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The State of the Youth Address gathering.*Ried Nepomuceno photoStudent leaders, campus journalists, and sectoral youth from Negros Occidental on Saturday, July 22, called President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s first year in office a “failure”.The assessment was made during the State of the Youth Address, which carried the theme "Hatol ng Kabataan ng Negros Occidental sa Unang Taon ni Marcos Jr: Palya o Pasa" at Beanucot Café at Sea Breeze Hotel.The event organized by Rise for Education - Negros sought to shed light on the current situation of the youth in the province and to critique the existing programs and policies that are detrimental to the youth, a press release said Sunday.They addressed crucial issues such as academic and press freedom, tuition fee hikes, budget cuts in S...

The Bacolod police vehicles all set for "Oplan Libreng Sakay."*Bacolod PIO photoThe Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO) is on high alert for protests and a transportation strike during the second State of the Nation Address (SONA) of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Monday, July 23.The Bacolod Alliance of Commuters, Operators and Drivers (BACOD) are set to stage a one day transportation strike but the majority of the transport groups and modern jeepneys in Bacolod will continue to operate.Rudy Agsam Catedral, BACOD president, said the rally centers of their transport strike will be at the old Bacolod airport in the south and at the flyover area in Barangay Bata in the north.They are protesting the phase out of traditional jeepneys by December and calling for the replacement ...

The Central Negros Electric Cooperative Union of Rational Employees (CURE) has terminated the services of lawyer Rey Gorgonio and condemns the Notice of Strike filed by some employees, Marbie Cabardo, CURE vice president and acting president said.Cabardo in a letter to CENECO acting general manager Arnel Lapore dated Thursday, July 20, said the union officers decided to terminate the services of Gorgonio effective immediately.“All his actions are no longer related to the union. The new legal counsel of CURE is now Atty. Joseph Brian Perez,” she said.She also said they condemn the action of Felix Gepilga, Mary Grace Bermudez and Pearl Joy Ortiz together with Gorgonio for filing the notice of strike for the disruption of industrial peace.Gorgonio, in response, said Felix Gepi...

Ruben Diamante (center, seated) and the PACE directors.*The Progressive Alliance of Capitol Employees executive board removed Renelo Lastierre as PACE chairman citing “loss of confidence” on Friday, July 21.Nine 9 of the 11 PACE board members at a special meeting on Friday, July 21, named Ruben Diamante, who had served as chairman of the union for three terms in the past, as Lastierre’s replacement.At the meeting they declared all PACE executive board positions vacant from the chairman to the sergeant at arms and elected a new set of officers, Diamante said.Elected were Diamante as chairman, Al Ceralbo – vice chairman, Merly Frio – secretary, Arnel Reyes – treasurer, Allen Decena – auditor, Victor Gutang – public information officer, and Venchito Magalona and Joseph Ryan Cu...

The New People’s Army (NPA) claimed the killing of a farmer in Brgy. Guba, Vallehermoso town, Negros Oriental, on Wednesday, July 19.The NPA’s Leonardo Panaligan Command, in a press statement, said Ricky Catubig, 40, of Brgy. Guba was executed based on a decision of their Revolutionary Court.The decision was reached because of Catubig’s involvement in extorting money from a farmer, killing a carabao, theft, and mauling his father-in-law that caused a head injury, the NPA claimed.The NPA also alleged Catubig owned an illegal firearm that came from an Army detachment near the area, which he used to threaten the residents in Brgy. Guba.*

City Agriculturist Goldwyn Nifras*Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez has filed a formal charge for grave misconduct against the city agriculturist and preventively suspended him for 60 days effective Friday, July 21.City Agriculturist Goldwyn Nifras was charged for the unauthorized rental of a city government tractor that was donated by the Department of Agriculture’s Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization, without the issuance of receipts.Nifras denied that he rented out the tractor. Payments made by the farmers were for the operator of of the tractor,, not for rent, and it did not go to him, Nifras said.The city agriculturist said he will file an answer and denial to the allegations against him.The tractor was reportedly used by members of...

An alliance of workers’ groups in Negros Occidental is urging President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to focus on addressing the opposition to sugar import liberalization, the call for wage increases, and the International Criminal Court investigation into extra judicial killings in the country in his second State of the Nation Address on Monday, July 24.General Alliance of Workers Association secretary general Wennie Sancho said that these three concerns should be given preference by Marcos in his SONA for him to be remembered as a “dispenser of justice and defender of the poor and the oppressed.”A substantial wage increase for all workers in the private sector in Western Visayas should be at least P500 a day to prevent the continuing erosion of their purchasing power and for them to cope ...

The Diocesan Electoral Board (DEB) of the Diocese of Dumaguete, headed by Msgr. Julius Perpetuo Heruela (left), with DEB executive director Fred Magallano, and Emilie Capito.*Mary Judaline Partlow photoThe Diocesan Electoral Board (DEB) of the Diocese of Dumaguete calls for stricter measures to weed out nuisance candidates as the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) draw near.Msgr. Julius Perpetuo S. Heruela, DEB convenor, and Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) board member, on Friday, July 21, said a strategic planning and seminar-workshop on Saturday and Sunday will help the DEB review its policies and directions as a “volunteer election watchdog”.“We want to put in writing what we have been doing, particularly on volunteerism, and define or ...