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The Presidential Task Force on Media Security (PTFOMS) and the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas Negros Occidental Chapter on Thursday, May 21, slammed a rape joke made by a Bacolod radio station anchorman on Wednesday.Rods Palma, K5 News FM Bacolod station manager, said anchorman Jean Paul C. Generoso, who also serves as the network’s Vice President for Administration and Human Resources, has been suspended.Palma, in an interview with GMA News, said, “We promise our listeners that management takes these matters seriously. Whoever commits violations faces sanctions. We already took action and suspended him. We do not tolerate this.”Generoso has been the subject of widespread criticism for telling a female reporter on-air that he would rape her so he could "go to jail" al...

The public hearing on Wednesday.*Residents raised concerns over the possible scarcity of water for agriculture and other needs should the proposed Negros Bulk Water Project at the Malogo River in E.B. Magalona, Negros Occidental, be implemented.The concerns were raised by stakeholders at a public hearing conducted by the Environmental Management Bureau E.B. Magalona on Wednesday, EMB Regional Director Vicente Losbañes said on Thursday, May 21.The Negros Occidental provincial government has applied to source 16 million liters of water per day from the Malogo River for the bulk water project, he said.The provincial government’s study shows that there will be no water shortage caused by the project, Losbañes added.The position of the public on the project will be the po...

Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson*There is nothing wrong with school officials knowing the activities going on among the youth on their campuses, Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson said Thursday, May 21.Lacson said his call for vigilance was addressed to school administrations.“They should be aware of the activities because there is information that recruitment is going on within school campuses,” he said.The recruitment is not immediately to join the New People’s Army, but it could lead to that, he added.Florence Guzon, Kabataan Partylist Vice President for Visayas, in a statement issued on Wednesday said “We view with grave concern the pronouncement of the governor encouraging the monitoring of student activities on campuses, particularly in state universi...

The Land Transportation Office–Negros Island Region has suspended for three months the driver’s license of an individual found administratively liable for allowing an unlicensed person to drive a vehicle linked to a reported “gas-and-go” incident in Bacolod City.The penalty was imposed in a resolution issued by its Regional Law Enforcement Section, the LTO-NIR said on Thursday, May 21.The respondent rented out a vehicle that was later involved in incidents where fuel was allegedly taken without payment, the LTO said.Investigation conducted by LTO-NIR showed that the vehicle was entrusted to individuals who did not possess valid driver’s licenses.The agency stressed that vehicle owners and persons in control of vehicles are responsible for ensuring that only qualified and li...

PRO-NIR director Brig. Gen. Romano Cardiño and BCPO director Col. Eugene Rebadomia witness the inventory of 4.2 kilos of suspected shabu worth P28.56 million seized from a woman in a buy-bust operation in Brgy. 31, Bacolod City.*The Bacolod police seized about P28.56 million worth of suspected shabu in what authorities described as their biggest anti-drug accomplishment in the city in the past three years.A 36-year-old woman, identified only as alias “Bongi,” was arrested in the buy-bust operation at Purok Fatima, Islamic Center, Brgy. 31, Bacolod City, on Tuesday night, May 19.Police said about 4.2 kilos of suspected shabu were recovered from the suspect, who was identified as a high-value individual.Bacolod City Police Office Director Police Col. Eugene Rebadomia said the...

Screengrab from the video showing the father hitting his child at the Bacolod Public Plaza.* A father was arrested after a viral video showed him hitting his 6-year-old daughter with a stick at the Bacolod City Public Plaza.The video, posted by a concerned citizen on May 19, drew public outrage online and reached the attention of Bacolod City Mayor Greg Gasataya and the Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO).BCPO Director Police Col. Eugene Rebadomia said the police immediately investigated, which led to the arrest of the suspect.The child was rescued by the Department of Social Services and Development and is now under its custody.Rebadomia said the father appeared to be mentally unstable and was believed to have inhaled solvent.Police also found bruises on the child’...

Bacolod Councilor Celia Flor on Wednesday, May 20, condemned a statement by a radio station anchorman who told a reporter on air that he would rape her so he could go to jail with a father who had beaten his 6-year-old daughter with a stick at the Bacolod City Public Plaza.The anchorman repeatedly used the word "rape" as a joke, which was accompanied by the sound of laughter.Flor, chairperson of the Committee on Women, Gender, Family and Childcare of the Bacolod Sangguniang Panlungsod, said “rape is not a joke.”“I condemn any statement that normalizes rape, harassment of women, and other forms of gender-based sexual harassment, regardless of its context or intent,” Flor said in a statement posted on her Facebook page.The statement “I will rape you so I can go to jail” has n...

Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson has placed two provincial government engineers who were former heads of the Silay Oxygen Plant at the Teresita L. Jalandoni Provincial Hospital compound under 60-day preventive suspensions without pay.They are facing formal charges for misconduct, gross neglect of duty, serious dishonesty and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service for the alleged mismanagement of the oxygen plant.Provincial Legal Officer Alberto Nellas Jr. said that during routine inspections conducted it was discovered that there were accessories, ancillary components and medical equipment that were missing and unaccounted that is why the plant’s performance was not up to par.Inspections revealed an alarming deterioration of the plant's essential mach...

Commodore Christopher Auro, commander of the Coast Guard District Southern Visayas (center), checks on the deployment of personnel at the Dumaguete City port in Negros Oriental in this undated photo. Auro said on Tuesday .*The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) in Negros Oriental has heightened maritime and coastal security operations following intelligence reports on the alleged entry of suspected New People’s Army (NPA) members into the province.Commodore Christopher Auro, commander of the Coast Guard District Southern Visayas, said Tuesday that authorities have been placed on heightened alert after receiving reports of possible NPA movement from Mindanao to the Negros Island Region.“We received intelligence information regarding the alleged movement of suspected New People’s Army ...