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The Negros Occidental Procurement Services Depot that is believed to be the main source of the COVID-19 spread among the provincial government employees has been closed, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said Wednesday, May 5.A legislative assistant at the Sangguniang Panlalawigan tested positive Wednesday bringing the number of provincial government employees hit by the virus to 32, Diaz said.Ten of the 15 PSD employees tested positive for COVID-19, he said.The five PSD employees who tested negative have been assigned to other tasks. The depot will be reopened when all of its ten other employees, who are now at the Mambukal Resort in Murcia, have recovered, he added.The PSD personnel are the ones who distribute the provincial government’s supplies from the Department...

The Bureau of Internal Revenue’s estimated value of the fake tax stamps seized at a warehouse in Barangay Tangub, Bacolod City, increased to P750 million on Wednesday, May 5.BIR Region 12 Director Antonio Jonathan Jaminola said they seized 30 packs estimated to contain 500,000 fake stamps each, fake cigarettes and materials for their manufacture from the warehouse on Tuesday.The estimated value of the fake stamps increased to P750 million because they now cost P50 each, he said.The initial estimate of more than P500 million was based on the previous stamp rate of P37.50 each, he said.The cost of the stamp attached to each cigarette pack represents the excise tax paid to the government, Jaminola explained.The BIR swooped down on the warehouse based on a confidential tip ...

Mayor Jilson Tubillara said Wednesday, May 5, that the cockfights held at the San Enrique cockpit are legal because they are part of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation’s online sabong or e-sabong.There are no crowds, the people allowed in the cockpit are limited and the llamador or bet manager is not allowed to shout, he said.The fights are beamed online and bets are made electronically, Tubillara said.Tubillara made the clarification after a DIGICAST NEGROS follower sent a video showing cars parked in front of the San Enrique cockpit for an alleged cockfight.Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson has ordered a ban on cockfights in Negros Occidental after numerous persons who had gone to cockpits tested positive for COVID-19 and infected other residents in their communities....

Cadiz PNP photoA farm manager at Hacienda Dalayapan in Cadiz City, Negros Occidental, was gunned down by unidentified suspects in Barangay Caduhaan on Tuesday, May 4.Killed was 51-year-old Manalo Porre, who was on his way to the sugarcane plantation when he was waylaid and shot several times by unidentified men.He died on the spot, the police report said, while the suspects fled in an unknown direction.Recovered from the scene were six empty shells and four unfired cartridges of a 5.56 caliber pistol, five empty shells of .45 caliber pistol, and one slug of an unknown caliber of firearm.Police have yet to establish the motive for the killing.*

PDEA-6 photoDrugs worth P3.4 million were seized and two suspects were arrested in a buy-bust operation at a cock farm in Murcia town, Negros Occidental, Tuesday night, May 4.Nabbed were Reylan Artus and Justine Ledesma, who sold drugs worth P12,500 to operatives of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency-6 Special Enforcement Team and Murcia Municipal Police Station.The third suspect, Andrew Ledesma, was able to escape during the bust.Authorities recovered five sachets containing suspected shabu worth P3.4 million with an estimated weight of 500 grams, a digital weighing scale, and other items.The suspects will face charges for violation of Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.*

The Ombudsman has dismissed criminal charges against Bacolod Mayor Evelio Leonardia and two other city officials for malversation of funds in the procurement of gasoline.Also cleared in the order signed by Ombudsman Samuel Martires on February 8, 2021 are Eduardo Ravena, then OIC-City Accountant, and Ricardo Dahildahil, then OIC-Management and Audit Services Office, a press release from the Bacolod City Public Information Office said on Wednesday, May 5.The criminal charges docketed as OMB-V-C-16-0431 were for alleged malversation of public funds and violation of Section 3 (e) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act in the procurement of gasoline for the city government in 2007.“Once more, we thank God for vindicating us from this malicious complaint filed by people whom we...

BIR Regional Director Antonio Jaminola holds up some of the seized cigarettes.*The Bureau of Internal Revenue and the National Bureau of Investigation seized P544 million in fake tax stamps and materials for the manufacture of fake cigarettes at a warehouse in Barangay Tangub, Bacolod City, Tuesday, May 4, BIR Regional Director Antonio Jaminola said.The BIR was acting on a tip that fake cigarettes were being manufactured at the facility, but when they broke into the area no one was present, he said.They discovered the fake BIR stamps, fake cigarettes including raw materials for their manufacture.Jaminola said those responsible for the manufacture of the fake stamps are liable for tax evasion.It is a violation of Section 265 of the National Internal Revenue Code, he sai...

The Victorias and Talisay city halls have been temporarily closed for disinfection after several employees tested positive for COVID-19.On Monday, Victorias City recorded 37 new COVID-19 cases, its highest in a single day.Mayor Francis Frederick Palanca said 21 of those who tested positive on Monday were Victorias city government employees -- the city engineer and 14 others at her office and six from the General Services Offices.The 21 have been quarantined and contact tracing is ongoing, he added.To prevent the further spread of the virus, Palanca issued an executive order temporarily closing the Victorias City Hall , including annexed buildings and officers, for disinfection and contact tracing from Tuesday to Friday, May 4 to 7.All Victorias City government officials...