HEADLINE

By JEN BAYLON A total of 1,526 individuals or 368 families in Negros Occidental were evacuated following the eruption of Kanlaon Volcano on Monday night, June 3, the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) said yesterday. Kanlaon’s eruption has affected 84 barangays in 10 local government units (LGUs), according to PDRRMO’s situational report …

By JEN BAYLON Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson has defended the conduct of cloud seeding, which aims to mitigate the effects of the El Niño phenomenon on agriculture in the province, as it has been met with criticism lately. “This cloud seeding thing is getting controversial because there are critics who are saying, ‘Why …

  Mt.  Kanlaon, an active volcano in Negros Island, erupted for six minutes on Monday night, June 3, producing a 5,000-meter plume, the Department of Science and Technology-Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (DOST-Phivolcs) said in a report. The steam-driven or phreatic explosion occurred at the summit vent at 6:51 p.m. As of 8:00 p.m., …

By JEN BAYLON  Jealousy is being eyed as the motive behind the killing of a police personnel allegedly by his fellow officer in Bacolod City’s Barangay Tangub on Friday afternoon, May 31. Police Station 8 commander Major Eugene Tolentino said they are processing documents for filing a murder case against 26-year-old Police Patrolman Alvin Rios, who allegedly …

By JEN BAYLON Some areas in Western Visayas will still continue to experience high heat indices despite the onset of the rainy season, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said. “Ekspektar naton gihapon, from time to time, bisan rainy season, may ara possibility sang mainit kag mapaang nga panahon,” Pagasa weather specialist Ferdinand Rubin …

By JEN BAYLON The Negros Occidental Provincial Health Office (PHO) said there is no cause for alarm amid the rising cases of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) FLiRT variant reported in other countries. PHO head Dr. Girlie Pinongan said the symptoms of the FLiRT variant are the same as past variants of COVID-19. Pinongan said …

The Silay Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP) said they were not satisfied with the explanations about the proposed bulk water supply project of the Negros Occidental provincial government, that would convince them to issue a Resolution of No Objection (RONO) to proceed with the project. Silay City Vice Mayor Thomas Maynard Ledesma, during the SP’s regular session …

By JEN BAYLON The United Sugar Producers Federation of the Philippines (Unifed) has requested the abolition of the Bureau of Soils and Water Management (BSWM), over its failure to allow cloud seeding operations at the height of the drought to save sugarcane plantations in Negros Occidental. “The sugar industry is suffering from a big loss …

BY JEN BAYLON Bacolod City Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez said yesterday that 60 members of the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino (PDP) in Negros Occidental resigned from the political party. Benitez said the PDP members held a meeting on Saturday, May 25, and signed an irrevocable resignation from the group. “We will just resign as a group, and we will …

By JEN BAYLON Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson has expressed readiness to address the concerns raised by the Silay City government regarding the provincial government’s bulk water supply project. “We’re ready to answer those questions. That’s the status as of now, because they have not categorically said that ‘we will disapprove the request,’” Lacson said in …