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The drugs seized in the buy-bust operation in Purok Manayawsayaw, Brgy. Mansilingan.*BCPO photoThe police arrested two persons and seized suspected shabu worth P1.8 million in a buy-bust operation in Purok Manayawsayaw, Brgy. Mansilingan, Bacolod City, Monday night, April 28.Arrested were July Gustilo alias “Toto”, 40, a high-value drug personality, and Antonio Pasustento Jr. alias “Totong”, the police said.,The City Drug Enforcement Unit seized shabu weighing 270 grams with an estimated street drug price of P1,836,000 from them, the police added.The suspects will be charged for violation of Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.They are now detained at Bacolod Police Station 7.*

The sale of rice at P20 a kilo under the government’s food security emergency program is expected to start next week if the local government units have complied with the required documents, a Department of Agriculture (DA) official said Tuesday, April 29.Senior citizens, persons with disabilities, indigents and those under the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program can avail of the P20 per kilo rice, DA Regional Director Jose Albert Barrogo of the Negros Island Region, said.Under the program to be implemented in the Visayas each family can buy 10 kilos of the P20 rice per week, he said.The Food Terminal Incorporated will buy rice from the National Food Authority at P33 per kilo. The P13 difference will then be subsidized by the Department of Agriculture and local government unit, ...

A man died when a barangay tanod allegedly shot him after he fired his firearm during a purok fiesta in Sitio Caballohan, Purok 11, Brgy. Inayawan, Cauayan, Negros Occidental, on Monday, April 28.Alias “Jiboy”, 38, died after alias “Rafael”, 40, a barangay tanod, shot him, Lt. Col. Lowell Garinganao, Cauayan police chief, said on Tuesday.Garinganao said that Jiboy allegedly fired his firearm upwards, which resulted in a hand injury to alias “Julieta”, 46, who was hit by a stray bullet.The barangay tanod confronted Jiboy and seized his firearm.He then shot alias Jiboy multiple times with the firearm that he had confiscated causing his death, the police said.Jiboy was brought to the Cauayan Municipal Health Office but was declared dead on arrival, while the tanod fled....

A construction worker was found dead inside a post hole in Purok Kulasi, Brgy. Kumaliskis, Don Salvador Benedicto, Negros Occidental, on Monday, April 28.Alias “Ronald”, 51, of Purok 7, Brgy. Bulata, Sipalay City, was found dead by his co-workers in the hole that was about 4 to 5 feet deep on Monday morning, the police said.Ronald had been at a drinking session with his co-workers prior to the incident.A week before his death, the victim who was suffering from hypertension and shortness of breath was rescued by the personnel from the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office, a co-worker said.The family of Ronald believes that there was no foul play involved in his death, the police said.*

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Provincial Agricultural and Fishery Council (PAFC) are pushing for compliance with the price tag requirement for consumer products in public markets in Negros Occidental.PAFC Resolution 03-2025 seeks to institutionalize the mandatory price tagging of agricultural and fishery commodities in all public markets within Negros Occidental.To promote the initiative, both institutions organized last Friday an online awareness session attended by 75 representatives from various concerned sectors.The session discussed provisions of relevant laws such as the Consumer Act of the Philippines, the Price Tag Law, and pertinent DTI department administrative orders, all of which require the proper display of prices on retail goods to uphold con...

The roofrop of the Cadiz City food court wil soon be converted into a farming haven. *Cadiz City PIO photoCadiz City's rooftop farming advocacy got a P15 million boost from the Tingog Party-list group."It's flattering that Tingog noticed our quest for rooftop farming", Mayor Salvador Escalante Jr. said in a press release on Tuesday, April 29.Escalante thanked Tingog Partylist for the funds to expand the rooftop farming initiative of Cadiz.Cadiz started to model rooftop farming during the Panaad sa Negros Festival in 2024.Then, it made a repeat in this year's Panaad sa Negros, getting more praises from citizens and netizens, not just across the country, but in other parts of the world, the press release said.The farming initiative aims to showcase green spaces by c...

Police intensify checkpoints in Kabankalan City following encounter that left seven rebels dead.*Romeo Subaldo photo The encounter in Kabankalan City, Negros Occidental, on Sunday that left seven alleged New People’s Army (NPA) rebels dead will not affect the May 12 polls in Negros, a Commission on Elections official assured on Monday, April 28.The Army informed him that the death of the seven rebels in Barangay Tapi has in fact reduced any NPA threat in the area, Lionel Marco Castillano, Comelec-Negros Island Region director, said.“The Philippine National Police and the Philippine Army have assured that, as of now, there is no evidence suggesting the NPA intends to disrupt the elections,” he said.There are also no voting centers in the area where the encounter occurre...

Photo of Dee Supelanas posted on Tug-ani's Facebook page.*One of the slain rebels in Kabankalan City on Sunday was a University of the Philippines Cebu alumna and transwoman activist, the official online student publication of the university reported on Monday, April 28.Dee Supelanas, a Bachelor of Arts in Communication alumna of UP Cebu, was a transwoman activist and student leader who fought for free education, basic social services, good governance, democratic rights, and the fight against fascism and tyranny, Tug-ani, the official student publication of the University of the Philippines Cebu, said in a Facebook post.The Army reported that one of the seven killed in the encounter was Jhon Isidor Supelanas, alias Dalia, a political instructor of the New People’s Army...

Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson and WeGen Energy Philippines Inc. Vice President for Sales and Operations Orlando Alparce (2nd and 3rd from left) sign the agreement as Provincial Administrator Rayfrado Diaz (left) looks on.*Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson signed an agreement for a 1,270kW rooftop solar project that will enable the provincial government to save an estimated P9,637,749.00 in power cost annually and P404,537,528 in 25 yearsLacson signed the power purchase agreement with WeGen Energy Philippines Inc. represented by its Vice President for Sales and Operations Orlando Alparce at the Governor’s Office at the Capitol in Bacolod City on Monday, April 28.Under the agreement WeGen Energy Philippines Inc. will install solar Photovoltaic (PV) System panels with ...

Automated Counting Machines (ACMs) are delivered to the Comelec office in Dumaguete City,*PNA/Mary Judaline F. Partlow photoLocal Absentee Voting and the distribution of the Automated Counting Machines (ACMs) in the Negros Island Region has started, Lionel Marco Castillano, Commission on Elections -Negros Island Region director, said Monday, April 28.The NIR has 2,480 registered absentee voters who started voting Monday, he said.The absentee voters include the Army, police and other law enforcers and members of the media who will have to work during Election Day on May 12. They are only allowed to vote for candidates for senator and partylist groups, he said.The LAV will be held until Wednesday and the ballots will be transmitted to the Comelec Committee on Local Absentee V...