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The General Alliance of Workers Association in Negros Occidental is calling on President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to place the West Philippine Sea (WPS) concern as the top agenda in his State of the Nation Address. The issue on WPS involves an imminent danger to the country and it must be included in the SONA as a matter of security concern, GAWA Secretary General Wennie Sancho said on Monday, July 15.Sancho said that despite the   bullying, harassment, intimidation, unfair action, and unlawfulness committed by the Chinese Coast Guard, the Philippines’ maritime forces have remained calm and disciplined. The Chinese are not only grabbing our seas but also grabbing our lands through the “frenzied acquisition of strategically located real estate at staggering price...

The area where the 12-year-old boy was killed* A 12-year-old boy, who was previously involved in the alleged abduction of a 5-year-old girl in Talisay City, was shot dead at the back of a grocery store at Cuadra-Locsin streets, Brgy. 12, Bacolod City, early Saturday morning, July 13. Dean Rod Cepeda, 12, was shot by an unidentified suspect at about 2:40 a.m., the police reported. He sustained injuries on his body and was rushed to a hospital but was declared dead on arrival. Bacolod Police Station 1 commander, Maj. Elmer Bonilla,  told DIGICAST NEGROS that they have gathered  CCTV footage from  the areas   around the scene of the crime that were turned over to the Police Regional Anti-Cybercrime Unit to enhance the video resolutions.&...

Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo “Albee” Benitez* Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo “Albee” Benitez is asking the national Land Transportation Office to investigate why the LTO Bacolod office issued a driver’s license to a notorious fugitive from India tagged as a leader of an organized crime syndicate, which states that he is a Filipino.Benitez said on Sunday, July 14, that he is asking for an investigation on the LTO Bacolod’s negligence in verifying data given by the driver’s license applicant.Driver’s license FO1-22-001866 was issued to Kant Gupta, the fake name of Joginder Geong, stating that he was a Filipino and a resident of Bacolod City even if he is an Indian national.The Bacolod police arrested Geong, 40, in Barangay Taculing, Bacolod City, on July 8. He had been sent...

The recovered  1936 “Mango Harvesters” painting by National Artists Fernando Amorsolo.*National Museum  photo The Silay police are filling theft charges against the two persons who stole the 88-year-old painting by National Artist Fernando Amorsolo from the Hofileña Museum in Silay City, Negros Occidental, Lt. Col.  Mark Anthony Darroca, Silay police chief, said Sunday, July 14. The theft charges will be filed against a male suspect who has already been identified and a middle-aged female who will be tagged only as Jane Doe before the Silay Prosecutor’s Office soon, he said. The two are still at-large. The male suspect from Iloilo has been identified and they also have leads on the female, Darroca said. The initial address of the male susp...

Former Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army rebels filing their application for amnesty before the Local Amnesty Board in Bacolod City last week.* Three hundred former Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) rebels in Negros and Panay islands enrolled in the government's amnesty program during the application period July 5 to 12, the Philippine Army 3rd Infantry Division (ID) said in a report on Sunday, July 14. Under the National Amnesty Commission's Local Amnesty Board (LAB)-Bacolod, 210 applicants in Negros  processed their papers at the Bacolod City College campus, with assistance from the line battalions of the 302nd and 303rd Infantry Brigades. LAB-Iloilo received the applications of 90 former rebels in Panay assisted ...

The Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office arrested 230 individuals in a series of anti-illegal gambling operations in June, the highest among other police units in the region, the Police Regional Office-6 reported. Records showed that the month-long illegal gambling crackdown resulted in 358 arrests and the confiscation of P159,000 in bet money during 126 police operations from June 1 to 30. NOCPPO logged the highest number of apprehensions with 230 or 64.24 percent of the total arrests in Western Visayas. Following NOCPPO was the Bacolod City Police Office with 49 arrests, Iloilo Police Provincial Office with 25, Aklan and Antique Police Provincial Offices with 14 each, Capiz with 13, Iloilo City with 7, and Guimaras with 6. PRO-6 Director BGen. Ja...

Fuel prices are expected to drop on Tuesday, July 16,  after increases for four straight weeks. Diesel prices should go down by P0.80 to P1 per liter,  Unioil Petroleum Philippines forecasted on Saturday. Gasoline prices should also  go down by P0.50 to P0.70 per liter, Unioil added.* 

The Social Security System that is holding a  Nationwide Registration Day on Monday, July  15, has  announced its  various venues for Negros  Island. Branches for the Visayas West 1 Division will have the following venues in Negros Occidental for the event: * Bacolod Branch - Brgys 18 and  Mandalagan  in Bacolod City; *Bacolod East Branch - Brgys Mansilingan and  Villamonte in  Bacolod City; *Bago Branch - Brgys 1 and  3  in La Carlota City; *Sagay Branch - Brgy Tabao, Sagay City; and * Victorias Branch - Victorias Cultural Center, Victorias City. The venues in Negros Oriental are: *San Carlos  Branch - Brgy Malusay, Guihulngan, Negros Oriental: * Bai...

The National Museum of the Philippines confirmed that the recovered painting was the “Mango Harvesters" after its Director-General Jeremy Barns  inspected it.*National Museum photoThe National Bureau of Investigation-Special Task Force (NBI-STF) recovered the painting by National Artist Fernando Amorsolo that was stolen from the Hofileña Museum in Silay City, Negros Occidental, in an entrapment operation that led to the arrest of two persons in Quezon City on Friday, July 12.The NBI received information that a certain "Atty. Ching” was selling the 1936 "Mango Harvesters" painting of Amorsolo for P3.5 million so they hatched an entrapment operation, NBI Director Jaime Santiago said.On Friday they proceeded to the target area at Tomas Morato, Quezon City, and arrested Ritz Chona...

The Land Transportation Office in Bacolod issued the driver’s license of a notorious fugitive from India tagged as a leader of an organized crime syndicate stating that he is a Filipino and a resident of Bacolod City, an LTO official confirmed Friday, July 12.LTO - Bacolod Licensing Center chief Joseph Danoy confirmed that the driver’s license was issued to Kant Gupta, the fake name of Joginder Geong, in 2022 when their licensing office was still located at Cottage Road in Bacolod City.He was not the head of the licensing division then and did not know why the driver’s license stated that Gupta was a Filipino, Danoy said.He said their records show that Geong, using the name Gupta, obtained a student permit in January 2022, which requires that he goes to driving school and enrol...