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The vehicles that figured in the multiple collision in Bago City on Monday.*Bago PNP photoA 52-year-old motorcycle driver died in a multiple collision along the highway of Barangay Calumangan, Bago City, on Monday, November 14.The fatality was identified as Neptaly Subiate.A Fuso truck hit a government vehicle it was tailing when it stopped to make a turn, the police said.This caused the government vehicle to swerve to the opposite lane and hit the motorcycle driven by the victim. The wayward vehicle also hit a parked motorcycle.The truck, meanwhile, also swerved and hit an incoming Ford Raptor pickup truck.The multiple accidents injured six passengers of the truck.Both drivers surrendered to the Bago police.*

A proposed mid-rise housing building for Bacolod.*Mayor Alfredo Abelardo “Albee” Benitez is tapping the help of national government agencies to bring down the cost of the 10,000 housing units the city government is set to build for Bacolod Informal Settler Families (ISF) to make them more affordable, Councilor Vladimir Gonzalez said Monday, November 14.Benitez, who has been self-isolating after he tested positive for COVID-19, joined a Zoom meeting with the city Committee on Urban Poor, Housing and Resettlement on Monday.Gonzalez said the mayor is finding ways to lengthen the period for amortization payments and to get subsidies to cover part of the interest rates.Negotiations are underway to make the housing units affordable to residents, and construction will commence nex...

“Ghost employees” are not allowed under the Benitez administration, the Bacolod City government is making sure that job order (JO) employees are actually working, City Administrator Pacifico Maghari III said Monday, November 14.Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez has instructed them to check that the JOs are actually performing, he said.On the delay in the salaries of some JOs, Maghari said it may be because their appointment letters have been delayed.“It is not enough that a JO has an appointment letter or an endorsement, the person must be actually working,” he stressed.The city government has been gradually reducing JOs who are not working, he said.*

An increase in tourists arriving in Negros Occidental is expected with more flights now, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said Monday, November 14.Manila-Bacolod-Manila flights are about eight a day while the Bacolod-Cebu flights are two, he said.The Bacolod-Davao flights have resumed and it won’t be long before the Clark- Bacolod flights return, he said.The MassKara Festival that drew a lot of visitors to Bacolod created tourists’ renewed interest in visiting the city and Negros Occidental, he said.In Boracay tourists arrivals in the last three months were higher than pre-pandemic levels in 2019, Tourism Region 6 Director Cristine Mansinares said.This shows that the tourism industry is gradually picking up, she said.The majority were domestic tourists but it...

More COVID-19 cases are expected with arrivals and gatherings during the Christmas holidays and the lifting of the rule on the mandatory use of face masks.Active COVID-19 cases in Negros Occidental hit 290 on Monday, November 14, with seven deaths this month, the Provincial Incident Management Team reported.Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said it is normal for the cases to increase with the easing of COVID-19 protocols, and the increase in travel.President Ferdinand Marcos earlier issued an executive order stating that it is no longer mandatory to wear masks indoors and outdoors.The majority of those who died from COVID-19 were unvaccinated, Diaz said.The Cadiz District Hospital, the COVID-19 designated facility of the province, has 71 patients, 44 of whom have ...

The Victorias City African Swine Fever (ASF) Task Force keeping a close watch at ports.*Victorias City PIO photoThe Victorias City African Swine Fever (ASF) Task Force has established two quarantine stations in Brgys. VI-A and IX with the confirmed presence of ASF cases in Iloilo.The stations will serve as checkpoints for all inbound fishing vessels arriving at ports in Victorias City to prevent the entry of live pigs, pork, and by-products, the city government announced Monday, November 14.This is a collaborative effort with the Philippine Coast Guard Sub Station in Victorias, the Association of Barangay Captains, the Bantay Dagat of the City Agriculture’s Office and Provets of Victorias City, it said.*

The Negros Occidental provincial government will release the 13th month salaries of its employees in the first week of December, provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said Monday, November 14.It has not been determined yet how much the additional bonuses of the provincial government employees will receive this December, he added.It is uncertain if their bonuses will be less this year because the Commission on Audit has disallowed the provincial government from granting Incentive Benefits for Exemplary Services (IBES) to its employees.The Capitol gave P25,000 IBES bonuses to its employees last year.Diaz said the provincial government will be giving Performance Based Bonuses based on an employee’s performance and salary level so the amounts will not be the same.The prov...

The Negros Occidental delegation led by Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson Lacson in a meeting with the Northern Territory government’s agribusiness sector.*There are a lot of job opportunities available for Negrenses in the Northern Territory of Australia, Negros Occidental Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said Monday, November 14.Diaz, who joined Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson’s delegation to the Northern Territory last week, said part of the governor’s visit was to check on Negrense scholars studying and working there.The Negrense scholars are performing well in the Northern Territory and are highly regarded by the community, he said.Diaz said the demand for employees in the Northern Territory is high following the COVID-19 pandemic.A lot of establishments there have remained...

Aleia Aielle Aguilar won the gold at the Abu Dhabi World Jiu-Jitsu Festival.*A 5-year-old girl, who has roots in Negros Occidental, is the youngest Jiu-Jitsu world champion.Aleia Aielle Aguilar won the gold medal in the Kids 1 Girls White Belt 16kg-B category at the Abu Dhabi World Jiu-Jitsu Festival on Friday, her grandfather Art Aguilar said Sunday, November 13.She defeated Gabriela Vercosa of Brazil in the finals match.She is the daughter of Alvin Aguilar, founder of the Philippine Mixed Martial Art and Asian Champion in Tokyo. He was born in Bacolod City and is a Freemason in Negros.Her mother is May Masuda, first Filipina to win the World Jiu-jitsu Championship in 2009.*

Twenty-four alleged hungry and exhausted members of the New People’s Army voluntarily surrendered to the of 94th Infantry Battalion in Brgy Tambo, Ayungon, Negros Oriental, on Friday, November 11, the Army reported.They brought with them seven short firearms, three rifle grenades and one hand grenade and presented them to Lt. Colonel Van Donald Almonte, 94IB commander, and PLt.Col. John Mocyat Jr., Provincial Mobile Force commander, a press release from the Army said.BGen. Inocencio Pasaporte, 303rd Brigade commander, said "The Philippine Army and the Local TF ELCAC are very much willing to assist those NPA members who want to return to the folds of the law and are sincere to abandon the armed struggle”.“We are more than willing to assist all of you and more of your comrades to...