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Jun262026 by Mark L. GarciaNo Comments

LTO serves show cause order, confiscates license of SK secretary in fatal crash that killed a senior citizen

The Land Transportation Office-Negros Island Region served a show cause order and confiscated the driver’s license of a Sangguniang Kabataan secretary whose motorcycle hit a senior citizen couple on a pedestrian lane in Bacolod City, killing the woman and injuring her husband.LTO-NIR personnel went to the motorcycle rider’s residence in Brgy. 9 on Thursday, June 25, hours after the fatal road incident in front of the Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital at Lacson Street at around 3:41 a.m. Thursday, June 25.The order directs the rider, alias “Zyrll,” 24, to explain his violations of traffic laws and regulations arising from the crash.The show cause order also carries the preventive suspension of his driver’s license pending the outcome of the ...

Jun262026 by Carla P. GomezNo Comments

Guv warns ASF, RSSI threats strain livelihoods, reg’l security

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Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson and Cadiz City Mayor Salvador Escalantre at the RPOC meeting in Cadiz City on Friday.*Richard Malihan photoNegros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson on Friday, June 26, called for stronger coordination to fight agricultural threats and youth violence, warning that economic disruptions and social issues can directly impact the peace and order of the region.Speaking at the Second Quarter Regional Peace and Order Council Meeting of the Negros Island Region hosted by Mayor Salvador Escalante in Cadiz City, Lacson emphasized that public safety is deeply connected to the daily economic struggles of local communities.Lacson cited the ongoing threat of the African Swine Fever (ASF) and Red-striped soft scale (RSSI) and war...

Jun262026 by Digicast NegrosNo Comments

100 Moises Padilla families to receive shelter assistance from Philippine Red Cross

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A total of 100 families who will be relocated to the municipality’s designated resettlement site are set to receive shelter assistance from the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) to help them rebuild their homes destroyed by Typhoon Tino last year.The housing assistance program was among the key initiatives discussed during the visit of Philippine Red Cross representatives to Mayor Ella Celestina Garcia-Yulo on Thursday, June 25, a press release from the town said.Joining the meeting were Vice Mayor Felix Mathias “Pimpoy” Yulo III and PRC Negros Occidental Chapter Administrator Benet Mirasol.The project will be implemented at the municipality’s official relocation site located in Barangay Inolingan, where beneficiary families will be resettled.The mayor welcomed the par...

Jun262026 by Digicast NegrosNo Comments

Free annual preventive health screening program for seniors, PWDs pushed

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A proposed ordinance institutionalizing a free annual preventive health screening and early disease detection program for senior citizens and persons with disabilities (PWDs) has taken its first legislative step after receiving approval on First Reading before the Sangguniang Panlungsod of Bacolod City, Councilor Caesar Distrito said Friday, June 26.The measure was principally authored by Distrito, with Councilors Celia Flor, Dindo Ramos, and Al Victor Espino as co-authors.The proposed “Bacolod Preventive Health Screening and Early Disease Detection Program for Senior Citizens and PWDs Ordinance of 2026” seeks to establish a comprehensive preventive healthcare program under the City Health Office (CHO), providing qualified beneficiaries with free annual health screening services ai...

Jun262026 by Carla P. GomezNo Comments

NACUSIP demands audit of SRA’s ₱206.4-M RSSI fund, seeks congressional probe, Malacañang intervention on sugar industry crisis

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The National Congress of Unions in the Sugar Industry of the Philippines (NACUSIP)—the country’s largest national federation of sugarcane plantation workers and mill laborers—is demanding a full independent audit of the Sugar Regulatory Administration’s (SRA) ₱206.4-million campaign to contain the Red-Striped Soft-Scale Insect (RSSI) infestation, citing a “catastrophic institutional failure to manage the worsening pest outbreak”."The SRA’s response to containing the RSSI is not just a failure, it has become completely useless," Roland de la Cruz, national president of NACUSIP-TUCP (Trade Union Congress of the Philippines), said in a press release Friday, June 26.NACUSIP is calling for an urgent congressional inquiry into SRA’s “mismanagement of the worsening sugar industry crisis”,...

Jun252026 by Judy F. PartlowNo Comments

NegOr, Siquijor execs back PNP’s 911 hotline

Negros Oriental, Top Stories

Brig. Gen. Romano Cardiño (4th from left) leads the launching of the S.A.F.E. NIR Dial 911 initiative at the convention center in Dumaguete City, Thursday.*PNA/Mary Judaline Flores Partlow photo Hundreds of officials from Negros Oriental and Siquijor, together with government agencies and civilian partners, pledged on Thursday, June 25, to support a Philippine National Police (PNP) initiative to make Negros Island Region (NIR) safe through the 911 hotline.The commitment came during the launch of the S.A.F.E. NIR Dial 911 initiative at the Negros Oriental Convention Center, spearheaded by the Police Regional Office-NIR headed by its acting regional director, Brig. Gen. Romano Cardiño.S.A.F.E., which stands for Seen, Appreciated, Felt, and Extraordinary, is an in...

Jun252026 by Nanette GuadalquiverNo Comments

P206-M aid released to 38K indigent patients in Negros, Siquijor – DOH

Negros Oriental, Top Stories

Infographics courtesy of Department of Health-Negros Island Region The Department of Health-Negros Island Region (DOH-NIR) has extended PHP206.26 million in financial assistance to beneficiaries in Negros and Siquijor after the establishment of the country’s newest administrative region in June 2024.The amount was released to 38,204 patients under the agency’s Medical Assistance to Indigent and Financially Incapacitated Patients (MAIFIP) Program.Data on Thursday showed the bulk of the assistance went to patients in Negros Occidental, amounting to PHP157.38 million, followed by Negros Oriental, PHP23.98 million.Siquijor received PHP14.54 million while Bacolod City received PHP10.36 million.“Access is also about financial protection. For many families, the barr...

Jun252026 by Carla P. GomezNo Comments

Benitez seeks House probe on school liabilities following deaths of students, acts of violence

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House Deputy Speaker and Bacolod Rep. Alfredo Abelardo Benitez*House Deputy Speaker and Bacolod Rep. Alfredo Abelardo Benitez announced on Thursday, June 25, that he is filing a resolution to investigate the potential liabilities of schools following recent tragic incidents involving students.The proposed investigation will specifically focus on cases involving the deaths of Ateneo student-athletes, as well as separate acts of violence involving students in Tacloban and Cavite.Benitez said the primary objective of the resolution is to identify gaps in existing laws, strengthen safeguards for students and their families, and ensure that educational institutions uphold the highest standards of safety, integrity, and responsibility.Benitez emphasized the need for absolu...

Jun252026 by Carla P. GomezNo Comments

More NegOcc LGUs intensify biosecurity measures to ward off ASF

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PNA file photoTo protect the multi-million peso local livestock industry and secure the livelihoods of small-scale and commercial hog raisers, more Local Government Units (LGUs) in Negros Occidental have scaled up their biosecurity defenses against African Swine Fever (ASF).Through a mix of strict border inspections, temporary bans, and localized task forces, Bacolod City, San Carlos City, Binalbagan, Isabela and Moises Padilla are building a regulatory wall to keep their swine populations safe from economic devastation.Mayor Greg Gasataya together with members of the Bacolod City ASF Task Force on Thursday agreed to implement stronger measures to prevent the possible resurgence and spread of ASF in the city.There are currently no confirmed cases of ASF in Bacolod, he said....

Jun252026 by Nanette GuadalquiverNo Comments

Negrense student, kin get support from DSWD after stabbing incident

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The Social Welfare and Development-Negros Occidental Team of the Department of Social Welfare and Development-Negros Island Region visit the Grade 9 student injured in a stabbing incident in San Carlos at t the city hospital, in the presence of his parents, on Wednesday *DSWD-NIR photoThe Grade 9 student injured in a stabbing incident in San Carlos City, Negros Occidental, and his family have received psychosocial support and financial assistance from the Department of Social Welfare and Development-Negros Island Region (DSWD-NIR).In a report on Thursday, June 25, the agency said its Social Welfare and Development (SWAD)-Negros Occidental Team, led by social welfare officer Mary Katherine Rico, visited the minor victim at the San Carlos City Hospital on Wednesday.“As part of th...