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The Confederation of Sugarcane Producers Association (CONFED) has recommended the importation of a more conservative volume of sugar, compared to the proposed 450,000 metric tons “two months buffer stock” being mulled by the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA).CONFED president Aurelio Gerardo J. Valderrama Jr. said on Sunday, January 29, that his group sent a letter to the SRA on Friday, to further caution the sugar regulating body to stagger the volume of importation, and schedule its arrival judiciously.This is needed so that it will not adversely affect millgate sugar prices at the tailend of the current milling season and at the start of milling in the coming crop year, Valderrama said.Administrator David Alba of the Sugar Regulatory...

The Bacolod City government may start the bidding for the sale of its vehicles and office equipment that are no longer in use next week.The City Appraisal Committee has received a memorandum from the Commission on Audit on the allowable rates for the sale.The items to be sold range from printers, a city bus, trucks, motor boats to heavy equipment, Councilor Israel Salanga, chairperson of the Sangguniang Panlungsod Committee on Assets, said.The Bids and Awards Committee will put the items up for public bidding, Salanga said.Salanga said the bidding may be done by lot to hasten the disposal of the items.Through the sale the city government will be able to earn money and clear large spaces where the items up for bidding are being stored, he said.*

Police investigators in Simon Village, Barangay Mansilingan, where the body was found.*BCPO photoThe body of a fish vendor formerly jailed for illegal drugs was found hogtied with multiple gunshot wounds at Simon Village in Brgy. Mansilingan, Bacolod City, 7:20 a.m. Friday, January 27.Found dead was Henry Paul Javier Bombate, 22, of Sitio Sibucao, Brgy. Banago in Bacolod City.The victim sustained four gunshot wounds on the head and three on his body, Maj. Elmer Bonilla, Police Station 7 chief, said.His hands and feet were tied, and his mouth and eyes were covered with duct tape.Bombate, who is a father of two, was last seen by his family when he left his home in Barangay Banago at 4 p.m. Thursday, his sister Bea Bombate said.Someone was using her brother’s Facebook ...

More than P100,000 in suspected shabu was seized in buy bust operations in Bacolod City and in other areas of Negros Occidental on Thursday, January 26.Police Station 7 operatives nabbed Bernadette Javelosa Prado, 40, in a buy bust operation in Prk. Kabugwason, Brgy. Mansilingan, Bacolod City, at 7:10 p.m. Thursday.Seized was about 8 grams of suspected shabu valued at P54,400, the police reported.Police Station 4 operatives also nabbed Rey Altas Nasis, 48, in a buy bust operation in Purok Hervias 3, Brgy. Villamonte, Bacolod City, at 10:47 p.m. Thursday.Seized from him were 5 grams of suspected shabu valued at P34,000, the police said.In Kabankalan City Louie Fred Sansano, 41, and Carlito Sansano, 68, were nabbed at Purok Dalawidaw, Brgy. Binicuil, at 6:45 p.m. Thursday...

The bodies of the victims were found in a sugarcane field.*PNP photoA grade nine student and his companion were found dead with multiple stab wounds in Barangay 6, Kabankalan City, on Friday, January 27.The 16-year-old minor from Purok Baganihan B, Barangay Binicuil, Kabankalan, sustained 21 stab wounds on his back and five in the front, a police report said.His companion was identified as Ervin Onlayao Colorado, 22, of Purok Masinadyahon, Barangay Binicuil, who sustained seven wounds on his back and 10 in the front.Residents saw a person, who had stab wounds on his back, crawling and crying for help but when the police arrived they did not immediately find the victims. Bloodstains led them to a sugarcane field where they found the bodies, the police said.A person of in...

There have been four suspected leptospirosis cases, including one death, in Bacolod City this January, the City Health Office (CHO) reported Friday, January 27.The 69-year-old male fatality from Taculing developed fever, chills, cough and jaundice on December 30 and died in a Bacolod hospital on January 4, Dr. Grace Tan, CHO Environment Sanitation Division head, saidThe three other suspected leptospirosis cases were in barangays Bata, Estefania and Punta Taytay.Leptospirosis is a bacterial infection acquired through coming in contact with food, water or soil contaminated by urine or any body fluids of infected animals, especially rats.Prevention and control includes not swimming or wading in water possibly contaminated with urine of infected rats or animals, Tan said.Fo...

Labor leaders present their manifesto opposing the importation of 450,000MT at a press conference Friday.*Nico Delfin photoLabor groups in Negros Occidental issued a manifesto expressing their strong opposition to government’s planned importation of 450,000 MT of refined sugar at a press conference in Bacolod City on Friday, January 27.The labor leaders and advocates, who represent the majority of labor organizations in Negros, said they are opposing the importation to safeguard the welfare of farmers, and farm and mill workers in the sugar industry.Copies of their manifesto will be sent to the Office of the President, Department of Agriculture, Sugar Regulatory Administration and sugar planters’ groups, Wennie Sancho, convenor of the Save the Sugar Industry Movement, said....