Top Stories

Damage to rice and high value crops in three cities and two towns in Negros Occidental caused by heavy rains and flooding brought on by Typhoon "Karding" has reached P9,659,150Affected were 934 farmers tilling 735.24 hectares in 46 barangays from September 23 to 26, Provincial Agriculturist Edmundo Raul Causing said in a report to Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson on Thursday, September 29.Bago City was the worst hit with rice crop damage placed at P7 million. Affected were 740 farmers tilling 520 hectares in 13 Bago barangays.Rice crop damage in Himamaylan City was P284,512, Sipalay City - P729,513, Cauayan - P708,815 and Hinoba-an - P849,800.Ten famers planting high value crops in Sipalay City also suffered P46,950 damages, the report said.*

Bacolod City is a finalist for the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry 2022 Most Business-Friendly Local Government Unit Award in the highly urbanized city category.The city has advanced to the final judging scheduled on October 3, Jose Alejandro, PCCI’s chairman for LGU awards, informed Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez.Bacolod has been asked to submit a video presentation that focuses on the significant initiatives introduced by the LGU in fast-tracking sustainable local economic development through ease of doing business initiatives and the most successful and effective initiatives between the LGU and private sector in ensuring inclusive growth.The city was named the “Most Business-Friendly Local Government Unit” for 2021 by the PCCI besting 10 other finalists i...

The cities of Sagay and Bago in Negros Occidental made it to the Green Destination Top 100 Stories List in the world during the Green Destinations and Future of Tourism Summit in Athens, Greece, Tuesday night, September 27.The unveiling ceremony of the Green Destination Top 100 Stories List was attended by 250 delegates from 43 countries.Sagay City was recognized for its story on “Mangrove Forest Protection through Community-based Eco Tourism”, while Bago City was cited for “Reviving the Majestic Diversity of the Bago Watershed”.Green Destinations is a Netherlands-based organization working on the assessment, capacity building, and certification of destinations and businesses committed to sustainable tourism.Every year the Green Destinations Top 100 Stories competition coll...

The drug recovery from the bust at Brgy. 29, Bacolod City, Wednesday, September 28.*BCPO photoTwo persons, including a street-level individual, were arrested in separate drug buy-bust operations in Bacolod City in the last two days.Arrested at Purok Cadena De Amor, Brgy. 29 on Wednesday, September 28, was Marciano “Nonoy” Marchan, 51, of the barangay.He yielded 15 grams of suspected shabu worth P102,00 during the bust.Also recovered from him were the P300 buy-bust money and the P200 cash proceeds.In a related development, alleged street-level suspect Deolito Gonzaga was arrested in a bust operation at Prk. Kabugwason, Brgy. Mansilingan, on Tuesday, September 27.Confiscated from him were six grams of suspected shabu worth P40,800, the P500 marked money, a pouch, and ...

Seventeen former rebels received financial assistance, food packs and hygiene kits at the city hall of Himamaylan, Negros Occidental on Tuesday, September 27.Ten others also received educational assistance from the Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict and Himamaylan City government.Brig. Gen. Inocencio Pasaporte, Philippine Army’s 303rd Infantry Brigade commander, lauded the former rebels for making the right decision to return to the folds of the law.He said they were just victims of the propaganda lies and deceptive recruitment of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army- National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF).The financial and educational assistance extended by the local government unit is solid proof that the Himamaylan is sincere in its com...

Hospital Administrator Ann Flores, Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson, Dr. Ramon B. Gustilo and Manapla Mayor Manuel Escalante III (l-r) cut the ribbon at the inauguration of the Dr. Ramon B. Gustilo Hospital Medical Specialty Services building in Manapla, on Wednesday*Richard Malihan photoThe Dr. Ramon B. Gustilo Hospital Medical Specialty Services building in Manapla, Negros Occidental, was inaugurated on Wednesday, September 28.Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson and Manapla Mayor Manuel Escalante III, who joined the inauguration, thanked Gustilo for his dedication towards helping indigent patients and for giving back to his hometown.Gustilo, president and medical director of the hospital, is a world renowned orthopedic surgeon, scientist and inventor who made a name for himsel...

The Bicameral Conference Committee members agreed to postpone the BSKE to October 2023 on Wednesday.*Nancy Binay FB photoThe Senate and House of Representatives ratified the bicameral conference committee report on Wednesday, September 28, postponing the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections (BSKE) to October 2023.Sen. Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito told DIGICAST NEGROS the bicameral conference committee agreed to hold the BSKE on the last Monday of October 2023.The term of office of officials elected in the 2023 barangay and SK elections will start at noon of November 30 next year.The subsequent BSKEs will be conducted every three years, he said.The measure ratified by both chambers of Congress will be sent to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to sign into law.Rep....

The cholera cases in Negros Occidental hit six with a teenager from Silay City testing positive on Wednesday, September 28, Provincial Administrator Rayfrado Diaz said.The 17-year-old female from Barangay E. Lopez, Silay City, is confined at the Teresita L. Jalandoni Provincial Hospital (TLJPH), he said.The teenager is the fourth cholera case reported in Silay City. One was an 88-year-old woman who died on September 22.Dr. Mary Ann Maestral, TLJPH chief, said the 17-year-old who was their first pediatric patient hit with cholera and amoeba was stable on Wednesday. ”We are just replacing the electrolytes of the patient now,” she said.The two others hit with cholera are a 30-year-old female from Sitio Tinapok, Barangay Batea, EB Magalona, and 45-year-old female from Sitio Pas...

The drugs and high-powered firearm were seized from two suspects in Dumaguete City Tuesday, September 27.*Two persons were arrested after they yielded illegal drugs and a high powered firearm in a buy-bust operation Tuesday, September 27, in Barangay Piapi, Dumaguete City, Negros Occidental.Nabbed were Sheigfred Libby and Ronald Mariño who were tagged as street level individuals.Police seized 27 grams of suspected shabu worth about P200,000, a KG9 submachine gun and 18 bullets of a .9mm firearm.The suspects are now in the custody of the Dumaguete police.*

Former Sugar Regulatory Administration chief Hermenegildo Serafica*A Regional Trial Court judge in Himamaylan City, Negros Occidental, has issued a warrant for the arrest of former Sugar Regulatory Administration chief Hermenegildo Serafica.Judge Walter Zorilla, Himamaylan RTC Branch 55, found Serafica guilty of indirect contempt of court on Monday, September 26 for issuing a memorandum allowing the importation of sugar despite a writ of preliminary injunction issued by the court.Serafica was ordered imprisoned for 15 days and to pay a fine of P30,000.The judge on March 2, 2022, issued a writ of preliminary injunction directing the SRA, its agents and representatives or persons acting on its behalf to cease and desist from implementing the sugar importation program embodied...