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NONECO general manager Danny Pondevilla*Two “persons of interest” in the killing of the general manager of the Northern Negros Electric Cooperative (NONECO) tested negative for gunpowder residue, Lt. Jonito Pastrana, Bacolod Police Station 2 officer-in-charge, said Thursday, December 22.Danny Pondevilla, 47, was found dead in the driver’s seat of his Honda CRV at 16th-Lacson Street, Bacolod City, with a lone gunshot wound on the left side of the occipital region of his brain at 12:10 a.m. Wednesday, December 21.His executive secretary and a NONECO union official who were tagged by the police as “persons of interest” were subjected to paraffin tests, and the results released Thursday were negative.However, paraffin test results are not conclusive, Pastrana said.They are ...

A Bacolod Regional Trial Court judge sentenced three Bacolodnons to life imprisonment for the sale of drugs on Wednesday, December 20.RTC Branch 52 Judge Raymond Joseph Javier in separate decisions sentenced Joyce Buenaventura dela Gente alias Bebe, Ronnie Vicente Gador alias Bulldog, and Mark Ceasar Luzuriaga Galo alias Toto, to life imprisonment and to pay fines of P500,000 each for violation of Section 5, Article II, of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.Dela Gente was apprehended for selling .198 gram of shabu to a policeman at Purok-Tambi Palad , Barangay 10, Bacolod on July 23, 2020.On her apprehension 22.283 grams of shabu were also recovered from her possession for which she was also sentenced to another life imprisonment and to pay a fine of P400,000.Del...

The Negros Occidental provincial government’s priority for 2023 is a bulk water public–private partnership project, Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said Thursday, December 22.The project will serve the needs Bacolod, Talisay and Silay cities, he said.He said investors will not come in if Bacolod is not included because it has the biggest market, he said.The bidding for the bulk water project is set next year.Bulk water projects will be undertaken to ensure that Negrenses have safe and potable water, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said.Lacson said he also hopes Negros Occidental’s economy will pick up in 2023 and the sugar industry will continue to be blessed.*

Enrique Rojas, Aurelio Gerardo Valderrama Jr. and Danilo Abelita (l-r)*The presidents of three sugar groups called on the Department of Agriculture, Sugar Regulatory Administration and the Department of Trade and Industry to guard against excessive retail prices of sugar that are not in synch with prevailing millgate prices, on Thursday, December 22.“Producers sadly get the blame but do not benefit from excessive retail prices, while consumers and end-users suffer when retail prices are unreasonably high,” Aurelio Gerardo Valderrama Jr. of the Confederation of Sugar Producers Association Inc., Danilo Abelita of the Panay Federation of Sugarcane Farmers Inc. and Enrique Rojas of the National Federation of Sugarcane Planters said in a joint statement.They urged government to enga...

The Negros Occidental provincial government has acquired more vehicles to support its rescue operations.Six more ambulances and a road rescue vehicle have been acquired by the provincial government for the use of the of the Provincial Disaster Management Program Division.The project is in support to the Negros Occidental Emergency 911 rescue operations.Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson, Board Members Jeffrey Tubola and Andrew Montelibano, and Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz inspected the new vehicles on Wednesday, December 21.*

City PIO photoThe Bacolod Sangguniang Panlungsod approved the request of Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez to extend the city’s contracts with IPM Construction and Development Corp. for another four months during its regular session Wednesday, December 21, Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran said.Approved was the mayor’s request to extend the Contract of Services between the Bacolod City government and IPM for the collection, hauling and disposal of garbage for another four months from January 1 to April 30, 2023.The SP also approved the extension of the Contract of Services between the city and IPM for the management and operation of Bacolod’s sanitary landfill for another four months from January 1 to April 30.The SP also approved on third and final reading the ordinance granting t...

NONECO general manager Danny Pondevilla was onboard his Honda CRV when he was killed.*Johpong Pongyan photoThe police are investigating two “persons of interest” in the killing of the general manager of the Northern Negros Electric Cooperative (NONECO) at 12:10 a.m. on Wednesday, December 21, Lt. Jonito Pastrana, Bacolod Police Station 2 officer-in-charge, said.Danny Pondevilla, 47, who had also served as acting general manager of Central Negros Electric Cooperatives, was found dead in the driver’s seat of his Honda CRV at 16th-Lacson Street, Bacolod City, with a lone gunshot wound on the left side of the occipital region of his brain.Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez said the police have given him an update on the case and promised to bring justice soonest.“I will fol...

The Sicaba River where the drowning took place.*A construction worker drowned in the Sicaba River in Brgy. Burgos, Cadiz City, Negros Occidental, 10:40 p.m., Tuesday, December 20.The victim was identified as Levi Barquin Beniabon, 18, of Hacienda Lumayagan, Brgy. Punta Mesa, Manapla.The victim and his companion Jaymar Agraviador were swimming across the river but because of strong current he was carried away and drowned, police investigation showed.The victim was brought to a hospital in Manapla but was declared dead on arrival.*