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A barangay tanod  succumbed to about 14 gunshot wounds in Brgy. Camindangan, Sipalay City, Negros Occidental, on Friday,  May 3. Donie Baculi, chief tanod of the barangay, was killed by an unidentified person.The victim’s wife said that when she left her husband at her fish stall, she suddenly heard gunshots coming from the area.When she went back, she saw her husband lying in his own blood on the ground. The police are still conducting an investigation to possibly identify and arrest the suspect. Based on the results of the  post-mortem examination, the victim sustained  14 gunshot wounds on different parts of his body.* 

The police arrested a street-level drug target and seized suspected shabu worth P102,000 in Purok Kalye Onse, Brgy. 2, Silay City, Negros Occidental, on Saturday, May 4. Ramie Artuz, 48, of Brgy. Guimbalaon, Silay, was arrested in a buy-bust operation, the police said. The police seized eight sachets of suspected shabu weighing 15 grams, an improvised tooter, paper bills, and several non-drug items from him.  The seized shabu was brought to the Police Provincial Forensic Unit for examination, while the suspect is now detained at the Silay Police Station.*

Amity Volunteer Fire Brigade helps the city’s water rationing campaign* A total of 33,966 households experiencing water shortage in Bacolod due to the drought caused by El Niño availed of water rationing in April.A summary report released by the city government on Saturday showed water supply was distributed to households in 18 of 61 barangays in Bacolod City.“An average of 1,550 households were served daily with up to 36,642 liters of water,” the report submitted by the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office showed.A total of 663,500 liters were distributed to Barangays 27, 29, 30, 31, 40, Alijis, Bata, Cabug, Estefania, Felisa, Handumanan, Mandalagan, Mansilingan Singcang-Airport, Sum-ag, Tangub, Taculing and Villamonte. The highest volume of wat...

Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez said the choice of the Asenso Bacolod candidates for 2025 will be a collective party decision.The choices made by the whole group will be supported by all, he said.“It’s not just about me, it’s not just about the other candidates, it’s about the group, it’s about the party moving forward,” Benitez said. “It has to be a collective decision moving forward, this is not just one position, these are several positions that are intertwined in ensuring proper governance” for the good of the people of Bacolod, he said. “I we do not unite behind our candidates, how do we expect the people to also follow us,” he said. Benitez, when asked if he will seek reelection, said as of now he still has five options for 2025. “Let’s see,  the filing (of c...

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) in Negros Oriental has warned that violators of the price freeze on basic commodities may face up to P1 million in administrative fines and a maximum of 10 years imprisonment. DTI-Negros Oriental spokesperson Krystle Jade Bato said on Friday, May 3, that they released a prize freeze bulletin on Thursday after having received a copy of Provincial Resolution No. 537 series of 2024 by the Sangguniang Panlalawigan declaring Negros Oriental under a state of calamity. The declaration came amid rising damage and losses to crops and other agricultural products caused by the drought triggered by the El Niño phenomenon. “The 60-day price freeze of basic commodities will remain in effect until June 25, 2024 unless lifted sooner but...

Jeanette Patindol -  lead researcher of the Negros Occidental Power Sector Assessment Study, former governor Rafael Coscolluela -, provincial consultant on energy and environment concerns, Michael Baylosis  of the National Grid Corp of the Philippines and Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson (l-r) at the power summit.* Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson called on stakeholders to support the provincial government’s target for “Reliable, Renewable, Available, Accessible, Affordable, and Sustainable Energy for Occidental Negros, with 2030 (RRAAASEON 2030) as the target deadline”. Lacson issued the call in his keynote address at the Provincial Stakeholders' Consultative Power Summit at Santuario de La Salle in Bacolod City on Friday, May 3. The inputs from the summit will help s...

PrimeWater-Bacolod City Water District (BACIWA) on Friday, May 3   released a water availability map for Bacolod City. The map shows 12 barangays in Bacolod City  that  have areas with only  zero to four hours of water available a day  with   a decrease in  supply from its  water supplier because of the  El Niño phenomenon, PrimeWater said.The areas  with  only 0-4 hours of water available are in barangays  Handumanan, Tangub, Mandalagan, Felisa, Vista Alegre, Villamonte, Taculing, Alijis, Sum-ag, Mansilingan,  40 and Banago . To mitigate the El Nino effects, PrimeWater-BACIWA have deployed 24 water tanks with 2000 liters capacity in the 12 barangays.  PrimeWater also has five wat...

The meeting on the La Niña phenomenon at the Bacolod City Government Center on  Friday.*The Bacolod City government  is de-clogging  drainage systems and rehabilitating flood mitigation structures in preparation for the  La Niña phenomenon that might develop in the second half of the year. Representatives from the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Service Administration (PAGASA) held a meeting with  city government officials, department  heads, and representatives of  government agencies at the Bacolod City Government Center on Friday, May 3, to discuss  measures to mitigate the effects of La Niña.During the meeting, PAGASA reported that La Niña will develop by June to August. The climate pattern for this year suggests a poten...

The Performance Based Bonus of the Bacolod City government employees  cannot  be given because the   Department of the  Interior and Local Government (DILG) final guidelines still have not been   released . DILG Bacolod Director Christian Nagaynay said that his office has not  received the final guidelines on the release of PBBs for local government units. Bacolod City already submitted its letter of intent within the deadline, he said. On March 18 Bacolod City was identified as one of the LGUs qualified to distribute PBBs as it was awarded the Seal of Good Local Governance (SGLG) in 2023.*