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Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson and Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez issued a joint executive order Tuesday, March 7, expanding the total ban on the entry into Negros Occidental and Bacolod City of all live pigs, boar semen, and pork related products from three more areas as a deterrent against the highly contagious African Swine Fever (ASF).The three new areas included in the ban are the province of Cebu, Camotes Island and Bantayan Island.Also still included in the ban are Luzon, Mindanao, Region 8, Panay Island, Guimaras Island and other countries affected with ASF as may be declared by the Department of Agriculture.ASF is a highly contagious disease of swine affecting all ages caused by any of the 23 virus strains with up to 100 percent fatality rate, there being no known treatment ...

Department of Health personnel testing water sources in San Carlos City.*Mayor Renato Gustilo has lifted the state of health emergency in San Carlos City.Gustilo, in Executive Order 96, Series of 2023, issued Monday, March 6, said he was lifting the state of health emergency since the number of amoebiasis cases in San Carlos City have “already subsided in the last few days”.He had issued Executive Order No. 79, series of 2023, declaring a state of health emergency last month because of an alarming increase in amoebiasis cases in San CarlosJoe Recalex Alingasa Jr., San Carlos City spokesperson, said the active diarrheal cases in the city were down to 24 on Tuesday.He said while the cases have dropped, the city government is continuing to promote water-sanitation-hygiene ...

Rep. Arnolfo “Arnie” Teves Jr. (Neg. Or., 3rd District) *The Criminal Investigation and Detection Group of the Philippine National Police filed a multiple murder complaint against Rep. Arnolfo “Arnie” Teves Jr. (Neg. Or., 3rd District) and five others for killings in Negros Oriental in 2019.Three counts of murder were filed against Teves before the Department of Justice on Tuesday, March 7.Other respondents named in the murder complaint were alias Hannah Mae, Richard Cuadra alias Boy Cuadra, Jasper Tanasan alias Bobong Tanasan, Rolando Pinili alias Inday and Alex Mayagma.The complaint said the killings occurred in front of the Silliman Medical Center in Dumaguete City at 3:54 p.m. on March 25, 2019; Sitio Labugon, Barangay Nagbo-alao, Basay, Negros Oriental, at around 11: 3...

Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson with Pamplona Mayor Janice Degamo at the wake of Gov. Roel Degramo on Tuesday, March 7.*Four suspects in the massacre of Negros Oriental Gov. Roel Degamo and eight others intend to cooperate with authorities, which hopefully will lead to the arrest of the mastermind, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla told DIGICAST NEGROS Tuesday, March 7.The four suspects in the Pamplona, Negros Oriental, massacre on Saturday were brought to Metro Manila early Tuesday morning.On arrival in Manila they were escorted by the Special Action Force (SAF) of the Philippine National Police from the airport to Camp Crame, where they met with agents of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and officers of the Witness Protection Program (WPP).On in...

Reynaldo “Butch" Tepace hid in a canal during the massacre*As part of his regular schedule, Reynaldo “Butch" Tepace, a cameraman for Fil Products Service Television, would meet with Gov. Roel Degamo every Saturday in the town of Pamplona for their recording of The Provincial Report.Saturday, March 4 was one such day. Arriving at the governor’s place in sitio Nuebe, barangay San Isidro in Pamplona, Tepace saw the usual crowd that would flock to the compound, usually to seek assistance or advice.He parked his motorcycle across the street, some 15 meters away from the compound gate. While waiting for his reporter, who was following in another vehicle, Tepace lit a cigarette and enjoyed watching the fog that surrounded the governor’s home which, he said, added to the beautiful scen...

Pamplona Mayor Janice Vallega-Degamo says her husband had received several threats.*“Malapit na ang araw mo (your days are numbered). You will have to answer for what you did to the governor, and a lot more.”This was the message of Pamplona Mayor Janice Vallega-Degamo to her husband’s killers after charges were filed before the City Prosecutor against the four captured suspects Monday, March 6.Gov. Roel Degamo and 8 others were killed and 17 others were injured in a massacre in Pamplona, Negros Oriental, on Saturday.Mayor Degamo said the capture of the four suspects, and the subsequent filing of charges against them, has given them a renewed sense of hope. “This means there is a chance that we will know the mastermind, and know the real motive of the killing,” she said....

Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson said on Monday, March 6, that he is not beefing up his security personnel following the massacre of Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo and eight others.“As long as you're aware of the situation in the province and in the areas that you go to, I will always be guided by that," he said.Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez said the Department of the Interior and Local Government is set to review the security details of elected officials.Benitez said he was meeting with Col. Thomas Joseph Martir, Bacolod police director, for an update on the unresolved killings in Bacolod.He said they should be resolved so perpetrators know that they cannot get away with the killings, he said.The Police Regional Office 7 has placed all elec...

The transport group members at the San Sebastian Cathedral Monday.*There were no Bacolod residents who were stranded on Monday, March 6, Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez said.Benitez thanked the public transportation groups in Bacolod for not joining the nationwide strike, and assured them that he will continue to assist them in complying with the requirements of the public transport modernization program to enable them to continue to operate.The Bacolod Modernized Transport Group, Sentrong Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Operators Negros, Federation of Bacolod City Drivers Association and the United Negros Drivers Operators Center did not join the strike.The Bacolod transport groups instead held a prayer rally at the San Sebastian Cathedral in Bacolod, and only a small grou...