HEADLINE

By JEN BAYLON Expelled Negros Oriental 3rd District Representative Arnolfo Teves, Jr. was released from house arrest in Timor-Leste, his legal counsel Ferdinand Topacio said over the weekend. In a statement on Saturday, June 22, Topacio confirmed reports circulating in Timor-Leste media about Teves’ release by the tribunal conducting extradition proceedings. Teves was freed but under …

By JEN BAYLON The Negros Occidental provincial government’s P1.2 billion bulk water project is legally viable even though the Silay City government has yet to issue a Resolution of No Objection (RONO) for the project, Atty. Jessa Genteroles, provincial public-private partnership focal person, said yesterday. However, Genteroles said they are eager to obtain the RONO to ensure a …

By JEN BAYLON Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson has set aside the proposed renaming of the Negros Island Region (NIR) to Negros Island-Siquijor Administrative Region (NISAR), citing more pressing priorities. “I don’t think that’s the priority now,” Lacson said yesterday. Lacson said the proposal to change the name of the newly-established region could be considered …

  By JEN BAYLON A municipal mayor in Siquijor has proposed renaming the newly-created Negros Island Region (NIR) as Negros Island-Siquijor Administrative Region (NISAR). According to Siquijor’s San Juan Mayor Wilfredo Capundag Jr., the change of name to NISAR is a fitting recognition of Siquijor’s integration into NIR, created through Republic Act (RA) 12000, signed by …

  By JEN BAYLON The Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO) clarified that there is no presence of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) in the city, dispelling rumors and concerns from residents and local business owners. BCPO administrative officer Colonel Ronnie Brillo said they received a directive from the Philippine National Police headquarters regarding POGO operations, but …

Bacolod City Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez expects much lower power rates for Central Negros Electric Cooperative (Ceneco) in the following months. This comes after Ceneco announced a drop in its residential power rates by P2.40 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) in June. “The power rate reduction is crucial as we move forward to provide relief, especially to …

  Negros Electric and Power Corporation (Negros Power) has recently inaugurated its temporary office in Bacolod City, indicating its readiness to start operations as the new power distribution utility in Central Negros. Negros Power’s temporary office, located on the 2nd floor of Robinsons East Mall on Burgos Avenue in Barangay Villamonte, will house its corporate, business operations, …

By JEN BAYLON Bacolod City Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez ordered an investigation into the bus accident that killed a public school teacher and injured 34 others in Negros Occidental’s Don Salvador Benedicto town on Friday, June 14. “It is with deep sorrow and heavy hearts that we announce a tragic vehicular accident involving a bus owned …

By JEN BAYLON As the rainy season has just started, the Negros Occidental Provincial Health Office (PHO) is gearing up for a possible surge in dengue cases. This comes after 519 cases were recorded in the province from January 1 to June 8 this year, based on data from the Department of Health-Western Visayas Center for …

By JEN BAYLON President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. signed Republic Act 12000, or the Negros Island Region (NIR) Act, unifying Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental and Siquijor into a new administrative region. Marcos, during the ceremonial signing of the law in Malacañang Palace yesterday afternoon, said the NIR, now the 18th region in the country, aims to promote economic development and …