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There will be a 12-hour power interruption from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday, November 19, that will affect portions of Bacolod City, Murcia and Don Salvador Benedicto, Ervin Stan Leo P. Ticar, Central Negros Electric Cooperative (CENECO) acting general manager, announced on Tuesday, November 15.The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) will shut down its Bacolod-Alijis 69kV transmission line to reconfigure its transformer protection, which will affect CENECO's Alijis and Murcia substations.CENECO will take advantage of this downtime to conduct simultaneous maintenance activities, Ticar said.The cooperative will conduct preventive maintenance of its 30MVA Alijis Substation and 10MVA Murcia Substation and related accessories, replace its three-phase primary rotten ...

Rep. Francisco “Kiko” Benitez (Neg. Occ., 3rd District) lauded the talents and effort of the Silay United Group of Artists and Volunteers who made possible the revival of the Cinco de Noviembre Wall Mural located in front of the Balay Negrense Museum at Cinco de Noviembre Street in Silay City.Benitez said the wall mural captured the “ingenuity of our ancestors” and celebrates the “fervor of patriotism and nationalism that remains alive among Silaynons and Negrosanons to this day”, as he enjoined all to continue preserving and conserving the artistic and cultural heritage and legacy that abound in the province.Benitez led the unveiling of the revived 1998 Cinco de Noviembre wall mural , also timed with the celebration of the Feast of San Diego de Alcala, the Patron Saint of Silay, o...

A decomposing body was found at Purok Silhigan, Barangay San Miguel, Murcia, Negros Occidental, on Sunday, November 13.The fatality was identified as Billion Ape, 48.The victim’s body was found in a grassy section of a sugarcane field near a road, the police said.Ape, who was suffering from a mental disorder, left their house on November 11 and did not return, his family said.The Murcia Rural Health Office is conducting an examination to determine the cause of death of the victim.*

The drugs recovered in Silay City*More than P100,000 worth of illegal drugs were seized in a buy-bust operation in Brgy Rizal, Silay City, Negros Occidental, on Saturday, November 12.Nabbed was Amir Apinan, 54.During the bust, he yielded 21 grams of suspected shabu worth P142,800, the buy-bust money worth P3,100 and a disposable lighter.The suspect is now in police custody, facing drug charges.*

The vehicles that figured in the multiple collision in Bago City on Monday.*Bago PNP photoA 52-year-old motorcycle driver died in a multiple collision along the highway of Barangay Calumangan, Bago City, on Monday, November 14.The fatality was identified as Neptaly Subiate.A Fuso truck hit a government vehicle it was tailing when it stopped to make a turn, the police said.This caused the government vehicle to swerve to the opposite lane and hit the motorcycle driven by the victim. The wayward vehicle also hit a parked motorcycle.The truck, meanwhile, also swerved and hit an incoming Ford Raptor pickup truck.The multiple accidents injured six passengers of the truck.Both drivers surrendered to the Bago police.*

A proposed mid-rise housing building for Bacolod.*Mayor Alfredo Abelardo “Albee” Benitez is tapping the help of national government agencies to bring down the cost of the 10,000 housing units the city government is set to build for Bacolod Informal Settler Families (ISF) to make them more affordable, Councilor Vladimir Gonzalez said Monday, November 14.Benitez, who has been self-isolating after he tested positive for COVID-19, joined a Zoom meeting with the city Committee on Urban Poor, Housing and Resettlement on Monday.Gonzalez said the mayor is finding ways to lengthen the period for amortization payments and to get subsidies to cover part of the interest rates.Negotiations are underway to make the housing units affordable to residents, and construction will commence nex...

“Ghost employees” are not allowed under the Benitez administration, the Bacolod City government is making sure that job order (JO) employees are actually working, City Administrator Pacifico Maghari III said Monday, November 14.Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez has instructed them to check that the JOs are actually performing, he said.On the delay in the salaries of some JOs, Maghari said it may be because their appointment letters have been delayed.“It is not enough that a JO has an appointment letter or an endorsement, the person must be actually working,” he stressed.The city government has been gradually reducing JOs who are not working, he said.*

An increase in tourists arriving in Negros Occidental is expected with more flights now, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said Monday, November 14.Manila-Bacolod-Manila flights are about eight a day while the Bacolod-Cebu flights are two, he said.The Bacolod-Davao flights have resumed and it won’t be long before the Clark- Bacolod flights return, he said.The MassKara Festival that drew a lot of visitors to Bacolod created tourists’ renewed interest in visiting the city and Negros Occidental, he said.In Boracay tourists arrivals in the last three months were higher than pre-pandemic levels in 2019, Tourism Region 6 Director Cristine Mansinares said.This shows that the tourism industry is gradually picking up, she said.The majority were domestic tourists but it...

More COVID-19 cases are expected with arrivals and gatherings during the Christmas holidays and the lifting of the rule on the mandatory use of face masks.Active COVID-19 cases in Negros Occidental hit 290 on Monday, November 14, with seven deaths this month, the Provincial Incident Management Team reported.Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said it is normal for the cases to increase with the easing of COVID-19 protocols, and the increase in travel.President Ferdinand Marcos earlier issued an executive order stating that it is no longer mandatory to wear masks indoors and outdoors.The majority of those who died from COVID-19 were unvaccinated, Diaz said.The Cadiz District Hospital, the COVID-19 designated facility of the province, has 71 patients, 44 of whom have ...

The Victorias City African Swine Fever (ASF) Task Force keeping a close watch at ports.*Victorias City PIO photoThe Victorias City African Swine Fever (ASF) Task Force has established two quarantine stations in Brgys. VI-A and IX with the confirmed presence of ASF cases in Iloilo.The stations will serve as checkpoints for all inbound fishing vessels arriving at ports in Victorias City to prevent the entry of live pigs, pork, and by-products, the city government announced Monday, November 14.This is a collaborative effort with the Philippine Coast Guard Sub Station in Victorias, the Association of Barangay Captains, the Bantay Dagat of the City Agriculture’s Office and Provets of Victorias City, it said.*