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This Holy Week let us respect the no campaigning rule, COMELEC Regional Director Lionel Marco Castillano said.*Ronnie Baldonado file photoThe Commission on Elections is reminding candidates and their supporters that campaigning on Holy Thursday and Good Friday, April 17 and 18 is prohibited.“This Holy Week let us give our time to the Lord,” COMELEC Regional Director Lionel Marco Castillano of the Negros Island Region said on Monday, April 14.He said campaigning on Holy Thursday and Good Friday is also a violation of the Fair Elections Act and is considered an election offense.It can be the basis of a disqualification case, Castillano said.Campaigning is also not allowed on the day before the election and Election Day on May 11 and 12, he added.*

The ACM machines arrived at the BREDCO port in Bacolod City on Monday.*Revo Sorbito photoThe automated counting machines (ACMs) for the May 12 polls in Negros Occidental and Bacolod City arrived Monday, April 14, Provincial Elections Supervisor Ian Lee Ananoria said.He said 2,016 ACMs arrived at the BREDCO port in Bacolod under heavy guard on Monday and more will arrive on Tuesday.The ACMs will be stored at a secure warehouse. Political parties may place watchers if they wish to in coordination with the Comelec, Regional Director Lionel Marco Castillano of the Comelec Negros Island Region said.Negros Occidental will have 2,484 ACMs, Negros Oriental – 1,289 and Siquijor – 149.ACMs have also arrived for Negros Oriental, Castillano said.*

Malacañang has allowed government offices to implement a work from home setup from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. and suspend work from noon onwards on Holy Wednesday, April 16.This is to provide government employees an opportunity to travel and prepare for the Holy Week break.This was granted to provide government employees full opportunity to properly observe Maundy Thursday and Good Friday and to allow them to travel to and from the different regions in the country, Memorandum Circular 81 signed by Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin on Monday said.However, agencies involved in the delivery of basic and health services, preparedness/response to disasters and calamities, and vital services will continue their operations under usual working arrangements, the MC added.The adoption of wor...

A 42-year-old woman from barangay Mansilingan is the second dengue fatality in Bacolod City this year, the City Heath Office (CHO) reported on Monday, April 14.The woman who had fever with abdominal and epigastric pain for a week was admitted at a hospital on March 24 and died on the same day.The dengue cases in Bacolod City from January 1 to April 5 were 301, or a 155.1 percent increase from the 118 cases in the same period last year, the CHO reported.Barangay Mansilingan had the highest number of dengue cases at 26, followed by Estefania and Tangub with 24 cases each, Taculing – 23, Alijis and Villamonte with 21 each, Mandalagan – 17, Handumanan – 16, Singcang – 15, and Vista Alegre -14, the CHO said.*

Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez presides over a meeting on the Matab-ang River water supply project*Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez has formed a task force to fast-track efforts for the energization of the Matab-ang River water supply project in neighboring Talisay City to address water shortage in some areas of Bacolod City.“The urgency and collaboration among stakeholders are important. The task force will expedite the processing of requirements for the energization of the Matab-ang River,” the mayor said in a statement on Monday, April 14.The Matab-ang River Surface Water Supply and Filtration Project involves the construction of an intake structure that will serve as the collection point for the water supply to be injected into the pipelines of Bacolod City Water District (Ba...

La Castellana Mayor Rhummyla Nicor Mangilimutan* La Castellana Mayor Rhummyla Nicor Mangilimutan said on Monday, April 14, that she has pending requests for assistance from the national government totaling P714 million for various needs of her constituents displaced by Mt. Kanlaon's unrest.She has requested for P47 million to replace the town’s funds that were used for feeding the evacuees, electricity, education and burial assistance, and fuel for water rationing, Mangilimutan said.Mangilimutan said she has also submitted a P167 million proposal to the Office of the President for residents within Kanlaon’s 4-kilometer permanent danger zone who need to be permanently relocated and for an evacuation center.She also has a more than P500 million request for an evacua...

A motorcycle driver, who was a father of four, died in a hit-and-run incident along the Bacolod City Negros Occidental Economic Highway (BACONEH) in Brgy. Granada, Bacolod City, on Sunday April 13.Abcil Castillo, 41, of Hacienda Carmen, Brgy. Granada, died after he was hit by a Toyota Vios.Ltl Col. Ramel Sarona, Traffic Enforcement Unit head, said that the victim was driving his motorcycle from Bangga Bagul going to Brgy. Granada in Bacolod, while the other vehicle was headed towards Talisay City.The Toyota Vios driver fled after bumping the motorcycle.There were witnesses who managed to take a photo of the plate number of the vehicle and the TEU has already coordinated with the Land Transportation Office to help identify and arrest the suspect.*

The police arrested two persons and seized suspected shabu worth P435,000 in a buy-bust operation in Sitio Balibag, Brgy. Lopez Jaena, Sagay City, Negros Occidental, on Sunday, April 13.Arrested were alias “Junjun”, 42, of Carmela Valley, Talisay City, and his live-in partner alias “Tata”, 48, the police said.Recovered from them were 64 grams of suspected shabu, the police said.The suspects are detained while the recovered shabu was brought to the Negros Occidental Provincial Forensic Unit for laboratory examination.*

The Bacolod City coliseum being constructed between Barangays Alijis and Tangub*The construction of a major coliseum in Bacolod City, with an estimated capacity of up to 11,450 persons, is expected to be completed this year, the City Tourism Office said in an update on Monday, April 14.The facility, located between barangays Alijis and Tangub, is at least 70 percent complete, a City Tourism Office statement said.“The Bacolod Coliseum has an estimated capacity of up to 11,450 persons for conventions, 7,800 for basketball games, and over 10,000 for large-scale events such as concerts and boxing matches,” it added.Earlier this year, an additional funding of P50 million had been allocated by the city government for some installations not funded in the original budget of about P...

A senior citizen was found dead in a sugarcane field in Sitio Sambag, Brgy. Biak na Bato, La Castellana, Negros Occidental, on Sunday, April 13, three days after he went missing.Alias “Julio”, 70, was found dead by a concerned citizen, the police said.The victim’s son said his father left their house at about 2 a.m. of April 10 to forage for food for his livestock but did not return home.The family believes that there was no foul play as the victim had been hospitalized for a mild stroke last year.The post-mortem examination showed that the victim died from a stroke.*