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A crowd of 15,000 welcomed presidential candidate Leni Robredo at Bantayan Park in Bago City Tuesday night, May 3.*VP Leni Media Bureau photoVice President Leni Robredo called on her supporters to continue to work hard to win more votes with just four days left to campaign before the May 9 polls because the power for change is in the hands of the people.“Let’s have a good fight, let’s finish the race and continue to keep the faith,” she said.Robredo issued the call at a rally at the Bantayan Park in Bago City, and at a gathering of about 1,500 volunteers at the Convention Hall of Acacia Hotel in Bacolod City where she was met by rousing welcomes from supporters who chanted her name Tuesday night, May 3.At the gathering of volunteers from various sectoral groups in Negros O...

First two photos show Asenso Bacolod candidates for councilor Sonya Verdeflor, Patrick Lacson and Celia Flor (l-r) endorse Leni Robredo Tuesday night, while third photo shows Ed Guillem, Cash Montalvo, Renecito Novero, John Pangilinan - brother of Kiko Pangilinan, Leni Robredo, Dan Atayde, Dr, Chris Sorongon, Em Ang and Jonathan Diaz (l-r)*Candidates of Grupo Progreso and Asenso Bacolod endorsed the presidential bid of Leni Robredo at separate events at Acacia Hotel Bacolod Tuesday night, May 3.Grupo Progreso congressional bet Dan Atayde, and candidates for councilor Renecito Novero, Em Ang, Dr. Chris Sorongon, Cash Montalvo, Ed Guillem and Jonathan Diaz endorsed Robredo at the Grand Ballroom.They were also joined by about 1,000 GP leaders and brgy captains, an organizer said....

The Iglesia ni Cristo has informed Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson that it is endorsing his reelection bid, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said Tuesday, May 3.Other candidates in Negros Occidental have also announced that they have been endorsed by the influential INC.The INC endorsement is sought after by many candidates because the religious group is known to deliver votes via bloc voting.Toboso Mayor Richard Jaojoco said the INC is endorsing the mayoral run of his wife, Madonnah Marañon Jaojoco and, her running mate, Maria Luisa dela Cruz.The INC has also officially endorsed the re-election bid of Isabela Mayor Irene Montilla and of her runningmate Juan Miguel Montilla, posts on the Vamos Isabela Facebook page showed.The INC is expected to officia...

More than 3,000 security personnel will be deployed for the May 9 polls in Negros Occidental and Bacolod City, which are expected to be generally peaceful, Acting Provincial Elections Supervisor Roberto Salazar said Tuesday, May 3.The Commission on Elections (Comelec) and the security forces in the province are prepared for election day, he said, following a final Joint Provincial Security Coordinating Council meeting Tuesday morning.No new election areas of concern have been identified in the province, he said.Salazar said aside from the security forces he has asked the Provincial Health Office and the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office to go on heightened alert on May 9.The Philippine National Police will assign two policemen in each of the 743 voting ar...

The Commission on Elections is aiming to proclaim the winning candidates of Bacolod City in the May 9 polls as soon as possible, City Elections Officer Revo Sorbito said on Tuesday, May 3.Barring any technical malfunctions in their Vote Counting Machines (VCMs) and SD cards, Sorbito said they hope to have early trends by 10 to 11 p.m. on Election Day if everything goes well.“We want the elections to conclude as early as possible,” he said, when asked if the vote count would be finished by the morning of May 10.Voting could end at 9 p.m. in some areas in the city on May 9, he said.Acting Provincial Elections Supervisor Roberto Salazar said two replacement VCMs have been allocated to Bacolod in case of breakdowns.Sorbito said the early delivery of election forms, includin...

PNP-IMEG photoA police investigator in Bacolod City was arrested in an entrapment operation at Barangay Estefania on Sunday, May 1, after he sold an unlicensed firearm.Nabbed by the Philippine National Police-Integrity Monitoring and Enforcement Group was Staff Sgt. Gerwin Catolico, 36, of Bacolod Police Station 2.Catolico was targeted by the IMEG following his alleged involvement in the illegal arms trade in Negros Occidental and neighboring areas.Recovered from the operation was the unlicensed .45 caliber pistol, two magazines containing ammunition and P12,000 in marked money.He was arrested for violation of Republic Act 10591, or the Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulation Act, and the Comelec gun ban, the police said.Catolico detained at the custodial f...

Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Sara Duterte lead in latest Pulse Asia survey.*The victory of Ferdinand “BBM” Marcos Jr. and Sara Duterte in Negros will be a victory for all Negrenses, former Murcia mayor Esteban “Sonny” Coscolluela said Monday, May 2.“We must remember that Liza Araneta Marcos is from Negros, she is daughter of Manolet Araneta who grew up in Barangay Poblacion, Bago. We will have a person in Malacañang whose heart will definitely be for Negros,” Coscolluela, Marcos’ spokesman in Negros, said.“It is to the benefit of Negros Occidental that Liza Araneta will be with her husband in Malacañang,” Coscolluela said.They are very confident Marcos Jr. and Duterte will win in Negros Occidental on May 9, he said.Their confidence is based on scientific surveys and actual...

Leni Robredo will join a gathering at Bantayan Park in Bago City on Tuesday, May 3.*It’s all systems go.Supporters in Negros Occidental will converge at various gatherings on May 3, Tuesday, to give Vice President Leni Robredo and her team both a rousing welcome reception and a Negrense-style send-off on the eve of the 2022 elections, a press release from former governor Rafael Coscolluela said Monday, May 2.Robredo will be welcomed by thousands of leaders and supporters from the 4th and 5th districts of Negros Occidental as well as other followers at the Bantayan Park in Bago City, the press release said.The gates open at 3 p.m., organizers said.Robredo promised to visit Bago City on her next sortie, following the inadvertent rerouting of her party on their way back to...