Top Stories

Typhoon "Pepito" will have no direct impact on Western Visayas, including Negros Occidental, due to a change in track direction, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said on Friday, Nov. 15.He said this was stated in a Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (RDRRMC) report that described the risk levels in WV and Negros as low.But the Western Visayas RDRRMC also said that uncertainty must be considered and preparations for a worst case scenario, especially in the northern part of Panay, must be undertaken.It said there was a low chance of a Tropical Cyclone Wind Signal being raised in Western Visayas and Negros.As of now, no areas are susceptible to flooding and landslides, it added.However, the RDRRMC 6 remains on blue alert status in prepara...

A member of the Bantay Lasang (forest guard) died after she was shot multiple times by five unidentified men in Sitio Taytay, Brgy. Carabalan, Himamaylan City, Negros Occidental on Thursday, Nov. 14.Armie Tuparan, 47, was shot in the face and back outside her house Thursday night, the police said.The police said her assailants entered Tuparan’s house and dragged her outside.She was forced to kneel and was shot in the face. When she was lying on the ground, the suspects also shot her in the back, the police added.Lt. Col. Anthony Grande, Himamaylan City Police Chief, said the motive for the crime is possibly related to the victim’s work.The victim was brought to a hospital where she was declared dead.*

Christian Estama*A 24-year-old student leader from La Carlota City, who survived a life-threating heart ailment as a child, has succumbed to dengue, his father said on Friday, Nov.15.Christian Estama, a student at I-tech College in Bago City, fell ill on Nov. 5 and suffered from on and off fever, his father Angelito Estama, chairman of the Provincial Agrarian Reform Coordinating Committee, said.When Christian was brought to a hospital in La Carlota City on Nov. 9 he was diagnosed with dengue with a platelet count of 34 so he was transferred to a Bacolod hospital, Angelito saidChristian underwent platelet concentrate transfusion at the Bacolod hospital on Nov. 11 to prevent bleeding from his low platelet count but he died hours after.Christian had congenital heart di...

Ashfall and sulfur odor from Kanlaon Volcano were reported in four local government units in Negros Occidental on Friday, Nov. 15, the Office of Civil Defense reported.The LGUs affected were Bago City, San Carlos City, La Carlota City and La Castellana, Regional Director Donato Sermeno III of the OCD Negros Island Region said.In La Carlota City ashfall and sulfur odor was reported in Barangay Yubo and ashfall in Brgy. Ara-al (Guintubdan) at 9:50 a.m., he said.In San Carlos City ashfall and sulfur odor were reported in sitios Apog-apog and Nagalaw in Brgy. Codcod, and sulfur odor in sitios Tinurongan and Toboy, he said.Ashfall was also experienced in Purok Manokan, Barangay Ilijan in Bago City, and in Sag-ang, La Castellana, he added.Residents were advised to wear f...

Kabankalan is the lone city that failed to obtain a 2024 SGLG Award.*Ronnie Baldonado photoKabankalan City’s failure to obtain a 2024 Seal of Good Local Governance (SGLG) award does not mean the city government has not performed well, Mayor Benjie Miranda said on Friday, Nov. 15.Twelve of the 13 cities in Negros Occidental are 2024 SGLG awardees. Kabankalan is the lone city that failed to obtain a 2024 SGLG Award.Miranda said they did not get the award only because they failed to submit an attendance report for a youth program.Kabankalan was among the top 10 most improved component cities in the Philippines, ranked No. 8 as the most competitive component city in the Visayas, No. 1 Most Improved City in Western Visayas and No.2 in innovation, Miranda said.*

The P223 million rehabilitation and improvement of the old Bacolod City Hall at Araneta-Luzuriaga streets will continue pending a court decision on a case filed by the Luzuriaga family, City Legal Officer Romeo Carlos Ting Jr. said Friday, Nov. 15.A case seeking the annulment of the title of the about 2,300 square meter property where the city hall is located was filed by a member of the Luzuriaga family before the Bacolod Regional Trial Court in 2009, Ting said.But only a temporary restraining order can stop the project, Ting said.He said based on a Transfer Certificate of Title issued in 1934, there is no annotation regarding a deed of donation by the Luzuriaga Family and on prohibitions on the use of the property.The rehabilitation project does not include the site ...

A driver died after his motorcycle accidentally hit a van at CL Ledesma Street, Brgy. 1, San Carlos City, Negros Occidental, on Thursday, Nov. 14.The casualty was identified as Molito Apurado, 57.The victim was going to Calatrava town when he attempted to overtake a van driven by Francis John Ramos, 44, the police said.However, he was thrown off his motorcycle when it hit the van. He was then hit by a sports utility vehicle driven by Inocentes Broce, 72, the police added.The victim sustained serious injuries and was brought to a hospital where he was declared dead, the police said.The police said the victim’s family will not file a case against the drivers of the other vehicles and agreed to a settlement.*

Department of Agrarian Reform Negros Occidental 2 Officer-in-Charge Arnulfo Figueroa and Negros Island Director Lucrecia Taberna, Pontevedra Mayor Jose Maria Alonso and La Carlota City Mayor Rex Jalando-on (from left) inaugurate two farm-to-market road projects in the province on Thursday*Two farm-to-market road (FMR) projects funded by the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) are providing better accessibility and mobility for agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) and other farmers in La Carlota City and Pontevedra town in Negros Occidental.In La Carlota City, the P50-million, 2.4-kilometer (km) project involved concreting along Sitio Danao and Sitio Alacapa in Barangay Haguimit, linking them to neighboring Barangay Burgos in Pontevedra.In Pontevedra, the P49-million, 2.7-km pr...

The police arrested the fourth most wanted person in Western Visayas in Brgy. San Isidro, E.B. Magalona, Negros Occidental, Thursday, Nov. 14.Alias “Bert”, a laborer and resident of Brgy. Canlusong, EB Magalona, was arrested by operatives of the 605th Maneuver Company, Regional Mobile Force Battalion-6.The suspect was wanted for crimes of frustrated murder and two counts of attempted murder.He was arrested on the strength of warrants of arrest for frustrated murder with bail recommended at P200,000 and P480,000 for attempted murder, the police said.*

The Comelec and PNP Provincial Task Group meeting in Bacolod City on Wednesday.*The Commission on Elections (Comelec) in the Negros Island Region (NIR) is preparing contingency plans for the May 2025 polls should a massive eruption occur at Kanlaon Volcano.There are no security problems from private armed groups and communist rebels that have been identified, the only concern in the region so far is the state of Kanlaon, Comelec NIR Regional Director Lionel Marco Castillano said on Thursday, Nov. 14.The Comelec led by Castillano and the Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office headed by PCol. Rainerio de Chavez held their first Provincial Task Group meeting on Wednesday to discuss election concerns.They discussed contingency plans should the unrest at Kanlaon that...