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The Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council meeting  on Tuesday*The Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council has raised its alert status to blue effective Tuesday, April 23, as the drought and heat brought on by the El Niño phenomenon continues to grip Western Visayas, RDRRMC VI chairman Raul Fernandez said.EB Magalona and Pulupandan towns in Negros Occidental cancelled face-to-face classes on Wednesday, April 24, with the heat index in the province forecasted to be at 42 degrees Celsius, which is classified as dangerous.The total drought damage to Western Visayas has hit P770 million as of April 16,  Fernandez, who is also the Office of Civil Defense (OCD)  6 regional director, said. Blue alert means heightened coordinatio...

An 80-year-old man was found dead with multiple hack wounds in Purok 1, Sitio Malusay, Brgy. Caradio-an, Himamaylan City, Negros Occidental, 8:45 a.m. on Monday, April 22. The 80-year-old man, whose name was withheld by the police, was found dead beside a fishpond.The victim sustained multiple hack wounds on his neck and other parts of his body, the police said. He was brought by the Himamaylan Rescue Unit to the Gov. Valeriano Gatuslao Memorial District Hospital where he was declared dead.* 

The Negros Occidental provincial government will not declare a state of calamity to purchase an airplane for cloud seeding, Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said on Monday, April 22. Manuel Lamata, United Sugar Producers Federation (UNIFED) president, on Friday appealed to the Negros Occidental government officials led by Lacson to declare a state of calamity so the province can buy an airplane for cloud seeding to induce rain amid the worsening drought brought on by the El Niño phenomenon. Lacson said the problem is not the lack of an airplane, it is the experts who are saying we cannot conduct cloud seeding for lack of seedable clouds. “We can always rent a plane to do that (cloud seeding) like we have done before,” he said. Lacson said buying an airplane is n...

Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez at the launching of the “Bayad Agad” program on Monday.*Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez on Monday, April 22, launched the city government’s “Bayad Agad” program to ensure the immediate release of assistance to Bacolod residents at rites at the Bacolod City Government Center on Monday, April 22. The Bayad Agad Program covers the Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situations (AICS).  The goal is to ensure the immediate  release of    medical, burial and  disaster financial assistance to Bacolod residents within the day of the request as long as the documents are  complete, Benitez said.. The first recipients were the fire victims Barangay 18, Bacolod.* 

The  Panaad sa Negos Festival participants.*Ronnie Baldonado photoNegros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson on Monday, April 22, attributed the drop in the Panaad sa Negros Festival sales by 18.6 percent this year to the decline in the purchasing power of the middle class. The total sales during the festival from April 15 to 21 was P19,250,439 compared to P23,663,642 last year, or a drop  by P4,413,203.Lacson said he was informed by Frank Carbon, Metro Bacolod Chamber of Commerce and Industry vice president, that the purchasing power of Negrenses, especially among the middle class, has gone down. People were at the festival but they were not buying as much compared to last year, he said. There were also a lot of young people and you can no expect th...

The slain resort employee in Purok Dug-anon, Brgy. Oringao, Kabankalan City.*NOCPPO photoA resort employee was shot to death in Purok Dug-anon, Brgy. Oringao, Kabankalan City, Negros Occidental, on Sunday, April 21. Myrna Belando, 43, caretaker of Mag-aso Resort, was shot multiple times by an unidentified man at about 5:30 a.m., Sunday, the police reported. The victim was driving her motorcycle to her workplace when an unidentified suspect shot her multiple times on the head and body, the police said. Recovered from the crime scene were four fired cartridges and one   9mm cartridge.  Prior to the incident the victim had received death threats and the motive for the killing could be a personal grudge, the police said.*

Three more persons were arrested by the police for alleged vandalism in Purok Kabulakan 2, Brgy. Singcang-Airport, Bacolod City, at 12:35 a.m.  Monday, April 22. Arrested were Glemar Gabuya, 35, Roger Delfin, 38, and Roy Cabison, 40, the police  said. They were arrested by the Task Force Vandalism of Bacolod City Police Station 8 while they were patrolling in the area. Recovered from the suspects were three canisters of spray paint. The suspects were cited for n violation of City Ordinance 534 or the Anti-Vandalism Ordinance of Bacolod City and Malicious Mischief. Last week, Jean Clifford Rabinowitz, an American citizen, was also arrested by the police for vandalism along Burgos Street in Bacolod.* 

The deactivation ceremony at the Panaad Stadium on Monday*The Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office (NOCPPO) reported zero major crime incidents during the Panaad sa Negros Festival  at the Panaad Park and Stadium in Brgy. Mansilingan, Bacolod City, that ended  Sunday, April 21. This was announced during the final critique and deactivation ceremony at the Panaad Stadium on Monday, April 22, a NOCPPO  report said. The critique was conducted  by the Provincial Disaster Management Program Division, NOCPPO Red Team, and the Provincial Tourism Office. The deactivation ceremony  of the Panaad sa Negros security forces on Monday was attended by NOCPPO Director Col. Rainerio De Chavez, Provincial Fire Marshall FSSupt. Arnold Alba, Philippine ...

Former Victorias City mayor Francis Fredrick “Wantan” Palanca, left, take his oath as PDP member.*PDP Facebook page photoPartido Demokratiko Pilipino chaired by former president Rodrigo Duterte is conducting consultations for the possible fielding of PDP candidates in Negros Occidental, including a gubernatorial bet, in the 2025 polls.“We are still on the consultation stage,” lawyer Jesus Villanueva Hinlo, PDP deputy secretary general for Visayas and Negros Occidental Council president, said on Monday, April 22.He said they are studying whether to align with Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson or field their own gubernatorial bet if there is a clamor for change.They have received reports of some who are dissatisfied with Lacson, he said.If the people want an alte...

Performers at the closing program of the Panaad sa Negros Festival on Sunday.*Ronnie Baldonado photoSales hit P16,359,940 at the 28th Panaad sa Negros Festival at the Panaad Park and Stadium in Bacolod City  from Monday to Friday, April 15 to 20, the Capitol reported on Sunday.The figure is expected to increase with the sales report from Sunday that was not available yet.The 32 Negros Occidental local government units’ pavilions had the highest sales at P9,538.580.30. the report said.Sales at the San Miguel/Garden Show was P3,665,385, Food Alley - P1,436,553, Provincial Veterinary Office  - P722,230, Office of the Provincial Agriculturist - P372,116, and Trade Fair MUAD – 223,572.The total sales during last year’s Panaad sa Negros Festival was P23,663,642.Sunda...