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The National Electrification Administration has suspended six members of the Central Negros Electric Cooperative board and its former acting general manager for 30 days after finding them guilty of simple neglect of duty, Wennie Sancho, Power Watch secretary general, announced Tuesday, July 12.Suspended were CENECO Board president Jojit Yap and directors Martha Joyce Cuenca, Ernie Larida, Antonio Panique and Eugene Velasco.Also named in the suspension order are former CENECO board member Robert J. Javellana and NEA project supervisor/acting general manager Danny L. Pondevilla.Pondevilla, who is no longer with Ceneco, is currently the general manager of the Northern Negros Electric Cooperative Inc.The NEA decision stemmed from a complaint filed by Sancho against the seven&nb...

Capitol file photoThe Bacolod City government’s tripartite deal with AstraZeneca  is a contractual obligation that must be honored, the spokesman of former Bacolod Mayor  Evelio Leonardia, said on Tuesday, July 12.Mayor Alfredo Abelardo “Albee” Benitez said on Monday  that he will try to the best of his ability not to pay for the 434,000 doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines ordered by the previous city administration that Bacolod did not receive.“If Mayor Albee decides not to pay the balance with the  supplier, that's his call. At the end of the day, he will be the one to deal with the pharmaceutical firm now as the new local chief executive,” Dr. Chris Sorongon, Leonardia’s spokesperson, said in a press statement.More than 300,000 of the 434,000 doses...

A total of 2,992 wanted persons were arrested in Western Visayas in the first six months of the year.Of the arrests, 488 were classified as most wanted persons (MWP) and 2,485 were tagged as other wanted persons (OWP).For the MWPs, Negros Occidental topped the list with 170 arrests, followed by Iloilo province with 98, Bacolod City with 72, Capiz – 42, Antique - 31, Iloilo City - 28, Aklan - 27, Criminal Investigation and Detection Group – Regional Field Unit (CIDG-RFU) - 14, and Guimaras - six.Of the 2,504 arrested OWPs, Negros Occidental posted the highest number of arrests with 1,330, Iloilo province with 394, Bacolod City - 216, Aklan - 117, Capiz - 112, Antique - 103, Iloilo City and CIDG-RFU with 89 each, and Guimaras - 54.Brig. Gen. Flynn Dongbo, Police Regional Offi...

Contributed photoMayor Alfredo Abelardo “Albee” Benitez said he will try to the best of his ability not to pay for the 434,000 doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines ordered by the previous city administration that Bacolod did not receive.More than 300,000 of the 434,000 doses have expired at the Department of Health (DOH) cold storage facility in Metro Manila and  the rest will expire at the end of the month, Benitez said at a press conference at the Bacolod City Government Center on Monday, July 11.An AstraZeneca representative who met with him recently said that the city government owed them a balance of P98 million for the 650,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines ordered by the Leonardia administration, Benitez disclosed.The Leonardia administration had paid AstraZeneca...

The recoveries from a drug bust at Brgy. Granada in Bacolod City on Sunday, July 10.*BCPO photoA woman who was arrested in a police buy-bust operation in Brgy. Granada, Bacolod City, on Sunday, July 10, yielded more than P500,000 worth of drugs.Nabbed was 25-year-old Mariane Gumban.Recovered from her possession were 75 grams of suspected shabu worth P510,000, and the P200 buy-bust money, the police reported.She is now detained at the custodial facility of Police Station 5 and is facing drug charges.*

Two motorcycle drivers died following a head-on collision in Talisay City on Sunday, July 10.*Talisay PNP photoTwo motorcycle drivers died following a head-on collision at the Barangay Concepcion highway in Talisay City, Negros Occidental,  on Sunday, July 10.Killed were Marvin Martir and Ramil Jayawon of Talisay City.Senior Master Sergeant Micheal McDowell, Talisay police traffic investigator, said Martir’s motorcycle encroached on the opposite lane and collided head-on with Jayawon.Martir died on the spot, while Jayawon expired at a hospital.*

Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Benitez said he is being urged to run for the League of Cities in the Philippines presidency*Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo “Albee” Benitez said on Monday, July 11, that he is hoping that the expanded Negros Island Region, which will include Siquijor, will be operational this year.“Hopefully we will see the resumption of the NIR soon, my target is within the year,” he said.The goal is for President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.  to reactive the NIR ahead of the passage of a law creating it, Benitez said.Benitez said he met with Interior and Local Government Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr. on Friday.They discussed the mechanics and process on how the resumption of an expanded NIR, which will include Negros Occidental and Oriental and Siquijor, will be drafted ...

More urged to avail of booster shots.*Bacolod PIO FB page photoBacolod City will soon launch a booster drive against COVID-19, Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez said on Monday,  July 11.The response to the call for booster shots has not been that much, there is a need to encourage more to go for it, Benitez said at a press conference at the Bacolod City Government Center.“We will have to learn to live with Covid, because it will not disappear it will always be there”, Benitez also said. Noting the slight increase in COVID-19 cases in Bacolod, the mayor said the Public Information Office will have to intensify the “educational process for us to treat ourselves”.There were 19 COVID-19 cases in Bacolod on Sunday, of which 13 were on home quarantine, Benitez said....

City PIO photoPreparations to make Bacolod’s MassKara Festival memorable, unique, exciting and entertaining are underway, Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez said Monday, July 11.However, details of the MassKara activities for this year will be revealed at a proper launching, he said.Benitez said he has been calling his friends in the corporate world to support the MassKara and most of them have committed to participate in the festival, it is just a matter of presenting to them the plans for this year.He is making sure there are enough sponsors to make this year’s MassKara Festival memorable, Benitez said.They will also ensure that sufficient assistance is given to participating barangays, he said.The barangays will be grouped into 15 clusters for the festival st...