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Rep. Emilio “Dino” Yulo III (Neg. Occ., 5th District)* The Negros Island Region will be very advantageous to the 5th District of Negros Occidental because  five of its six local government units will have roads that  interconnect with Negros Oriental, Rep. Emilio “Dino” Yulo III (Neg. Occ., 5th District) said Saturday, May 18. Yulo, one of the co-authors of the NIR Bill in the Lower House, said he hopes President Ferdinand Marcos signs the NIR bill into law before the State of Nation Address. The NIR will be composed of Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental and Siquijor. He said the  5th District  portals to Negros Oriental are the   traditional La Castellana-Canlaon City road, Isabela-Luz Sikatuna road leading to Guihulngan City and the one from ...

The AKAP distribution  at the  gym in Hinigaran,  Negros Occidental, on  Saturday.*DSWD photo The Department of Social Welfare  and Development Field Office VI rolled out  the AKAP or Ayuda para sa Kapos ang Kita Program in Western Visayas on Saturday, May 18, that involved the distribution of  P60.9 million to  near poor families. The most number of targeted recipients were in Negros Occidental with 7,440, families, Iloilo - 5,222 families, Capitz - 3,414, Antique -  2,504 and  Aklan - 1,731. In the 5th District of Negros 2,150 fisherfolk were AKAP beneficiaries on Saturday, Rep. Emilio Yulo (Neg. Occ., 5th District) said. They are among the most disadvantaged sectors, Yulo said. The DSWD  relea...

Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson*  Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson on Saturday, May 18, said it will be up to the Silay City government officials  if they wish to join the Negros Occidental provincial government in providing  potable  water to their constituents.“At the end of the day, Silay City government  will decide if they  are with the provincial government in providing  potable water  for their constituents  or they will do this on their own,” he said. It is only the Silay City Sangguniang Panlungsod that has not issued a Resolution of No Objection (RONO) to the P1.2 million bulk water project of the Negros Occidental provincial government, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said on Friday.      He ...

A dried up ricefield in Sitio Cabagtasan, Barangay Codcod, San Carlos City in Negros Occidental on Sunday, May 19.*Ronnie Baldonado photo The drought damage  to crops and animals in  Negros Occidental  is now  P535.6 million. The Office of the Provincial Agriculturist  (OPA) in a report submitted to Gov, Eugenio Jose Lacson on  Friday, May 17, said  damage to rice, corn, high value commercial  crops (HVCC) and fisheries   had reached P318,958,988 on May 15. Damage to rice was P298,474,128.14 affecting  8,431 farmers tilling  6,015 hectares of land  in 28 local government units, the OPA reported. Corn damage was P8,346,482.26 affecting 280 farmers tilling 189.29 hectares of land in  12 LGUs, it added. HVCC damage was...

There will be slight mixed movements in fuel prices on Tuesday, May 21. The price of diesel could have no change to a rollback by 0.10 per liter, Unioil forecasted. Gasoline prices should go down by P0.10 to P0.20 per liter, it added.* 

Drought hit sugarcane in La Castellana, Negros Occidental.*SRA photo The Sugar Council said while importing sugar can stabilize the retail market in the face of insufficient local production, it has to be a solution of last resort, done in consultation with stakeholders, especially sugar farmers. Its schedule and volume should  also be  calibrated to avoid the milling season, the Sugar Council said in a statement released Sunday, April 19, in  response to a recent SRA statement  suggesting importation as a solution to the shortage.If sugar importation is the last resort to fill the production shortage that may be caused by El Niño, there is a need for a logical, transparent, and consultative importation program, the Sugar Council said . The Sugar Council, an ...

The apprehension of illegal e-Bikes in Bacolod City will resume on  Friday, May 24, Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez said. In a post on his official Facebook page, the mayor said he convened the Bacolod barangay captains to reiterate  Department of Interior and Local Government Memorandum Circular 202-036. The memorandum prohibits tricycles, pedicabs, and motorized pedicabs from operating on national highways and mandates the barangays to submit   lists  of accredited e-Bike operators in their areas.The mayor also said that the barangays that have already submitted their lists were 8,12,13,14,16,17, 22, 34, 35, 36, 38, 40, Banago, Bata, Cabug, Estefania, Felisa, Handumanan, Granada , Pahanocoy, Vista Alegre, and Villamonte.He said th...

DOE’s Renewable Energy Management Bureau Director Marissa Cerezo* Department of Energy officials  will join  the opening of the Negros Occidental Provincial Renewable Energy Week  at the Ayala Malls Capitol Central in Bacolod City on Monday,  May 20.DOE’s Renewable Energy Management Bureau Director Marissa Cerezo and Visayas Field Office Director Renante Sevilla will be at the opening program of the weeklong RE Week from   May 20 to 24, provincial energy consultant Rafael Coscolluela said.  Executive Order No. 04-09 issued by Gov. Eugenio Jose  Lacson  declares every third week of May as RE Week to signify a vital moment in the aspiration to attain power security and development sustainability. The event will kick-off  with the &...

The drug bust is Purok Malinong, Barangay Taculing.*BCPO photoThe Bacolod City Police arrested two persons and seized suspected shabu worth P81,600 in two separate buy-bust operations on Sunday, May 19.  John Rey Goying, 35, was arrested in an operation in Purok Tapulanga, Brgy. Taculing at 12:11 a.m., the police said. The police seized seven sachets of suspected shabu weighing about five grams with an estimated street drug price of P34,000.Rannier Sian, 38, a street level target, was also arrested in a buy-bust operation in Purok Malinong, Barangay Taculing at 12:45 p.m., the police said.The police recovered suspected shabu weighing 7 grams valued at P47,600 from him. Both suspects are now detained at Police Station 4.*

An unidentified man was found dead in a sugarcane field in Hacienda Carmenchica, Brgy. DSB, Ponteverdra, Negros Occidental,  on Saturday, May 18. A concerned citizen smelled a pungent odor while applying fertilizer and found the body,  the police said. She then found the  decomposing body without any clothes on. The  body was brought to ABE Funeral Homes for further investigation and to determine the identity of the victim.*