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Barangay Granada - the 2024 Bacolod MassKara Festival street dancing and arena competition champion.*Andrew Altarejos photoAn ordinance setting the third Sunday of October as the permanent schedule of the MassKara Festival highlights in Bacolod City was approved by the Sangguniang Panlungsod on third and final reading on Wednesday, April 2, its author Councilor Em Ang said.The change in schedule to the third weekend of October aims to ensure more stable weather conditions for the safety and comfort of festival goers and visitors, as well as the successful performance of the MassKara Festival highlights and activities, the ordinance states.It amends City Ordinance No. 09-17-820 dated May May 24, 2017 that set the fourth Sunday of October as the permanent schedule of the MassKara Fe...

A voluminous ash column as tall as 1,500 meters from Kanlaon’s crater at 3:24 p.m. Monday*Increased volcanic earthquakes at Kanlaon Volcano may have triggered its numerous lengthy ash emissions on Monday and Tuesday, March 31 and April 1.The earthquakes on Monday could have caused rocks to break within the volcano allowing magmatic gas to exit resulting in the ash emissions, Mari-Andylene Quintia, resident volcanologist of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) based in La Carlota City, said on Tuesday.A voluminous ash column as tall as 1,500 meters from Kanlaon’s crater at 3:24 p.m. Monday caused ashfall in six barangays in La Castellana, Bago City and La Carlota City, she said.The ash emission started at 3:24 p.m. until 6:45 p.m. on Monday caus...

Edsil Jess and Alexis Gale Adalid on their wedding day.* photo courtesy of Hermosila Adalid“Jesus, I know you will bring them back to us alive”.That was the cry of Hermosila “Mimi” Adalid, a university teacher in Bais City, Negros Oriental, whose son Edsil Jess Adalid, 34, and his wife Alexis Gale, 25, remain missing after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake hit Myanmar on March 28.Edsil teaches music and Alexis Gale is an information and communications technology teacher at Mandalay International School of Acumen in Mandalay, the second-largest city in Myanmar after Yangon.His mother, who teaches at the Negros Oriental State University Bais Campus, told DIGICAST NEGROS on Tuesday, April 1, that she is banking on the 91-member Philippine contingent that left for Myanmar to find her...

The displaced families moving into the Payag sang Kapag-on Village on Monday.*Bago Citybridge photoTwenty-two internally displaced (IDP) families were transferred to the Payag sang Kapag-on Village at Barangay Napoles, Bago City, Monday morning, March 31.The 22 families composed of 80 individuals are evacuees from Purok Manokan at Barangay Ilijan in Bago City situated within the six-kilometer Kanlaon Volcano danger zone.They were previously housed at the Regional Evacuation Center in Barangay Lag-asan in Bago following Kanlaon Volcano’s eruption in December.The Bago City government established the about P4 million Payag sang Kapag-on Village on its seven-hectare property that will serve as temporary resettlement site for IDPs affected by Mount Kanlaon, Dr. Merijene Ortizo, ...

The accident at Manville Royale Subdivision in Brgy. Pahanocoy.*A 53-year-old woman died while her two companions were injured when a pickup truck hit them while they were jogging at Manville Royale Subdivision in Brgy. Pahanocoy, Bacolod City, Tuesday morning, April 1.The 53-year-old woman and her companions aged 53 and 52 who were injured had stopped to take a group picture when they were hit, Lt. Col. Ramel Sarona, Police Traffic Enforcement Unit head, said.The pick-up truck suddenly turned left towards a coffee shop in the area and hit the victims, he said.The driver claimed that he did not see the victims because of the glare of the sunlight.The driver is now detained at the Bacolod Police Station 8 and they are waiting for the victims’ families to decide whether t...

The Supreme Court has cleared a lawyer previously sanctioned in a dispute over the ownership of Vallacar Transit Inc., one of the country's largest bus companies.In a resolution dated Jan. 27, 2025, the Supreme Court's First Division dismissed the case against lawyer Jun Maxell C. Orlina, reversing an earlier ruling that found him liable for professional misconduct, a press release from Dindo Danao, media consultant of Vallacar Transit Inc., said on Tuesday, April 1.The court previously found Orlina in violation of ethical standards related to alleged unlawful, dishonest or deceitful conduct, and for failing to uphold the law. However, upon re-examination of the evidence, the court determined the allegations against Orlina lacked substantial proof."There is no substantial evide...

The Bacolod City Health Office (CHO) issued an advisory on Tuesday, April 1, on increasing cases of typhoid as reported by its epidemiology and surveillance unit.Data showed that from Jan. 1 to March 22, some 27 cases of this infectious disease also known as enteric fever, were reported, higher by 145.5 percent compared to only 11 cases during the same period last year.“Go to the nearest barangay health station or center, or consult with your personal physician if experiencing signs and symptoms of typhoid fever,” Dr. Grace Tan, head of the CHO Environment Sanitation Division, said.Symptoms include sustained high fever, headache, malaise or weakness, loss of appetite, diarrhea or constipation, and abdominal discomfort.Antibiotic treatment is given by a physician upon consul...

A Bagonhon was shot dead allegedly by two brothers while he was walking to his house in Purok Yellowbell, Brgy. Binubuhan, Bago City, Negros Occidental, on Sunday evening, March 30.Alias “Rene”, 37, of Purok Yellowbell was allegedly shot by alias “Ikit” and “Dennis” at a sugarcane farm, the police said.The victim was found dead with gunshot wounds on his left arm that penetrated to the left side of his body.Rene had attended a birthday party and was headed home when suddenly a concerned citizen heard a gunshot.The victim managed to shout that he was hit and another two gunshots were heard.A police pursuit operation led to the arrest of the suspects at about 11:45 a.m. Monday.A misunderstanding was the probable motive for the crime, the police said, without elaborati...

The police seized P1.22 million worth of illegal drugs in Bacolod City last week, March 24 to 30.Nine persons were arrested and 194.7 grams of suspected shabu with estimated street price of P1,221,960 were seized, the Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO) reported on Tuesday, April 1.The Bacolod cops also arrested three most wanted and five other wanted persons last week, the BCPO added.*