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President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has declared Friday, February 24, a special non-working day throughout the country.Proclamation No. 167, signed for the president by Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin on Thursday, said the EDSA People Power Revolution Anniversary, which is a special non-working day throughout the country is set on Saturday, February 25.However, to enable our countrymen to avail of the benefits of a longer weekend pursuant to the principle of holiday economics, the celebration of EDSA People Power Revolution Anniversary may be moved from February 25 to February 24 provided that the historical significance of EDSA People Power Revolution Anniversary is maintained, it said.The Department of Labor and Employment was directed to issue the appropriate circular to imple...

A call center agent and an e-trike driver were killed in separate vehicular accidents in Bacolod City on Wednesday and Thursday, February 22 and 23.Erlynor Verdad Colango, 28, of Brgy Cabatangan, Talisay City, was crossing Araneta Street fronting Teletech in Brgy Singcang Airport, Bacolod, when she was hit by a motorcycle driven by Rex Evrile Feria Pedrajas at 9:50 p.m. Thursday, February 22.Pedrajas, on board a Motorstar MSX 150 motorcycle, was headed north when he accidentally hit Colango who was declared dead on arrival at the Bacolod South General Hospital, the police reported.The suspect was detained at Police Station 8.Romulo Durable, 61, an e-trike driver, died in an accident at Burgos Street in Brgy. Estefania, Bacolod City, 6:15 a.m. Thursday, February 23.The p...

The National Economic and Development Authority map of the Panay-Guimaras-Negros Island Bridges Project*The construction of the P189.53 billion Panay-Guimaras-Negros (PGN) Island Bridges Project will start in 2025, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) in Western Visayas announced on Thursday, February 23.The construction will start in 2025 once the Detailed Engineering Design (DED) is completed on schedule and approved for funding and implementation by the Investment Coordination Committee (ICC) and the NEDA Board, it said in a post on its website.The project received all the required local endorsements of the provincial, municipal, and city councils of all affected areas, it said.The Regional Development Council VI then passed Resolution No. 33, series of...

Carlos Hilado Memorial State University (CHMSU) and the Philippine Association of Functional Jaw Orthopedics – TMJ. (PAFJO-TMJ) launched their joint 19th National Dental Health Month celebration with the theme “Ululupon kita Magkari, Magyuhom, kag Magsinadya” at the Bacolod City Government Center (BCGC) Wednesday, February 22, 2023.Twenty-eight delegates of PAFJO-TMJ arrived at the Bacolod City Government Center for the launching event, the first of several activities lined up until Friday, February 24, a press release from CHMSU said.Secretary to the Mayor Joseph Karol Chiu welcomed the delegates on behalf of Bacolod City Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez.Chiu cited the LGU’s active involvement in eradicating illegal dental procedures performed by unlicensed individuals in the ci...

DA Senior Undersecretary Domingo Panganiban at a press conference Wednesday.*RTVM photoThe move to import around 450,000 metric tons of sugar by the Department of Agriculture (DA) is aimed at managing inflation and building a buffer stock that will adequately meet the country’s sugar requirements, a senior Agriculture official said on Wednesday, February 22.In a press briefing in Malacañang Palace, DA Senior Undersecretary Domingo Panganiban said they acted on the directive of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to immediately address inflation due to supply issues, a press release from the Presidential Communications Office said.“In response to the directive of the President to address inflation and create a buffer stock and given that sugar as one of the components of most comm...

Bureau of Customs seized smuggled sugar*Leaders of the sugar industry in a joint statement on Wednesday, February 22, called on the House of Representatives and the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee to conduct full-blown investigations into the blatant “smuggling” of sugar into the country.“We condemn in the strongest terms any and all acts of sugar smuggling, which constitute economic sabotage that wreak havoc on the livelihood of thousands of sugarcane farmers, 90 percent of whom are agrarian reform beneficiaries and marginal farmers who rely solely on sugar for their sustenance,” they said.The statement was signed by Enrique D. Rojas - National Federation of Sugarcane Planters president, Aurelio Gerardo J. Valderrama Jr. – Confederation of Sugar Producers Association Inc. preside...

Rep. Mercedes Alvarez (Neg. Occ., 6th District) and Rep. Francisco Benitez (Neg. Occ., 3rd District)*The House Committee on Appropriations approved the funding provisions for the proposed Negros Island Region (NIR) on Wednesday, February 22, Rep. Francisco Benitez (Neg. Occ., 3rd District) said.“This is a momentous step in the right direction as the bill moves further in the legislative mill, a step closer to realizing our dream of creating a Negros Island Region,” he said.Rep. Mercedes Alvarez (Neg. Occ., 6th District) said with the Appropriations Committee’s approval, an initial appropriation will be taken from the Department of the Interior and Local Government budget in order to create a technical working group that will formulate the roadmap of the NIR.The proposed new...

Bacolod Councilor Celia Flor.*SP photoA week before the observance of National Women’s Month, the Bacolod Sangguniang Panlungsod passed on third and final reading an ordinance localizing Republic Act No. 11313 and providing additional definitions of gender based sexual harassment, protective measures, and penalties on Wednesday, February 22, Councilor Celia Flor said.The ordinance was initially sponsored by Flor, chairperson on Committee on Women, Gender, Family and Child Care, together with all women councilors as a symbolic gesture for women empowerment and gender equality.On the second reading, the rest of the council members manifested their support and called to pass the ordinance unanimously, strengthening the call for a safer Bacolod against all kinds of sexual harassme...

Mayor Alfredo Abelardo “Albee” Benitez signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Tuesday, February 21, with a Chinese firm that plans to put up a plant in Bacolod City that will manufacture public utility vehicles that run on electricity.The Sangguniang Panlungsod in a special session Tuesday granted the mayor authority to sign the MOU, which he will then submit to the SP for ratification, Councilor Jude Thaddeus Sayson said Wednesday.Jiangsu Fengchuen New Energy Power Technology Co. chairman Longde Li signed the MOU in behalf of his firm.The MOU states that both parties will support the establishment of an e-jeepney assembly plant and modern industrial park in Bacolod City to boost local economic growth.The aim is to make Bacolod the first example of a green public tra...

Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said on Wednesday, February 22, that he favors two successive four-year terms for elected local government officials should the move to amend the Constitution push through.Local officials are currently allowed three successive three-year terms.Three years are too short, four years will allow elected officials more solid years to deliver services to their constituents, he said.The House Committee on Constitutional Amendments approved a resolution of both houses of Congress on Monday calling for a Constitutional Convention (Con-Con).It proposes that the election of delegates from each legislative district to the Con-Con be set in October 2023, simultaneously with the rescheduled Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections.The cal...