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Mayor Salvador Escalante issued an executive order Friday, June 11, prohibiting all forms of social and mass gatherings, except for religious worship, to curb the spread of COVID-19 in Cadiz City, Negros Occidental.Escalante, in Executive Order SGE-015-2021, also temporarily closed all resorts and parks in Cadiz City while the upsurge of COVID-19 is ongoing.Cadiz City is experiencing an alarming upsurge of COVID-19, and it is suspected that new variants are now present and are locally transmitted, Escalante said.He said Cadiz City had 971 COVID-19 cases as of Thursday, June 10, and 117 are active cases.Places of religious worship and restaurants may continue to operate at 30 percent of their venue capacity, he added.*

PRO-6 photoA senior citizen facing charges for four counts of rape was arrested at a public market in neighboring Negros Oriental on Wednesday, June 9.Eduard “Edie” Delegario, 63, was intercepted at a public market in Barangay Lumapao, Canlaon City. He was also tagged as the Top 7 most wanted person of Valladolid town.Four arrest warrants for rape had been issued against Delegario by Bago City Regional Trial Court Assisting Judge Mary Jennider Protasio-Arches on March 1, with no bail recommended.The four rape complaints were filed by a 13-year-old girl in March 2020, a police report showed.The minor said the suspect sexually abused her several times from 2016 until February 2020.The suspect is now in the custody of the Valladolid police.*

“There should be more of us doing this work (on helping farmers protect their land and human rights) and I hope this project will be replicated throughout the country.”Vice President Leni Robredo made this call in a pre-recorded message at the online launching of the Dagyaw Negros para sa Duta project (Negros Solidarity for Land Rights) on Friday, June 11, a press release from the group said.A known alternative lawyer and human rights defender, Robredo underscored the relevance and importance of establishing online legal helpdesks in Negros Occidental to promptly respond to the queries and grievances of agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) with land and human rights issues.The Dagyaw Negros project seeks to protect ARBs and other land rights defenders from human rights violatio...

Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said he is meeting with the mayors of Negros Occidental Friday, June 11, to discuss the tightening of border controls and other recommendations of doctors calling for immediate action to curb the COVID- 19 surge before it is too late.Western Visayas hit another all time high Thursday with 828 new COVID-19 cases in a single day, the Department of Health reported.Negros Occidental had 212 new COVID-19 cases followed by Iloilo province with 209, Bacolod City – 139, Iloilo City 103, Aklan - 68, Capiz -54, Antique -23 and Guimaras – 20, the DOH said.Western Visayas also had 13 new COVID-19 deaths with two in Negros Occidental and one in Bacolod City.Bacolod City has 1,608 COVID-19 active cases and Negros Occidental has 2,122, the DOH also reported.La...

Police Station 4 photoA suspected high-value drug suspect from Victorias City, Negros Occidental, was gunned down by unidentified men in front of the village hall of Barangay Estefania, Bacolod City, late Wednesday night, June 9.Killed was Danilo Sangcap Jr. of Barangay 7 Poblacion, Victorias.The victim had just alighted from his motorcycle when he was attacked by four unidentified men who disembarked from a black service utility vehicle.They shot the victim several times and fled from the scene.Maj. Jun Ray Batadlan, Bacolod Police Station 4 chief, said they are looking at drugs as the motive for the killing as the victim was under the drugs watchlist of the Victorias City police and was considered a high-value individual.In a separate incident, a still unidentifie...

An elderly woman and a man were arrested at a mall parking lot during a drug bust operation at the South Capitol Road, Barangay 8 in Bacolod City, Thursday afternoon, June 10.Nabbed was Susana Diaz, 62, of Barangay 2, Bacolod, and Jose Carlos Salgado, 21, of Barangay Guinhalaran, Silay City.The suspects were said to be new high-value individuals operating in Bacolod and neighboring cities, a police report said.During their arrest, they yielded a plastic bag containing suspected shabu weighing 100 grams and worth P680,000, and the P1,000 boodle money.The operation was conducted by joint operatives of the Philippine National Police Drug Enforcement Group, Police Special Operations Unit Region 6, and Bacolod Police Station 2.The suspects are now in police custody and will ...

Himamaylan PNP photoThe government soldier injured in an encounter with the New People’s Army in Purok Galaupan, Barangay Carabalan, Himamaylan City, Wednesday, June 9, is out of danger and recovering, Maj. Cenon Pancito III, spokesperson of the 3rd Infantry Division of the Philippine Army, said Thursday, June 10.The soldier, whose name was withheld, is confined at a hospital in Bacolod City.The 62nd Infantry Battalion soldiers engaged the rebel forces in two encounters in Purok Galaupan that resulted in the death of one government soldier identified as Cpl. Rodney A. Luces and an NPA fighter.A day before the encounter, on June 8, the Army while conducting combat patrol at Sitio Mangkopa, Barangay Buenavista, Himamaylan City, also arrested two suspected NPA rebels identifie...