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Jul132026 by Mark L. GarciaNo Comments

Man found dead in Murcia house, no signs of foul play

A 23-year-old man was found dead inside a house in Murcia, Negros Occidental, on Sunday evening, July 12, with police saying there were no initial signs of foul play.Police identified the victim only as “Christian,” a caretaker and resident of Victorina Heights, Brgy. Mansilingan, Bacolod City.The Murcia police said the incident happened at around 7:45 p.m. in Purok Proper, Brgy. Blumentritt.At around 9 p.m., personnel from the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office informed police that a dead body had been discovered inside the house.Responding officers found the victim lying face down inside a bedroom after a neighbor became concerned when he failed to come out of the house that afternoon.The neighbor looked through a window, saw the victim lying moti...

Jul132026 by Carla P. GomezNo Comments

4-phase plan to revive Negros blue crab exports to U.S. proposed

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The blue swimming crabs of EB Magalona.*Ronnie Baldonado photoA Metro Bacolod Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MBCCI) director has submitted a proposed four-phase strategic action plan to the Negros Occidental provincial government aimed at restoring Philippine access to the lucrative United States export market for the Negros Blue Swimming Crab industry.A copy of the plan titled "Restoring the U.S. market for the Negros blue swimming crab industry (2026–2027)" prepared by MBCCI director Willar Gallo was furnished to the media by MBCCI president Juliana Carbon on Monday, July 13.At stake is the economic survival of an industry that directly and indirectly supports more than 15,000 households and injects an estimated ₱6 billion to ₱7 billion in annual export reve...

Jul132026 by Digicast NegrosNo Comments

₱6.23 million in cash assistance released to 1,585 AICS beneficiaries

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The Bacolod City Department of Social Services and Development (DSSD) has started the distribution of ₱6,236,000 in medical, burial, and financial assistance to 1,585 beneficiaries under the Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation (AICS) program, Monday, July 13.Upon the directive of Mayor Greg Gasataya, 939 beneficiaries received cash assistance amounting to ₱3,623,500, during the first payout held at the Bacolod City Government Center Lobby Monday, a press release from the Bacolod City Communications Office said.The financial assistance aims to help individuals and families cope with medical expenses, burial costs, and other urgent needs during times of crisis, it said.The payout will continue until July 14.On the second day, the city will serve the remaining ...

Jul122026 by Carla P. GomezNo Comments

‘Inday’ rains, floods affect 3,600 Negrenses, many start returning home Sunday

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The evacuees in Isabela, Negros Occidental, on Saturday.*Mayor Miguel Angelo Yulo FB page photo The more than 3,600 residents who evacuated from their homes amid heavy rains in Negros Occidental began returning home Sunday, July 12, as the weather improved, the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Program Office head Irene Bel Ploteña, said. The Southwest Monsoon enhanced by Tropical Storm Inday caused heavy rains and floods, hitting 46 barangays across 10 Local Government Units (LGUs) in Negros Occidental leaving 1,202 families (3,605 individuals) affected, according to a PDRRMO report issued at 11 a.m. Sunday, July 12.Tropical Storm Inday has exited the Philippine Area of Responsibility. La Castellana &nb...

Jul122026 by Carla P. GomezNo Comments

NPA claims responsibility for enforcing ‘death penalty’ on two alleged intel assets in Victorias

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The Northern Negros Guerrilla Front of the New People’s Army (NPA) has issued a statement claiming responsibility for the execution of two men in Victorias City on Friday.Ka Cecil Estrella, spokesperson for the Roselyn Jean Pelle Command (RJPC-NPA), in a statement on Sunday, July 12, said their Special Partisan Unit (SPARU) carried out the "death penalty" against Jerome Seballos and Alex Cunanan on July 10.Estrella said Seballos was killed at around 5 a.m., while Cunanan was executed at approximately 7 a.m. at Sitio Singko, Barangay Gawahon.The NPA also claimed to have recovered a .45 caliber pistol and a shotgun from Seballos, and .45 caliber pistol from Cunanan.The RJPC-NPA alleged that Seballos, a 59-year-old resident of Barangay Bata...

Jul122026 by Mark L. GarciaNo Comments

Bacolod-based conservationist named 2026 MIDORI biodiversity laureate

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Bacolod-based conservationist Lisa Paguntalan-Marte.*photo courtesy of Errol GatumbatoBacolod-based conservationist Lisa Paguntalan-Marte has been named one of the two recipients of the 2026 MIDORI Prize for Biodiversity.The AEON Environmental Foundation and the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity announced the awardees in a joint statement on July 7.Paguntalan-Marte, executive director of the Philippines Biodiversity Conservation Foundation Inc. based in Bacolod, will receive the award alongside Alexandra Zimmermann of Germany.She was recognized for more than 25 years of work in biodiversity research and conservation in the Philippines.The award organizers cited her contribution to the rediscovery of the Philippine bare-backed fruit bat, which w...

Jul122026 by Carla P. GomezNo Comments

Leaky roof triggers ₱960K fire at Bacolod school

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The fire at the Antonio L. Jayme Elementary School*Chamber Volunteer Fire Brigade photoA fire struck the Antonio L. Jayme Elementary School along the Alijis-Murcia Road in Barangay Mansilingan, Bacolod City, Negros Occidental, past 8 a.m. on Sunday, July 12.The blaze destroyed a storage room and damaged the school clinic, Supt. Jenny Mae Masip, the Bacolod Fire Marshal, told DIGICAST NEGROS.Masip said that they received the distress call at 8:53 a.m., and the estimated damage is placed at ₱960,000.The fire started in the storage room after water leaking from a hole in the roof dripped onto an electrical outlet attached to a wooden wall, she said."Water is a conductor that, upon contact with a live wire, can ignite a fire," Masip explained.Fires also hit two ho...

Jul122026 by Digicast NegrosNo Comments

Cadiz City’s championship pinakbet headed to nat’l cooking finals in Manila

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The cooks Teresita Villegas and Connie Magbanua from Barangay Luna.*Bilis Cadiz photoRepresenting the Negros Island Region (NIR), Cadiz City's "pinakbet mais-aya" is set to join the "Walang Gutom" Program Kusinero Cook-Off Challenge in Manila on July 17.Cadiz's version of pinakbet was declared the champion in the region-wide cooking tilt on July 2.“Cadiz's pinakbet has a twist with sweet corn kernels. But what really makes it more distinctly salty-funky is the city-made shrimp paste (ginamos),” a press release from Cadiz City said Sunday, July 12.The champion cooks behind the winning dish are Teresita Villegas and her niece Connie Magbanua.Dubbed as the "hacienda cooks," Villegas, 64, is from Hacienda Fe Palid while Magbanua, 51, is from Hacienda San Remigio—all in Bara...

Jul122026 by Mark L. GarciaNo Comments

Construction worker dies after electrocution in Toboso

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A 20-year-old construction worker died after he was electrocuted while working at a construction site in Toboso, Negros Occidental, on Saturday, July 11.Police identified the victim only as “Bitoy,” a resident of Sitio Tique, Brgy. Buenavista, Himamaylan City.He was employed by JVC Tough Core Construction and Builder Corporation, a subcontractor of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).The incident happened at around 2:30 p.m. in Sitio Kanangkaan, Brgy. General Luna.Initial investigation by the Toboso Municipal Police Station showed that the victim was about to retrieve a cylinder molding when he came into contact with a live electrical wire while walking.His co-workers immediately rescued him and rushed him to the Vicente Gustilo District Hospital in Escal...

Jul122026 by Digicast NegrosNo Comments

Bukidnon deploys sugar ‘pest busters’

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In a ‘blitzkrieg’ operation, sugar farmers in Bukidnon deployed an army of 40 people in teams of ten, to conduct a one-week concentrated pesticide spraying to prevent the spread of Red Striped Soft Scale Insect (RSSI) infestation.Donning Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) reminiscent of the COVID pandemic, these men are fighting a different battle in the fields, a pest that is hard to see by the naked eye but is now a “serious threat” for the sugar industry as it spreads through sugar cane fields in Luzon, Visayas and now in Mindanao, a press release from the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) said Sunday, July 12.Each man carries a power sprayer with a load of 16-18 liters of pesticides and depending on the severity of the infestation and age of cane, an estimated 15 to...