Top Stories

Rowena Guanzon takes her oath as P3PWD partylist representative before Court of Appeals Justice Edwin Sorongon in the presence of Khalil Cruz, Rose Garcia, Didoy Cruz Fullon and lawyer Jeriel Sawit on Thursday.*Former Commission on Elections (Comelec) Commissioner Ma. Rowena Amelia V. Guanzon of Cadiz City, Negros Occidental, took her oath as P3PWD (Komunidad ng Pamilya, Pasyente at Persons with Disabilities) partylist representative to the 19th Congress before Court of Appeals Justice Edwin Sorongon on Thursday, June 23.“Today we start our work for the rights and welfare of persons with disabilities, children with special needs and those with chronic illnesses,” she said Friday.Guanzon said she will file 10 priority bills for the sector she represents when the 19th Congress co...

The provincial Capitol in Bacolod City flanked by the South and North Capitol roads.* Ronnie Baldonado photoThe South Capitol Road in Bacolod City will be closed on Saturday, June 25, for the inauguration of the Negros Occidental provincial government officials at the Provincial Capitol grounds.The inauguration of Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson, Vice Gov. Jeffrey Ferrer and the 12 board members of Negros Occidental will be held in front of the Capitol at 4 p.m. Saturday following a mass.The South Capitol Road will be temporarily closed and one-way traffic will be observed along the North Capitol Road, from Lacson Street to Gatuslao Street, an advisory from the Capitol said.Affected vehicles are advised to take alternative routes, it added.There are 10 returning board members ...

SRA says sugar shortage driving up prices.*Ronnie Baldonado photoThe high sugar prices in the market have been caused by the greediness of some sugar traders, Manuel Lamata,  United Sugar Producers Federation of the Philippines president, said Thursday, June  23.“They are hoarding sugar to manipulate the market as if there was a shortage,” he said.Lamata said the  Department of Trade and Industry, Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Customs  and the police should  raid sugar warehouses and file cases against the traders.Hoarding is  economic sabotage, he pointed out.The planned import program of Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) administrator Hermenegildo Serafica  was  meaningless, Lamata said.The  200,000 metric to...

The scene of the 10th shooting incident in Bacolod City this June.*A minor was killed in the 10th shooting incident in Bacolod City this June.Edgardo Gabriel Glaraga, 17, was shot in front of the Gaisano Grand Mall at Brgy. Singcang- Airport, Bacolod City, at 7:40 p.m. Wednesday, June 22, Maj. Joery Puerto, Police Station 8 chief, said Thursday.The 16-year-old suspect is still at-large, he added.The minors who were allegedly sniffing rugby, a volatile substance, in front of the mall had a heated argument that led to a fist fight. The suspect then shot the victim with an alleged improvised firearm (pin gun) hitting him on the right side of his abdomen, a police report said.The victim died at the Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital in Bacolod City, Puert...

Board Member Manuel Frederick Ko (left) said the RONO was approved by the SP on June 14.*The Negros Occidental Sangguniang Panlalawigan has granted a Resolution of No Objection (RONO) for the construction and operation of a Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) power plant in San Carlos City.The SP on June 14 granted the RONO for the power plant proposed by Reliance Energy Development Inc., a subsidiary of San Miguel Corp., Board Member Manuel Frederick Ko, SP Committee on Energy chairman, said Thursday, June 23.REDI needed the RONO for its application for an Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) for the construction of its proposed 300 megawatt combined cycle power plant at barangays Punao and Palampas estimated to cost P18.5 billionThe plant will help the energy security of th...

The former rebels who received financial assistance.*Twenty-seven former rebels (FR) received financial assistance from the Department of the Interior and Local Government and the Negros Occidental provincial government under the Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program (E-CLIP) at the Capitol in Bacolod City Wednesday, June 22.E-CLIP is a government program that aims to help members of Communist Party of the Philppines-New People’s Army and Militia ng Bayan restore their allegiance to the government and reintegrate back to the community, a press release from the Capitol said.The 25 FRs received a total of P660,000, and two FRs received P71,000 financial assistance and P39,000 as their firearms remuneration.Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson and DILG – Negros Occ. Provincial ...

Sixteen cases are from Iloilo City, four from Iloilo province, and one from Guimaras.*The 21 new Omicron BA.5 variant cases in Western Visayas are not in Negros Occidental, Dr. Adriano Suba-an, Department of Health Western Visayas regional director, said Thursday, June 23.He said 16 of the cases are from Iloilo City, four from Iloilo province, and one from Guimaras.The Inter-agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-MEID) Task Force on COVID-19 New Variants recommended that cases positive for BA.5 variant of concern, either asymptomatic or with mild or moderate symptoms, must complete 14-day isolation.The 21-day hospital isolation should be observed for severe/critical cases, it added.The Omicron BA.5 variant was first detected in South ...

The provincial government will have to tighten its belt and improve its generation of local revenues, Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said.*The National Tax Allotment (NTA) of the Negros Occidental provincial government for 2023 will be P4,623,981,428.The Negros Occidental provincial government’s NTA for 2023 will decrease by P782,280,808 or 14.47 percent from this year’s P5,406,262,236, Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said Thursday, June 23.The drop in the NTA will be felt in 2023 and 2024 by all local government units because of the low tax collections in 2020 and 2021 at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, he said.If the 2023 NTA cuts in the shares of the 31 local government units of Negros Occidental are included the total reduction could reach more than P2 billion, Lacson said, but...