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Bacolod mayor-elect Alfredo "Albee" Benitez answers questions from the media Monday night, May 30.Bacolod mayor-elect Alfredo “Albee” Benitez said his Truth Commission will dig deep into previous transactions in the Bacolod City government and will file charges if there is evidence to do so. The Truth Commission will investigate, audit and asses all the transactions that happened in the past in response to public demand, Benitez said, at a dinner he hosted for the media Monday night, May 30. His instructions are to “go as deep as you can because Bacolod deserves to know everything that happened in this past administration” he said. He wants to do that because he wants to start from a clean slate moving forward so he is not blamed for what happened in the previous ...

A 15-year-old boy was stabbed to death near the flagpole in front of the Bacolod City Government Center (BCGC)  at about 7:30 p.m.  Sunday, May 29, by a member of an alleged rival group. Stabbed in the back was Yeshua John Alvarez Torres   of Purok 4, Barangay 41, Bacolod City, who was declared dead on arrival at the Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital, PLt. Greeky Cayao, Police Station 4 OIC, said Monday. The suspect was identified as Jorebel Solatorio Datulayta, alias Nonoy, 21, of Purok Pag-asa, Barangay Alijis, Bacolod City. The victim  and  his 14-year-old friend were walking in front of the BCGC when the suspect chased and stabbed him, and walked away, the police said. Cayao said their initial investi...

Bacolod mayor-elect Alfredo “Albee”  Benitez said one of the first executive orders that he will issue  is for all city government personnel  to return to their mother units, except for those at the City Health Office and in other offices whose services may be hampered. The return to mother units will be ordered to assess the work being done by such employees, Benitez said at a dinner he hosted for the media Monday night, May 30.  Benitez also said all job order (JO) personnel will be deemed terminated by June 30 and appointments will be made based on their need.  “We may be putting in people more than we really need. There has to be an assessment of qualifications for their assignments,” he said. Until now the current administra...

Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson led the distribution of NHA assistance to the typhoon victims of Kabankalan City on Monday, May 30.* Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson distributed P36.1 million in assistance to 7,234 victims of typhoon “Odette” in Kabankalan City on Monday, May 30. The P31.6 million is part of the P91 million National Housing Authority aid to residents whose houses were destroyed by the typhoon. Each family received P5, 000, the governor said. The distribution of the NHA aid was delayed by the election ban. Lacson said they started the distribution in Kabankalan because residents there had not received roofing assistance from the provincial government because of budgetary constraints. More assistance will be distributed in other are...

Dengue cases in Negros Occidental have further increased by 282 percent compared to last year, which remains the highest in Western Visayas, the Department of Health reported Monday, May 30.Negros Occidental had 96 new dengue cases from May 15 to 21 bringing its total this year to 657 cases and five deaths.Bacolod City had 12 new cases from May 15 to 21 for a total of 139 cases this year or an increase of 72 percent from 2021. Bacolod also had four dengue deaths this year, the DOH added.There were 266 new dengue cases in Western Visayas from May 15 to 21, the highest since January this year, the DOH report said.There is a 110 percent increase in WV dengue cases at 1,693 this year compared to 808 in 2021. There have also been 20 dengue deaths in WV this year, the DOH said....

Mayor-elect Benjie Miranda taking his oath as the new mayor of Kabanakalan City.*Benjie Miranda FB page photo Mayor Pedro Zayco called on Kabankalanons to support the new administration in Kabankalan led by mayor-elect Benjie Miranda to ensure the progress of their city, during the distribution of more aid to the victims of Typhoon “Odette” on Monday, May 30. On June 30 he will step down as mayor of Kabankalan, which he accepts as God’s will, and of the people, Zayco said. The Zaycos had served Kabankalan City for 30 years and worked for the good of its people, it is time for him to spend more time with his family, he said. He said it was under his brother, then Mayor Isidro Zayco, that Kabankalan became the eighth city of Negros Occidental and the 69th in th...

Joshua, with his parents, Jennifer and Ramil, on graduation day beside his mother’s stall next to the USLS campus.The son of a sidewalk vendor and a tricycle driver graduated with a degree in chemical engineering from the University of St. La Salle (USLS) in Bacolod City with a bonus certificate from the College of Engineering and Technology as an Outstanding Student on Sunday, May 29. Joshua Mahilum, 22, a scholar of USLS and the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), attributes his achievement to God’s goodness and his mother’s insistence on his enrolling in La Salle even if they did not have the money for it. His mother Jennifer, 47, who finished grade two, sells food to drivers who park their vehicles outside the USLS campus. His father Ramil, 51, was an...

Sipalay LGU photoThe Department of Education (DepEd) on Sunday, May 29, welcomed the approval by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) of an additional honoraria for select teachers for their extended service during the May 9 polls.DepEd, through Secretary Leonor Briones and Election Task Force Chair and Undersecretary for Administration Alain Del B. Pascua, coordinated with Comelec on its proposal of providing appropriate and just compensation for teachers who rendered extended hours in the elections due to vote counting machine (VCM) and SD card issues.In a COMELEC order, poll workers will receive an additional P2,000 honoraria across the board. Although it is lesser than our original proposal of P3,000, the Department is grateful to the Commission for listening to our plea f...

Bacolod City has had 138 dengue cases this year and four deaths, the Bacolod City Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit (BCSEU) reported Sunday, May 29.The four who succumbed to dengue were an 11-year-old male from Barangay Singcang, 20-year-old female from Barangay Pahanocoy, 19-year-old male from Barangay Sum-ag and a 75-year-old male from Barangay Tangub, the BCSEU reported.This figure is 72.5 percent higher than the cases last year, which were 80 with two deaths.The age range of those affected were from 7 months old to 77 years old.The BCSEU said the barangays with the highest dengue cases are Singcang – 17, Estefania – 16, Tangub – 11, Mansilingan – 10, Granada- 10, Alijis – 10, Mandalagan – 9, Sum ag – 9, Taculing - 6, Banago - 5, and Villamonte – 5.The public is adv...