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Cabinet Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr. will join the distribution rites.*Office of the Cabinet Secretary photoA total of P120,200,000  under  the Presidential Assistance to Barangays will be  distributed to 601 Negros Occidental barangays  at the Panaad Stadium in Bacolod City Friday afternoon, July 31.Cabinet Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr. will join Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson and Negros Occidental officials  during  the distribution.Each barangay will receive P200,000, Provincial Administrator  Rayfrando Diaz said.Of the amount P100,000 will be allocated for barangay scholars and  P100, 000 for priority projects, he said.The Presidential Assistance to Barangays Under is part of  Socio-Civic Projects Fund of the president.*

 Following President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s call to lower electricity rates nationwide, Rep.  Javier Miguel “Javi” Benitez  (Neg. Occ., 3rd District) has filed House Resolution No. 1240, seeking a  congressional inquiry into system loss charges and the value-added tax (VAT) imposed on them.The resolution directs the House Committee on Energy to investigate the automatic pass-through charges levied on consumers and mandates distribution utilities to disclose data showing where these power losses occur, Benitez said on Thursday, July 30."Every month, Filipino households are billed for power lost to inefficiency, poor maintenance, faulty metering, and theft. They are taxed on it as well," Benitez said. "Reasonable electricity prices are a matter of public interest, not a f...

 Mayor Greg Gasataya and  Education Secretary Sonny Angara following the signing of a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) for the construction of a new 16-classroom school building.* A new 16-classroom school building will soon rise at Progreso Village National High School in Barangay Vista Alegre after Mayor Greg Gasataya and Education Secretary Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara formally signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) on Wednesday, July 29.The project is expected to help address the growing classroom shortage in the relocation community and improve access to senior high school education for hundreds of learners, a press release from the Bacolod City Communications Office said Thursday.Gasataya thanked the Department of Education (DepEd) and the national government f...

A 32-year-old motorcycle rider died after losing control of his vehicle along a highway in Brgy. Ma-ao, Bago City, Negros Occidental, on Wednesday night, July 29.Police identified the victim only as “Rehard,” a resident of Murcia.Initial investigation showed that the victim was traveling from Brgy. Mailum toward Brgy. Ma-ao when he reached a curved portion of the highway.Police said the rider apparently lost control of the motorcycle amid heavy rain and fell onto the pavement.The victim sustained a serious head injury and was brought by the Bago City Rescue Team to the Bago City Hospital.He was declared dead by the attending physician.The damaged motorcycle was taken to the Bago police station for proper disposition.*

A 28-year-old man was found dead beside the Binalbagan River in Moises Padilla, Negros Occidental, on Wednesday, July 29, after he was believed to have been electrocuted while fishing.Police identified the victim only by the alias “Hem,” a laborer and resident of Brgy. Quintin Remo.The victim’s wife told police that her husband left their home at around 7 a.m. to fish in the river using an improvised electrocution device but failed to return.A witness later found the victim unresponsive beside the river in Sitio Palaypay at around 11:45 a.m. and sought help from his father, who informed the victim’s family.The body was brought to a funeral home before the incident was reported to the Moises Padilla Municipal Police Station at around 5:30 p.m.Investigators said the victi...

Rep. Javier Miguel Benitez (Neg. Occ., 3rd District) said the House of Representatives is crafting what could become the country's first comprehensive artificial intelligence law following President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s declaration in his State of the Nation Address (SONA) that "AI is here to stay."Benitez, who heads the Technical Working Group on Artificial Intelligence under the House Committee on Information and Communications Technology, said lawmakers are drafting the proposed Artificial Intelligence Development and Regulation Act, which seeks to promote AI innovation while putting safeguards in place to protect Filipinos."We are creating the AI Development and Regulation Act. The principle is we will not stifle innovation but regulate the risks of its applications," Benitez...