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Comelec Chairperson George Garcia in Bacolod City last week.*CPG photoWith less than a week before the May 12 midterm elections, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Tuesday, May 6, urged voters to start listing down the names of the candidates they will be supporting on election day."Let's make our 'kodigo' now. It's difficult to think of the 12 candidates for senator, one party-list group, as well as local candidates while you're already voting," Comelec Chairperson George Garcia said.Aside from making their "kodigo (list)”, Garcia also advised the voters to know their particular voting center and polling precinct ahead of election day.“One must know where is their designated school and polling centers are located,” he said.Garcia also urged voters to behave while...

Fr. Chris Gonzales officiates the prayer and blessing of the 310 personnel of the Bacolod City Police Office during the send-off ceremony Tuesday.* photo courtesy of Gracelyn ParconThe Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO) has deployed 310 of its personnel to Negros Oriental to beef up security operations for the May 12 national and local elections on the other side of the island.The send-off ceremony, with the prayer and blessing officiated by Fr. Chris Gonzales, was held at the Bacolod City police headquarters Tuesday morning.“The augmentation force for the Negros Oriental Police Provincial Office will come from BCPO to address their needs there this coming election,” Brig. Gen. Arnold Thomas Ibay, officer-in-charge of Police Regional Office-Negros Island Region (PRO-NIR), said. ...

The inflation rate in Western Visayas has slowed slows down by 1.9 percent in April, about 0.8 percent lower compared to the 2.7 percent in March, the Philippine Statistics Authority reported on Friday, May 6.PSA records showed that the region’s inflation is 0.4 higher compared to the national average, which was at 1.4 percent, and the highest in the Visayas with Central Visayas at 1.7 percent and Eastern Visayas at 0.6 percent.The country’s current inflation rate is the lowest since November 2019 which was at 1.2 percent, the PSA said.The national average inflation rate from January to April 2025 was 2.0 percent.*

Senate Deputy Minority Leader Risa Hontiveros*Senate Deputy Minority Leader  Risa Hontiveros called for a Senate investigation into joint venture agreements between water districts and private companies, some of which were found by the Commission on Audit (COA) to be "disadvantageous", on Monday, May 5.Hontiveros said she called for the probe as citizen complaints, including in Bacolod City, continue to pile up against private concessionaire PrimeWater Infrastructure Corp. at the height of the dry season.The Villar-owned PrimeWater has an existing joint venture with the Bacolod City Water District.Hontiveros cited complaints of “poor service quality, inadequate water supply, and significant increases in water tariffs — as reported in areas served by PrimeWater in various p...

Consumers group Water Watch Advocates (WWA) is calling on President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to revoke the joint venture agreement of the Bacolod City Water District and PrimeWater Infrastructure Corp.In a petition addressed to the president on Monday, May 5, WWA represented by its convenor Wennie Sancho, called for the revocation of the JVA because it “has resulted in substandard water quality, particularly turbid water, affecting the health and well-being of consumers.”“The JVA has resulted in substandard water quality, particularly turbid water, affecting the health and well-being of consumers”, the petition said.WWA cited the lack of ratification of the JVA. It said the joint venture contract was not submitted to the consumers for ratification, violating their right to parti...

Michelle Bolongaita and Albea Bless at the Bacolod Lying-In and Birthing Home Center.* Albee Benitez Facebook photoA baby girl was born in a tricycle that was hurriedly parked in the parking space of Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez at the Bacolod City Government Center (BCGC) when her mother went into labor Monday morning.Michelle Bolongaita of Barangay Hadumanan was onboard a tricycle on the way to the Lying-In and Birthing Home Center at the Bacolod City Health Office (CHO) when she went into a labor.The tricycle driver, knowing that the baby was about to come out, went to the BCGC and looked for an empty parking area and asked for help.Milo Montelibano, the watcher assigned at the BCGC side entrance was surprised to see a tricycle parked in the assigned parking slot of th...

Provincial Elections Supervisor Ian Lee Ananoria (left) inspects the election paraphernalia for the May 12 polls.*The ballots for the May 12 elections will be delivered  to the towns and cities of Negros Occidental on Tuesday,  May 6, Provincial Elections Supervisor Ian Lee Ananoria said on Monday. The ballots were segregated and  preloaded  on trucks for delivery to the treasurers of the towns and cities for safekeeping, he said. The ballots for far flung areas will be delivered to precincts on May 11 and the rest on Election Day on May 12,  Ananoria added. The Automated Counting Machines have already been delivered to the towns and cities and will undergo final testing and sealing on Wednesday,  May 7, he reiterated. The  sendo...

Transportation Secretary Vince Dizon (2nd from left)  during his visit to Bacolod City on April 25.*PNA photo Bacolod City officials welcomed on Monday, May 5,  the directive of Transportation Secretary Vince Dizon to require regular and mandatory drug tests for public utility vehicle (PUV) drivers and other related actions that are part of the stricter nationwide road safety plan. “(We are supporting it) if that’s the directive from the Department of Transportation (DOTr). For the drug test to be effective, it should be unannounced,” Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez said. Councilor Al Victor Espino, chairperson of the committee on transportation and traffic management, said “it’s about time” to implement a regular and mandatory drug test for PUV drivers. ...

Mayor Javier Miguel Benitez, 11th from left, with the Victorias City officials after delivering his state of the city address Monday night.*Ronnie Baldonado photo  Victorias City Mayor Javier Miguel "Javi" Benitez outlined the gains of his administration and thanked his constituents for their support in his state of the city address delivered at the Victorias Public Plaza Monday night, May 5.“We have strengthened governance, prepared citizens for emergencies, provided them with shelter and a peaceful community, supported their education, as well as their health, and boosted the local economy,” he said of his term as mayor of Victorias.Benitez, who is running for representative of the Third District of Negros Occidental, assured his constituents hat he is not abandoning them....

A man was arrested three days after he stabbed his wife to death in an alleged fit of jealousy in Brgy. Inapoy Lumbia, Mabinay, Negros Oriental, on Friday, May 2.Eduardo Maguad Jr., 30, was arrested Monday, May 5, after he stabbed his wife, Alice Balauro Maguad, 32.Investigation revealed that the victim was watching television in her mother’s house when she was picked up by her husband to go home.Minutes after, their neighbors shouted for help after the suspect stabbed Alice.The victim was brought to a hospital in Dumaguete while the suspect fled but was later arrested by the police.Jealousy allegedly triggered the heated argument, the police said.*