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The Victorias City government tested its employees for drugs this week*Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said on Friday, September 2, that if ever the Negros Occidental provincial government conducts drug tests among its employees it will be unannounced.“It’s going be a surprise”, he said.Victorias City government’s surprise drug tests this week found ten job order casuals positive for the use of drugs, Mayor Javier Miguel Benitez said on Thursday.It is good for local government units (LGUs) to conduct surprise drug tests, Lacson said, pointing out that it was also done when he was mayor of San Carlos City.“I think any LGU can do that, it’s still part of the program of cleaning up our bureaucracy,” he said.“If you are a government employee, whether you are even just a casual...

Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez discusses Bacolod's on-site housing project with the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development representatives.*The on-site housing project, a flagship program of Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez, for informal settlers of Bacolod City is underway with the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD).A Memorandum of Understanding is expected to be signed by Benitez and DHSUD Secretary Jose Rizalino "Jerry" Acuzar on Saturday, September 3.Bacolod Councilor Vladimir Gonazalez said the project will involve 10,000 housing units.The city officials met with DHSUD representatives led by Undersecretary Jose Ramon Aliling at the Bacolod City Government Center on Friday.A consolidation was discussed in undertaking the housi...

NEDA Region 6 Director Arecio Casing Jr. (right) and Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson at the Capitol in Bacolod City on Friday, September 2.*A Negros Occidental Provincial Development Council (PDC) endorsement of the Guimaras-Negros bridge, as approved by the Department of Public Works and Highways, has been requested.The request was made by Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Aberlado Benitez, who heads the Western Visayas Regional Development Council, and the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), Negros Occidental Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said Friday, September 2.The Negros Occidental PDC will convene on September 9.Benitez earlier said that President Ferdinand Marcos is supporting the plan to build the Panay-Guimaras-Negros bridges.NEDA Regio...

The meeting on the MassKara sa Panaad held Thursday night, September 1.*The MassKara sa Panaad in Bacolod City will be held October 10 to 16.The Negros Association of Chief Executives led by its president, Victorias City Mayor Javier Miguel “Javi” Benitez, and the mayors are sitting down to discuss the participation of Negros Occidental in Bacolod’s MassKara Festival, Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said Friday, September 2.The Negros Occidental local government units will participate by opening their pavilions at the Panaad Park in Bacolod, Lacson said.The Negros ACE president and Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz met with Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez and the Yuhum Foundation team managing the festival Thursday night to discuss the participation of the province in...

A scene for electrocution incident.*Silay PNP photoA 51-year-old truck driver died of electrocution in Barangay Bagtic, Silay City, Negros Occidental Thursday, August 31.Killed was Solmer Rivera of Victorias City.Lt. Col. Mark Darroca, Silay police chief, said the truck was parked on the side of the road next to the backhoe.When the backhoe started moving, it hit the main power line that fell on Rivera's truck.The victim removed the wire and was electrocuted, Darroca said.He was declared dead when he arrived at the hospital.*

The firearm and drugs recovered from the raid.*La Carlota PNP photoA man was arrested with a firearm and drugs during a police operation at Brgy. La Granja, La Carlota City, Negros Occidental, Wednesday, August 31.Nabbed was Kene Mañoso, 41.The policemen were acting on a search warrant for illegal possession of firearms issued by La Carlota Regional Trial Court Judge Cyclamen Jison Fernandez on August 25.Mañoso yielded a .45 caliber pistol with two magazines and 16 ammunition, 30 grams of shabu worth P204,000, a weighing scale, and drug paraphernalia, the police said.The police are still verifying the reports that the suspect was allegedly involved in gun-running activities and illegal drugs.He is now in police custody and is facing charges for illegal possession of...

The provincial police join the kick off ceremony of the National Crime Prevention Week held nationwide on Thursday, September 1.*NOCPPO photoA total of 164 suspects were apprehended by the Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office (NOCPPO) in the Philippine National Police’s 24-hour simultaneous implementation of warrants of arrest for wanted persons on Tuesday, August 30.This operation was conducted by all units of the police as part of the peace and security framework of PNP chief, Gen. Rodolfo Azurin Jr., called “Malasakit, Kaayusan, Kapayapaan Tungo sa Kaunlaran.”Of the arrested suspects in the province, eight of them were tagged as most wanted persons who belong to the Top 10 while 156 were other wanted persons.The 31 city and municipal police stations, two provincial...

An angry Wennie Sancho during the CENECO press conference.*Central Negros Electric Cooperatives (CENECO) officials on Thursday, September 1, maintained that they had not entered into any illegal power purchase contract and extensions, the rise in electricity rates is beyond their control, and that they have begun refunding consumers for the P238 million ordered by the Energy Regulatory Board (ERC).The CENECO officials led by their president Jojit Yap and acting general manager Ervin Stan Leo Ticar , held a press conference in response to accusations hurled against them in a petition being circulated for signature that is set to be sent to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.Ticar said they are consumers also and have been trying to find ways to lower power rates.A heated confront...

Former Commissioner Ma. Rowena Amelia Guanzon of the Commission on Elections launched her latest book at the Silliman University Law Center in Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental, on Saturday, August 27.The book is titled “The Local Government Code of 1991: Notes and Cases”.Guanzon also donated P500,000 for scholarships at the Silliman University College of Law in behalf of her family, who are from Cadiz City, Negros Occidental.Guanzon graduated from Silliman University High School in 1974.Her parents, the late Judge Sixto Guanzon and Negros Occidental Board Member Elvira Guanzon, were also Sillimanians. Both were among the first to receive from Silliman the highest Latin honors of summa cum laude.*