Bacolod | Sun.Star

Police office ups fund support to field units

Wednesday, May 8, 2013 - 02:01 a.m.

All police units in Western Visayas will receive mobilization fund for the May 13 polls.

Chief Superintendent Agrimero Cruz, Jr., director of the Police Regional Office 6 (PRO), revealed that all police offices and stations are allocated with additional financial support to comply with the growing demands in police operations for SAFE (Secured and Fair Elections) 2013 campaign.

DOJ clears Alvarezes on Arles murder raps

Tuesday, May 7, 2013 - 12:51 a.m.

THE Department of Justice (DOJ) dismissed the murder complaint against Nationalist People’s Coalition gubernatorial bet Genaro Alvarez, Jr., his son Ilog Mayor John Pul Alvarez, and Cauayan Vice-Mayor Jerry Tabujara for the killing of Kabankalan Regional Trial Court Judge Henry Arles.

The dismissal was penned by the DOJ through Prosecutor General Claro Arellano based on the recommendation and approval of Prosecutor IV Vimar Barcellano and Senior Deputy State Prosecutor Richard Anthony Fadullon on November 19, 2012.

Abang Lingkod grand rally to push through

Tuesday, May 7, 2013 - 12:47 a.m.

STEPHEN Paduano aka Carapali Lualhati, number one nominee of Abang Lingkod Party List, said that their grand rally today will go on and they are hoping for reconsideration from the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

He said that Comelec’s decision of disqualifying Abang Lingkod is unfair with barely a week before the people go to their respective precincts and vote.

Thousands join Ferrer's caravan, rally

Tuesday, May 7, 2013 - 12:47 a.m.

THOUSANDS of supporters joined the caravan of re-electionist Negros Occidental fourth district Representative Jeffrey Ferrer during his birthday and miting de avance at a plaza at La Carlota City Monday.

Ferrer was joined by wife La Carlota City Mayor and lawyer Juliet Marie Ferrer and an estimated more than 20,000 of his supporters and leaders.

Comelec warns vs. vote buying

Tuesday, May 7, 2013 - 12:46 a.m.

COMMISSION on Election (Comelec) commissioner Grace Padaca on Monday warned candidates and voters not to engage in vote buying or vote selling, as the penalty entails disqualification to vote and from running for an elective post plus imprisonment for six years.

Padaca told the Bacolod media over the phone that the Comelec en banc has discussed bigger measures against the prevalence of massive vote buying all over the country.

Comelec, not LGU shoulders poll expenses - Padaca

Tuesday, May 7, 2013 - 12:44 a.m.

COMMISSION on Election (Comelec) commissioner Grace Padaca on Monday said that all election expenses are shouldered by the Comelec and not by the Local Government Unit (LGU).

She was surprised to hear that in Bacolod, there was a request of about P5.1 million from Bacolod election officer lawyer Milagros Villanueva to be used for election purpose which was sourced from LGU's election reserve.

Leonardia dares Golez to prove cheating claims

Tuesday, May 7, 2013 - 12:43 a.m.

BACOLOD City Mayor Evelio Leonardia vehemently denied allegations that he plans to cheat during election.

He even dared Representative Anthony Rolando Golez Jr. Monday to produce Nicolas Enriquez because they want to know if he really exists or not.

Sayson gets support from grassroots

Tuesday, May 7, 2013 - 12:43 a.m.

MORE than 200 barangay officials have declared their full support to Vice Mayor Jude Thaddeus Sayson, mayoralty candidate of Grupo Progreso in the coming elections.

Last Friday, more than 30 barangay heads gathered together and declared their open and active support for the mayoralty bid of Sayson.

Leonardia: Reserve fund with Comelec is P2.1 million only

Tuesday, May 7, 2013 - 12:42 a.m.

MAYOR Evelio Leonardia said they re-aligned P3 million from the P5.1 million fund for the plebiscite of Barangay Paglaum.

Leonardia said that barangay Paglaum convenors group was asking the city to allocate a budget for the plebicite so they can make a report to Comelec Manila in order that the plebicite will not be delayed.

Coop clears Ledesma on loan issue

Monday, May 6, 2013 - 01:42 a.m.

A SAN Carlos City-based farmers’ cooperative cleared first district Representative Julio Ledesma IV of any wrong-doing in relation to the coop’s loan with the Philippine Sugar Corporation (Philsucor).

In the excerpts of the minutes of the meeting on April 29 of the Board of Directors of the Gamboa Hermanos Farmworkers Multi-Purpose Cooperative (GHFMPC), the coop officers stressed that in the process of securing the Philsucor loan in 2007 to sustain the coop’s farming operations, Ledesma was not personally nor directly involved in the activities of the cooperative, considering that he is not a member.

Angara’s wife asks support from fellow Negrenses

Monday, May 6, 2013 - 01:42 a.m.

NEGRENSE Tootsie Echauz Angara has asked her fellow Negrenses to vote for her husband Team PNoy senatorial bet Aurora Representative Juan Edgardo "Sonny" Angara.

The couple was in Bacolod City Saturday for their campaign sorties in several barangays in Bacolod City.

Alvarez, Lacson back Benitez’s Sugarcane Bill

Monday, May 6, 2013 - 01:41 a.m.

NATIONALIST People’s Coalition (NPC) gubernatorial bet Vice Governor Genaro Alvarez Jr. and his runningmate Eugenio Lacson are backing the Sugarcane Industry Development Bill of third district Representative Albee Benitez in anticipation of the implementation of zero tariff on imported sugar under the Asean Free Trade Agreement (AFTA) in 2015.

Both Alvarez and Lacson believe that the local sugar industry will be hard-pressed by the competition from cheaper, subsidized imported sugar so preparations have to be made.

Ferrer marks today’s birthday with caravan, miting de avance

Monday, May 6, 2013 - 01:41 a.m.

RE-ELECTIONIST Negros Occidental fourth district Representative Jeffrey Ferrer of the United Negros Alliance (UNA) will hold a caravan and miting de avance on his birthday today, Monday.

This will be the longest caravan in the fourth district that will start at 2 p.m. in Barangay Calumangan, Bago City down to La Carlota City.

Car owner to Cana: Settle Damages

Monday, May 6, 2013 - 01:40 a.m.

FOR more than a month since the vehicle of lawyer Lyndon Cana, congressional candidate in Bacolod City, bumped a Nissan Sedan owned by Carlou Castellano, the former has not yet settled the damages amounting to P16,000.

Castellano and his brother in-law Jay R Ferrer on Sunday demanded anew from Cana to settle the damage caused by his driver and his Fiera jeep when he bumped the Nissan Sentra (Sedan) parked at Tanguile St., Villamonte last April 9.

CLRRMH recipient of Aquino Health Agenda

Monday, May 6, 2013 - 01:40 a.m.

CORAZON Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital (CLRRMH) is a recipient of President Benigno Aquino III Health agenda, which started when he assumed the presidency in 2010.

Dr. Julius Drilon, chief of hospital, said one of its many aspects is the health facility enhancement program where the government is putting in a substantial amount of money in infrastructure and equipment.

Rebels attack mine site, kill 5 soldiers

Monday, May 6, 2013 - 12:16 a.m.

FIVE soldiers were killed and two others were wounded when armed men believed to be members of the New People's Army (NPA) attacked the exploration site of Philex Mining’s Bulawan Project in Sitio Umas, Barangay Camindangan, Sipalay City, around 9 p.m. Friday, May 3.

An undetermined number of rebels were also believed killed and wounded during the encounter, according to the military.

Pulupandan folks alarmed on reports of another raid

Saturday, May 4, 2013 - 09:17 a.m.

BARANGAY officials of Ubay, Pulupandan, where the ancestral house of the Montilla clan is located, were alarmed over reports that another raid was to be conducted Friday.

This even as they deplored the lack of coordination by the raiding team which entered the ancestral house of Pulupandan Mayor Magdaleno Peña’s family last Thursday.

Mayor favors town’s inclusion in poll watchlist

Saturday, May 4, 2013 - 09:16 a.m.

MOISES Padilla Mayor Francisco Nazareno backs the moves to include the municipality in the list of "election hotspots" by the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

Nazareno said Friday that he favors putting his town under the control of the poll body so that additional security forces can be deployed in the town.

Sayson explains fund for Comelec

Saturday, May 4, 2013 - 09:15 a.m.

BACOLOD City Vice Mayor Jude Thaddeus Sayson said that all local governments have their respective election reserve funds.

“The request by the Commission on Election (Comelec) does not only happen in Bacolod but Comelec in all town and cities asked all local government units (LGU) to prepare their election reserve funds,” Sayson said.

Metrobank returns Bredco road lots to city

Saturday, May 4, 2013 - 09:14 a.m.

BACOLOD Councilor Caesar Distrito said Friday that the City Council of Bacolod has authorized Mayor Evelio Leonardia to sign a contract of renunciation with Metrobank Trust Company during its regular session Thursday.

Distrito said Metrobank decided to issue a contract of renunciation after discovering that six road lots included in the title of the property it had bought at the Reclamation Area belongs to the City Government.

Doc defends bro on endorsement of "Bing-Tha-Gre"

Saturday, May 4, 2013 - 09:13 a.m.

DOCTOR Julius Drilon, hospital chief of the Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital, defended on Friday his brother Senator Franklin Drilon who is the campaign manager of the Liberal Party (LP) for the senatorial slate.

The doctor said it just so happen he is from Western Visayas and he recognizes the coalition between the LP and the Nationalist People’s Coalition.

Firearms, ammos found in Peña ancestral house

Friday, May 3, 2013 - 08:53 a.m.

AUTHORITIES siezed on Thursday high powered firearms, explosives, boxes of assorted ammunitions, holsters, and bandoliers in a raid in the ancestral house of Pulupandan Mayor Magdaleno Peña.

The Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG)-Camp Crame and the Special Action Forces 6th Battalion conducted the raid in coordination with the Police Regional Office-Western Visayas (PRO-6) and Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office (Noppo), CIDG Bacolod City and CIDG Negros Occidental.

Pena: Explosives were planted; firearms are licensed

Friday, May 3, 2013 - 08:51 a.m.

PULUPANDAN Mayor Magdaleno Peña, in a phone interview on Thursday, denied that the military-grade TNT explosives reportedly found inside his family’s ancestral house does not belong to him, but were planted by the raiding team.

He said none of the firearms found by the police at the ancestral house on Thursday can be seized, because they are all licensed up to 2016.

Alvarez slams raid as political harassment

Friday, May 3, 2013 - 08:50 a.m.

VICE Governor Genaro Alvarez called the raid conducted by the authorities in the ancestral house of Pulupandan Mayor Magdaleno Peña Thursday as “uncalled for political harassment.”

High powered firearms, explosives, boxes of assorted ammunitions, holsters, and bandoliers were reportedly found during the raid conducted by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG)-Camp Crame and the Special Action Forces 6th Battalion in Peña’s ancestral house in Pulupandan.

Yasa pushes women's concern in Moises Padilla

Friday, May 3, 2013 - 08:48 a.m.

FORMER Moises Padilla councilor Dolly Yasa vowed to continue pushing for women’s concerns, being the lone lady aspirant for the eight-member Municipal Council of the town.

She served as Municipal Council member in Moises Padilla from 2007 to 2010 and was chairman of the Council’s women and health committees.

Poll officer asks for relief for threats

Friday, May 3, 2013 - 08:47 a.m.

THE Comelec Officer of Toboso is asking for relief, because of threats he has been reportedly receiving as the Election Day nears, according to Provincial Comelec Supervisor lawyer Wil Arceno.

Arceno said his request is the reason why Toboso Election officer Jeremias Peromingan would be swapped with the Comelec officer of Victorias City Vinancio Linazan.

101 ballot boxes for Bacolod now at Bays Center

Friday, May 3, 2013 - 08:44 a.m.

THE Commission on Election (Comelec) in Bacolod received 101 ballot boxes from Comelec-Manila on Thursday as replenishment to the ballot boxes used in the poll protest of DILG Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas against Vice President Jejomar Binay and a local election protest filed in 2010.

Bacolod City Election Officer lawyer Milagros Salud Villa said the additional ballot boxes were placed at Bays center under the custody of the City Treasurer's Office (CTO).

6 Visayan writers join Iyas National Writers Workshop

Friday, May 3, 2013 - 12:23 a.m.

SIX budding writers from Central Visayas were chosen as fellows to the 13th Iyas National Writers Workshop held last April 22-26 in the University of St. La Salle, Bacolod City, Negros Occidental.

The writers who represented the region were the following: Manuel Avenido Jr. and Kareen Kristeen Bughaw for Cebuano short story, Michael Aaron Gomez for English short story, Erik Enriquez Tuban and Ma. Carmie Flor Ortego for Cebuano poetry, and Roberto Klemente Timonera for English poetry.

Moises Padilla to be included in election watchlist

Wednesday, May 1, 2013 - 11:15 p.m.

DUE to intense political rivalry in the town, Moises Padilla is being considered to be included in the watchlist of the election hotspots in Negros Occidental.

Provincial Commission on Elections (Comelec) supervisor Wil Arceno, who attended Wednesday’s Joint Security Control Center meeting at the Capitol, said they are on the process of assessing the situation of Moises Padilla after the opposing camps in the town accused each other of disrupting the campaign.

Local wage board awaits nod of mother unit on pay hike