said.This was agreed on at a Solidwaste Management Board Meeting Tuesday morning, January 24, the mayor said in a post on his Facebook page“With the tracking app, each truck will be accessed not just by the government but also by citizens, to check on location…for proper garbage collection,” he said.A zonal collection schedule will also be released so that it will be easy for citizens to monitor garbage pick-up time, he added.Meanwhile, free Wi-Fi is now...

Jan242023 by Digicast NegrosNo Comments

USLS, DepEd-Bacolod ink School Heads Academy MOA

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USLS President and Chancellor Br. Joaquin Severino Martinez and Assistant Schools Division Superintendent Reynaldo G. Gico, Office of the Schools Division Superintendent OIC, (3rd and 4th from left) after the MOA signing.*An agreement that would provide scholarship grants to 50 qualified public school teachers and school heads in Bacolod City was signed between the University of St. La Salle and the Department of Education (DepEd) - Bacolod City Division, recently.The School Heads Academy is a landmark scholarship program that aims to strengthen and upgrade the knowledge, attitudes, capability and leadership skills of the DepEd scholars, a press release from USLS said Monday, January 23.Signing the MOA were USLS President and Chancellor Br. Joaquin Severino Martinez and Assista...

Jan242023 by Carla P. GomezNo Comments

Senator says debateon NIR creation needed

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Olivia V. Yanson flanked by senators Cynthia Villar and Imee Marcos (right)*Ronnie Baldonado photoSenator Imee Marcos said a thorough debate on the proposed creation of the Negros Island Region, which will include Siquijor, is needed.It is a very popular position in Negros Occidental but is quite controversial in places like Negros Oriental, she said."I am hopeful that there will be a thorough debate…I hope that at the earliest possible time we can have a decision," Marcos said.Senator Cynthia Villar said there is no problem with the creation of the NIR as long as it is supported by the locals.Marcos and Villar were in Bacolod City Monday night, January 23, for the birthday of Olivia V. Yanson, the matriarch of the Yanson group of bus companies.*

Jan242023 by Digicast NegrosNo Comments

Vice president joins VMLP Visayas meet

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Vice President Sara Duterte and Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson.*Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson welcomed Vice President Sara Duterte to the opening of the Vice Mayors’ League of the Philippines (VMLP) Visayas Island Congress held at L’Fisher Hotel in Bacolod City Monday night, January 23.VMLP Negros Occidental president Anthony Gerard Suatengco, Bacolod City Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez and Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran were also present at the activity.Lacson said that the VMLP Congress with the purpose of ratifying the amendments of the two-decade old Constitution and By Laws is both well timed and appropriate, with the country’s revitalization as the main priority and focus of governance.He lauded the vice mayors for their commitment to their roles and accountability as the over...