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The Senate of the Philippines*PNA file photoRep. Julio Ledesma IV  (Neg. Occ., 1st District) said in the wake of the current Senate quorum controversy several provisions of RA 6713 (Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees) are relevant.Ledesma, in a Facebook post on Tuesday, June 2, cited the  following:Commitment to Public Interest – Senators are expected to place the public interest above political or personal interests. If legislators deliberately absent themselves to block proceedings or gain political advantage, critics may argue that this conflicts with the spirit of RA 6713. On the other hand, senators may contend that their actions are part of legitimate parliamentary strategy.Professionalism and Responsibility – Public of...

The Visayas grid was placed under yellow alert anew on Tuesday, June 2, as several major coal-fired power plant units remained unavailable, tightening power reserves amid rising electricity demand.In an advisory, the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) said the yellow alert would be in effect from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m.The grid’s available capacity stood at 2,542 megawatts (MW), while peak demand was projected to reach 2,412 MW, leaving a thin reserve margin that falls short of contingency requirements.The alert comes as four generating units from key coal-fired power plants remain on forced outage: Units 1 and 2 of Therma Visayas Inc. (TVI), Unit 3 of Panay Energy Development Corporation (PEDC), and Unit 2 of KEPCO-SPC Power Corporation (KSPC).NGCP reported that...

A 57-year-old pedicab driver drowned while swimming at Park Marina in San Carlos City, Negros Occidental on Monday, June 1.Police said the incident happened at around 11:45 a.m. in Brgy. 3.The victim, a resident of Brgy. 5, San Carlos City, was reportedly swimming at the marina when he went to a deeper part of the sea.Based on the statement of his son, the victim allegedly sank after he was unable to swim properly.Witnesses later noticed a body floating in the sea and immediately approached the victim.The victim was found unresponsive and was brought to the San Carlos City Hospital.He was declared dead by the attending physician.*

A 79th Infantry Battalion soldier was killed in an encounter with remnants of the New People’s Army (NPA) in Barangay Tamlang, Escalante City, Negros Occidental, at 2:10 p.m. on Monday, June 1.The 79th IB troops encountered  the “Communist terrorists responsible for the killing of civilians in Northern Negros”, Lt. Col. Eric Alfonso, 79th IB commander, said.Alfonso said "the 79th IB was monitoring the area in response to intelligence reports indicating that the communist terrorists were targeting more civilians".The 79th IB soldiers engaged about five remnants of the NPA Northern Negros Front in a firefight that lasted 10 minutes, 1st Lt. Fevie Fajardo, the 79th IB civil-military operations officer, said.On Monday night the Army was still conducting hot pursuit op...

 A lineman of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines. NGCP photo The Department of Energy (DOE) is considering at least four facilities, including power barges, modular generator sets and battery energy storage systems (BESS), to help address the persistent capacity shortfall in the Visayas grid.The move comes as rising electricity demand continues to outpace available supply, largely due to the forced outages of several generating units at major coal-fired power plants, including Units 1 and 2 of Therma Visayas Inc. (TVI), Unit 3 of Panay Energy Development Corp. (PEDC), and Unit 2 of Kepco SPC Power Corp. (KSPC).Since May 12, the Visayas grid has experienced 17 yellow alerts and four red alerts due to insufficient operating reserves and generating capacity...

Bacolod Mayor Greg Gasataya ( 3rd from left, seated) and FIBA U18 Women’s Asia Cup Southeast Asia Basketball Association qualifiers' officials.* Richard Caballero Jr. photoThe Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO) has beefed up security operations as Bacolod  hosts the FIBA U18 Women’s Asia Cup Southeast Asia Basketball Association (SEABA) Qualifiers 2026 at STI-West Negros University Gym from Tuesday to Sunday, June 2 to 6.Starting Monday, 369 police personnel have been deployed to the games venue, billeting in hotels and the Bacolod City Government Center grounds to ensure safe and secure staging of the international sports event.Seeing action are teams from the Philippines, Vietnam, Singapore, Thailand, and Indonesia, which have started to arrive ahead of the opening cere...