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Daily pig deaths from various diseases in Negros Occidental remained at a single digit for a third day on Thursday, August 3.There were two deaths reported in Kabankalan City and three in Cauayan on Thursday, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said.The Provincial Animal Biosecurity Incident Management Team (PABIMT) is continuing to implement measures to keep the pig deaths down, he said.There are now 1,593 pig houses in affected local government units that have been decontaminated and readied for re-population as soon as practicable, Diaz said.This is subject to laboratory RT-PCR testing to finally determine if there are still Hog Cholera or African swine fever viruses in affected areas, he said.Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said as long as they can so...

Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson on Thursday, August 3, congratulated the Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office (NOCPPO) headed by PCol. Leo Pamittan for being named the Best Police Provincial Office in the entire country.NOCPPO had a score of 92.33 percent and is expected to receive the award at the 122nd Police Service Anniversary at Camp Crame on August 8.The Bacolod City Police Office was also named the Best City Police Office in the entire country.Lacson said he congratulated Pamittan for the NOCPPO achievement, noting that it was also a top performer last year.“I told him I hope every year you can maintain that performance,” he said.The NOCPPO’s making it to No.1 shows that it is performing well as far as the standards of the PNP are concerned, Lacson said.*

The Himamaylan City government in Negros Occidental gave P80,000 in cash assistance to eight former rebels on Wednesday, August 3, the Army’s 303rd Infantry Brigade reported.The Himamaylan City Social Welfare Development Office together with the police and military officials turnover P10,000 to each of the former rebels in a ceremony at the Himamaylan City Government Center.Civil-Military Operations Officer of the 303rd Brigade, Capt. Mervin Rosal, said that the eight former rebels had surrendered to the 94th Infantry Battalion and the Himamaylan police.The former rebels also received food packs and personal hygiene kits from the local government and City Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (ELCAC).Brig. Gen. Orlando Edralin, 303rd Infantry Brigade commander, s...

The drug bust in San Carlos City.*PNP photoBrothers and a Ceres bus driver were among seven individuals who were arrested in separate buy-bust operations in two towns and a city in Negros Occidental on Wednesday and Thursday, August 2 and 3.About P245,580 worth of suspected shabu was seized from them, the police reportedFive individuals were arrested and 0.8 gram of suspected shabu worth P5,440 and drug paraphernalia were seized in Sitio Bagroy, Brgy. Delicioso, Ilog town, 12:03 a.m. Thursday, the police said.Mark Talanguines, 29, Joven Tapang, 27, Jake Albito, 33, Jason Tapang, 32, and Leo Labrador, 24, all from Cauayan town, were arrested.Ilog Police Executive MSgt. Jomel Villavicencio told DIGICAST NEGROS that Jason and Joven are brothers, while Labrador was a Ceres ...

The Bacolod City government is planning to make mandatory drug testing a requirement for the hiring of job order (JO) workers, City Administrator Pacifico Maghari III said Thursday, August 3.JO appointments are approved on a monthly or quarterly basis depending on their need, he said.This developed after 49 JO workers and four regular employees of the city government assigned to the Bacolod Traffic Authority Office (BTAO) and the Public Order and Safety Office (POSO) tested positive for the use of illegal drugs.The JO workers were terminated from their jobs while the regular employees were placed under 60-day preventive suspensions pending investigation, Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez said on Wednesday.Retired police general Primitivo Tabujara, who is the POSO head,...

A Bacolod Sangguniang Panlungsod committee is set to hold a hearing on a proposed memorandum of agreement for the designation of the Bacolod Yuhum Foundation as the over-all organizer of the 2023 MassKara Festival, Councilor Al Victor Espino said Thursday, August 3.The SP Committee on Laws, Ordinances and Good Government chaired by Espino will conduct the hearing on Monday.Espino said he will ask the foundation to submit a report on last year’s MassKara Festival, which the SP has not received, and to also give a perspective on what to expect in this year’s festival.The foundation will also be required to submit a report after the staging of the 2023 MassKara Foundation, he added.The SP should also be informed on who constitute the Bacolod Yuhum Foundation because they don...

Barangay Captain Joseph Delos Santos of Barangay 16 in Bacolod City has been suspended for another six months for gross neglect of duty effective immediately, Bacolod Councilor Al Victor Espino said on Thursday, August 3.The Committee on Laws, Ordinances, and Good Government of the Bacolod Sangguniang Panlungsod chaired by Espino in its order on Wednesday, August 2, suspended Delos Santos for five unjustified consecutive absences from barangay sessions in violation of the provisions of the Local Government Code of 1991.The administrative complaint was filed against him by Barangay 16 kagawads Stella De La Peña, Franz Familiaran, Jude Bryan Alson, Cristina Ligaya, Jie Rodolfo Madrigal, Ermelo Alintano, and Winsie Jesson Billones“To be held liable for gross negligence, a public o...

The Department of Education (DepEd) announced on Thursday, August 3, that opening of classes for the school year (SY) 2023-2024 in all public schools will be on August 29.Private schools may opt to open their classes from the first Monday of June, but not later than the last day of August this year under Republic Act 11480, the DepEd said.DepEd Assistant Secretary for Field Operations Francis Cesar Bringas said they still have to gather data on the exact number of enrollees in the coming school year, but noted that students in certain grade levels were already pre-registered."In the public schools, meron tayong (we have) early registration for kinder, grade 1, grade 7, and grade 11. All other grades (are) automatically enrolled for next school year. Two weeks before opening, th...

The Negros Occidental Provincial Health Office is waiting for more bivalent vaccines from the Department of Health (DOH) so it can begin providing added protection against COVID-19 to senior citizens who belong to the A2 category, Dr. Girlie Pinongan, Provincial Health Office OIC, said on Thursday, August 3.The PHO initially allocated the bivalent vaccines that arrived to workers at provincial government hospitals, she said.Personnel of the Teresita L. Jalandoni Provincial Hospital have had their bivalent jabs and the other provincial government-run hospitals have been advised to pick up their supply by Friday, she said.The rest of the vaccines will then be turned over for the use of health workers in the provincial, city and town health offices, she said.The national gover...

A flooded area in Bago City, Negros Occidental, following heavy rains due to the combined effects of southwest monsoon and Typhoon Egay last week.*Farmers in Western Visayas (Region 6) have reported P70.444 million in production losses due to heavy rains and floods brought about by the combined effects of southwest monsoon and Typhoon Egay in the past week.Data from the Department of Agriculture (DA) released by the Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (RDRRMC-6) on Thursday, August 3, showed the amount translates to 2,732.8 metric tons in terms of volume lost for rice and other crops.There were no damaged infrastructure, machinery and equipment, based on the report.Of the total production losses, the highest was reported in Negros Occidental amounting t...