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Seventeen former rebels received financial assistance, food packs and hygiene kits at the city hall of Himamaylan, Negros Occidental on Tuesday, September 27.Ten others also received educational assistance from the Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict and Himamaylan City government.Brig. Gen. Inocencio Pasaporte, Philippine Army’s 303rd Infantry Brigade commander, lauded the former rebels for making the right decision to return to the folds of the law.He said they were just victims of the propaganda lies and deceptive recruitment of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army- National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF).The financial and educational assistance extended by the local government unit is solid proof that the Himamaylan is sincere in its com...

Hospital Administrator Ann Flores, Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson, Dr. Ramon B. Gustilo and Manapla Mayor Manuel Escalante III (l-r) cut the ribbon at the inauguration of the Dr. Ramon B. Gustilo Hospital Medical Specialty Services building in Manapla, on Wednesday*Richard Malihan photoThe Dr. Ramon B. Gustilo Hospital Medical Specialty Services building in Manapla, Negros Occidental, was inaugurated on Wednesday, September 28.Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson and Manapla Mayor Manuel Escalante III, who joined the inauguration, thanked Gustilo for his dedication towards helping indigent patients and for giving back to his hometown.Gustilo, president and medical director of the hospital, is a world renowned orthopedic surgeon, scientist and inventor who made a name for himsel...

The Bicameral Conference Committee members agreed to postpone the BSKE to October 2023 on Wednesday.*Nancy Binay FB photoThe Senate and House of Representatives ratified the bicameral conference committee report on Wednesday, September 28, postponing the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections (BSKE) to October 2023.Sen. Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito told DIGICAST NEGROS the bicameral conference committee agreed to hold the BSKE on the last Monday of October 2023.The term of office of officials elected in the 2023 barangay and SK elections will start at noon of November 30 next year.The subsequent BSKEs will be conducted every three years, he said.The measure ratified by both chambers of Congress will be sent to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to sign into law.Rep....

The cholera cases in Negros Occidental hit six with a teenager from Silay City testing positive on Wednesday, September 28, Provincial Administrator Rayfrado Diaz said.The 17-year-old female from Barangay E. Lopez, Silay City, is confined at the Teresita L. Jalandoni Provincial Hospital (TLJPH), he said.The teenager is the fourth cholera case reported in Silay City. One was an 88-year-old woman who died on September 22.Dr. Mary Ann Maestral, TLJPH chief, said the 17-year-old who was their first pediatric patient hit with cholera and amoeba was stable on Wednesday. ”We are just replacing the electrolytes of the patient now,” she said.The two others hit with cholera are a 30-year-old female from Sitio Tinapok, Barangay Batea, EB Magalona, and 45-year-old female from Sitio Pas...

The drugs and high-powered firearm were seized from two suspects in Dumaguete City Tuesday, September 27.*Two persons were arrested after they yielded illegal drugs and a high powered firearm in a buy-bust operation Tuesday, September 27, in Barangay Piapi, Dumaguete City, Negros Occidental.Nabbed were Sheigfred Libby and Ronald Mariño who were tagged as street level individuals.Police seized 27 grams of suspected shabu worth about P200,000, a KG9 submachine gun and 18 bullets of a .9mm firearm.The suspects are now in the custody of the Dumaguete police.*

Former Sugar Regulatory Administration chief Hermenegildo Serafica*A Regional Trial Court judge in Himamaylan City, Negros Occidental, has issued a warrant for the arrest of former Sugar Regulatory Administration chief Hermenegildo Serafica.Judge Walter Zorilla, Himamaylan RTC Branch 55, found Serafica guilty of indirect contempt of court on Monday, September 26 for issuing a memorandum allowing the importation of sugar despite a writ of preliminary injunction issued by the court.Serafica was ordered imprisoned for 15 days and to pay a fine of P30,000.The judge on March 2, 2022, issued a writ of preliminary injunction directing the SRA, its agents and representatives or persons acting on its behalf to cease and desist from implementing the sugar importation program embodied...

Sixty one water refilling stations in Bacolod City have been temporarily closed for lack of permits, Sanitation Inspector VI Jasmin Santiago of the Bacolod City Health Office said Tuesday, September 27.The CHO inspected 142 water refilling stations and only 81 had permits while 61 had none as of Friday, September 23, she said.The 61 have been asked to stop selling water for public consumption until they comply with all sanitary requirements, she said.They CHO conducts routine sanitary inspections of all business establishments in Bacolod City, Santiago said.Consumers should make sure the water refilling stations where they buy their water from have the necessary sanitary permits issued by the CHO, she added.The permits mean the water underwent bacteriological and physic...

The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) in Western Visayas announced Tuesday, September 27, that the Magsaysay Bridge in Binalbagan, Negros Occidental, will be temporarily closed to vehicular traffic starting Wednesday, September 28, until further notice.It said that the DPWH Negros Occidental 2nd District Engineering Office will conduct rehabilitation and major repairs on the bridge to provide better connectivity.During the rehabilitation, sudden traffic congestion may be experienced in the area, it added.Motorists and the riding public are advised to take the newly completed two-lane Magsaysay Parallel Bridge, which will be utilized as a two-way passage.DPWH personnel will also be deployed in the area for traffic management, while equipment will be on stand-by ...

The Panayawan River in Tayasan, Negros Oriental, where the mother drowned on Monday.*Tayasan DRRMO photoA mother was swept away by strong current in a river in Tayasan, Negros Oriental, on Monday, September 26.The mother, Indayon Esteban, helped her two children cross the Panayawan River, the police said.Her children were able to cross, but she drowned.She was found dead by rescuers.*

The items recovered from the alleged snatchers after their arrest on Monday, September 26.*Police Station 1 photoTwo alleged snatchers were arrested Monday, September 26, after they were cornered by Police Station 1 operatives in Barangay 12, Bacolod City.Nabbed were Regie Lamprea and Jhay Garcia.Maj. Ramel Sarona, Police Station 1 chief, said intelligence operatives had been monitoring the two suspects for several days because of complaints against them.Items recovered from the suspects include identification cards, cellphones and bags that were believed to have been stolen.Also seized from them were three sachets of suspected shabu, a tooter, gun replica and five bullets of a .45 caliber pistol.Charges for illegal possession of drugs, firearms, and theft will be f...