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The Manapla Port Stevedoring and Arrastre (MPSA) management announced on Sunday that the scheduled ferry trips from the Manapla Port in Negros Occidental to the Ajuy Port in Panay and vice versa will start June 28.The Lite Ferries Shipping Company will deploy bigger and faster vessels for the convenience and safety of passengers and cargo with an On-Time-Travel-Policy, the MPSA said in a press release.The Lite Ferries fleet will operate daily from Manapla Port to Ajuy Port at 7 a.m., 1 p.m., 7 p.m. and 1 a.m., while the Ajuy Port to Manapla Port trip schedule is 4 a.m., 10 a.m., 4 p.m. and 10 p.m., it said.MPSA said it committed to provide this one and a half hour Manapla–Ajuy–Manapla Port travel route.MPSA Port in Punta Salong, Manapla, Negros Occidental, is the final link...

Diesel prices are expected to go down on Tuesday, May 27.Diesel prices are forecasted to go down by P0.20 to P0.40 per liter, Unioil Petroleum Philippines said on Saturday.Gasoline will have no price change, it said.*

The police arrested two most wanted persons in the cities of Talisay and Escalante in Negros Occidental on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 23 and 24.The police arrested alias “Crisanto”, 41, of Purok Malipayon, Brgy. Zone 12, Talisay City, for violation of the Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.He was tagged as the third most wanted person in Talisay and was arrested in Purok 2, Brgy. Culipapa, Hinoba-an town, the police reported.The warrant of arrest was issued by the presiding judge of Branch 80 of Regional Trial Court in Bacolod City on May 21 for service of sentence.The suspect is now detained at the Silay City District Jail- Male Dormitory.The police also arrested alias “Antonio”, 37, of Purok Tuboran, Brgy. Balintawak, Escalante City, who...

The police have identified persons of interests in the shooting of a construction worker in Sitio Calat-an, Brgy. Cartagena, Sipalay City, Negros Occidental, on Friday, May 23.Jether Larawan, 44, a resident of Brgy. Gil Montilla, Sipalay City, was found dead after he was shot on the head at a construction site where he worked.Police investigation revealed that while the victim was working at the construction site, an unidentified assailant approached him from behind and shot him four times on the back of his head causing his death.Lt. Cirpriano Lumanong III, Sipalay deputy police chief, said that they have already identified persons of interest and are still determining the motive of the crime.*

Jacob Facultad and Roxanne Ricaplaza*Cadiz City Mayor Salvador Escalante on Sunday, May 25, congratulated the Philippine Normal University -Visayas (PNU-V) on the performance of its students in the Licensure Examination for Professional Teachers (LEPT) for March 2025."Being one among the top performing schools across the country, and having two topnotchers are splendid proof that, indeed, Cadiz is really a bastion for quality education," Escalante said in a press release.Since its founding in Cadiz on July 15, 1968, PNU-V has produced quality teachers not just for Negros communities, but for the entire country, Escalante said.The Professional Regulations Commission (PRC) on Friday , May 23, announced that PNU-V was among the schools that ranked number one in the LEPT nation...

SRA Administrator Pablo Luis Azcona*The destructive red-striped soft scale insects (RSSI) that hit sugar farms in northern Negros Occidental have also invaded three new areas in the southern part of the province, the Sugar Regulatory Administration chief said Friday, May 23.The RSSI that can reduce sugar content by almost 50 percent were also detected in sugar farms in Ma-ao in Bago City, La Castellana and La Carlota City on Thursday, SRA Administrator Pablo Luis Azcona told DIGICAST NEGROS.The highly damaging insects were earlier detected in sugarcane farms in Murcia, Bacolod City, Silay City, EB Magalona, Victorias City, Cadiz City and Toboso, he said.The pests have now hit six cities and four towns, Azcona said.The SRA has created a task force headed by SRA Board Mem...

Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez, LCP national chairman, with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.*file photoThe League of Cities of the Philippines (LCP) and League of Provinces of the Philippines (LPP) have expressed full support for President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s decision to evaluate the performance of Cabinet secretaries through a call for courtesy resignations. The LCP in a statement signed by Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez, LCP national chairman, and Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte-Alimurung, LCP acting national president, said they recognize that the results of the recent midterm elections reflect the people’s growing demand for faster, more transparent, and more effective public service.The president has retained key members of his economic team, citing the nee...

The series of earthquakes in Sipalay City, Negros Occidental, lately are tectonic in nature caused by movements in the Negros Trench, Teresito Bacolcol, Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology chief, said Friday, May 23.They have nothing to do with the restive Kanlaon Volcano, he said.The Negros Trench is an oceanic trench located northeast of the Sulu Trench and west of the Negros Island Region in the Visayas.The earthquakes in Sipalay are not unusual “because there are active generators, there are active faults, we have trenches in the western side of Negros. When there is a big earthquake in the Negros Trench, it can be felt in Sipalay," Bacolcol said.Successive earthquakes are normal in active trenches, he added.*

The three arrested people and the smuggled cigarettes*The police arrested three people and seized P1.2 million worth of smuggled cigarettes along the highway in Brgy. Panubigan, Canlaon City, Negros Oriental, midnight of Wednesday, May 21.Joebert Saranillo, Abdul Kadil, and Vic Galvez were arrested at a Canlaon City police checkpoint.The suspects onboard a L300 van with no plate number were arrested and smuggled cigarettes worth P1,232,000 were seized, the police said.The suspects are now in police custody along with the confiscated cigarettes and van.They will be charged for violation of Republic Act 10863 or the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act, the police said.*

Ma. Carmela Delada ranked fourth in the secondary level of the LEPT.*Carlos Hilado Memorial State University is once again among the top-performing schools in the country, as the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) released the Licensure Examination for Professional Teachers for March 2025.The CHMSU Talisay Campus ranked 7th among the Top Performing Schools (Secondary Level) after garnering an average of 91.74 percent overall passing rate, a press release from the university said Friday, May 23.A total of 200 examinees out of 218 takers from the campus passed the LEPT.CHMSU Talisay Campus' feat falls under the top performing schools with 100-299 examinees with at least a 90 percent passing rate.Ma. Carmela Delada, a graduate of the Bachelor of Secondary Education m...