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Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez has issued an executive order reconvening the Bacolod Anti-Smoking Task Force (BASTF).Executive Order No. 34 , Series of 2022, signed by the mayor on September 13 and released Tuesday, September 19, activates the BASTF with its new members to continue the enforcement of the city’s Anti-Smoking Ordinance.It will also continue the implementation, reinforcement, and monitoring against the threat of non-compliant cigarette products to consumers due to substandard quality, a press release from the Bacolod City Government Center said.The EO also continues to protect and ensure the interest of tobacco farmers, growers, workers and other stakeholders of the industry.BASTF will be led by Benitez as the chairperson, together with the Vice Chairperso...

The 36th Negros Trade Fair will kick off with a Governor’s Night at Glorietta 2 of the Ayala Center in Makati City at 6 p.m. Tuesday, September 20.The theme of this year’s trade fair is “Hidlaw”, with the trade fair returning to Makati after a two-year hiatus caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Christina Gaston, Association of Negros Producers chairperson, said Monday, September 19.Among the guests expected at the Governor’s Night are ambassadors and government officials, she said.Gaston said 56 exhibitors, including 13 local government units, are joining the trade fair that will run until September 25.The last NTF at Glorietta was in September 2019. It had to be held online in 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.Michael Claparols is the 36th Negros Trade Fair chairperso...

A newly renovated superior room at Go Hotels Bacolod.*The Go Hotels Bacolod, which recently underwent renovations, is all set for the MassKara Festival in October while offering affordable accommodations and convenience for travelers and tourists."With the fast approaching MassKara Festival, Go Hotels Bacolod is ready to accommodate guests, to strengthen the tourism industry, and empower the rich culture of Bacolod," Joy De Mesa, Robinsons Hotels and Resorts Group Director of Sales and Marketing, said on Monday, September 19.They expect a high occupancy rate, especially during the peak weeks of the MassKara Festival, Beverly Jimenez, Go Hotels Bacolod officer-in-charge, said.She said they will be giving their guests perks during the MassKara, which will include food voucher...

Acting Mayor El Cid Familiaran and Acting Vice Mayor Thaddy Sayson (l-r)*Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran has been designated acting mayor of Bacolod City until September 25.Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez is in the United States with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.No. 1 Councilor Thaddy Sayson is the acting vice mayor and will preside over the Sangguniang Panlungsod session on Wednesday, Familiaran said.Familiaran said Benitez designated him acting mayor until his return from the United States.Marcos is set to deliver the Philippine national statement at the 77th United Nations General Assembly in New York on Tuesday, September 20, and is meeting with Filipinos and business groups during his working visit to the United States, Malacañang announced.*

Aurelio J. Valderrama Jr., newly elected president of the CONFED - Negros and Panay chapter, and outgoing president Raymond Montinola (l-r, standing), and Jose Ma. Montinola and former SRA administrator Rodolfo Gamboia (l-r, seated).*Aurelio J. Valderrama Jr., who heads the Vicmico Planters' Association Inc., was elected president of the Confederation of Sugarcane Farmers (CONFED) - Negros and Panay chapter on Monday, September 19.Also elected were Alfonso G. Gamboa of the Associated Planters of Silay-Saravia Inc. – vice president, Bernardo C. Trebol (First Farmers Association Inc.) – corporate secretary, Jose Maria B. Montinola (Vicmico Planters' Association Inc.) – associate corporate secretary, Nicolas P. Ledesma Jr. (First Farmers Association Inc.) – treasurer, and Ma. Regina B...

The body of the beheaded man found in Talisay City Saturday, September 17.*Talisay PNP photoThe body of a beheaded man was found along the access road in Hda. Sagrado 2, Brgy. Zone 16, Talisay City, Negros Occidental, Saturday night, September 17.He was identified as Mario Demetrio, 48, of Barangay Singcang-Airport, Bacolod City.He was said to be the pimp who has last seen with a commercial sex worker before she was killed early this month.Col. Arthur Baybayan, Talisay City police chief, said the victim who was hogtied was found by residents in the area.The victim, who had no shirt on, was lying on his back and sustained injuries. His severed head had a gunshot wound.The police said that they believe that the victim was killed somewhere else and that his body was on...

The area where the couple was gunned down in Sagay City on Saturday, September 17.*Sagay PNP photoA couple and a woman died in separate shooting incidents in northern Negros Occidental in two days.Killed in Brgy. Rafaela Barera, Sagay City, on Saturday night, September 17, were Nobert Simon Bukaling and his wife, Hanna Grace.The couple, along with their 4-year-old daughter, were on board a motorcycle when they were attacked by a motorcycle-riding suspect.The suspect was identified by witnesses as 33-year-old Niño Andrin who rear-ended the victims’ motorcycle, causing them to fall to the ground, the police said.He then shot the couple several times, the poilice added.The husband and wife were rushed to Alfredo E. Marañon Sr. Memorial District Hospital but were declar...

The Negros Occidental provincial government has no plan to give rice allowance to its employees, Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said on Sunday, September 18.It’s not in the provincial budget, the governor said, in reaction to a report from Manila quoting Agriculture Senior Undersecretary Domingo Panganiban as saying that the government will soon provide rice allowance to state workers to help them cope with the rising cost of living.Panganiban was quoted as saying that the Department of Agriculture will draft the implementing rules and regulations for the distribution of the rice allowance in compliance with the directive of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.Lacson said the rice allowance is a national government initiative, what is mandated for the local governments to implement is the ...

The Department of Social Welfare and Development distributed P6,923,000 in educational assistance payouts to 2,459 more indigent students in Western Visayas on Saturday, September 17.Of the beneficiaries 533 are elementary pupils, 478 high school students, 358 - senior high school and 1,090 – college, the DSWD reported on Sunday.Negros Occidental had the most number of beneficiaries at 839 who received P2,311,000. There were 187 beneficiaries at the elementary level, 173 – high school students, 138 – senior high school and 341 – college.The other beneficiaries of the payout in Western Visayas were in Aklan - 112 who received P265,000, Antique - 447 – P1.1 million, Capiz - 308 – P984,000, Guimaras - 56 – P116,000 and Iloilo – 697 – P2.1 million.*