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The Kabankalan airport runway*Mayor Benjie Miranda launched the Kabankalan airport as a tourism and economic gateway during the charter day celebration of Kabankalan City in Negros Occidental on Monday, July 31, but said it may take some time before it will be operational.There was an airshow with skydivers at the Kabankalan Airport on Monday, he said.There is a firm, whose name he withheld, that has expressed its intention to put up a flying school at the Kabankalan airport, Miranda also said.Miranda said in a meeting with representatives of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP), Department of Transportation (DOTr) and Rep. Mercedes Alvarez (Neg. Occ., 6th District) it was stated that more funds are needed for the completion of the Kabankalan airport.T...

A man was stabbed to death while another was found lifeless in two separate incidents in San Carlos City, Negros Occidental, on Sunday, July 30, the police reported on Monday.Abner Valiente, 60, a pedicab driver from Brgy. 3, was allegedly stabbed to death by Jeffrey Mabilog, 43, in Small Tibucco, Brgy. 1, San Carlos City.The police said there was a heated argument between them when the suspect drew an improvised Ice pick and stabbed the victim several times on his chest.The victim was rushed to the San Carlos City Hospital where he was pronounced dead.A hot pursuit operation was conducted by the San Carlos police who arrested the suspect and recovered the improvised ice pick believed to be the weapon he used in the killing, the police said.The suspect is now under poli...

Police investigators process the crime scene in Barangay Malabugas, Bayawan City, Negros Oriental, where a suspected gun-for-hire died after allegedly resisting arrest .*NORPPO photoAn alleged hired gun tagged in several Negros Oriental killings died in a police operation on Monday, July 31, in Barangay Malabugas in Bayawan City after he reportedly resisted arrest.Alex Manegos Mayagma, of Barangay Minaba, Bayawan City, died from a gunshot wound to the body after he allegedly fired at police and military operatives who were about to serve warrants for his arrest.“Mayagma was under close surveillance for more than a month now and is wanted by the law for his participation in several killings in Negros Oriental,” Col. Ronan Claravall, acting police provincial director, said.Cl...

Senator Sherwin Gatchalian (4th from left) with the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry-Visayas officers.*The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) will present its Visayas Transmission Plan in Negros Occidental in August to address the call of business leaders to improve the power situation in the region.This was announced by the NGCP during the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry-Visayas Area Conference in Bohol on July 27 and 28 during its plenary on the power situation in the region, PCCI-Vice President for the Visayas Frank Carbon told DIGICAST NEGROS on Monday, July 31.Carbon said that the plan to discuss the transmission lines in the Visayas is necessary for Negros, which depends on its power supply from neighboring Cebu, Leyte, and Panay....

Two Negrenses were nabbed and suspected shabu and guns were seized in a buy-bust operation in Brgy. Balintawak, Escalante City, Negros Occidental, on Sunday morning, July 30, the police said.Nabbed were Rodney Miradol, 51, of Purok Buhay 1, Brgy. Balintawak, Escalante, and Marlo Jimenez, 30, from Brgy. Rafaela Barrera, Sagay City.Seized from them were four grams of suspected shabu worth P27,200, a .22 caliber rifle with 42 live ammunition, .45 caliber pistol with magazine loaded with seven live ammunition, cellular phones, a weighing scale and drug paraphernalia, the police reported.The suspects are now under the custody of the Escalante police.*

Flooded houses in San Enrique.*MDRRMO photoSan Enrique town that was the hardest hit by Typhoon “Egay” induced flashfloods and strong winds in Negros Occidental last week has declared a state of calamity, Mayor Jilson Tubillara said Monday, July 31.The foul weather affected 5,579 families with 19,594 members in San Enrique, the Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office (PSWDO) reported.Also destroyed were 16 houses and damaged were 426 in nine out of ten barangays of the town, the PSWDO also reported.The Office of the Provincial Agriculturist placed the initial damage to crops in San Enrique at P4,763,295 affecting 310 farmers. Damage to livestock was also placed at P520,080 by the Provincial Veterinary Office.Tubillara said San Enrique was hit by flash floods wi...

The current state of the Talave Bridge is more of a "skeleton", Andoni Valencia said.*A Negrense heritage advocate is asking the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) to issue a cease and desist order against the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to halt the ongoing clearing of the 90-year-old Talave bridge in San Carlos City, Negros Occidental, that could lead to its possible destruction.Andoni Llantada Valencia on Sunday, July 30, said he made the appeal in a letter to Dr. Emmanuel F. Calairo, NHCP chairman, on Friday.The 90-year-old Talave Bridge built in 1933 by the United States Steel Products Company is located between San Carlos City and the municipality of Calatrava.The Talave Bridge in 2021 was still in use, he said.However, its ...

Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson has granted the request of the Bacolod City government to use the RT- PCR machine of the provincial government for the processing of its African Swine Fever (ASF) test kits, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said on Sunday, July 30.Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez in a letter to Lacson on Friday, July 28, said with the present threat of ASF in Bacolod City and Negros Occidental, the city government has acquired a number of ASF test kits to ensure the safety and protection of local hog raisers.He requested Lacson to allow the Bacolod City government to use the Qiagen Rotor Gene RT- PCR Machine of the provincial government.Meanwhile, the daily pig deaths in Negros Occidental from various diseases were down to 22 on Saturday a...

The flooded rice fields*The Southwest Monsoon enhanced by Typhoon “Egay” brought on flooding and strong winds that destroyed and damaged 1,645 houses and caused P46.7 million in losses to crops, fisheries and livestock in Negros Occidental, a final situational report submitted to Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson on Saturday, July 29, said.The Provincial Disaster Management Program Division (PDMPD) reported that the typhoon damaged 1,585 houses and destroyed 60 in 71 barangays in 18 local government units in Negros Occidental.“Based on the report, it can be handled by the respective LGUs,” Lacson said, in reference to the assistance needed by those affected.The foul weather also affected 15,138 families or a total of 61,022 individuals in Negros Occidental from July 22 to 28, it add...

Former Negros Occidental governor Rafael Coscolluela*The People’s Movement for Truth, Justice and Reform – Negros Occidental chapter is supporting a petition for mandamus filed before the Supreme Court that calls for the Commission on Elections’ full disclosure of the 2022 presidential and vice presidential election returns, former Negros Occidental governor Rafael Coscolluela said on Sunday, July 30.The Negros chapter was formed during “Electoral Fraud Explained” forum in Bacolod City on Saturday with former Information and Communications Technology Undersecretary Ret. Gen. Eliseo Rio Jr as guest speaker.Rio is a member of the TNTrio, a group that has been seeking the truth about the elections last year.“If Comelec refuses to submit to our call for full disclosure, they de...