HEADLINE

By CESAR JOLITO III A recent wave of killings across Negros Island, claimed by communist rebel groups, is drawing renewed concern over the island’s deepening crisis of impunity and its impact on ongoing peace initiatives, the 3rd Infantry Division (3ID) said. Lt. Colonel J-jay Javines, 3ID spokesperson, said that while programs aimed at reintegrating former rebels …

By CESAR JOLITO III As Metro Manila prepares to implement a new minimum wage hike this July, a local labor group is urging the wage board to take swift action to help workers cope with the rising cost of living. The General Alliance of Workers Association (GAWA) is calling on the Regional Tripartite Wages and …

By CESAR JOLITO III Newly sworn La Castellana Mayor Añejo Nicor is shifting focus from emergency relief to long-term safety and sustainability by establishing permanent relocation sites for families currently living within Kanlaon Volcano’s extended danger zone amid continuing unrest. “This is about the safety and future of our people. We cannot keep families in …

By CESAR JOLITO III Three high-value drug targets and four others were arrested in two separate buy-bust operations that led to the confiscation of P12 million worth of suspected shabu in Bacolod City over the weekend. The primary suspect, identified as 42-year-old Nadal Verde, alias “Linda,” separated, jobless, and a resident of Hermelinda Homes in Barangay Mansilingan, was arrested by …

By CESAR JOLITO III Seven job order employees were killed while 17 others were injured when a local government-owned mini dump truck carrying them figured in a vehicle mishap at Barangay Guimbalaon in Negros Occidental’s Silay City yesterday morning. Based on the initial police report from the Silay City Police Station, the incident happened around …

By CESAR JOLITO III The infestation of the red-striped soft scale insects (RSSI) in sugarcane fields across the Visayas has widened to more than 2,000 hectares, with Negros Occidental as the most affected, the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) reported. Negros Occidental bears the brunt of the RSSI infestation, accounting for over 97 percent of the …

By MAE SINGUAY The continuing conflict between Israel and Iran could result in hyperinflation, or the uncontrollable rise in prices of goods and services over a defined period, which could also affect the Philippines’ economic growth, the Metro Bacolod Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MBCCI) said. “In other words, hyperinflation is extremely rapid inflation when the …

By CESAR JOLITO III and MAE SINGUAY The Negros Occidental Provincial Health Office (PHO) assures the Negrenses that there is no cause for alarm following the confirmation of an mpox (formerly monkeypox) case in Talisay City, the first in the province. PHO head Dr. Ma. Girlie Pinongan said a 20-year-old female resident of Talisay had …

By CESAR JOLITO III The Office of Civil Defense in Negros Island Region (OCD-NIR) has suspended entry and prohibited residents from carrying out farming and livelihood activities within Kanlaon Volcano’s six-kilometer extended danger zone (EDZ) starting Tuesday, June 24. The Regional Task Force Kanlaon, in coordination with OCD and the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology …

By CESAR JOLITO III The General Alliance of Workers Association (GAWA) has raised alarm over what it describes as a “double whammy” hitting Filipino workers, as surging fuel prices and the failure to pass a legislated wage hike are pushing laborers deeper into economic hardship. GAWA Secretary General Wennie Sancho warned that the expected rise …