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Rep. Francisco “Kiko” Benitez (Neg. Occ., 3rd District) *Rep. Francisco “Kiko” Benitez (Neg. Occ., 3rd District) filed a bill on Wednesday, February 8, that will strengthen regulation of ships to prevent oil spills and discharge of harmful substances into the sea, following the catastrophic oil spill in Oriental Mindoro, recently.House Bill No. 7515 provides for the strict enforcement of the regulations under the 1973 International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, and its 1978 Protocol, or MARPOL 73/78, which we signed in 2001, he said."We signed MARPOL 73/78 in 2001. An implementing legislation is long overdue. We must keep our commitment to international law, and perform our responsibility to protect the environment," Benitez said.“We cannot let anot...

Tangub Barangay Captain Noli Villarosa denies being an illegal STL financier.*The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) filed criminal charges against three barangay captains, including Noli Villarosa of Tangub, Bacolod City, who was tagged as a “financier” of illegal Small Town Lottery (STL) operations, before the Kabankalan City Prosecutor’s Office on Wednesday, March 8.Named in the complaint along with Villarosa were Kabankalan City barangay captains Franz Leonard Seguero and Joel Alibango and one alias Ma’am who has yet to be named, NBI Bacolod Chief Renoir Baldovino said.NBI investigation showed that alias Ma’am is Villarosa’s illegal STL manager in Kabankalan City, and the two other barangay captains are “protectors” based on the testimonies of their bet collectors and ...

Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Benitez (left) at the signing of the JVA *Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo “Albee” Benitez signed a joint venture agreement (JVA) Tuesday, March 7, for the first Pambansang Pabahay Program in the country to be constructed in Bacolod City.He signed the contract between the city of Bacolod, WRS Holdings and Pag-Ibig at the Bacolod City Government Center after the Sangguniang Panlungsod in a special session Tuesday granted him the authority to do so and ratified the JVA.The JVA is for the financing, design, construction, operation and development of a mixed use integrated infrastructure for housing and sustainable community in Bacolod City.Benitez will be the first city mayor to bring the Pambansang Pabahay Program of the Department of Human Settlement and ...

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....