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The rice to be sold at P20 per kilo in Bacolod City arrives.*Bacolod PIO photoThe rice from the National Food Authority scheduled to be sold by the Bacolod City government at P20 per kilo starting Thursday, June 5, has arrived.The inaugural roll out will be led by Agriculture Secretary Francisco Laurel Jr. and Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez at the Burgos Public Market 9 a.m. Thursday.Hilado Street fronting the market will be temporarily closed from 6 a.m. to noon Thursday for the launching of the program.Secretary to the Mayor Jose Marty Go said the P20 rice will also be sold at the Libertad and Central Markets, and in clustered barangays.Every day, at least 400 sacks of rice will be delivered by the NFA through the Food Terminal Incorporated.Members of in...

Department of Education schools in La Castellana, Negros Occidental, affected by the Kanlaon Volcano’s eruptions are all set for the opening of classes on June 16, Ian Arnold Arnaez, DepEd Negros Occidental Schools Division spokesperson, assured on Wednesday, June 4.“Despite the challenges being faced due to the impacts of the eruptions, La Castellana schools and the Schools Division Office of Negros Occidental have been working doubly hard to find means to address the current situation,” he said.Efforts have been made to mobilize various partners in order to ensure the smooth opening of classes, Arnaiz said.Three schools in La Castellana are still being used as evacuation centers, while three are located in the 6-kilometer danger zone, he said.The Office of Civil Defense h...

A 21-year-old man, who allegedly sold illegal drugs online, was arrested by the police at Zone 1, Purok St. Vincent in Brgy. Alijis, Bacolod City, on Tuesday, June 3.The street-level drug target identified only as alias “Allen”, 21, of Barangay Alijs, was arrested by operatives of Bacolod Police Station 7 and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency,Capt. Dax Santillan, Station 7 commander, said the suspect chats with buyers online and delivers the shabu to them.The police seized eight grams of suspected shabu with an estimated street drug price of P54,400 from the suspect, Santillan said.The police are preparing to file charges against the suspect for violation of the Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act, he added.*

The person who took the speaker as shown in photos from the Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish*The Parish of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Valladolid was robbed at about 5:51 p.m. on Tuesday, June 3.A Kevler Portable Bluetooth Speaker was stolen from the parish and help is being sought to recover it, a Diocese of Bacolod Facebook page post said.The stolen speaker was used for area masses of the parish.The parish priest is now asking that anyone who knows the person in the CCTV photos or who sold the stolen speaker to inform the church office,“ it said.*

A senior citizen was caught by a Negros Electric and Power Corp. team in the act of allegedly tampering with an electric meter at Purok Paraiso, Jesusa Heights Subdivision in Brgy. Estefania, Bacolod City, at 9:50 a.m. on Wednesday, June 4.Arrested was a 63-year-old resident of Purok Paraiso, a police report showed.While the NEPC security apprehension team was conducting a random inspection of electrical posts and meters they caught the suspect allegedly in the act of illegally tapping wires, it said.He was arrested for violation of Republic Act 7832, also known as the Anti Pilferage Act, the report added.The NEPC said it is conducting a massive campaign against the theft of electricity and will file charges against those engaged in such activity.*

The rescue operation at Hernaez Street.*BFP Bacolod photoA Closed-Circuit Television Camera installer was electrocuted and rescued from a building’s scaffolding 15 feet above the ground at Henares Street in Brgy. 38, Bacolod City, Wednesday morning, June 4.Aljon Mariano, 33, was rescued from the scaffolding by personnel from the Bureau of Fire Protection - Baccolod, Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office, and Negros Tigers.The victim sustained second degree burns on his back and arms and was brought to the Bacolod Adventist Medical Center in Brgy. Taculing.The victim is now in stable condition, the police said.*

A Bacolodnon was shot by the police after he fired his gun at them in Purok Pilit, Brgy. 6, Bacolod City, on Tuesday, June 3.The police were responding to a call from a concerned citizen that the suspect identified as Jojo Arnaiz, 37,was allegedly in possession of a firearm inside a computer shop.When the police arrived in the area, the suspect noticed their presence and tried to escape.When the police pursued him the suspect fired his gun that led to an exchange of gunfire.The suspect was injured, apprehended and brought to the Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital in Bacolod City.The police recovered a .45 caliber pistol and a hand grenade from the suspect.The suspect is now detained at Bacolod Police Station 2 and will face charges for illegal pos...

The police arrested two people and seized suspected shabu worth P100,000 in a buy-bust operation in Purok Sambag, Brgy. 6, Kabankalan City, Negros Occidental, Tuesday, June 3.Arrested were alias “Birtz”, 24, and alias “Alfredo”, 30, of Coloso Subdivision, Brgy. 4, Kabankalan, the police said.Recovered from the suspects were 16 grams of suspected shabu, the police said.The suspects are in police custody and will be charged for violation of the Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.*

Kabankalan City in Negros Occidental is set to host the first local government-managed Civil Registry System (CRS) outlet in the Negros Island Region (NIR), a strategic move aimed at significantly improving public access to essential government services.The CRS outlet in Kabankalan City, strategically located in southern Negros Occidental, will provide crucial PSA services to residents of Kabankalan and the surrounding areas, National Statistician and Civil Registrar General Claire Dennis Mapa said on Wednesday, June 4.The Kabankalan City CRS outlet will hold the distinction of being only the second of its kind in the entire Philippines.Following the recent signing of a memorandum of agreement (MOA) between the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA)-NIR and the city government, ...

The Don Felix Robles Elementary School Evacuation Center in La Castellana*OCD photoLearning has been affected by lack of classrooms for thousands of students in schools that have been converted into evacuation centers for residents displaced by Kanlaon Volcano’s unrest, especially in La Castellana, Negros Occidental.This is one of the biggest challenges faced by the Department of Education when classes open, Ian Arnold Arnaez, Negros Occidental Schools Division spokesperson, said Tuesday, June 3.There is an existing DepEd policy that schools can only be used as evacuation centers for 15 days to minimize disruption to education, he said.However, this has not been possible as the Kanlaon evacuees have been living in schools in La Castellana since December last year as they h...