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Sugar leaders on Sunday, December 4, welcomed the holding of an industry summit and the consolidation of sugar farms to boost production.Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez met with senators Sherwin Gatchalian and Joseph Victor Ejercito on Friday, December 2, to discuss the holding of a summit in January to craft a plan to make the Philippine sugar industry globally competitive for it to survive.There is a need to consolidate sugar farms in the Philippines for efficient, productive and sustainable economies of scale, Benitez said.Enrique Rojas, National Federation of Sugarcane Planters president, said “We welcome the proposed consolidation of sugarcane farms. Sugarcane is a plantation crop which demands economies of scale. A farmer needs to cultivate a wide area to minimize ...

The Negros Occidental provincial government is no longer requiring passengers to present COVID-19 vaccination cards at the Bacolod-Silay Airport, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said Sunday, December 4.Diaz in a letter to Roel Aranzado, acting airport manager, last week said that inspection of vaccination cards would end on December 1.The vaccination inspection team at the airport has reported back to the CapitolThis was implemented to harmonize with domestic airport protocols, especially in Manila, Diaz said.Cebu Pacific, Philippine Airlines and Air Asia have 21 flights that arrive at the Bacolod-Silay Airport a day, Diaz said.Meanwhile, Diaz said a vendor who returned to the North Capitol Road sidewalk next to the provincial government’s property in Bacolod Ci...

The recoveries from a drug bust at Barangay 35, Bacolod City, December 3.*BCPO photoTwo alleged street-level drug suspects were arrested in a buy-bust operation Saturday night, December 3, at Barangay 35, Bacolod City.Nabbed were 41-year-old Jake Jimenez and his partner, 24-year-old Eliza Mae Dejole.Recovered from them were 26 grams of suspected shabu worth P176,800, the P1,500 buy-bust money, the P200 cash proceeds, and other paraphernalia.Both are detained at Police Station 1, facing drug charges.*

The dismissal order of the Office of the Ombudsman against Barangay Captain Noli Villarosa of Tangub, Bacolod City, is not final and he still has the right to file a motion for reconsideration or an appeal before the Court of Appeals, his lawyer Caesar Distrito said Saturday, December 3.“It was purely a harassment case filed against Villarosa, and clearly a result of his performance of his lawful duty. This is not a case of graft and corruption,” Distrito said.The case against Villarosa was filed by Candido Medalla.Villarosa was charged because he allegedly demolished a cyclone fence that encroached on the right of way and sidewalk along Ramylu Drive in Tangub in compliance with an order of former President Rodrigo Duterte to clear all roads and sidewalks from obstructions, Dis...

A man allegedly killed his uncle, who was also his stepfather, in Barangay Gahit, E.B. Magalona, Negros Occidental, on Saturday, December 3.Killed was Renante Tuting, 44.Police said the suspect, identified as 19-year-old Loyd Richard Tuting, got into a confrontation with the victim, who allegedly came home drunk.This apparently irked the suspect, which led him to stab the victim, who sustained wounds to his chest, the police said.The victim was declared dead on arrival at the hospital.The victim was the brother of the suspect’s father, but later became his stepfather after he married his mother.The police are looking at a grudge as the motive for the incident.The suspect is now in police custody, and will face homicide charges.*

CREBA immediate past president Roy Villa, Rep. Francisco Benitez, new CREBA and SHDA president Steven Brian Jison, and SHDA immediate past president Kenneth Tirthdas (l-r)*Rep. Francisco “Kiko” Benitez (Neg. Occ., 3r District), chairman of the House Committee on Housing and Urban Development, urged officers and members of the two major housing organizations in Bacolod City and Negros Occidental to take seriously the dire need for building not only housing units but shelter and human settlements that are in harmony with the environment.Benitez was the guest speaker at the induction and turn-over ceremony of the Negros Occidental chapters of the Chamber of Real Estate and Builders Association (CREBA) and the Subdivision and Housing Developers Association (SHDA) in Bacolod City on Fri...

Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez inspects the preparations for the lights on ceremony at the Bacolod Public Plaza on Sunday, December 4.*The Bacolod City government, in partnership with STI West Negros University (STI WNU), will kick off Christmas with a Festival of Lights, lights on ceremony, and the opening of a Christmas Village at the Bacolod City Public Plaza on Sunday, December 4.The Christmas Festival of Lights will initially begin at 5 p.m. with a float and lantern parade to be joined by various student groups of STI WNU, a press release from the city government said.The parade will commence from Lacson Street (Bangga Ramos) to Gatuslao Street, entering the Public Plaza (fronting Jollibee).The program is expected to start at 6:30 p.m. followed by the lights on...

The drugs recovered in Brgy. 27, Bacolod City, on December 1.*BCPOMore than P100,000 worth of drugs were seized in Bacolod City on December 1.Nabbed in Brgy. 27 was 52-year-old Ana Marie Soqueño, who yielded 15 grams of suspected shabu worth P102,000, the P500 buy-bust money, and a coin purse.In Bangga Metal, Brgy. Alijis, street-level individual Robert Serillo was arrested in a drug bust.Recovered from him were 8 grams of shabu worth P54,400, the P500 buy-bust money, and a pouch.Also arrested were 41-year-old Reynold De Guzman of Murcia, and 26-year-old Jason Miag-ao of Brgy. 7 in another buy-bust operation at Brgy. 2.Recovered from them were 5 grams of shabu worth P34,000, the P300 buy-bust money, and a coin purse.All suspects are in police custody, facing dru...