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A driver died after his truck fell off a cliff in Purok Abellana, Brgy. Masulog, Canlaon, Negros Occidental, on Wednesday, July 31.Richard Mission, 49, of Purok Abellana died after the dump truck he was driving slipped on an uneven road and fell, the police said.The dump truck was loaded with sand and gravel.When it reached a point at the top of the mountain, the driver lost control of the vehicle and it fell 50-feet down the cliff, the police said.The driver sustained injuries on his head and body.*

Infestation of armyworm on a corn plant in southern Negros in July. *Damage brought by armyworm infestation to cornfields in 11 local government units (LGUs) in Negros Occidental reached P37.32 million as of July 30, data from the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist (OPA) on Friday, August 2,  showed.The consolidated data showed that 2,504.6 hectares of corn farms owned by 3,961 farmers in 77 villages have been infested.San Carlos City reported the highest amount at P9.465 million, affecting 663.38 hectares tilled by 852 farmers in nine villages.Damage in the neighboring Calatrava town reached P7.084 million in 334.72 hectares planted by 384 farmers in 13 barangays; followed by La Castellana, P4.439 million, with 155.54 hectares of 358 farmers in seven barangays; an...

Vendors  at the new Sum-ag  Public  Market.*Bacolod PIO photoThe barangay captain of Sum-ag in Bacolod City on  Friday, August  2, urged the 140 vendors who recently transferred into  the new Sum-ag Public Market to maintain its cleanliness and treat it as their second home.Brgy. Capt. Rodney Carmona told DIGICAST NEGROS that the  140 vendors  finally transferred inside the market with eight stalls remaining outside selling meat.“They must maintain cleanliness and ensure that they treat their new area as their second home”, Carmona said.The vendors that transferred are selling vegetables, dry goods, and fish, while the remaining meat vendors outside will be moved in when the meat section of the market is finished.Carmona said that the city government and the D...

An executive assistant of Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson has been “relieved of his duties brought about by loss of trust and confidence”, Acting Provincial Administrator Alberto Nellas Jr. confirmed on Friday, August 2.Relieved effective July 30 was Executive Assistant IV Francis Velez who handled barangay affairs and signed purchase requests at the governor’s office.Velez basically was the administrative head at the governor’s office, Nellas said.Velez had earlier been issued a show cause order to explain why he withdrew furniture, which included chairs and sofas, from the Office of the Governor for repair without obtaining prior authorization from the governor.The purchase request was issued without the prior authorization of the governor for repairs of th...

Will there also be a Miranda and Miranda tandem for the top posts of Kabankalan City in 2025?Kabankalan Mayor Benjie Miranda said on Friday, August 2, that he is considering fielding his wife, Divina, as his runningmate, when he seeks reelection next year.The mayor said if there is a Zayco and Zayco tandem for the top posts of Kabankalan City, there can also be a Miranda and Miranda team.There are talks that former Kabankalan mayor Isidro Zayco may run for mayor with his nephew incumbent Vice Mayor Miguel “Migz” Zayco as his runningmate.Miranda said he is still praying for guidance from the Lord on whether his wife should run as his vice mayor, which will be a last option.Divina Superal Miranda is a public school teacher who teaches grade six students. She is also presi...

Senator Imee Marcos with Negros Oriental Gov. Manuel "Chaco" Sagarbarria (right) and Negros Occidental Vice Governor Jeffrey Ferrer at a press conference in Bacolod City on Thursday.* The budget for the Negros Island Region (NIR) did not make it to the proposed 2025 national budget, Senator Imee Marcos said on Thursday, August 1. Marcos, who was in Bacolod for a Provincial Councilors League Negros Oriental Federation assembly, said at a press conference that “it is a matter of grave concern because our people are really expecting so much from the big change of the NIR." Her brother President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed the law creating the NIR composed of Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental and Siquijor on June 13. The law was signed in June and as a resu...

The fire at  Purok Kingfisher, Brgy 16, on  Thursday.*BFP Bacolod  photo Another fire hit 18 houses and injured a purok president at Purok Kingfisher, Brgy 16, Bacolod City, at 2:42 a.m. Thursday, August 1. Injured was Purok Kingfisher president Alejandro Tiad, 49, who sustained second degree burns and was in stable condition at the Riverside Medical Center, the Bacolod Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (DRRMO) reported Thursday afternoon. There were 12 houses destroyed and 6 damaged costing P675,000, the report said. The fire affected 27 families with 99 members. Ten of the families with 49 members were temporarily staying at the Education Training Center School 1 Extension. Supt.  Jenny Mae Masip, Bacolod Fire Marshal, said the fire wa...

Rep.  Mercedes Alvarez (Neg. Occ., 6th District)* Local Government Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr. will preside over the Technical Working Group (TWG)  meeting on the  Negros Island Region (NIR) next week,  Rep.  Mercedes Alvarez (Neg. Occ., 6th District) said Thursday, August 1 The meeting that was supposed to be held Friday was rescheduled for next week, she said. The meeting is expected to tackle the proposed NIR Internal Rules and Regulations and if there are any amendments, she said. Alvarez said she will raise what she wanted to insert in the law itself, that regional offices be allowed to put up extension or satellite offices in other provinces after an assessment to better serve the people. Invited to the TWG meeti...

NIR Comelec Regional Director Lionel Marco Castillano was in Bacolod City  on Thursday.* The Commission on Elections is setting up its regional office for the Negros Island Region (NIR) in Dumaguete City for now although the law states that it should be in Negros Occidental. NIR Comelec Regional Director Lionel Marco Castillano said he thinks the reason why Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia instructed him to hold office in Dumaguete for now is because of poll security concerns in Negros Oriental. He said that although killings in Negros Oriental did not happen during the election period "we know that they were a result of the elections". "We are working for peaceful elections", he said, pointing out that polls "marred by violence are not good for the ...

Principal Reynaldo Mojares*The Schools Division of Negros Occidental is working closely with the family of the Moises Padilla principal who fell off a roof and died to provide assistance, its spokesperson Ian Arnold Arnaez said on Thursday, August 1.Reynaldo Mojares, 60, principal of the Guinpana-an Elementary School in Moises Padilla, passed away at the Riverside Medical Center in Bacolod City on Wednesday, July 31.He reportedly saw a lot of leaves on the roof of a school building, climbed a ladder to remove them and fell hitting his head on Sunday, Arnaez said.“The Schools Division of Negros Occidental is profoundly saddened by the untimely passing” of Reynaldo Mojares, Principal I of Guinpana-an Elementary School,” it said in a statement released Thursday.It said wi...