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Kabankalan PNP photoA retired American citizen was found dead with a gunshot wound on his head about 15 meters from his house at Sitio Magtongtong, Brgy Tampalon, Kabankalan City, Negros Occidental, on Wednesday, April 13.The fatality was Gary Wayne Moore, 77, a retired mechanic from, Texas, temporarily residing in Sitio Magtongtong, Lt. Col Raymond Cruz, Kabankalan police chief, said Sunday, April 17.The witnesses were doing household chores when they heard two successive gunshots. A few minutes later, the wife of the victim asked the witnesses to look for her husband as she discovered a suicide note on a table, a police report said.They discovered Moore’s body 15 meters from his house with a gunshot wound on the right side of his head, Cruz said.Initial police investi...

303rd IB photoTwo suspected rebels were killed and a soldier was injured in separate encounters in Negros Island on Maundy Thursday, April 14, the Army’s 3rd Infantry Division reported.A soldier of the 94th Infantry Battalion was slightly injured, while an alleged New People’s Army member identified only as alias Jhonny was killed in a 5-minute encounter in Sitio San Juan, Brgy. Caradio-an, Himamaylan City, Negros Occidental, at about 5:20 a.m. on April 14.The 94th Infantry Battalion soldiers responding to reports from residents of NPA extortion activities in the area encountered about 10 rebels, the 3rd ID report said.Recovered from the encounter site were two magazines of a .45 caliber pistol, a hand grenade, short magazine of an M-16 rifle, a tablet, medical kit, and bac...

Bacolod City had no new COVID-19 case on Saturday, April 16, the Emergency Operations Center-Task Force (EOC-TF) reported.The city also logged zero cases on February 21, March 12 and 14, EOC-TF deputy director Dr. Chris Sorongon said in a press release from the Bacolod City Public Information Office on Sunday, April 17.Records showed that the first time Bacolod registered zero COVID case was on March 10, 2021.Mayor Evelio Leonardia credited Bacolodnons for continued compliance to minimum health protocols despite the city's de-escalation to Alert Level 1 status."We are now under the new normal. But then again, we must remain vigilant because COVID is still here. We have to live with it and adjust to it accordingly and cautiously," Leonardia said.He also credited the cont...

Sagay DRRMO photoTropical Depression “Agaton”, which was downgraded to a Low Pressure Area that dissipated, left one Negrense dead in Sagay City, Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said Wednesday, April 13.Mayor Alfredo Marañon III said Zyrus Dismanos, who was in his early 30s, was drunk when he crossed the Himoga-an River in Sagay City on Tuesday, April 12.He clung on to a coconut frond while crossing the river and disappeared. His body was found Wednesday morning, the mayor said.“Agaton” affected 2,650 families or 10,653 individuals in Negros Occidental, and most of those who evacuated started returning home on Tuesday, Lacson said.The governor said with better weather they expected 100 percent to return home on Wednesday.“Agaton” also caused landslides in Bacolod, San Carl...

Continuous rain brought on by Tropical Depression “Agaton”, which has weakened into a low pressure area, damaged P34.4 million in rice, fisheries and livestock in Negros Occidental.Damage to rice and fisheries hit P33,769,455, Provincial Agriculturist Edmundo Raul Causing reported Wednesday, April 13.The report covering April 9 to 13 placed the damage to rice at P32,204, 870 affecting 1,5,25.21 hectares and 1,569 farmers in seven local government units.The rice damage in Bago City was P25,751, 383, Cadiz City – P3,881,075, Victorias City – P1,047,115, Toboso – P814,515, EB Magalona – P563,988, Silay City - P 110,794, and Pulupandan – P36,000.The fisheries damage was placed at P1,564, 575 affecting 25 fisherfolk in Escalante and Cadiz cities.Provincial Veterinarian Renan...

Hinobaan PNP photoThe Department of Education in Negros Occidental will provide psychological intervention for students and teachers of a high school in Hinoba-an, who witnessed their principal go on a shooting rampage on Tuesday, April 12.Principal Warren L. Escobar, 56, shot and killed teacher Almarisa A. Arroy and her husband, Christopher, both 35 years old, at the Bilbao-Uybico National High School in Barangay Pook before taking his own life at about 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Maj. John Ganzon, the town police chief, said.There were about 100 students attending face-to-face classes and their teachers who were at the school at the time of the shooting, DepEd Negros Occidental spokesman Ian Arnold Arnaez said Wednesday.“DepEd Negros Occidental is working closely with other age...

The national Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) placed Bacolod City and Victorias City under Alert Level 1, while the rest of Negros Occidental will be under Alert Level 2 from April 16 to 30, Presidential Spokesperson Martin M. Andanar announced Wednesday, April 13.Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson, who had expected more Negros Occidental local government units to be placed under Alert Level 1, said he would seek a clarification from the Department of Health (DOH).The IATF had placed La Carlota City, Sagay City, EB Magalona, San Enrique and Pulupandan under Alert Level 1 from April 1 to 15 for having high COVID-19 vaccination rates, and the governor said he does not know why they were not placed under the same level from April 16 to 30.He will wait for a clarification from the DOH, Lacson ...