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Cauayan PNP photoA drug surrenderer was shot to death in Barangay Mambugsay, Cauayan town in Negros Occidental on Tuesday, May 10.Killed was Raymund Bolneo, 42.The victim was sitting at a waiting shed when the suspect onboard a tricycle gunned him down.Witnesses were able to identify the suspect, who is still large.The police are looking at drugs as the motive for the killing.*

The Bago government, through the City Environment Management Office, spearheaded the removal and disposal of campaign materials around the city starting Wednesday, May 11.*CityBridge photoLocal government units and private groups have began cleanup operations following Monday’s polls.The Bago government through the City Environment Management Office spearheaded the removal and disposal of all campaign materials around the city starting Wednesday, May 11.Mayor Evelio Leonardia has also created a Post-Election Clean-Up Committee tasked to immediately remove the campaign materials installed by candidates in Bacolod City.Under Executive Order No. 24, signed by the mayor on Tuesday, May 10, Leonardia directed members of the committee to ensure the speedy removal of campaign...

There were only three cities and two towns out of 31 in Negros Occidental with active COVID-19 cases on Thursday, May 12.The COVID-19 cases in the province were also down to seven, the Provincial Incident Management Team reported.The report said Himamaylan City and Pontevedra have two active COVID-19 cases each, while Bago City, Hinigaran and La Carlota City have one each.Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020 Negros Occidental has had 41,410 cases, 39,433 recoveries and 1,969 deaths.There were three new COVID-19 cases in the province on Thursday.*

The Land Transportation Office has opened an extension office at the Ayala Malls Capitol Central in Bacolod City.The extension office initially is only catering to the renewal of drivers’ licenses, Reuben Tampos, LTO Bacolod chief, said.The extension office will eventually also be tasked with issuing new drivers’ licenses and student’s permits, he added.The extension office was created to decongest the LTO main office in Bacolod City, he said.A LTO Vehicle Registration Extension Facility has also opened at the BREDCO area in Bacolod, Tampos said.Hopefully by next month the EB Magalona LTO Extension Office will also open but is expected to become a district office by next year, he said.The Bacolod LTO District Office will also transfer to its new site in Barangay Man...

Rep. Gerardo Valmayor, Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson, Bacolod mayor-elect Alfredo "Albee" Benitez, Vice Governor Jeffrey Ferrer, Rep. Juliet Marie Ferrer and Representative-elect Mercedes Alvarez (l-r) at the proclamation rites at the Capitol Wednesday, May 11.* Ronnie Baldonado photoNegros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson and Vice Governor Jeffrey Ferrer, who won by massive margins, over their opponents were proclaimed winners of the May 9 polls at the Capitol in Bacolod City on Wednesday, May 11.The Provincial Board of Canvassers also proclaimed three more winning representatives of the province: Gerardo Valmayor - 1st District, Juliet Marie Ferrer - 4th District and Mercedes Alvarez - 6th district, and the rest of the provincial board members.Bacolod mayor-elect Alfredo “...

Mayor-elect Alfredo "Albee" Benitez responds to the allegations of Bacolod Mayor Evelio Leonardia in an ambush interview at the Capitol in Bacolod City on Wednesday, May 11.* Ronnie Baldonado photo“The truth hurts.”That was the answer of mayor-elect Alfredo “Albee” Benitez on Wednesday, May 11, to the statement of Bacolod Mayor Evelio Leonardia that the vote count that showed his opponent won, especially in areas they consider their bailiwicks, was “simply mysterious and unbelievable.”Benitez garnered 171,893 votes, while Leonardia had 107,447 votes in Monday’s polls.“For now, we will leave the matter with our legal team. It will be up to the lawyers to study and look into possible legal remedies so that we can have the vote counting machines rechecked to satisfy the que...

Mayor Pedro Zayco working at the Kabankalan City Hall on Wednesday, May 11.*Kabankalan LGU photoCongresswoman-elect Mercedes Alvarez of the sixth district of Negros Occidental denied on Wednesday, May 11, that she and her father had anything to do with the defeat of Kabankalan City Mayor Pedro Zayco in Monday’s polls.Zayco lost to Tan-awan kagawad Benjie Miranda.Miranda won with 36,889 votes to defeat Zayco who had 36,611 votes.There is no truth to the rumors that she or her father, Rep. Genaro Alvarez, helped Miranda win, Alvarez said.Besides she and he father belong to the same political party as Zayco, which is the Nationalist People’s Coalition, Alvarez said.“For the past how many elections we have been working closely and are allies of the Zayco administration,...

Vice Governor Jeffrey Ferrer (center) at a press conference with Esteban “Sonny” Coscolluela and Board Member Jose Benito Alonso (right) in Bacolod Wednesday.*Vice Governor Jeffrey Ferrer called the Negros Occidental campaign for Ferdinand Marcos Jr. "a big victory."They were able to reduce the 571,00 lead of Leni Robredo in Negros Occidental and Bacolod City over Marcos in the 2016 vice presidential race to 35,883 in the 2022 presidential race, Ferrer said at a press conference in Bacolod on Wednesday, May 11.“For us, this is a big victory, meaning this is not a pink country,” Ferrer said.Robredo garnered 638,932 votes in Negros Occidental and Bacolod City on Monday while Marcos had 603,049, Ferrer said.Marcos won in Bacolod, and lost in Negros Occidental by a very sm...