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An Operation Smile beneficiary before and now*Operation Smile comes back to Bacolod to bring real smiles back to indigent children with cleft lip and palate deformities through free reconstructive surgery as part of the highlights of the 43rd MassKara Festival.Organized by the H.O.P.E. Volunteers Foundation Inc. in collaboration with the Bacolod Yuhum Foundation, Operation Smile Philippines Foundation Inc. and the Adventist Medical Center – Bacolod, this year’s mission after three years of inaction due to the pandemic brings a different meaning to the “Balik Yuhum” theme of the festival to the children who will soon be beaming with new smiles.On Friday, the organizers will be screening patients at Robinsons Mall Bacolod on who will be qualified for the scheduled reconstructive ...

The Negros Occidental and Bacolod City Joint African Swine Fever Task Force will stop all attempts to bring in live pigs, boar semen, pork and pork products from places affected with ASF, Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson vowed on Tuesday, October 18.“Apprehensions will be made for as long as they try to bring such products in”, he said.It took some people by surprise but they had to react right away because it is very important to protect the province’s P6 billion swine industry, Lacson said, of the province’s recent ban on such products from Panay and Guimaras.The joint task force will keep a close watch of the BREDCO port and other points of entry, he said.ASF is a highly contagious disease of swine with an up to 100 percent fatality rate, there being no known treatment and vacci...

There has been a high increase in business confidence in Bacolod City, which is a sign of things to come, Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez said.*Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez said on Tuesday, October 18, that business firms’ sales during the ongoing MassKara Festival in Bacolod City have reached pre-pandemic levels.There has been a high increase in business confidence in Bacolod City, which is a sign of things to come, Benitez said during a MassKara media night celebration.The historic MassKara Festival being held at seven venues this year following the COVID-19 pandemic has not fallen short of people’s expectations, “in fact we did more,” Benitez said.Very seldom does a festival run for a three-week period with non-stop well attended activities, he said.Benitez said off...

The man who allegedly killed a teacher in Naga City, Cebu, was arrested Monday night, October 17, at the port of San Carlos City, Negros Occidental.Nabbed was Elmar Alvarez Gemida, 24, of Barangay Ilaya, Calatrava town.He was linked to the killing of Jhun Leo Panares of Inuboran Elementary School in Barangay Inuboran, Naga, on Sunday, October 16. The victim was found with stab wounds inside the teacher’s office.Lt. Col. Jesus Mesahon, San Carlos police chief, said that the suspect used the victim’s motorcycle to travel to the province through a roll-on, roll-off vessel after the killing.He was intercepted after he was supposed to fetch his live-in partner at the seaport.He was unaware that the authorities had already reached out to his live-in partner for his arrest....

The water container where the boy drowned in Sipalay City.*A 2-year-old boy drowned in a water container in Barangay Nabulao, Sipalay City in Negros Occidental, on Tuesday morning, October 18.Dionilo Bogtae, Sipalay City Rescue Unit head, said the child's father left the boy to attend to his other child who was crying.He did not notice that the boy was playing near the water container.It is possible that the child stepped into the bucket full of water, he said.The child was already dead when he was brought to the hospital.*

Carabalan residents returning to their homes.*photo courtesy of Mayor Raymund TongsonThere were 163 families with 669 individuals left in five evacuation centers in Himamaylan City on Tuesday, October 18, Provincial Administrator Rafrando Diaz said.The 669 evacuees are from Barangay Carabalan, Himamaylan.Thousands of residents of the barangay had evacuated when armed clashes between government and rebel forces began on October 6, and were given the go signal to return home on October 15.Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said the situation in Carabalan is slowly normalizing.So far the situation on the ground is improving, Himamaylan Mayor Raymund Tongson also said.*

The area where a man was found dead in Barangay Granada.*A construction worker was found dead in front of a school at Crossing Carmen, Barangay Granada, Bacolod City, on Tuesday morning, October 18.The fatality was identified as 21-year-old Erwin Abitong, who succumbed to a lone stab wound to the chest.Capt. John Christopher Masangkay, Police Station 5 chief, said the unidentified suspect may have been monitoring the victim’s whereabouts.He said they have yet to establish the motive for the killing, but the victim’s family claimed that he received threats through messages on his Facebook messenger in September.The police also said that the victim’s family claimed he had no enemies and no criminal record.Investigation is still ongoing.*

It will be a long holiday for all with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. declaring October 31 a special non-working holiday.Marcos signed Proclamation No. 79 on Tuesday, October 18, declaring Monday, October 31, as a special non-working holiday.November 1, which falls on a Tuesday, is also a special non-working day, according to Proclamation 1236 inked by former president Rodrigo Duterte.November 2 is a special working day.Meanwhile, Proclamation 72 declared Friday, November 4, as a special non-working day in San Carlos City.*

Lucille Gelvolea, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando P. Diaz, Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Benitez, Dr. Mary Ann Maestral, and Valerie Anne Hollero (l-r) during the contract signing.*Four pro-bono Bacolod City consultants, three of whom are Negros Occidental provincial government executives, signed their contracts with the Bacolod City government represented by Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez on Tuesday, October 18.The three Capitol executives are Provincial Economic Enterprise Development Division head Lucille Gelvolea - consultant for Special Projects and Economic Affairs, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando P. Diaz - consultant for Administrative Matters and System Review, and Teresita L. Jalandoni Provincial Hospital chief, Dr. Mary Ann P. Maestral, consultant for Health and Hospital Co...