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A 17-year-old boy was arrested in a police drug bust operation at Purok Ylac, Barangay 1 in Bacolod City Friday, April 16.The teenage suspect, whose name was withheld by the police, yielded six sachets of suspected shabu worth P20,400 and a .38 caliber pistol loaded with live ammunition.The suspect will be charged for illegal possession of drugs and a firearm.*

COVID-19 active cases in Negros Occidental hit an all-time high Thursday, April 15, and “it will take a while before we will see a downward trend,” Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said.There were 1,936 COVID-19 active cases Thursday, the highest since the pandemic hit in March last year, Lacson said.The province had 290 new cases Thursday, the Department of Health also reported.Of the 290, the DOH said local cases were 213, returning overseas Filipinos – 62, locally stranded individuals – 13, and Authorized Persons Outside Residence - 2.“Our present number of active cases may continue to increase, we all should do our share in trying to halt this rise. Avoid non-essential travel,” Lacson said.Seven of the 31 local government units in the province have three-digit COVID cases a...

Twenty-five of 214 newly committed inmates brought to the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology male isolation facility in Barangay Handumanan, Bacolod City, have tested positive for COVID-19.The newly committed persons deprived of liberty from the various Philippine National Police and other law enforcement units in Negros Occidental were brought to the isolation facility for COVID-19 testing, Jail SSupt. Gilbert Peremne, BJMP Region 6 assistant regional director, said.Those who tested positive were placed in the BJMP Ligtas Covid Center in Talisay City for healing, he said.Those who tested negative were brought back to their jails of origin in various parts of the province, he added.The procedure is before they are placed in their jails of origin they need to be quaranti...

There were about 50 trees that were cut from kilometers 10 to 14 in Barangay Granada, Bacolod City, recently to make way for a sidewalk and solar tourism lights, Granada Barangay Captain Alfredo Talimodao Jr. said Thursday, April 15.Talimodao said they allowed the recent cutting of the trees as they were assured by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) that for every tree cut, 100 seedlings will be planted in their place.He will make sure that DPWH complies with its commitment. Talimodao said.The Mahogany and Gmelina trees that were cut were about 20 years old, he said.The DPWH said they had to cut the trees because the solar lights need sunshine to work, he added.DPWH District Engineer Jaime Javellana said the project had an approved tree-cutting permit fr...

The Bacolod Emergency Operations Center is intensifying its campaign against COVID-19 as cases continue to rise at alarming rates, City Administrator Em Ang, EOC executive director, said Thursday, April 15.Their goal is to further intensify contact tracing, expand targeted testing, strictly observe extraction and isolation protocols, and increase capacity of quarantine facilities, Ang said.Bacolod City had 81 new COVID-19 patients Thursday, for a total of 582 active cases, the Department of Health reported.Of the 81 new cases, 77 were caused by local transmission, three were returning Overseas Filipinos and one was a Locally Stranded Individual.There were also two new COVID-19 deaths in Bacolod City for a total of 195.Ang said the Bacolod City Government Center has been...

The Sipalay City government has closed down its tourism establishments amid the increasing number of coronavirus cases in the locality.Sipalay Mayor Maria Gina Lizares, in an executive order issued Thursday, April 15, said that all tourism activities will not be allowed.All big events, mass gatherings will not be allowed, and that all tourism accommodation establishments will temporarily be closed.Those who have confirmed bookings must contact the accommodation establishment.Accommodation establishments such as pension houses, inns and lodges in the city proper will also operate at a 30 percent capacity and will only accept authorized persons outside residence and delivery personnel of essential goods.The mayor also said that all establishments will be closed for disinf...

The Bacolod Hall of Justice has been closed for disinfection after five of its staff tested positive for COVID-19, Regional Trial Court Executive Judge Raymond Joseph Javier said Thursday, April 15.The closure from noon Thursday until Friday, April 16, was enforced on verbal instructions Court Administrator Jose Midas Marquez, Javier said.All physically closed courts can be reached through the listed judiciary hotline and email addresses posted in the Supreme Court website, Javier said.The RTC Office of the Clerk of Court will maintain a skeleton staff to attend to all urgent matters, he said.Javier said the closure for disinfection was enforced after five employees from different offices tested positive for COVID-19.Contact tracing has been conducted, he said.*

NOCPPO photoThe Philippine National Police still has not determined the motive for the killing of the provincial consultant on hospital affairs, but politics is among the angles being looked at, Col. Romy Palgue, Negros Occidental police director, said Thursday, April 15.Mariano Antonio “Marton” Cui III, 62, was shot as he was leaving his office at Emerald Arcade at F.C. Ledesma Avenue in San Carlos City at about 8 p.m. Monday, April 12.Cui, chief of staff of former Rep. Julio Ledesma, was a key player in Negros Occidental first district politics and was rumored to be planning to run for mayor of Toboso.Palgue, however, stressed that the police have no leads on a specific motive yet.He appealed to those who may have any information that could lead to the solution of the...