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Senate President Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri said on Friday, September 9, that the Senate is likely to postpone the barangay elections for a year.Zubiri, who was in Bacolod City, said 80 percent of the senators favor the postponement of the polls from December 2022 to December 2023.He said Senator Imee Marcos, Senate Committee on Electoral Reforms and People’s Participation chairperson, already has a committee report that will be taken up by the Senate in a plenary session next week.The Lower House is also expected to postpone the barangay polls by a year, Rep. Juliet Marie Ferrer (Neg. Occ., 4th District) also said earlier.*

Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said the use of face masks inside the Capitol building in Bacolod City will still be required.He pointed out that what the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) has recommended is the voluntary use of face masks outdoors.It did not say that masks may no longer be used in indoor public places, he said.The IATF-EID recommendation has not been acted on by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. yet.The provincial government will comply with the order of the national government, Lacson said.The active COVID-19 cases in Negros Occidental were 162 on Friday.Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez said he is okay with the optional wearing of masks in public places.He also noted that new CO...

The Commission on Elections Second Division has dismissed an election protest filed by former Bacolod mayor Evelio Leonardia against incumbent Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez for being “improperly filed” and “insufficient in form and content.”However, in compliance with COMELEC Rules of Procedure the case was referred to the Law Department for further investigation of the alleged violation of the Omnibus Election Code for vote-buying, illegal campaigning, wearing of uniforms and bearing of arms, the order issued Wednesday, September 7, said.“It bears stressing that the process of manual recount is not a tool intended to replace proof with suppositions or evidence with assumptions. Baseless and unsubstantiated protest remains impermissible in order to fully protect the true will of t...

Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez and Regional Director Adriano Suba-an of the Department of Health (seated, l-r) signed a A Memorandum of Agreement for the DOH allocation of P250 million for the construction of the BCGH’s main building in the presence of Rep. Emilio Yulo III, Rep. James Ang Jr., Vice Governor Jeffrey Ferrer, Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri, Bacolod Rep. Greg Gasataya and DPWH Regional Director Nerie Bueno (l-r, standing).*Andy Alvarez photoSenate President Juan Miguel Zubiri pledged an additional P400 million for the construction of the Bacolod City General Hospital (BCGH) at its groundbreaking rites in Barangay Vista Alegre, Bacolod City, on Friday, September 9.This will bring the cost of the BCGH buildings to P850 million, Bacolod Rep. Greg Gasataya sa...

Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri (center) with Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez and Rep. Greg Gasataya (right) on Friday.*Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri said on Friday, September 9, that he believes two former members of the Sugar Regulatory Administration board were misled into signing Sugar Order No. 4 that sought the importation of 300,000 MT of sugar.Zubiri said he will include an amendment in the Senate Blue Ribbon report stating that be believes that former SRA board members Roland Beltran representing the millers and Aurelio Gerardo “Bodie” Valderrama Jr. representing the planters were misled into singing the sugar order.“They were misled to believe that the president wanted it", he said, referring to the importation for 300,000 MT“There is only one mas...

The fire that hit three houses in Barangay Villamonte.*BFP photoTwo houses were destroyed and one was damaged at Aries Street., Greensville 3 , Brgy. Villamonte, Bacolod City, 11:23 a.m. Thursday, September 8.The houses of Christine Liboon and Virginia Penario were destroyed and the house of Nancy Parcon was damaged, the Bureau of Fire Protection reported.Estimated damage was placed at P180,000.*

Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz*Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson has no objection to provincial government officials acting as consultants to Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Benitez on a pro bono basis.The support of the governor for the mayor is still 100 percent, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said on Thursday, September 8.It will further synergize the working relationship between Negros Occidental and Bacolod City for the good of everybody, he added.“For the whole province to succeed we cannot turn our backs on Mayor Albee and Bacolod City,” Diaz said.Benitez has proposed consultancy agreements between Bacolod City and Diaz as consultant for Administrative Matters and Systems Review, Teresita Lopez Jalandoni Provincial Hospital chief Dr. Mary Ann P. ...

The Amlig Kuryente convenors on Thursday, September 8, questioned why Central Negros Electric Cooperative (CENECO) allegedly rejected at least five lower priced power sources at the expense of its consumers.How did CENECO arrive at the P10.74/KwH rate? Amlig Kuryente convenors former Councilor Wilson Gamboa Jr. and Christian Weber asked at a press conference at the Negros Press Club in Bacolod City.Why did the CENECO Board of Directors (CENECO-BOD) and management contract an “Emergency Power Supply Agreement” of 40-megawatts priced at P10.74/KwH by Palm Concepcion Power Corp. and reject at least five probable “lower priced” sources, Gamboa asked.“What is so special about Palm Concepcion to the CENECO-BOD and management, one of the highest bidders in last year’s Competitive Sele...

The Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office (NOCPPO) has stepped up its measures to address the rampant robbery cases in the province.Lt. Judesses Catalogo, NOCPPO public information officer, said Thursday, September 8, that 43 robbery cases were reported in August alone, the most number of incidents this year.Only 13 of these cases are still under investigation because the victims are not willing to cooperate with the police, he said.He said that it was during the dead season in the sugar industry when criminality increased.Personnel of delivery vans, who were collecting sales in sari-sari stores, were mostly the victims, he said.The robbery incidents led NOCPPO to form the Joint Anti-Bank Robbery Action Committee, which tapped financial institutions, bankers, deliv...