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By JEN BAYLON Authorities seized more than P1.6 million worth of suspected shabu during a drug buy-bust operation at Purok Sigay in Bacolod City’s Barangay 2 early yesterday morning. The operation, conducted by the City Drug Enforcement Unit, resulted in the arrest of two high-value individuals, identified as 28-year-old Jamil Equibal and 33-year-old Wric Talabin, …

By JEN BAYLON Sixteen local government units (LGUs) in the Negros Island Region (NIR) are still affected by African swine fever, the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) said. Based on the updated zoning classifications for ASF, Negros Occidental capital Bacolod City and the cities of Bago and Escalante have been categorized as infected zones, signifying …

The Senate has recommended the QR code system to prevent the spread of fake persons with disability (PWD) identification cards (IDs), highlighting the initiative of the Bacolod City government. Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Albelardo Benitez, who served as a resource person at the Senate hearing yesterday, explained how the city government prevented the spread of fake …

The Land Transportation Office (LTO) on Wednesday, December 4, clarified that new policies prohibiting improvised plates are suspended indefinitely. In a statement Wednesday, the LTO said the implementation of Memorandum Circular (MC) VDM-2024-2721 and MC VDM-2024-2722 has been suspended since September 30 to give motor vehicle owners more time to obtain their license plates. Both …

Consumers may enjoy stable supply and prices of agricultural commodities this December despite the slight increase in food inflation to 3.5 percent in November, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said yesterday. In a statement, Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel, Jr. said that while food inflation has slightly increased from three percent in October, rice inflation …

The Negros Occidental Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) approved the provincial government’s budget for 2025, amounting to P6,457,794,000. The P6.45 billion budget was approved on Tuesday, December 3, after two weeks of deliberations by the Committee on Finance. It is higher by about 18.8 percent from the approved P5.43 billion budget for 2024, due to a higher share of …

The Negros Occidental Provincial Joint Security Control Center (PJSCC) will meet on December 12 to assess the political situation in the Negros Island Region (NIR) ahead of the 2025 midterm elections. “We will still assess the region’s peace and order situation based on the intelligence operations of the Philippine National Police and the military,” Commission on …

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) is closely monitoring Kanlaon Volcano due to its continuous and elevated sulfur dioxide emissions. Phivolcs’ time-lapse footage showed that ash emissions were seen from 3:49 p.m. to 4:27 p.m. at Kanlaon. “Medyo mataas po ang alerto natin sa Kanlaon. Hindi po natin alam kung kailan at papano, …

The Bacolod City government is engaging citizens, organizations and business establishments to adopt-a-tree at the Bacolod Public Plaza to be lit up during the Christmas holidays starting December 10. As of Tuesday, December 3, almost 70 groups have volunteered to join the program. In Executive Order 63, series of 2024, Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez said the …

By JEN BAYLON The Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) will be establishing checkpoints to combat the threat of cocolisap infestation in Negros Occidental’s La Carlota City. The checkpoints in Barangay San Miguel will serve as a critical line of defense against cocolisap among coconut trees and prevent further spread throughout the province. Several PCA personnel visited …