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The 4th tranche salary hike was tackled during the Bacolod SP session Wednesday*The Bacolod Sangguniang Panlungsod has approved the appropriation of P30,590,000 for the fourth tranche salary increases of the city government employees, Councilor Jude Thaddeus Sayson, SP Committee on Appropriation and Finance chairman, said Wednesday, January 25.The allocation of the funds for the fourth tranche that will take effect this month is in compliance with the "Salary Standardization Law of 2019", Sayson said.Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez had requested the SP to pass the appropriation ordinance.City Budget Officer Maria Imelda Williams informed the SP that her office had considered the provisions of Republic Act 11466 and included the allocation for the fourth tranche in th...

The hands were found inside a plastic ice cream container,*BCPO photoChopped off hands submerged in beef broth with jackfruit and a list of 22 persons linked to illegal drugs was found in Purok Kagaykay, Brgy. 2, Bacolod City, at about 6:50 a.m. Wednesday, January 25.The left and right hands inside a plastic ice cream container along with the list was found by a tricycle driver in the garbage.The 22 persons on the list are from puroks Kagaykay and Sigay that are thickly populated areas in Barangay 2, Capt. Jonito Pastrana, Police Station 2 chief, said.The list also stated that there was a certain RR from Police Station 2 who is a drug protector, Pastrana said.They are still determining who “RR” is, he said.The message on the note said “tanan kamo kung indi mag-untat...

Former Commissioner Rowena Guanzon*Rowena Guanzon, the outspoken former commissioner of the Commission on Elections, called on President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to decide on how much sugar to import this year based on actual data of local production.Marcos should not make decisions based on knee jerk reactions to information whispered to him by some people, the Sugar Regulatory Administration should give accurate and reliable data on the exact amount of sugar shortage expected and how much do they plan to import, Guanzon said Tuesday, January 25.She also asked what made it wrong for the previous Sugar Regulatory Administration board members to import 300,000 metric tons of sugar last year, and right for the Department of Agriculture (DA) to now decide to do the same thing.The ...

The body of Jose Rammel Europa was found in this area in Sitio Cabadingan, Brgy. Camandag, La Castellana.*Two persons were killed in La Castellana and Murcia, Negros Occidental, the police reported Tuesday, January 24.Jose Rammel Dagsa Europa, 47, was found dead with a gunshot wound beside a creek in Sitio Cabadingan, Brgy. Camandag, La Castellana, on Monday.A nephew of the suspect is a person of interest in the killing, the police said.Meanwhile, Lito Hilado Pabrua, 42, was hacked to death in Purok Guinam-an, Brgy. Minoyan, Murcia, Negros Occidental, Monday night, by his uncle, the police said.The suspect is Francisco Belegorio Roce, 59.A police report said the Pabrua and Roce were having a drinking session inside the house of the suspect.A heated altercation o...

PLt. Judeses Catalogo, Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office spokesman*Six illegal drugs groups in Negros Occidental have been dismantled, the police said Tuesday, January 24.Dismantled were the Ramos, Divinagracia, Bacus, Macundato, Virtucio and Burgos drug groups through Oplan Tokhang and other illegal drugs operations, PLt. Judeses Catalogo, Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office (NOCPPO) spokesman, said.They are closely monitoring the remaining members of the drug groups individually engaging in the illegal drugs trade, he said.The new approach of the police in the campaign against illegal drugs is to give attention to drug rehabilitation and education, he said.The NOCPPO was the topnotcher in the anti-illegal drugs operations in Western Visayas in 2022. It...

The dialog at CENECO on Tuesday.*“Our goal is reliable, renewable, available, affordable and sustainable energy for Negros Occidental”, former governor Rafael Coscolluela said Tuesday, January 24.Leaders of consumers groups led by Coscolluela and Fr. Chris Gonzales, head of the Diocese of Bacolod Social Action Center, met with Central Negros Electric Cooperative officials at the CENECO board room Tuesday.“While we favor dialog as the means to resolve issues, we are not averse to resorting to constructive criticism when called for. We thank the CENECO Board and management for being open to this,” Coscolluela said.“The healthy communication of ideas involved the discussion of electricity rates, power contracts and environment concerns. The consumer groups also sought clarific...

Vice Governor Jeffrey Ferrer and Rep. Mercedes Alvarez*Rep. Mercedes Alvarez (Neg. Occ., 6th District) said on Tuesday, January 24, that if President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. issues an executive order creating the Negros Island Region, it will be a big help in influencing the passage of a pending bill in Congress seeking its creation by law.After all it is the president who will sign the Congress’ approved bill creating the new region into law, she said.A bill seeking the creation of the new region composed of Negros Occidental and Oriental and Siquijor has been approved by the House Committee on Local Government. It is up for deliberation before the House Committee on Appropriations before its passage on second reading, Alvarez said.All of the Negros and Siquijor representativ...

Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez presides over the Solidwaste Management Board Meeting on Tuesday, January 24.*The garbage trucks of IPM-Construction and Development Corp. (IPM-CDC) will be using a tracking app starting next week to improve garbage collection in Bacolod City, Mayor Alfredo Abelardo “Albee” Benitez said.This was agreed on at a Solidwaste Management Board Meeting Tuesday morning, January 24, the mayor said in a post on his Facebook page“With the tracking app, each truck will be accessed not just by the government but also by citizens, to check on location…for proper garbage collection,” he said.A zonal collection schedule will also be released so that it will be easy for citizens to monitor garbage pick-up time, he added.Meanwhile, free Wi-Fi is now...