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Incoming Victorias City mayor Javier Miguel “Javi” Benitez takes his oath before his uncle Rep. Francisco Benitez (Neg. Occ., 3rd District) as his his father Bacolod mayor-elect Alfredo “Albee” Benitez, sister Bettina Marie, mother Dominique Lopez Benitez, and girlfriend actress Sue Ramirez (l-r) look on.*Ronnie Baldonado photoIncoming Victorias City Mayor Javier Miguel “Javi” Benitez vowed to be fair and just, and to lead by example in his inaugural speech on Wednesday, June 29.Benitez took his oath before his uncle Rep. Francisco Benitez (Neg. Occ., 3rd District) at inauguration rites at the Victorias City Sports and Amusement Center.The other Victorias officials who also took their oaths were vice mayor-elect Abelardo Bantug III, and incoming councilors Francis Frederick “De...

Mayor Evelio  Leonardia, whose term  ends on  Thursday, June 30, leaves behind infrastructure projects worth over P1 billion based on a consolidated report submitted by the City Engineer's Office (CEO) covering   January 2021  to March 2022.The amount will hit P3 billion as the CEO has yet to include the P350 million appropriations for the already completed new activity center and buildings at the  Bacolod City College, the P800 million state-of-the-art MassKara Coliseum,  and  museum that received P260 million  from the national government through Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri, a press release from  the Bacolod City Government Center said Tuesday, June 28.Leonardia said the infrastructure undertakings for 2021 and the early part of ...

Wennie Sancho, Power Watch Negros Advocates Inc. secretary general*Central Negros Electric Cooperative (CENECO) should refund its consumers for over recoveries now, Wennie Sancho, Power Watch Negros Advocates Inc. secretary general, reiterated on Wednesday, June 29.CENECO deferred the implementation of its refunds to its consumers for its net over-recoveries of P237,949,425.51 incurred from February 2004 to December 2017 while it awaits a copy of the  Energy Regulatory Commission decision ordering it to do so.“That is our money, they should return it. They promised to pay and did not do it… that is a very strong indication that they are taking the rights and welfare of the consumers for granted,” Sancho said.Sancho, at a press conference, said CENECO must implement the...

Rep.-elect Mercedes Alvarez*The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines proposed budget for the completion of the Kabankalan City airport is P600 million, Rep.-elect Mercedes Alvarez (Neg. Occ., 6th District) said Saturday, June 25.The CAAP will present the proposal to the new Department of Transportation secretary, she said.Alvarez said she is hoping even just part of the P600 million can be allocated for the Kabankalan airport in the 2023 national budget.She will push for the allocation of the amount even in phases, Alvarez said.The proposed budget is for the completion of the airport apron, and terminal and emergency buildings, she said.*

Three proposed power plants   targeted to generate 362 megawatts could make Negros Occidental self-reliant in the next three years, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said Monday, June 27.“If that happens the whole province will prosper because we will have available energy at low cost,” Diaz said.He cited the proposed 300-megawatt Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) power plant of   Reliance Energy Development Inc., a subsidiary of San Miguel Corp., in San Carlos City, the 32-megawatt hydroelectric power plant of Alson’s Energy in Bago City and the planned 30-megawatt combined solar power and biomass plant in Hinoba-an town by the Zabaleta group.The Negros Occidental Sangguniang Panlalawigan granted a Resolution of No Objection on June 14 for the construction ...

Two dogs died and two persons were injured in a fire that hit three houses at Purok 7, Maso Street in Barangay Villamonte, Bacolod City, at about 7:25 a.m.  Wednesday, June 29.Destroyed was the house   of Adela Peñaflorida, while damaged were the houses of Ma. Trinidad Seba Alfonso and Gertrudes  Quebrar, the Bacolod Bureau of Fire Protection reported.The BFP placed the estimated damage caused by the fire that originated from the second floor of the house of Peñaflorida at P1.5 million.Injured were Sharrah Mae Avila, 30, who sustained minor burns on her left hand, and Imar P.  Drilon, 36, who suffered from an abrasion on his left shoulder and a laceration on his left foot.Two Shih Tzu dogs died in the fire.Initial investigation indicated that th...

If president-elect Ferdinand Marcos Jr. issues and executive order (EO) reviving the Negros Island Region (NIR) it is hoped that funding for it is included in the 2023 national budget, Negros Occidental Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said on Monday, June 27.Marcos may issue an EO creating the NIR ahead of the passage of a law, Bacolod mayor-elect Alfredo Benitez said on Saturday, June 25.Then president Benigno Aquino III issued an EO creating the NIR that existed from May 29, 2015 to Aug. 9, 2017, when it was abolished by president Rodrigo Duterte.The Negros Island and Siquijor representatives are planning to file a bill for the revival of the NIR when the 19th Congress convenes on July 1.Diaz said if the NIR is revived through an EO pending the passage of law on i...

Mayor-elect Alfredo Benitez said he is making sure basic services are delivered efficiently in Bacolod City*Ronnie Baldonado photoThe Bacolod City government will find ways to augment its income with an expected cut in its 2023 National Tax Allotment, mayor-elect Alfredo “Albee” Benitez said on Saturday, June 25.Bacolod City, like all other local government units in the country, will suffer from a 14.47 percent budget cut in 2023 because of the national government’s low tax collection in 2020 at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.The city government’s P2,091,905,199 NTA this year will drop to P1,789,208,582 or by P302.6 million in 2023, the Department of Budget and Finance said.Benitez said he has no plan to raise property tax. “I have not looked into it,” he said.The ...

Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson takes his oath before Judge Amy Alabado Avellano of the San Carlos City Regional Trial Court in the presence of his son Leandro Lacson and nieces Maria Sarina Lacson-Balatayo and Ma. Ellyca Denise Lacson.*Ronnie Baldonado photoThe next three years will be a decisive period and a major turning point for Negros Occidental, Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said Saturday, June 25.“We will rebuild Negros Occidental not according to what has been, but as it should be,” Lacson said in his inaugural speech after taking his oath as governor for a second term at rites at the Capitol grounds in Bacolod City.Vice Governor Jeffrey Ferrer, and provincial board members - Rommel Debulgado and Araceli Somosa – 1st District, Sixto Guanzon Jr. and Samson Mir...