HEADLINE

By CESAR JOLITO III Varying protocols among local government units (LGUs) have resulted in inconsistencies that could hamper efforts to contain African swine fever (ASF) in Negros Island Region (NIR) as the Department of Agriculture (DA) is set to establish a regional task force to strengthen coordination and standardize control measures against the hog disease. …

By CESAR JOLITO III The General Alliance of Workers Association (GAWA) has raised alarm over the worsening spread of the red-striped soft scale insects (RSSI), warning that failure to contain the infestation could cripple the sugar industry and threaten the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of workers. In a statement issued on Thursday, July 2, …

By CESAR JOLITO III The ongoing spread of the red-striped soft scale insects (RSSI) is expected to significantly reduce sugar production in the next cropping season, prompting the Negros Occidental provincial government to strengthen its response as the infestation continues to expand across the province’s sugarcane fields. Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson warned that the resurgence …

By CESAR JOLITO III The hog industry in Negros Occidental is once again facing a major setback as the province grapples with a resurgence of African swine fever (ASF), prompting Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson to say the sector will have to “start from scratch.” Lacson said the province is reverting to the same disease-control measures …

By MERLINDA A. PEDROSA Bacolod City Mayor Greg Gasataya has established guidelines for the prevention, control and containment of African swine fever (ASF) in the city amid the reported cases of the hog illness in several localities in Negros Occidental. “There is a need to strengthen the city’s preparedness and response measures through enhanced biosecurity, …

By CESAR JOLITO III Authorities have been determining the credibility of the viral online conversation where a student allegedly shared his plan to carry out a mass shooting at a high school in Negros Occidental’s Escalante City similar to that recent incident in Tacloban City that left three students dead. The Police Regional Office in …

  By CESAR JOLITO III The government’s move to tighten regulations on imported molasses is a “long-overdue correction” that protects the local sugar industry from what it called a major legal loophole. This comes as United Sugar Producers’ Federation of the Philippines (Unifed) President Manuel Lamata commended the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Sugar …

By MERLINDA A. PEDROSA The Bacolod City government will enforce stronger measures to prevent the possible resurgence and spread of African swine fever (ASF), a highly contagious and deadly disease affecting hogs. Mayor Greg Gasataya, who recently convened the city’s Task Force on ASF, said the city will impose a ban on imported pork and …

By CESAR JOLITO III Localities in Negros Occidental are intensifying biosecurity measures following the deaths of 1,213 hogs with losses valued at approximately P14.46 million amid the resurgence of African swine fever (ASF). The swine deaths from May 20 and June 22 caused losses accounting for 4.06 percent of the province’s 29,880 hog population, according …

By CESAR JOLITO III A state of calamity in Negros Occidental will remain in effect amid the continued spread of the red-striped soft scale insect (RSSI), which has now affected 32.18 percent of the province’s sugarcane plantations, as localities craft measures to curb the pest infestation. Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson said the provincial government is …