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Dr. John Michael Cabuguason  and Dr. Carlo Ortega (l-r) at the mayor’s press conference on Monday* Patients seeking treatment for animal bites in Bacolod City have increased by about 50 percent, a City Health Office representative said on Monday, May 20. Dr. Carlo Ortega of the City Health Office, at a press conference of Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez, attributed the increase in animal bites to the increase in pet owners during the COVID-19 pandemic. Majority of the reported animal  bite cases involved pet owners unlike in the past when they were mostly caused by stray dogs, Ortega said.  In 2022 there were 9,000 dog bite patients, 14,000 in 2023 and further increased this year, he said.  Bacolod City has enough anti-rabies vaccine...

Thirty-four Army personnel were promoted during the ceremonial pinning of unit seals and rank insignias at the 79th Infantry Battalion headquarters in Brgy. Bato, Sagay City, Negros Occidental, recently. The 34 personnel were promoted in recognition of their hard work and commitment to duty and accomplishments, the 79IB said in a statement. The ceremony was led by Lt Col. Arnel Calaoagan, 79IB Commander, and attended by the dependents of the promoted personnel. They also welcomed 2Lt. Feliza Francisco as a newly-assigned officer, the 79IB said. Calaoagan urged the newly-promoted officers to inspire those who are around them and continue to thrive on their work. “Promotion is not just a reward for your commitment and dedication in serving our cou...

Asenso Bacolod remains the most solid local political alliance and is going strong, Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez said on Monday, May 20. “My pulong-pulongs (dialogs) with our leaders are already showing the solidarity and unity of the group,” he said at a press conference.Their candidates for 2025 will be chosen from within the new bigger Asenso that was launched in December. They will sit down and discuss their lineup that will be known by October, he said.             Meanwhile, Benitez said EB Magalona Mayor Marvin Malacon is preparing the list of Partido Demokratiko Pilipino members in Negros Occidental, who along with him are set to resign from the party. Benitez said he does not have a fin...

Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez is asking the Department of Energy to impose a price cap to halt the exorbitant rise in electricity rates.There are provisions in the Electric Power Industry Reform Act that allows the Energy Regulatory Commission to impose a price cap on electricity rates under certain circumstances such as the drought that has had devastating effects on the economy, Benitez said on Monday, May 20.“It is a matter of making the ERC aware that we are experiencing a calamity because of the drought”, he said, adding that he expects an answer to his request within the week.“I have asked the Department of Energy to give me the guidelines on how we can trigger a price cap,” Benitez said.The Central Negros Electric Cooperative on May 16, announced a P3.2066 i...

The police arrested a man for  allegedly indiscriminately discharging a firearm and carrying suspected shabu worth P68,000 in Sitio Alo, Brgy. Enclaro, Binalbagan, Negros Occidental, on Sunday May 19. The police, however, withheld the name of the 44-year-old man. The responding police  disarmed the suspect who was unable to present  pertinent documents for his firearm. Recovered from him was a .45 caliber  pistol loaded with one bullet and one magazine with two live ammunition, the police reported. Through body search, the police also seized from him two sachets of suspected shabu weighing 10 grams valued at P68,000.* 

Two persons  drowned in Murcia and Ilog towns in Negros Occidental on  Sunday, May 19. A 19-year-old female  of Brgy. Mansilingan, Bacolod City, drowned in the Caliban River in Brgy. Caliban, Murcia, at about 1:10 p.m. Sunday The victim together with her family and friends went swimming in the river. However, the victim went to a deep portion of the river and  drowned, a police report said. She  was rushed to Murcia Rural Health Center but was declared dead on arrival. Meanwhile, a 9-year-old boy of Purok 8, Brgy. Talacdan, Cauayan,  drowned  in a river at Brgy. Galicia, Ilog, at about 1:30 p.m. Sunday. The victim went swimming with his relatives, got separated from the group and drowned, a police report said ....

The Negros Association of Chief Executives (Negros ACE) is urgently requesting the Department of Agriculture to conduct cloud seeding in Negros Occidental in order to promptly and adequately address the massive and extensive drought caused by the El Niño phenomenon.The Negros ACE, in a resolution, said “this abnormal phenomenon has severely depleted our water resource, has devastated in huge measure our agricultural communities due to substantial damage and losses in their crops, has brought unmitigated distresses to our farmers and their families and has disastrously affected the economy of the province resulting in the alarming increase of number of cities and municipalities in Negros Occidental which have been placed in a state of calamity”. The urgency of the situation dem...

Victorias Mayor Javier Miguel “Javi”  Benitez, Negros ACE president* The Negros Association of Chief Executives has passed a resolution inviting the officials of Negros Oriental and Siquijor to join the Negros ACE and embrace the vision of a one Negros Island Region (NIR).Victorias Mayor Javier Miguel “Javi” Benitez, Negros ACE president, said on Monday, May 20, that he is going to Negros Oriental this weekend to meet with officials there for initial talks.Benitez said he may be accompanied by Manapla Mayor Manuel Escalante.The Negros ACE is dedicated to promoting solidarity, collaboration, and the exchange of knowledge and resources among local chief executives within the NIR, its resolution dated May 10 said.The creation of the NIR composed of Negros Occidental, Negro...

Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez.*The Negros Association of Chief Executives has passed a resolution calling on the League of Cities of the Philippines officers and board of directors to temporarily authorize LCP chairman, Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo “Albee” Benitez, to convene the league in the absence of LCP president, Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama.Rama is currently undergoing a six-month suspension, necessitating the designation of an authorized representative to convene and preside over association matters during his absence, the resolution dated May 10 said. The Office of the Ombudsman on May 8 suspended Rama and seven other Cebu City officials over the alleged non-payment of salaries of several city hall employees. The leadership of Negros ACE recogn...

San Carlos Bishop Gerardo Alminaza, provincial energy consultant Rafael Coscolluela, Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson, Renante Sevilla and Marissa Cerezo of the Department of Energy (l-r) at the cutting of the ribbon to open the Renewable Energy Week.*Richard Malihan photoGovernor Eugenio Jose Lacson on Monday, May 20, urged all Negros Occidental local government units to go solar.The governor, who issued the call during the opening of the provincial  Renewable Energy (RE) Week and Exposition at the Ayala Events Center in Bacolod City, urged the LGUs to install solar panels on the rooftops of their government buildings. Lacson earlier said seven provincial government buildings, including the Capitol, are also going solar. He said aside from reducing the cost of power...