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The seized drugs in San Carlos City.*Five persons were arrested and P567,868 in drugs were seized in San Carlos and Victorias cities on Wednesday, March 1.Two were arrested and 63.51 grams of suspected shabu valued at P431,868 were seized in a buy bust operation at Hacienda Sta. Ana, Brgy. Palampas, San Carlos City.Arrested were Herfrance Villagracia Tuhao, 21, and a female minor of San Carlos City, the police said.The two are detained at the San Carlos City Police Station custodial facility.Three others were arrested and 20 grams of suspected shabu estimated at P136,000 were seized at Zone 5, Salvacion, Brgy. 6, Victorias City.Nabbed were Jerry Hino-o Magallanes, alias Jerry Bulaho, 44; Loremae Abbuyo Combate, alias Kayot, 36; and Daniel Jarden Isuga, alias Dandan,...

Bacolod City government employees and barangays joined the nation in welcoming the first day of National Women’s Month on Wednesday, March 1.The city turned purple with employees donning purple shirts, while purple ribbons were tied on the doors of various offices and barangay halls, Councilor Celia Matea Flor said.The Sangguniang Panlungsod passed a resolution enjoining the City of Bacolod to participate in and support the activities in observance of National Women's Month for the whole month of March.The resolution encourages all offices and agencies of the Bacolod City government to print and display the 2023 National Women's Day official banner in their offices and tie purple ribbons in their offices. All government employees are also encouraged to wear any purple-colored a...

Col. Orlando Edralin, 303rd Infantry Brigade commander, pinned a Wounded Personnel Medal on one of the wounded soldiers at a Bacolod hospital on Wednesday.*Four New People’s Army rebels were killed and two government soldiers were injured in an encounter in Brgy Carabalan, Himamaylan City, Negros Occidental, Wednesday morning, March 1, Lt. Gen. Benedict Arevalo, Visayas command chief, confirmed.The two soldiers were in stable condition, Arevalo added.Recovered from the rebels were two M-16 rifles, two AK-47 rifles, and two M203 grenade launchers, he said.Himamaylan City Mayor Raymund Tongson said 81 Carabalan families with about 355 members evacuated from their homes following the encounter.The military has given the evacuees the go signal to go home, he added.The 9...

The House of Representatives approved the Negros Island Region bill on second reading Wednesday, March 1, Rep. Jose Francisco “Kiko” Benitez (Neg. Occ., 3rd District) said."Let's continue to support this bill, and hope for its final approval," Benitez said."We’re grateful for the continued support of our fellow representatives," Rep. Mercedes Alvarez (Neg. Occ., 6th District) said.House Bill 7355 seeking the creation of the NIR was part of an omnibus motion to approve several local bills in the House calendar of business on Wednesday.The bill seeks the creation of the NIR composed of Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental and Siquijor.*

The Department of Health central office has sent an Epidemiology Bureau (EB) team to San Carlos City to look into the rising acute gastroenteritis and amoeba cases there, Dr. Adriano Suba-an, DOH 6 regional director, said Wednesday, March 1.He said the six-man team from Manila will augment the DOH regional team that was sent to San Carlos City earlier.San Carlos City recorded 469 acute gastroenteritis and amoeba cases and two deaths from February 1 to March 1, Joe Recalex Alingasa Jr., City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Officer, said.He said 268 patients were admitted at the San Carlos City Hospital, 31 at the San Carlos Doctor’s Hospital and 170 were home managed.There were 52 active cases at the San Carlos City Hospital and four at the San Carlos Doctor’s Hospital as...

Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) should be required before the Sangguniang Panlungsod grants Resolutions of No Objections (RONOs) to the proponents of two reclamation projects in Bacolod City, a youth environmentalist said Wednesday, March 1.Joshua Villalobos said aside from the actual destruction of marine life, these massive reclamation projects would also mean that mountains are to be flattened by quarrying to supply the materials needed. If not, they might source it from seafloors, he added.“I hope our officials will think of these massive impacts before they grant any permits,” he added.“The proposed reclamations are being blatantly fast-tracked, and communities in the margins are being blindsided. Proposals of this scale should be thoroughly discussed, consulted, a...

Businessman Ronnie Galve Pabilona was killed in his store in Himamaylan City.*A businessman was killed and three others were found dead in Negros Occidental, the police reported Wednesday, March 1.Businessman Ronnie Galve Pabilona, 47, was killed at Brgy.4 Poblacion, Himamaylan City, 1:45 p.m. Tuesday, February 28.Pabilona was eating lunch at his store when a male person entered and ordered lunch. The person went out of the store, and returned a few minutes later and suddenly shot Pabilona on the back of his head using a .45 caliber pistol, the police said.The victim was brought to the Governor Valeriano M. Gatuslao Memorial Hospital but was declared dead on arrival, the police added.The suspect escaped.Fisherman Jesus Sevilleno was found dead in a tricycle with a h...

Senator Risa Hontiveros *PNA photoSenator Risa Hontiveros said on Wednesday, March 1, that the memorandum by Department of Agriculture (DA) Senior Undersecretary Domingo Panganiban clearing the release of ”smuggled” sugar, which entered the country without proper permits is the “smoking gun” proof that high-ranking officials are behind the country’s latest sugar import fiasco.The senator issued the statement after Panganiban issued a memorandum dated February 27. The memorandum cleared for release imported sugar stocks consigned to All Asian Countertrade Inc. that entered the country with no proper permits and before a corresponding Sugar Order was issued by the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA), in violation of existing laws, Hontiveros said.SRA Administrator David Alba, o...