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Kabankalan PNP photoMore than P400,000 in drugs was seized while two persons were arrested in a buy-bust operation at Barangay 6, Kabankalan City, Negros Occidental, Tuesday night, May 25.Nabbed were Rolly Dofeliz, 52, the subject of the buy-bust operation, and Edmar Sta. Ana, 38.The two suspects sold a plastic sachet containing shabu worth P500 to a police poseur buyer.When the operative declared he was a policeman, the suspects tried to escape, but they were cornered by the police.Confiscated from their possession were 60 grams worth of shabu worth P408,000, drug paraphernalia, a .357 caliber revolver loaded with six live ammunition, a cellphone, and P1,300 in cash.The suspects are now in the custody of the Kabankalan police and are facing drug charges.*

Rhoderick Samonte photoA Bacolod contractor has no permit to conduct road clearing work at Sitio Campuestohan in Talisay City, Negros Occidental, that is within the Northern Negros Natural Park (NNNP), an environment official said Tuesday, May 25.The Special Use Agreement in Protected Area (SAPA) application of Jerry Sy for the planting of endemic trees and high value crops was approved by the Protected Area Management Board, Joan Nathaniel Gerangaya, Community Environment and Natural Resources Office - Bago City head, said.However, the road clearing has no permit, it is not covered by the SAPA, he said.They cleared an old road and expanded it. It is being determined if trees were cut in the process, Gerangaya said.Talisay Mayor Neil Lizares on Monday ordered a halt to ...

Photo from Bong Go FB pagePresident Rodrigo Duterte was “appalled” by the numerous killings in Negros Oriental, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said Tuesday, May 25.Duterte, along with other top national officials, was in Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental Monday, May 24, for a National Peace and Order Council closed-door meeting at the Silliman University gymnasium.The president assured the officials of Negros Oriental that the state will do its obligation to investigate the incidents and punish those behind the killings, Roque said.He said Duterte has tasked the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to resolve the conflicting claims on untitled lands which triggered the killings.“The president directed them to resolve this dispute in favor of the poor,” R...

Travel from Negros Island to the Dumangas Port in Iloilo province and vice versa has also been suspended from May 25 to 31.The Regional Inter-Agency Task Force and the Regional Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases said the suspension was pronounced by Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año in a meeting with the local chief executives of Western Visayas on Monday, May 24.Iloilo Gov. Arthur Defensor said he sought the week-long suspension of travel between Negros and his province in support of the move of Iloilo City to contain the spread of COVID-19.Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas on Sunday ordered the temporary suspension of inbound and outbound travel between Negros Island and his city from 12 a.m. Tuesday, May 25, to 11:59 p.m. of May 31.Iloilo Cit...

PNP photoThe neutralization of two high-value targets is expected to lessen the drug supply in Negros Occidental, Col. Romy Palgue, provincial police director, said Tuesday, May 25.Jordan Abrigo and Jayvee de Guzman, suspected members of the Divinagracia Drug Group, died in an encounter with policemen at Katarungan Village 1, Muntinlupa City, on Sunday, May 23.They also yielded 10 kilos of shabu worth P68 million, P1.5 million bust money, and two loaded . 45 caliber pistols, the police said.The armed encounter came four days after Michael Divinagracia, the alleged leader of the Divinagracia drug group in Silay City, Negros Occidental, was found dead in Rizal province.Gen. Guillermo Eleazar, chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP), in a statement, said that the dru...

Mayor Felipe Antonio Remollo and two councilors tested positive for COVID-19 ahead of President Rodrigo Duterte’s visit to Dumaguete City Monday afternoon, May 24.Remollo, in a statement, said he underwent an RT-PCR test as a requirement for attendance at the National Peace and Order Council meeting hosted by Dumaguete City Monday, which was presided by President Rodrigo Duterte.“I remain asymptomatic and have isolated myself,” Remollo said.“Regular functions of government will continue in my physical absence as I will still be working while in isolation. I will also be continually abreast of the daily affairs of the city,” he added.“COVID-19 is by far the most treacherous of all viruses. It unwittingly strikes when one is in the company of friends, family and co-workers,” ...

Glenda Hilado, Yvonne Buscado and Flaviana dela Guizon helping a Bacolod resident give birth at the ETCS 4 quarantine.A 36-year-old Bacolod resident waiting for her COVID-19 test results gave birth while in quarantine at the Education and Training Center School 4 in Bacolod City Tuesday, May 24, Councilor Cindy Rojas said.She said three of her staff assigned at the ETCS 4 quarantine facility stepped up and managed to help the woman give birth since she went into labor before they could rush her to a hospital.“It was miraculous because Glenda (Hilado), Yvonne (Buscado) and Flaviana (dela Guizon) have had no medical training whatsoever, but they managed to bring into this world baby Gabriel. God certainly worked wonders in guiding the hands of these women to be instrumental in ...

Two wards at the Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital in Bacolod City have reached their maximum capacity for COVID-19 allocated beds, Dr. Julius Drilon, CLMMRH chief, said Tuesday, May 25.The Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit will limit admission to extreme emergency cases only until further notice, he said.The rest of the departments at the hospital are also reaching maximum capacity, he said.He said 23 CLMMRH personnel are currently COVID-19 positive.The hospital also has 61 COVID-19 patients, six of whom are in the intensive care unit, he said.There are also 21 other patients waiting for their COVID-19 test results, he added.The hospital has collaborated and established communication with the Negros Occ...