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Provincial Elections Officer Ian Lee Ananoria*The Commission on Elections is calling on candidates for the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections (BSKE) to file their certificates of candidacy early and not to wait until the last day.The filing of COCs will start on Monday, August 28, and will end on September 2.They should avoid filing their COCs on the last day to avoid crowding, Negros Occidental Provincial Elections Supervisor Ian Lee Ananoria said on Wednesday, October 23.Candidates should consult lawyers or an election officer when they fill up their COCs as every line in the document has legal implications, Ananoria said.Ananoria said a regional command conference on the BSKE was held this week to discuss policies on the gun ban that starts August 28 and the...

Rep. Emilio “Dino” Yulo III (Neg. Occ., 3rd District)*The House of Representatives hearing on amendments to the Sugar Industry Development Act (SIDA) may be held in Dumaguete City, Rep. Emilio “Dino” Yulo III (Neg. Occ., 3rd District) said Wednesday, August 23.Rep. Manuel Sagarbarria (Neg. Or., 2nd District) had requested that the hearing be held in Dumaguete and they are willing to accede to the request, he said.The SIDA hearing may be held after the House of Representatives finishes tackling the major aspects of the 2024 national budget , which is their current priority, he said.The hearing could also be held during their congressional break, he added.Yulo stressed the need to concentrate on increasing sugar productivity for the industry to survive.There should a...

The Bacolod City Police Office reported that they seized 6.175 kilos or close to P42million worth of suspected shabu since Col. Noel Aliño assumed as city police director from April to August this year.BCPO seized 6.175 grams of suspected shabu valued at P41,994,678.90 and arrested 200 individuals in 165 operations from April 18 to August 18, a police report showed.The police also reported the arrest of 64 most wanted persons and 140 other wanted persons.In the campaign against illegal gambling they arrested 301 individuals in 90 operations and seized P22,880 in bet money, the report added.The BCPO also confiscated 16 firearms and arrested 15 persons.About 19 unrenewed licensed firearms and 43 loose firearms were also deposited at the BCPO, report said.*

Two persons were arrested in buy-bust operations in Cadiz and San Carlos cities in Negros Occidental and P174,556 in suspected shabu was seized on Tuesday, August 22.Jofel Bacalla, 42, was arrested at Center Mall in Brgy. Palampas, San Carlos City, Tuesday afternoon.The police confiscated 24.17 grams of suspected shabu with an estimated price of P164,356.Meanwhile, 1.5 grams of suspected shabu valued at P10,200 and a 38mm caliber gun with ammunition were seized from an 18-year-old in Hacienda Bayabas 1, Brgy. Daga, Cadiz City, Aug. 22.*

The hut where the dead man was found*PNP photoA Bacoleño was found dead in a nipa hut in Brgy. Sta. Cruz, Murcia, Negros Occidental, early Tuesday morning, August 22.He was identified as Reynaldo Hilado, 47, of Brgy. Mansilingan, Bacolod City, the police said.The victim allegedly had not eaten for three days and had been drinking alcohol.The victim was brought to the Murcia Health Unit and was said to have suffered from acute respiratory failure and cardiopulmonary arrest.*

The Negros delicacies on display at the NTF media launch and exhibitors briefing.*Ronnie Baldonado photoThe organizers of the 37th Negros Trade Fair (NTF) hope to top their P39 million sales last year when they open at the Glorietta 2 Palm Drive Activity Center in Makati City on September 26 to October 1.They have new producers who are joining this year’s NTF, which will showcase the best of Negros’ products in 108 booths, MaryAnn Colmenares, vice chair of this year’s trade fair, said Wednesday, August 23.“We want to show the diversity of our products,” she said.The trade fair media launch and exhibitors briefing was held at the Social Hall of the Provincial Capitol in Bacolod City with a display of Negros delicacies.“The Negros Trade Fair holds the distinction of being...

SRA Administrator Pablo Luis Azcona speaks at the 69th Annual National Convention of the Philippine Sugar Technologists Association in Cebu City on Wednesday.*Butch Bacaoco photoThe Sugar Regulatory Administration chief on Wednesday, August 23, allayed fears of sugar farmers that millgate prices could drop below P3,000 per 50-kilo bag (LKg) at the start of the milling season in September.The Marcos administration is committed to keeping the millgate prices of sugar at P3,000 per LKg to protect the farmers, SRA Administrator Pablo Luis Azcona assured.Their goal “is to stop all the speculation and to tell everybody that the effort of the current administration is to keep the farmers’ price at P3,000 per LKg or P60 per kilo bag for their raw sugar”, he said.This will in turn k...

The House of Representatives on Tuesday, August 22, adopted House Resolution (HR) No. 1212, which certified “to the existence of a vacancy” in the third congressional district of Negros Oriental, and called on the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to hold a special election to fill the seat formerly held by expelled Rep. Arnolfo "Arnie" Teves Jr.The resolution authored by Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, Majority Leader Manuel Jose "Mannix" Dalipe and House Minority Leader Marcelino Libanan was approved by a simple voice vote.The authors said the vacancy in Negros Oriental’s third district was created due to the expulsion of Teves “for disorderly behavior and violation of Section 141 (a) and (b), Rule XX of the Code of Conduct of the House of Representatives, by the requisite vo...

Eufronia Pitong Fernandez (left), who was born on Aug. 5, 1920, was set to become the oldest beneficiary of the PhilSys Birth Registration Assistance Project in Negros Occidental, at age 103.*PSA-Negros photosA 103-year-old woman from Himamaylan City, Negros Occidental, died the night before she was supposed to receive her birth certificate in official security paper (SECPA) from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) earlier this month.Eufronia Pitong Fernandez, who was born on Aug. 5, 1920, was set to become the province’s oldest beneficiary of the Philippine Identification System (PhilSys) Birth Registration Assistance Project (PBRAP), data obtained by the Philippine News Agency on Tuesday showed.“Mrs. Fernandez passed away on Aug. 9 at 7 p.m., the night before her authen...

Secretary to the Mayor Karol Joseph Chiu *Twenty-six nurses and midwives who are contract of service employees of the Bacolod City government are complaining about the three-month delay in the release of their salaries.“We apologize for the delay in the payment of the salaries and will review the process together with the City Health Office on how to fast track everything,” Secretary to the Mayor Karol Joseph Chiu said on Tuesday, August 22.The contracts of the 14 nurses and 12 midwives working at the lying-in clinic of the Bacolod City Health Office were endorsed to the Sangguniang Panlungsod on July 27 for the granting of authority for the mayor to sign, which the SP granted, Chiu said.The mayor signed the contracts that were then sent back to the SP for ratification on...