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Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson is asking the Department of Budget and Management if the Negros Occidental provincial government can grant its employees an additional bonus without counting it as part of personal services.If it is counted as personal services, the province will exceed the cap set by the DBM, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said today, December 23.“The provincial government has the money to grant an additional P10,000 bonus for its 3,200 employees. We can give it, we just need to ensure that we do not violate DBM rules,” Diaz said.President Rodrigo Duterte has issued Administrative Order No. 37 authorizing local government units to grant a one-time SRI to government employees at a uniform rate of not exceeding P10,000 this December.The provincial govern...

Moises Padilla LGU photosMoises Padilla Mayor Ella Garcia-Yulo returned to the village where she survived an ambush that left her brother and nephew dead, to bring help to her constituents today, December 23.She said this was the first time she set foot in Barangay Inolingan after the fatal incident on April 25, 2019, where she survived an attempt on her life just three weeks before the May 13 polls but lost two of her closest loved ones during the ambush of her campaign convoy at the upland village.The mayor said she went there so the people would feel that their municipal government is there. “Para ma feel sang mga tawo na ara man ko diapon (so the people would feel that I’m still around), despite what happened there,” she added.She said that the residents there have noth...

Curfew in Kabankalan City, Negros Occidental, will be suspended for two days to allow residents to observe Christmas and New Year’s eve traditions.Mayor Pedro Zayco, in Executive Order 54-2020, cancelled curfew in Kabankalan on December 24 and 31.However, he said the liquor ban in the city will remain in place.Zayco stressed the need for the continued observance of COVID-19 health protocols during the holidays.Kabankalan, as of today, December 23, had 13 active COVID-19 cases, its City Health Office reported.There have been 512 persons hit by the virus in Kabankalan, 492 of whom have recovered and seven have died, the CHO added.*

Pontevedra PNP photoA police intelligence officer who was walking behind Mayor Jose Maria Alonso at the reclamation area in Barangay 1-Poblacion in Pontevedra, Negros Occidental, was shot to death by a lone gunman at 6 a.m. today, December 22.SSgt. Ildefonso Rivera Casugod, 37, was shot in the head and was declared dead on arrival at the Bago City District Hospital, Capt. Hancel Lumandaz, Pontevedra police chief, said.Casugod, a resident of Barangay Recreo, Pontevedra, was shot in the head with a .45 caliber pistol by his assassin who was wearing a face mask, hooded jacket and black jogging pants, Lumandaz said.The suspect walked up to the policeman from behind and shot him, then walked towards a waiting scooter and escaped, the mayor said.Alonso and his companions Ramo...

Bishop Gerardo Alminaza after the funeral mass of the Sancelans with their family.*Alminaza photosThe 85-year-old mother of Edwin Sancelan went to Guihulngan thinking it was for her grandson’s birthday.*Colleagues of Dr. Sancelan release white balloons at the funeral.*The Guilhulngan City health officer and her husband who were mercilessly shot to death on December 15 were buried in Guihulngan, Negros Oriental, this afternoon, December 22, amid cries for justice and an end to red-tagging.Dr. Mary Rose Genisan Sancelan, and husband Edwin Sancelan, a local government employee, were on their way home when an unidentified suspect shot them outside Carmen Ville Subdivision in Barangay Poblacion, Guihulngan City, on December 15.The senseless killing of the Sancelans is among the 106 ...

San Carlos Bishop Gerardo Alminaza said that the recent case of police brutality which enraged the people nationwide is a “symptom of gross impunity, now worn like an honor badge among some oppressive members of our police force.”He pointed out there are still many cases not caught by video cameras, and that there are thousands of more families still crying for justice for their murdered parents, sons, and daughters.On December 20, Senior Master Sergeant Jonel Nuezca, who was assigned at the Parañaque City Police Crime Laboratory, was caught on video killing his two neighbors, Sonya Gregorio and her son, Frank Anthony Gregorio, in Paniqui, Tarlac following a noise complaint that quickly escalated to a heated argument.The two victims were unarmed when they were shot by the polic...

Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson refused today (December 22) to comment on a complaint filed against him by a dismissed provincial government lawyer, saying he is leaving the decision to the Office of the President.Ernie Magaspag, a dismissed lawyer of the Negros Occidental Provincial Legal Office, has filed a complaint against Lacson before the Office of the President through the Department of the Interior and Local Government and is seeking his immediate preventive suspension.Magaspag, in a letter to President Rodrigo Duterte dated December 9, said he was filing a formal complaint against the governor for alleged abuse of authority, misconduct in office, gross negligence or dereliction of duty, and other administrative cases as his evidence may warrant.This is p...

The mayor of Moises Padilla has stopped cockfighting activities in her town as it has been gathering audiences and participants from other localities.Mayor Ella Garcia-Yulo in a December 16 letter to Ma. Leonor Canje, proprietor of the JGA Memorial Sports Arena in the town, said that the cockfighting activity in their arena every week since November has gathered audiences and participants within and outside their municipality.“The resumption of cockfighting operations is part of our government's recovery plan since this pandemic also affected our economy, but the operation is still depending on the guidelines set by the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging and Infectious Diseases,” she said.According to government guidelines for areas under modified general community quarantine,...