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Vice Mayor Leo Rafael Cueva, Rep. Alfredo Marañon III, Sinigayan Foundation president Primitivo Rivera Jr. and Mayor Narciso Javelosa Jr. (l-r) hand over a plaque and souvenirs to Sen. Francis Tolentino (2nd from right) after his speech at the Sinigayan Festival opening.*Senator Francis Tolentino commended Sagay City for its continuous environmental protection efforts, which he said other local government units should emulate after the city was recently awarded as one of the Top 100 Destinations in the world.Tolentino, who was the guest speaker at the Sinigayan Festival opening at the Sagay City Public Plaza Wednesday, March 15, said that the city is blessed because it has surmounted every challenge and has advocated so much for the protection of the environment.“The internatio...

Two high value drug individuals were arrested and more than P2 million in suspected shabu was seized in Prk San Roque 1, Brgy. Handumanan, Bacolod City, 2:51 a.m., Saturday, March 18.Nabbed were Maria Elirica Celis, alias Caca, 39, and Carlo Purillo, alias Balut, 36, of Prk San Roque 1, the police reported.Seized from them were 300 grams of suspected shabu valued P2,040,000, the police said.*

San Carlos City was hit by a cholera outbreak.The outbreak was confirmed by the Epidemiology Bureau of the Department of Health central office following the upsurge in diarrhea cases in San Carlos City last month, Joe Recalex Alingasa, the city’s spokesman, said Thursday, March 16.He said of the 22 specimens sent to the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine, seven were confirmed to be cholera cases. Automatically all the other cases in the city were considered to be cholera cases, Alingasa said.The health emergency declared in San Carlos has already been lifted, he said.The number of cases in San Carlos have dropped, but last week a 64-year-old patient died from a water-borne disease, he added.They discovered some of the water sources in San Carlos were near drainage...

Photos of Arnil Labradilla released by the JTF Negros.*The slain suspect in the March 4 killing of Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo and eight others was a former member of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA), the Special Joint Task Force Negros said Wednesday, March 15.The slain suspect was identified as Arnil Labradilla of Sitio Awang, Barangay Atotes in Bindoy town, Negros Oriental.Labradilla was identified based on revelations by other suspects apprehended during the pursuit operations by military and police personnel hours after the attack, Maj. Cenon Pancito III, task force spokesperson, told the Philippine News Agency.He was killed after he allegedly resisted arrest and engaged in a shootout with pursuing troops hours after at least ...

Two persons, including a former seaman, were arrested and P115,600 in suspected shabu was seized in a buy bust operation in Purok 9, Brgy. Poblacion 1, Sagay City, Negros Occidental, 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 15.Nabbed were Peter Murakami Ysulan III, alias Toto, 49, a former seaman and Top 7 on the Sagay drug watchlist, and Rey Poblacion, 40, the police said.They were arrested when the police implemented a search warrant in relation to Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.Among the items seized were suspected shabu estimated to cost P115,600, a .45 caliber pistol, magazines and ammunition, the police said.*

Governor Roel Degamo as he was laid to rest at his family mausoleum* PIA NegOr photoThousands of Negros Oriental residents , many of whom were seen weeping, cried for justice for slain Governor Roel Degamo as he was laid to rest at his family mausoleum in Barangay Bonawon, Siaton, Thursday afternoon, March 16.The massacre of the governor and eight others in Pamplona, on March 4 has awakened the people to call for an end to the cycle of violence and killing with impunity in Negros Oriental, Dumaguete Bishop Julito Cortes said in his homily at the Requiem Mass at the St. Vincent Parish Church in Barangay Bonawon.“We pray that the cycle of violence and unsolved killings in Negros Oriental end with him (Degamo),” Cortes said.“We are deeply saddened by the passing of Gov. Roel D...

Burial will be at the governor’s residence in Barangay Bonawon, Siaton.*President Ferdinand Marcos has declared Thursday, March 16, a special non-working day in Negros Oriental for the funeral of slain Gov. Roel Degamo.The Negros Oriental Office of the Governor had requested for the declaration “to allow the community to grieve and honor the memory “of Degamo and the other victims of the Pamplona massacre.Degamo and eight others were killed by heavily armed men at his residence in Pamplona, Negros Oriental, on March 4.Proclamation 185 signed for the president by Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin stated that “it is but fitting and proper to give the people of the Province of Negros Oriental the opportunity to show their respect and join the interment of Goveror Degamo”....

Rep. Arnolfo “Arnie” Teves Jr. *House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez on Thursday, March 16, strongly urged Rep. Arnolfo “Arnie” Teves Jr. (Neg. Or., 3rd District) to reconsider his decision not to return to the country, saying “It does not sit well for a House Member to flee the country rather than avail himself of all the legal remedies available to him”.Romualdez issued the statement following a private meeting with Teves’ legal counsel, lawyer Ferdinand Topacio, Wednesday evening.Teves earlier sent a letter to Romualdez seeking a two-month leave of absence from the House of Representatives due to a “very grave security threat to his life and his family”.The congressman has been linked to the murder of Gov. Roel Degamo that also left eight others dead in Pamplona, Neg...

Provincial Election Supervisor Ian Lee Ananoria*The Commission on Elections will discuss the insurgency problem in some barangays in southern Negros Occidental with the Philippine National Police to determine whether there is a need to declare areas of concern, Provincial Election Supervisor Ian Lee Ananoria said Wednesday, March 15.The Comelec will set a criteria for determining areas of concern, he said.Numerous encounters between government and rebels forces have occurred in barangays in Himamaylan City that have caused residents to evacuate in recent months.Ananoria said political rivalry is more intense during barangay elections because residents are related to each other, and the voting area is smaller so every vote counts.The Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan ele...

Bacolodnon Carl Angelo M. Hofileña claimed the 9th spot in the recently concluded Physicians Licensure Examination (PLE) with a passing rate of 86.83 percent, the Professional Regulation Commission announced Thursday evening, March 16.An Augustinian Medical Technology alumnus, Hofileña completed his medical school studies at the West Visayas State University- La Paz.He was a Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital Batch 2022 post graduate intern.The PRC said 1,573 out of 2,887 passed the Physicians Licensure Examination given by the Board of Medicine in the NCR, Baguio, Cagayan de Oro, Cebu, Davao, Iloilo, Legazpi, Lucena, Pampanga, Rosales, Tacloban, Tuguegarao and Zamboanga March 2023.*