Top Stories

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...

Mayor-elect Alfredo Benitez said he is making sure basic services are delivered efficiently in Bacolod City*Ronnie Baldonado photoThe Bacolod City government will find ways to augment its income with an expected cut in its 2023 National Tax Allotment, mayor-elect Alfredo “Albee” Benitez said on Saturday, June 25.Bacolod City, like all other local government units in the country, will suffer from a 14.47 percent budget cut in 2023 because of the national government’s low tax collection in 2020 at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.The city government’s P2,091,905,199 NTA this year will drop to P1,789,208,582 or by P302.6 million in 2023, the Department of Budget and Finance said.Benitez said he has no plan to raise property tax. “I have not looked into it,” he said.The ...

The importation of 200,000 metric tons of sugar granted by the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) will not bring down the high retail prices in the local market, Rep.-elect Emilio YuloIII (Neg. Occ., 5th District) said Saturday, June 25.That is because the imported sugar under Sugar Order No. 3 is geared towards the use of industrial users, Yulo, a former member of the Sugar Board, said.The problem with the SRA’s importation program is it did not start on the right foot, he said.If the SRA granted the importation after the end of the milling season, it would have been easy for sugar producers and other stakeholders to accept that there was a need for it, he said.The SRA, in a statement Friday, said at the time Sugar Order No. 3 s.2021-2022 was crafted, it was clear that ...

Rep.-elect Mercedes Alvarez*The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines proposed budget for the completion of the Kabankalan City airport is P600 million, Rep.-elect Mercedes Alvarez (Neg. Occ., 6th District) said Saturday, June 25.The CAAP will present the proposal to the new Department of Transportation secretary, she said.Alvarez said she is hoping even just part of the P600 million can be allocated for the Kabankalan airport in the 2023 national budget.She will push for the allocation of the amount even in phases, Alvarez said.The proposed budget is for the completion of the airport apron, and terminal and emergency buildings, she said.*

Victorias City mayor-elect Javier Miguel "Javi" Benitez* Ronnie Baldonado photoMayor-elect Javier Miguel "Javi" Benitez named the incoming Victorias City administrator and legal officer on Saturday, June 25.They are lawyers Lindolf de Castro from Manila and Meddie Arbolado Jr. from Bacolod City, Benitez said in an interview.De Castro, a graduate of the University of the Philippines Dilliman College of Law, will be the city administrator and Arbolado will be the city legal officer.Benitez said De Castro worked under former Executive Secretary Pacquito Ochoa during the Aquino administration."I'm very delighted that he is taking on the task as city administrator even though he is not from the area. Administration work is minimal politics and maximum governance. I want that...

The tricyle driver after he was shot*A tricycle driver was wounded after he was shot at Banga Metal in Brgy Alijis, Bacolod City, 3:20 p.m., Sunday, June 26.The victim was identified as Kim Ryan Canillo, 31, of Prk. Sto. Nino, Brgy. Handumanan, Bacolod.He sustained an injury on his neck and is being treated at the Bacolod Adventist Medical Center.Canillo was walking at the Alijis-Murcia Road when an unidentified person put his arm around him and without any provocation shot him on the left side of his neck and grabbed his cellular phone, PCapt. Elmer Bonilla said.The suspect then fled on board a motorcycle.The police are still investigating the motive behind the shooting.*