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Aug52026 by Mark L. GarciaNo Comments

Four drug suspects arrested, P761K worth of suspected shabu seized in Bacolod

Four suspected drug personalities were arrested while more than P761,000 worth of suspected shabu was seized in two buy-bust operations in Bacolod City on Tuesday night, Aug. 4.The Bacolod City Police Office said the operations led to the arrest of one high-value individual and three street-level individuals.The first operation was conducted by the City Drug Enforcement Unit at around 8:04 p.m. in Purok Chrysanthemum, Brgy. 33.Police arrested two 20-year-old men, one classified as a high-value individual and the other as a street-level individual.Authorities recovered about 100 grams of suspected shabu with an estimated standard drug price of P680,000, along with buy-bust money and other evidence.At around 11:31 p.m., operatives of Police Station 9 conducted another buy...

Aug52026 by Digicast NegrosNo Comments

CONFED: Sugar crisis needs concrete solutions

Business, Top Stories

Ronnie Baldonado file photoThe Confederation of Sugar Producers Associations (CONFED) on Wednesday, August 5, urged sugarcane industry stakeholders— especially farmers, laborers, and mill workers— to actively demand for real and lasting solutions to the industry’s worsening problems, aside from controlling the Red-striped soft scale insect (RSSI) infestation.In issuing the call, CONFED National President Aurelio Gerardo J. Valderrama Jr. also revealed that a Joint Motion to Dismiss the complaint had been signed by all concerned parties involved in his highly-publicized labor case, after the completion of sober due process to resolve the workers’ complaint.“The resolution of that case was a brief distraction,” Valderrama said in a press release.The CONFED President str...

Aug52026 by Mark L. GarciaNo Comments

Sagarbarria seeks national RSSI aid for Negros Oriental

Negros Oriental, Top Stories

Rep. Ma. Isabel Sagarbarria (Neg. Or., 2nd District) at the House of Representatives on Tuesday, August 4.*Glazyl Masculino-Jopson photoRep. Ma. Isabel Sagarbarria (Neg. Or., 2nd District) is urging the national government to extend financial and logistical assistance to her province as the red-striped soft scale insect continues to damage sugarcane farms across Negros Island.Sagarbarria raised the concern during the House Committee on Agriculture and Food hearing on proposed amendments to the Sugarcane Industry Development Act and the Sugar Regulatory Administration charter on Tuesday, Aug. 4, in Quezon City.She said Negros Oriental had not received a national government allocation similar to the P235-million assistance package announced for farmers and anti-RSSI operati...

Aug52026 by Nanette GuadalquiverNo Comments

Visayas’ 1st LGU-run civil registry outlet serves southern Negros

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The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) brings its services closer to clients in southern Negros Occidental through a partnership with Kabankalan City, which hosts the first local government unit (LGU)-operated civil registry system (CRS) outlet in the Visayas.In a public advisory on Wednesday, the city government said that starting Aug. 4, the PSA-CRS outlet accepts requests through online appointment only.“Please secure your appointment before visiting the PSA-CRS Outlet to ensure a smooth and orderly transaction,” it added.PSA-Negros Occidental supervising statistical specialist Diesah Biaoco said that Kabankalan City operates the outlet, providing manpower and utilities, and a PSA assigned supervisor monitors the operations on a daily basis.“It is the first CRS outlet...

Aug42026 by Mark L. GarciaNo Comments

Benitez, 63 House members seek postponement of BSKE to November 2028

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Rep. Javier Miguel Benitez (Neg. Occ., 3rd District) filing House Bill No. 10591 on Tuesday.* Mark Garcia photoQUEZON CITY—Rep. Javier Miguel Benitez (Neg. Occ., 3rd District) and 63 members of the House of Representatives have filed House Bill No. 10591 seeking to postpone the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections from Nov. 2, 2026, to the last Monday of November 2028.Benitez filed the measure at the House of Representatives on Tuesday afternoon, Aug. 4.The bill also schedules succeeding synchronized barangay and SK elections every three years and the assumption of office of elected officials at noon on Dec. 30 following the election.Incumbent barangay and SK officials would remain in office under the holdover principle until their successors are elected...

Aug42026 by Carla P. GomezNo Comments

Alleged maltreated OFW escapes employer in Saudi Arabia, seeks refuge at PH embassy

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The Philippine Embassy in Riyadh*An Overseas Filipino Worker in Saudi Arabia, who was allegedly mistreated by her employer, managed to escape and is now at the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh, Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said Tuesday, August 4.“What is important is that there is already action by the national government to bring her back to Negros Occidental,” he said.When she returns, the provincial government will most likely give financial assistance, Lacson said.The 45-year-old OFW is from Cebu and is married to a resident of Brgy. 8 in Isabela, Negros Occidental. They have three minor children.Her first contract in Riyadh was from January 2023 to December 2025 and it was extended until Dec. 31, 2026.She escaped from her employer on August 2 a...

Aug42026 by Carla P. GomezNo Comments

NegOcc task force sprays 77.3 hectares with fungi to contain spread of sugarcane pest, moving to 3 more LGUs

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The Provincial Biosecurity Task Force spraying in Murcia.* Rayfarndo Diaz FB page photoThe Provincial Biosecurity Task Force has sprayed pathogenic fungi or biocontrol agents on 77.30 hectares of sugarcane crops that have been low and moderately affected by red-striped soft scale insects (RSSI) in Negros Occidental to prevent the spread of the pests.The spraying of the fungi to prevent the spread of RSSI in Bago City, La Carlota City, and Murcia has so far covered 5 percent of the Level 1 and 2 target areas, Engineer Colen Ocalinas, action officer of the Provincial Biosecurity Task Force, said at a press conference with Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson on Tuesday, Aug. 4.Their next areas to be sprayed are Ilog, Hinigaran, and Manapla, Ocalinas said.They are also ...

Aug42026 by Carla P. GomezNo Comments

Guv reports hog deaths worth P24.1 million in 17 NegOcc LGUs

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Seventeen towns and cities in Negros Occidental have reported hog deaths from various swine diseases, resulting in financial losses reaching ₱24.1 million, Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said Tuesday, August 4.A total of 2,338 pigs, representing 2.57 percent of the 17 LGUs population of 90,981, have died from illnesses including African Swine Fever (ASF) this year, Lacson said. Most of the cases were recorded in southern Negros.Despite the losses, Lacson noted that ASF is not spreading as rapidly as it did when it first hit the province last year."We are managing it much better because of the lessons that we learned before," he said.The governor said that Isabela, La Castellana, and Binalbagan are the latest local government units to log confirmed ASF c...

Aug42026 by Nanette GuadalquiverNo Comments

DOLE gives P23-M aid to sugar workers, students in Negros Occidental

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Labor Secretary Francis Tolentino with Sugar Industry Foundation Inc. President and Chief Operating Officer Edith Villanueva (left photo) and United Sugar Producers Federation of the Philippines President Manuel Lamata after the signing of the memorandum of agreement between the Department of Labor and Employment and their respective institutions at L’ Fisher Hotel in Bacolod City on Tuesday.*DOLE photo The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) granted PHP22.8 million in labor, education and social protection assistance for beneficiaries in Negros Occidental, including Bacolod City, on Tuesday, August 4.Secretary Francis Tolentino led the ceremonial turnover of PHP21.83-million aid under the agency’s Integrated Livelihood and Emergency Employment Program for the TUPAD or ...

Aug42026 by Mark L. GarciaNo Comments

House panel names Benitez to lead TWG on proposed TUBO Act

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House Committee on Agriculture and Food chairperson Rep. Wilfrido Mark M. Enverga and Rep. Javier Miguel Benitez during the House committee hearing on Tuesday.*QUEZON CITY — Rep. Javier Miguel Benitez (Neg. Occ., 3rd District) has been designated to head the Technical Working Group (TWG) that will consolidate and harmonize six proposed measures seeking to strengthen the country's sugar industry following the House Committee on Agriculture and Food hearing at the Romualdez Hall here at the House of Representatives on Tuesday, Aug. 4.House Committee on Agriculture and Food Chair Rep. Wilfrido Mark M. Enverga (Quezon Province , 1st District) announced Benitez's designation during the hearing.,Enverga said the TWG will consolidate the six bills proposing amendments to the Su...