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Three proposed power plants   targeted to generate 362 megawatts could make Negros Occidental self-reliant in the next three years, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said Monday, June 27.“If that happens the whole province will prosper because we will have available energy at low cost,” Diaz said.He cited the proposed 300-megawatt Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) power plant of   Reliance Energy Development Inc., a subsidiary of San Miguel Corp., in San Carlos City, the 32-megawatt hydroelectric power plant of Alson’s Energy in Bago City and the planned 30-megawatt combined solar power and biomass plant in Hinoba-an town by the Zabaleta group.The Negros Occidental Sangguniang Panlalawigan granted a Resolution of No Objection on June 14 for the construction ...

If president-elect Ferdinand Marcos Jr. issues and executive order (EO) reviving the Negros Island Region (NIR) it is hoped that funding for it is included in the 2023 national budget, Negros Occidental Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said on Monday, June 27.Marcos may issue an EO creating the NIR ahead of the passage of a law, Bacolod mayor-elect Alfredo Benitez said on Saturday, June 25.Then president Benigno Aquino III issued an EO creating the NIR that existed from May 29, 2015 to Aug. 9, 2017, when it was abolished by president Rodrigo Duterte.The Negros Island and Siquijor representatives are planning to file a bill for the revival of the NIR when the 19th Congress convenes on July 1.Diaz said if the NIR is revived through an EO pending the passage of law on i...

The lives of six Moises Padilla residents, five of whom are local officials, will at last return to normal with their recent release from detention after posting bail, Mayor Celestina Garcia Yulo said Monday, June 27.The six have been falsely accused of the murder of Moises Padilla councilor Jolomar Hilario in 2019, she said.Moises Padilla Vice Mayor Ian Villafor and Councilor Jimmie Don Plaza were released from the custody of the National Bureau of Investigation on Saturday.Councilors Morito Flores and Vincent Garcia, and Quintin Remo Barangay Captain Fely Villaflor and her husband, Jonathan, were released from the custody of the Moises Padilla police on Friday.The Guihulngan Regional Trial Court allowed them to post bail of P200,000 each, the mayor said.The six have d...

Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz at the 1st Provincial Local Conservation Area Management Summit.*The Negros Occidental provincial government launched its 1st Provincial Local Conservation Area Management Summit to advance river basin conservation with a new adaption technique at the Provincial Capitol Social Hall in Bacolod City, on Monday, June 27.The summit, which is part of the 30th Provincial Environment Month celebration, highlighted the Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) technique as a high-tech yet cheaper solution to the aquatic environment problems, Julie Ann Bedrio, Provincial Environment Management Office head, said.The EbA technique requires the integrated management and multi-level participation among different sectors like the LGUs, private sector partnershi...

The seized shabu in San Carlos City*The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency and the San Carlos City police arrested four persons and seized P102,000 in drugs at 12:58 p.m. Monday, June 27.Nabbed in Barangay 6, San Carlos City, were James "Jinggoy" Santillan, 29, Edjun Artaba, 33, Roger Libre, 42, and Johnrhey Garnica, 29, a police report said.The law enforcers conducted a buy- bust operation against Santillan that also resulted in the arrest of the three others.Seized were 15 grams of suspected shabu estimated to cost P102,000 and the P500 buy bust money, the report said.*

Mayor Evelio Leonardia cuts the ribbon at the inauguration of the widened Gonzaga Bridge .*Mayor Evelio Leonardia honored the frontliners who risked their lives in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, and called them "modern-day heroes" who paved the way for Bacolod City’s de-escalation to Alert Level 1, at rites held on Monday, June 27.Leonardia led officials, along with Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran, chair of the local Inter-Agency Task Force, in paying tribute to the Emergency Operations Center-Task Force and COVID Vaccination Council volunteers, headed by Councilor-elect Em Legaspi Ang, with her deputies Dr. Chris Sorongon and Dr. Anna Maria Laarni Pornan of the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office at the Bacolod City Government Center, a press release said....

Bacolod mayor-elect Alfredo Benitez during a recent meeting with incoming president Ferdinand Marcos Jr. (right)*Incoming president Ferdinand Marcos Jr. may issue an executive order creating the Negros Island Region (NIR) ahead of the passage of a law, Bacolod mayor-elect Alfredo Benitez said on Saturday, June 25.He said the EO could be issued so the new region can begin operating even before a law creating it is passed.“It will come from the Office of the President as recommended by the DILG (Department of the Interior and Local Government), we are working on that. In the meantime that we don’t have a law we will do with an executive order,” he said.“Let’s wait and see”, Benitez said.Twelve congressmen are jointly filing a bill seeking the establishment of the NIR, whi...

Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson takes his oath before Judge Amy Alabado Avellano of the San Carlos City Regional Trial Court in the presence of his son Leandro Lacson and nieces Maria Sarina Lacson-Balatayo and Ma. Ellyca Denise Lacson.*Ronnie Baldonado photoThe next three years will be a decisive period and a major turning point for Negros Occidental, Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said Saturday, June 25.“We will rebuild Negros Occidental not according to what has been, but as it should be,” Lacson said in his inaugural speech after taking his oath as governor for a second term at rites at the Capitol grounds in Bacolod City.Vice Governor Jeffrey Ferrer, and provincial board members - Rommel Debulgado and Araceli Somosa – 1st District, Sixto Guanzon Jr. and Samson Mir...

Negros Occidental representatives-elect Emilio Yulo III, Mercedes Alvarez and Francisco Benitez (l-r) at the Capitol on Saturday* Ronnie Baldonado photoNegros Occidental representatives expressed their support for Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson amid the beginnings of a potential recession in the country.The representatives were at the inaugural rites of the provincial government officials at the Capitol grounds in Bacolod City on Saturday, June 25.“The Philippines is experiencing the beginnings of a potential recession, we are coming out of COVID pandemic’s repercussions,” Rep. Francisco Benitez (Neg. Occ., 3rd District) said.However, Benitez said he is certain with Lacson’s leadership the province can put into full force its recovery plans in food security, tourism and digital t...