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Contributed photoThe Federation of Urban Poor (FedUP) in Negros Occidental aired their opposition to COVID-19 vaccines from China as they marked the 35th anniversary of the EDSA People Power Revolution this morning, February 25.Bearing Philippine flags and yellow ribbons, the FedUP members gathered in front of the statue of Ninoy Aquino at Araneta Street to lay flowers and pray for democracy to prevail.“FedUP will not accept China-made vaccines. How can we trust a China-made vaccine when in the first place the virus came from them?” Joy Jarabelo, FedUP provincial coordinator, said.“How can we trust China that has been bullying us?” she asked.She also said China has “deprived us of our natural resources in the West Philippine Sea”.The EDSA People Power Revolution mus...

The performance of the Bacolod City government in the second wave of road clearing operations has “improved,” the Negros Occidental Validation Team headed by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) said.This was reported by the Validation Team, headed by DILG- OIC Provincial Director Roselyn Quintana of DILG Negros Occidental, to Mayor Evelio Leonardia and other officials at the Bacolod City Government Center, Wednesday, February 24, a press release from the Bacolod Public Information Office said.“This is welcome news. It means our inspection and enforcement units did a good job, and the affected residents generally cooperated. We should all be united for the good of the greatest number”, Leonardia said.Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran thanked the Validation Team...

BCPO photoMore than P200,000 worth of drugs were seized while three persons were arrested in separate buy-bust operations in Bacolod City, Wednesday, February 24.Nabbed in Barangay Singcang-Airport by operatives of the Police Station 8 Drug Enforcement Team was Eugene Pillada, 39, of Barangay 20.Confiscated from his possession were seven sachets of suspected shabu worth P207,000, and P2,000 in marked money.Meanwhile, John Paul Jovero, 35, and Adrian De la Peña, 39, were arrested in a drug bust at Barangay 27.Personnel of Police Station 4 seized five sachets of suspected shabu worth P6,800, P500 in marked money and P200 in cash proceeds.The suspects who are now in police custody are facing drug charges.*

Mayor Evelio Leonardia announced Wednesday, February 24, that the Department of Health has approved the COVID-19 vaccination plan of Bacolod City.“We were informed by the Department of Health (on Tuesday) that our vaccination plan is okay, it’s a go, so we are set,” said Leonardia, who was one of the speakers at the Livable Cities Challenge Laboratory virtual session on “Getting Cities Ready for Vaccines.”Leonardia said he has been telling Bacolodnons that vaccination is the answer to a return to normal life. “As soon as we get to normalize, we will be back to action, we will be back to business, and Bacolod will continue to be one of the fastest growing cities in the Philippines,” he said.Leonardia, who is also president of the League of City of the Philippines, said of Bacolo...

A Negros campaign for vice president Leni Robredo to run for president in 2022 will be launched in Bacolod City today, February 25.“Negros for Leni” is an independent, multi-sectoral coalition of citizens who are looking at the 2022 Presidential elections and have decided to make a choice, former Negros Occidental governor Rafael Coscolluela, co-convenor of the group, said today, February 24.Negros for Leni will be on Facebook and will wage a signature campaign. Volunteers will be most welcome to help in this effort, Coscolluela said.“We want to see a President who is competent, caring, decent and inspiring, someone who meets the criteria that will make us proud of our President, and will make us proud to be Filipinos. We believe that one person who possesses the right qualitie...

A Negros Oriental Regional Trial Court judge has found five agents of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency guilty of indirect contempt of court in connection with an alleged fake buy-bust operation in Barangay Looc, Dumaguete City.Negros Oriental Branch 34 Judge Amelia Lourdes Mendoza sentenced PDEA agents Nelson Muchuelas, May Ann Carmelo, Jose Anthony Juanites, Cheryl Mae Villaver and Realyn Pinpin to six months imprisonment at the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology facility in Dumaguete City, and to pay fines of P30,000 each.The court has also issued warrants of arrest for the five.However, since the judgment for indirect contempt is subject to review, the judge fixed the bond to stay execution of judgment at P200,000 each with the condition that they abide by the judg...

BCPO photoMembers of the Sangguniang Panlungsod have called on law enforcement agencies to investigate the spate of killings in Bacolod City.The resolution calling for the Bacolod City Police Office, the National Bureau of Investigation, Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, and all other law enforcement offices in the city was passed in their regular session today, February 24. It was authored by lone opposition Councilor Wilson Gamboa Jr., chairman of SP committee on human rights.There have been at least seven shooting incidents that happened in the city in January alone and another six in February, Gamboa said.The latest incident was on Monday night, February 22, when a suspected robbery group member was gunned down inside his home at Barangay Cabug.Gamboa said...

Six Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) from Western Visayas, two of whom are from Negros Occidental, found positive for the United Kingdom COVID-19 variant recovered in Manila before they returned to their home provinces, a Department of Health official said today, February 24.The six - three from Iloilo, two from Negros Occidental, and one from Capiz - who tested positive for the UK variant on their arrival in Manila were quarantined and recovered there, Dr. Jessie Glen Alonsabe, regional epidemiologist of the Department of Health in Western Visayas, said.They were mostly seafarers who arrived from the United States, Europe and the Middle East, he said.One of the two Negrenses was already negative for the virus when she arrived in Negros Occidental, and was quarantined for anoth...