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The police seized  P45.6 million worth of suspected shabu and marijuana in Western Visayas in  March. Seized were  6,709 grams of shabu and 42 grams of marijuana,  the Police  Regional Office (PRO) 6 reported on Wednesday, April 10. This also resulted in the arrest of 242 alleged illegal drug peddlers in 194 police initiated operations, PRO6  reported. Negros Occidental had the highest number of arrests with  94 individuals followed  by Iloilo Province with 42, Iloilo City - 39, Bacolod City - 31, Regional Drug Enforcement Unit  6 (RPDEU 6) - 14, Capiz - 8, Aklan - 6, and Guimaras and Antique - 4 each. RPDEU6 had the highest drug haul at about  3,374 grams of shabu followed by the Iloilo City Police Offic...

The skeletal remains of a senior citizen were found in a sugarcane field in Sitio Kabiguhan, Brgy. Prosperidad, San Carlos City, Negros Occidental, on Tuesday,  April 9. The victim  was a 74-year-old man of Sitio Ulay, Brgy Prosperidad, whose name was withheld by the police. His skeletal  remains were  found by sugarcane workers and  reported to his  son, the police said. The family positively identified the victim based on the T-shirt and shorts  that he was wearing in a photo taken  shortly  before he went missing on February  24. The victim’s family said he  had been suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.* 

The drugs seized at Purok Nagahili-ugyon, Brgy. Tangub, Bacolod City.*BCPO photo The Bacolod City police seized P1.36 million worth of suspected shabu and arrested four persons in  buy-bust operations on  Tuesday and Wednesday, April 9 and 10.Jose Rizal Villalobos, 37,  was arrested in a buy bust operation in Purok Roadside 2, Barangay Alijis, Bacolod City,  at 8:45 p.m. Wednesday, the police reported.Seized from him  were 53 grams of suspected shabu valued at P360,400, the police said.Leodegario Magayon Asuncion Jr., 26, of Barangay Handumanan  was arrested in a buy bust operation  in Purok Gold Medal, Barangay Pahanocoy, Bacolod City,  at 5:32 p.m.  Wednesday, the police also reported.Confiscated from him were 101 grams of suspe...

Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson  on Monday, April 8, signed Executive Order No. 04-09, Series of 2024, declaring every third week of May as Provincial Renewable Energy Week in Negros Occidental. The executive order recognizes the urgent need to address the energy crisis, promote sustainability, and ensure power security.  It also  highlights the importance of renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, hydroelectric, geothermal, and biomass in achieving these goals. The Provincial Renewable Energy Week will feature diverse activities, including an RE technology exhibit, educational seminars, awareness campaigns, capacity-building activities, and multi-stakeholder forums on energy issues and policies, Rafael Coscolluela, Provincial Consultant on Energy an...

Water being delivered in Barangay 27 on Tuesday*    The Manila Water Company Inc. and Manila Water Foundation will provide three water tankers to assist the Bacolod City government in delivering  water to drought affected barangays. The city government  in response to the low water supply exacerbated by the El Niño phenomenon has partnered with the Manila Water Company Inc. and Manila Water Foundation, as well as the Amity and Chamber Volunteer Fire Brigades, Red Cross, and the Office of Councilor Cindy Rojas for the "Patubig sa Barangay" project initiated by Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez, a press release from the city government said. There were 843 households in six puroks in Barangay 27 that were provided water under the Patubig sa Barangay  &n...

Work on the detailed engineering design for the Panay-Guimaras and Guimaras-Negros bridges is now  ongoing,  Sanny Boy Oropel, Department of Public Works and Highways 6 acting regional director, said on Monday, April 8. The detailed engineering design for the 13-kilometer nmeter Panay-Guimaras bridge  will be completed by December 2024, and   the 19.47 –kilometer  Guimaras-Negros bridge by December 2025, he said. The civil works for the Panay-Guimaras bridge  is targeted to start in the second  semester of  2025 and will be completed before the term of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ends in 2028 It is targeted to  be operational by the end of June 2028    Oropel said he cannot give a definite timetable for the star...

The Bacolod City officials led by Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez and the war veterans celebrate Araw ng Kagitingan at the Bacolod Public Plaza.* You don’t have to fight a war to be a hero. That was the message of Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo “Albee” Benitez to Bacolodnons at rites at the Bacolod Public Plaza on Tuesday, April 9, to mark Araw ng Kagitingan (Day of Valor), which commemorates the fall of Bataan to Japanese troops during World War II and the start of the Bataan Death March. Benitez said  heroes of the past had clear enemies to fight in the battle for the nation’s independence. Today’s modern day heroes are the  policemen who risk their lives to keep the community safe, the   employees who  gathe...

A Binalbagan man was arrested with shabu hidden in a chocolate box on Monday, April 8. Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency-6 agents and the police arrested a 44-year-old man identified only as alias "Garry" in a buy-bust operation in Sitio Nabuswang, Brgy. Canmoros, Binalbagan, Negros Occidental. The law enforcers seized four grams of shabu valued at P27,200  inside a Hershey’s chocolate box, and the buy-bust money. The suspect is now detained at the Binalbagan Police Station. The seized illegal drugs were turned over to the Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office- Provincial Forensics Unit for laboratory examination.* 

There are now 15 cities and towns in Western Visayas that have been declared Pink Zones for African Swine Fever (ASF), a WV Department of Agriculture update on Tuesday, April 9, showed. The DA said Pink Zones serve as buffers where ASF is not present but are adjacent to an affected zone. Among the areas declared as Pink Zones are San Jose in Antique, Pulupandan in Negros Occidental, Buenavista and Jordan in Guimaras, and Iloilo City, Banate, Batad, Barotac Viejo, Concepcion, Dingle, Mina, New Lucena, Oton, San Miguel, and Sta. Barbara in Iloilo province. The DA-WV urges the public to continue to  ensure that  biosecurity measures are in place to prevent ASF.* 

Battling the blaze in Isabela* The Bureau of Fire Protection is continuing to keep a close watch on the   area where a fire hit 25 hectares of grassland in two barangays of Isabela town in Negros Occidental on Sunday and Monday, April 7 and 8. BFP-Isabela Acting Fire Marshall SFO3 Annie Rose Limsiaco told DIGICAST NEGROS that they are  monitoring the area located in barangays  9 and Mansablay at the foot of the town’s Glory Hill where a 45-foot steel cross is located. Limsiaco said that they created a fireline to ensure that the fire will not reach the town’s tourist attraction. About five fire trucks from Isabela and nearby municipalities of Binalbagan and Hinigaran, and La Carlota City responded to the incident. It affected...