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Bacolod City Mayor Greg Gasataya (right) meets with the assigned private security guards at the public plaza during their deployment on Wednesday *BCCO photoBacolod City has deployed a team of private security personnel to guard the public plaza, which is undergoing an upgrade funded by the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA).Mayor Greg Gasataya said after a two-day briefing, the security guards already reported for duty on Wednesday, July 3.“Based on the contract, there are six of them. Number one, as blue guards, they are allowed to use firearms. Number two, their sense of authority is different from the city’s Public Order and Safety Office (POSO) personnel. Number three, there would be people accountable. That’s why we decided to put blue guards ...

 The current impasse in the Senate is untenable and unacceptable. When political divisions become too extreme and obstruct our mandate, we must all have the courage to pause, gain perspective, reflect, consider and realize that we should put the  Senate, as the institution that we serve, above ourselves. This is not a political contest. I am not taking sides. I am taking a stand for the Senate. My allegiance is not to any faction, personality, group or alliance. This is not about loyalty, betrayal, or choosing one group over the other—this is about duty. Hindi ito usaping pampulitika. Wala akong sinasamahan o iniiwanang grupo, pangkat o paksyon. Hindi ko sinasabi na may mali o tama o may nagkulang o nagmalabis kaninuman. Ngunit hindi...

Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro at the wake of Private First Class John Rey Brasil in Sagay City.*DND photoDefense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro on Wednesday, June 3, called on those protecting communist terrorists to also investigate the killing of a 79th Infantry Battalion soldier in Escalante City, Negros Occidental.Private First Class John Rey Brasil, 29, was shot in the head by New People’s Army (NPA) rebels in Barangay Tamlang on Monday, said Teodoro, who visited the soldier's wake at the Sagay District Hospital in Sagay City,  Negros Occidental.Brasil, who was originally from Iloilo, was residing in Murcia, where his 24-year-old wife is from. They have been married for a year, and his wife is devastated and has been given help for post-traumatic stress disorder, Teod...

The 12 senators present at the Senate Wednesday.*PNA/Avito Dalan photo The Senate adjourned sine die on Wednesday, June 3,  after electing a new set of officers and committee chairpersons, with Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian named Senate President Pro Tempore and acting Senate President following a two-day impasse.With 12 senators present, the chamber declared a quorum before Senator Vicente Sotto III moved to declare all elected positions in the Senate vacant.Sen. Francis Escudero, who belonged to the majority bloc, attended the session and helped the chamber reach the quorum needed to proceed.The Senate then elected Gatchalian as Senate President Pro Tempore, Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri as chairperson of the committee on rules, Renato Bantug Jr. as Senate Secretary, and re...

The Confederation of Sugar Producers Associations (CONFED) is calling on the Department of Agriculture (DA), particularly the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA), to immediately implement measures to arrest the surge of red-striped soft scale insect (RSSI) infestation in sugar farms.“Numerous sugar farmers have reported a resurgence of RSSI infestation in their farms. They conduct natural and biological measures to combat its spread, but the infestation persists because the insects simply transfer to adjacent, untreated sugar farms,” CONFED President Aurelio Gerardo J. Valderrama Jr. said in a press statement Wednesday, June 3.“Last crop year, we experienced widespread RSSI infestation in Negros and Panay. We learned that arresting the spread of RSSI cannot be done simply by addr...

A 21-year-old motorcycle rider died after his motorcycle struck a concrete road shoulder in Bago City, Negros Occidental. late Tuesday night, June 2.Police identified the fatality as alias “Dreyk,” a resident of Brgy. Poblacion, Bago City.The vehicular incident happened at around 11:52 p.m. along the national highway in Purok Mainuswagon, Brgy. Sampinit.The Bacolod police said  the victim was driving a Honda Click motorcycle from Brgy. Poblacion toward Brgy. Sampinit when he swerved to the right shoulder and hit the concrete road shoulder.The rider sustained injuries and was rushed by the Bago City Rescue Team to the Bago City Hospital.He was declared dead by the attending physician while undergoing treatment.The police said the victim had no driver’s license.*...

The Police Regional Office Negros Island Region (PRO NIR)  reported a  18.42 percent decline in focus crimes from January to May this year.The five-month period culminated in May marking the lowest monthly crime volume of the year so far, with only 62 incidents reported across the region, the PRO NIR report said on Wednesday, June  3.Regional police officials attribute this positive trend to strengthened law enforcement operations, strategic crime prevention, and robust community cooperation.Data  released by the Regional Investigation and Detective Management Division showed  77 focus crime incidents in January,  81 in February, and  93 in March.The crime incidents then dropped to 76 in April before hitting the record low of 62 in May, the PRO NIR said.When c...