Top Stories

Senate President  Juan Miguel Zubiri (3rd from right) with Rep. Mercedes Alvarez (Neg. Occ., 6th District) and Mayor Benjie Miranda  in Kabankalan City, Monday.* Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri was in southern Negros Occidental for the groundbreaking of a water project in Kabankalan City and the blessing of a university dormitory in Binalbagan on Monday, April 15.Zubiri, in a Facebook post, said he joined the groundbreaking of his Water District Rehabilitation and Waterline Improvement project in Kabankalan City, his father’s hometown.“We hope that this will greatly contribute to the continued development of Kabankalan, especially during the El Niño period,” he said. He was joined by Rep. Mercedes Alvarez (Neg. Occ., 6th District) and Kabankalan Mayo...

The blessing of  the Highland Hills Water Source Development.*Bacolod PIO photo   PrimeWater held the groundbreaking and blessing  of two water source projects on Tuesday, April 16,  a day after Bacolod City Mayor Alfredo Abelado Benitez threatened to   terminate their Joint Venture Agreement with the Bacolod City Water District. Held was the groundbreaking of the Forbes Hill Water Source Interconnection and Pipelaying Project at the Circumferential Road in Barangay Bata, and blessing of the Highland Hills Water Source Development in Barangay Granada, the Bacolod Public Information Office reported.The Forbes Hill project will bolster water supply by 2MLD, benefiting residents of barangays Eroreco, Bata, and Mandalagan, while the High...

The drought damage to rice and corn crops in Negros Occidental is now P173,576,405 and has affected 4,431 farmers in 25 local government units.Provincial Agriculturist Dina Genzola  in a report submitted to Gov. Eugenio  Jose Lacson  said the  damage to rice crops was P168,838,595.73 and P4,737,809.89 to corn covering  3,241 hectares in  167 barangays as of April 12. LGUs whose corn crops were damaged are:First District - San Carlos with losses of P2,383,723 and Salvador Benedicto - P701,525; Second District – Sagay City - P1,324,425; Third District – Murcia - P688,638.40, Talisay City - P1,115,504, and EB Magalona - P2,572,460.80; Fourth District – Valladolid - P3,442,846.72, San Enrique - P3,581,679.05, Bago City -...

A case for violation of Republic Act 9484, otherwise known as the Philippine Dental Act, was filed before the Municipal Trial Court of Hinigaran on Tuesday, April 16, against a woman arrested for the alleged illegal practice of dentistry, National Bureau Investigation (NBI) Bacolod chief Renoir Baldovino said.Named in the complaint was Ana Marie Endiera Sanipa, 30, who was arrested in an entrapment operation in Barangay Tagda, Hinigaran, on Monday.An NBI agent acted as a poseur patient that led to the arrest of Sanipa, Baldovino said.Sanipa was operating the Happy Smile Dental Clinic  at her residence without a Professional Regulation Commission license in violation of Republic Act 9484, otherwise known as the Philippine Dental Act, he said. According to the suspe...

Victorias City Mayor Javier Miguel Benitez (left) and Vice Mayor Abelardo Bantug III at the awarding ceremony of the Department of Tourism’s Tourism Champions Challenge at Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City on Monday.*Victorias City Tourism Office photo Victorias City in Negros Occidental has obtained a P13 million cash grant to develop a birdwatching site in the famous Gawahon Ecopark. The northern Negros city, the lone winner from Negros Occidental, received P8 million in the nationwide Tourism Champions Challenge (TCC) of the Department of Tourism (DOT) and an additional P5 million committed by President Ferdinand  Marcos Jr. to the winning local government units (LGUs), during the awarding rites held at the Philippine International Conventio...

Senator Imee Marcos making a promise to the sugar industry in her speech at the Panaad Stadium on Monday.*Richard Malihan photoSenator Imee Marcos made a promise during the Panaad sa Negros Festival opening rites to push for a millgate sugar price of P3,000 per Lkg for crop year 2024 to 2025.Marcos, in her speech at the Panaad Stadium in Bacolod City on Monday, April 15, said since the festival is about making a promise, her promise to Negrenses is to help ensure that raw sugar prices hit P3,000 per Lkg like the industry used to have in 2022.“This is just a promise, a dream… but it is our oath to help in ensuring that sugar should come to a decent price,” she said during a press conference after the opening program.She said that in 2022 it was at P3,200/Lkg but the price ha...

Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez said the culprit of the about five-hour brownout that hit Bacolod City from Thursday evening to early Friday morning, April 11 to 12, was Central Negros Electric Cooperative.“It was failure on the Ceneco side,” Benitez said at a press conference on Monday, April 15.The reason is its wires, which need to be replaced, tripped, he said.This is one  of the reasons why we pushed for a CENECO joint venture with More Power  because it comes with  a P2 billion  Capex (capital expenditure) program  to improve power lines and other needs, he said.“We’re experiencing brownouts because of our system of wires…that needs to be modernized,” he said.The mayor also reiterated his push for underground cabling.However, government bureaucracy is d...

Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez  announces actions to be taken versus PrimeWater at a press conference on Monday.*Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez said he considering terminating  the joint venture agreement of the Bacolod City Water District and PrimeWater for failure to address the worsening water  needs of Bacolod  City. The mayor said he is prepared to undertake whatever it takes including legal action, the deadline for PrimeWater to address the problem is over. “We will elevate this for proper legal action,” he said. The mayor at a press conference on Monday, April 15, pointed out that Section 5.1.2 of the JVA states that, PrimeWater shall ensure that all consumers enjoy uninterrupted 24-hour water supply by the end of the second year on Nove...

Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said on Monday, April 15, that he expects political battles in some local government units in four districts of Negros Occidental in the 2025 polls. Lacson is seeking a third and last term as governor of Negros Occidental under the Love Negros-United Negros Alliance (UNegA) coalition. He is just waiting for UNegA to announce whom it will field for vice governor, he said. Vice Gov. Jeffrey Ferrer of UNegA  has announced that he is not seeking reelection as   he is running  for representative of the 4th District of Negros Occidental. The governor said while they are encouraging coalitions  in the town and city levels, the past elections have  proven that that is more  difficult to do. Lacson said &...