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The Philippine National Police and Army assured the public that the shooting incident in Brgy. Mambulac, Silay City, Negros Occidental, that left two dead and seven injured on Monday was under control and does not reflect the overall security situation in Northern Negros.The Philippine National Police-Negros Island Region and the 79th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army issued the assurances in separate statements.PRO-NIR said in a statement that they already implemented measures to ensure public safety and law enforcement continuity.Police Regional Director BGen. Arnold Thomas Ibay said that the situation is under control and all necessary actions are being done to bring the perpetrators to justice and maintain peace in the community.“We assure the people of Silay an...

A bee sting victim given first aid.* Philippine Red Cross photoAbout 50 persons were stung by bees at the Rodolfo Medel Elementary School in Brgy. Tangub, Bacolod City, 9:58 a.m. on Election Day, May 12, Dr. Anna Maria Laarni M. Pornan, Bacolod Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office head, said.The injured individuals who were in the area to vote were given first aid and monitored for allergic reactions, Pornan said.No injured person was transported to the hospital, the DRRMO report said.“The bees appeared suddenly and aggressively pursued the victims, causing numerous stings. Some of the individuals who were in the area sustained bee stings and required medical attention,” the DRRMO reported.“The attack may have been provoked by disturbance to a nearby hive, thou...

Kanlaon Volcano as seen from Calaon City on Sunday.*Romeo Subaldo photoThe Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology issued a notice of increased seismic activity at Kanlaon Volcano on Election Day, May 12.Phivolcs said 72 volcanic earthquakes were recorded by the Kanlaon Volcano Network between 12 a.m. and 12 p.m. Monday.These events ranged in strength between ML0.3 and ML3.1 and were generated at 0 to 8 kilometers depths beneath the northern and northwestern flanks of the volcanic edifice, Phivolcs said.A total of 135 volcanic earthquakes had been recorded since 12 a.m. on Sunday, May 11, it added,These included relatively strong volcano-tectonic or VT earthquakes.VTs are generated by rock fracturing processes and the increase in VT activity strongly ind...

The Negros Occidental Provincial Board of Canvassers convened at the Social Hall of the Provincial Capitol in Bacolod City Monday with Provincial Election Supervisor Ian Lee Ananoria (center) as chairman, Provincial Prosector Hermes Ariño (left) as vice chairperson and Provincial Schools Division Superintendent Anthony Liobet as member-secretary.*The election winners in the towns and cities of Negros Occidental are expected to be proclaimed by midnight Monday to at the latest Tuesday morning, Provincial Elections Supervisor Ian Lee Ananoria said.The Negros Occidental Provincial Board of Canvassers chaired by Ananoria convened to consolidate the results of the elections in the province at the Social Hall of the Provincial Capitol in Bacolod City at 1 p.m . Monday.Provincial P...

Victorias Mayor Javier Miguel Benitez*Victorias City Mayor Javier Miguel “Javi” Benitez has requested the National Bureau of Investigation - Cybercrime Division to trace and identify the managers of a social media page for allegedly posting false information about him and accusing him and his father of being involved in the shooting incident in Brgy. Mambulac, Silay City, on Monday, May 12.The Victorias mayor, in a post of his Facebook page, said “Silay Rising” had made “false and damaging statements” about him and his father on Election Day.“Let me say this plainly: this is not just political noise, it is a serious and dangerous lie. I will not take it lightly”, Benitez said.Benitez is running for congressman of the Third District of Negros Occidental while his father May...

The police arrested a construction worker for violation of the liquor ban in Zone 6, Brgy. Concepcion, Talisay City, Negros Occidental, early Monday morning, May 12.Alias “Ron”, 24, of Hacienda Asuncion, Brgy Concepcion, was arrested at about 2:20 a.m., the police said.The suspect was caught with a bottle of rum and upon their search, the police also recovered an improvised tooter inside his coin purse.The suspect is now under the custody of the police while the seized drug paraphernalia was brought to the Negros Occidental Provincial Police Office Provincial Forensic Unit, Bacolod City, for laboratory examination, the police said.*

Liquor ban violators being arrested in Bacolod City on Sunday.* Revo Sorbito Facebook page photoLiquor ban arrests, and numerous harassment and vote buying complaints were lodged in Bacolod City and Negros Occidental on Sunday ahead of Election Day on Monday, May 12.Bacolod Election Officer Revo Sorbito said the Comelec along with the police and the 79th IB Masaligan Batallion soldiers arrested 32 liquor ban violators in barangays Mandalagan and Alijis in Bacolod City on Sunday.The liquor ban prohibits the sale, purchase, and consumption of alcoholic beverages in public places until Monday to help ensure a peaceful and orderly election.Sorbito said his office also received numerous complaints of vote buying on Sunday but every time they went to the areas where t...

Avoid long lines, vote early, Comelec urges.*Ronnie Baldonado file photoNegros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson is calling on Negrenses to go out and vote on Election Day on Monday, May 12.“I encourage you to go out and vote tomorrow. Your votes matter, and your voices deserve to be heard,” Lacson said in a statement on Sunday.“I pray for peaceful, honest, and orderly elections for us all. God bless us all,” he also said.Negros Occidental, the province with the 6th largest voting population in the country, has 2,001,732 voters.There are 785 aspirants running for 369 posts in Negros Occidental and Bacolod City in Monday’s polls.Early voting exclusively for senior citizens, persons with disability and pregnant voters will be from 5 a.m. to 7 a.m., but they can stil...

The seized items at the Bacong checkpoint.*The complaint filed against a Bacong, Negros Oriental, resident arrested with sample ballots and money has been dismissed by the prosecutor’s office, a Commission on Elections official said on Sunday, May 11.The complaint was dismissed because the evidence was not recovered in plain view at a checkpoint, but in a U-box of a motorcycle and inside envelops, Assistant Elections Regional Director Jossil Macute of the Negros Island Region said.Comelec checkpoint inspections manned by police and military personnel are limited by the plain view doctrine.Romnick Viola Adalim, 36, a resident of Brgy. Combado in Bacong was arrested by Regional Mobile Force Battalion – Negros Island Region (RMFB-NIR) operatives at a checkpoint at Burgos Stre...

The seized items in Sitio Pasil, Brgy. Taba-ao Baybay, San Enrique.*PRO-NIR photoFour Negrenses, including a father and his son, were arrested in two separate operations for violation of the Commission in Elections (COMELEC) Gun Ban in San Enrique and Victorias City, Negros Occidental, on Saturday and Sunday, May 10 and 11.The police said that Ronie Gonzales, 32, and Aljun Gonzales, 33, of Sitio Pasil, Brgy. Taba-ao Baybay, San Enrique, were arrested early Sunday morning.The operation was launched after the police received a report from a concerned citizen of armed individuals present in the area.The police responded and apprehended the suspects after spotting firearms in plain view constituting to a search incidental to arrest.Recovered from them were a .45 caliber pis...