Degamo, Macias proclaimed

INCUMBENT governor Roel Degamo and vice governor Mark Macias were proclaimed as Negros Oriental governor and vice governor, respectively, at the Session Hall of the Provincial Board Friday afternoon.

Governor Degamo obtained the highest votes against his opponents Negros Oriental Representative Jocelyn Limkaichong (1st district) and former finance secretary Margarito Teves.

50 PCOS machines in NegOr bog down

AT LEAST 50 precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines in Negros Oriental bogged down, a top official of the Commission on Elections in the province said.

Provincial Election Supervisor Juvenal Tuale told Sun.Star that of the 25 towns and cities, at least two to three PCOS machines malfunctioned.

8 moms vie for Ginang ng Santacruzan 2013

EIGHT homemakers from different parts of the city will vie for the title of “Ginang ng Santacruzan 2013” on May 10, at 7 p.m. at the Quezon park.

City Tourism Officer Woodrow Maquiling Jr. said the search for the Ginang ng Santacruzan started in 2012 with a huge success.

City revives traditional Pinoy games

THE City Government of Dumaguete, through the City Tourism Office, will hold the “Balik Dulang Pinoy 2013 for kids aged 7-13 years old for both boys and girls.

City Tourism Officer Woodrow Maquiling Jr. said the activity will be on May 18 at 8 a.m. at the Quezon park, as a celebration of traditional Filipino games such as Pot braking, Patintero, Tug-of-War, Bato Lata, and Sack race.

INC executive minister visits Dumaguete

BROTHER Eduardo Manalo, executive minister of Iglesia Ni Cristo (INC), visited Dumaguete Friday to officiate an important occasion in their congregation.

Brother Manalo ordained 60 new ministers mostly coming from Mindanao area in a special worship service attended by thousands of brethren.

No petitions for wage hike in Negros Oriental

DESPITE the Labor Day commemoration, workers from Negros Oriental are not expecting a new wage increase, said Derek Erames, vice president of the Tripartite Industrial Peace Council (TIPC) for management.

Rogen Camba, provincial director of the Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) said that there is no petition for any wage increase from the different labor groups in Negros Oriental.

Comelec: No missing PCOS machines

THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) in Negros Oriental said there were no missing units of Precinct Count Optical Scanners (PCOS) machines intended for the province.

Provincial Election Supervisor Juvenal Tuale told Sun.Star that all PCOS machines for Negros Oriental arrived safely.

Diarrhea outbreak remains unsolved

ALTHOUGH all of the 160 Palarong Pambansa delegates from Eastern Visayas region went home in good health after earlier suffering from a diarrhea outbreak, the Medical and Sanitation Committee is still facing a blank wall in threshing the cause of the outbreak.

Medical and Sanitation head Dr. Henrissa Calumpang said that in a laboratory result of the water sampling, it showed that the water is negative of e-coli and bacterial counts.

‘Diarrhea’ downs 38 more Palaro delegates

DUMAGUETE CITY -- Suspected diarrhea once again downed participants of this year’s Palarong Pambansa, this time affecting members of the Cotabato Regional Athletic Association (CRAA).

Ice blocks eyed in Palaro diarrhea outbreak

THE Department of Health (DOH) in Central Visayas is not discounting the possibility that ice blocks might have caused the diarrhea outbreak that downed 160 athletes and officials of the Eastern Visayas delegation during the Palarong Pambansa 2013 held in Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental.

Renan Cimafranca, chief of the Regional Epidemiology Surveillance Unit (Resu) of DOH-Central Visayas, told media Tuesday that they will get a sample of the ice blocks that were used to cool the drinking water supplies.

'Diarrhea' downs 169 Palarong Pambansa delegates

DUMAGUETE CITY -– The number of diarrhea victims among delegates of Eastern Visayas Region to the Palarong Pambansa 2013 here has risen to 169, according to one of the doctors accompanying the delegation.

Police on heightened alert for Aquino’s visit

THE Philippine National Police (PNP) in Dumaguete City is on heightened alert status in connection with the visit of President Benigno Aquino III in the city on Thursday.

City police Chief James Gofort told Sun.Star that they are still on alert since athletes coming from all over the country are in the city to participate in the Palarong Pambansa 2013.

Amusement park, commercial stalls questioned

MEMBERS of the Provincial Board (PB) in Negros Oriental questioned the installation of the amusement park and commercial stalls situated at the Capitol Ground in Dumaguete City.

The installation of the temporary amusement park and commercial stalls is part of the program of the Provincial Government in connection with the activities during the Palarong Pambansa 2013.

Local officials trained to promote local projects

INFORMATION Officers of 11 towns in Negros Oriental gathered in Dumaguete City for an advocacy planning workshop to discuss communication strategies to promote projects to combat poverty in their respective areas.

The activity was organized by the Department of Social Welfare and Development-Central Visayas (DSWD) to promote the Community-Driven Development (CDD) approach of the Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan – Integrated and Delivery of Social Services (Kalahi-CIDSS) Project as an effective strategy to address community needs and overall poverty concerns.

Comelec to tear off illegal posters

THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) in Dumaguete City will start tearing off political campaign materials that violate election rules on Wednesday.

Dumaguete City Election Officer Jerome Brillantes said posters owned by national candidates that were placed on trees, electric posts and outside common poster areas will all be removed, stressing these were illegal.

Dengue in Negros Oriental up by 400% this year

THE Department of Health (DOH) in Negros Oriental province expressed alarm over the increasing cases of dengue in the province even during summer days.

Records from the Provincial Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit (Pesu) of the DOH showed that dengue cases in the province this year increased by 400 percent compared to the same period last year.

Road mishap kills 4, injures 4

FOUR persons were killed, including a five-year-old boy, in a road accident at Barangay Naiba, San Jose, Negros Oriental on Saturday.

The fatalities were identified as Casimero Taguiam, 71, Fedencio Tago-an, 44, Josephine Jerusalem, 30, and her son James Jerusalem, 5, all of Barangay Naiba.

160 students to work summer job

A TOTAL of 160 high school graduate will start to work with the City Government of Dumaguete Tuesday under the Special Program for the Employment of Students (Spes) of the Department of Labor and Employment (Dole).

City Administrator William Ablong said the students will work eight hours a day and will receive P200 as daily pay.

City inks deal on disaster response project ‘Noah’s Ark’

THE Dumaguete City Government signed Thursday an agreement for the implementation of the community-based "Noah’s Ark" project, which provides disaster-risk management training, workshops and drills for identified barangays badly hit by calamity.

The project, in partnership with the Corporate Network for Disaster Response (CDNR), Smart Communications, Department of Education (DepEd)-Dumaguete City Division and the Candauay Barangay Council, aims to strengthen the capacities of the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Councils (DRRMCs) at the city and barangay levels in order to prepare them to cope with impacts of flooding.

Mayor advocates family-based environmental entrepreneurship

BAIS City Mayor Karen Villanueva has created an office to handle activities relating to livelihood and cooperative development to alleviate poverty and ease constituents from tight financial situations.

The office, headed by Florante Bacang, Environmental Management Specialist II, sets the direction of already organized associations and transforms them into sustainable cooperatives, said Mark Montesa of the Bais City local government.

Brown rice craze hits Dumaguete

DUMAGUETE grew hotter as the brown rice fever hit the city with Oxfam and Dakila’s launch of the Brown Rice Campaign on Wednesday, September 5, at Robinsons Place.

Mallgoers were treated to a host of activities that included an organic market, food fair, free diet consultation clinic, photo booth, and celebrity cook-off challenge.

Dengue kills girl, 7

A SEVEN-YEAR-OLD girl of Piapi village in Dumaguete City, who is supposed to celebrate her birthday today, Friday, died of dengue recently.

Nepthanjel Arbas was admitted at the Silliman Medical Center on Monday.

Broadcaster pleads not guilty to libel raps

A BROADCASTER pleaded not guilty to the crime of libel in an arraignment held at Branch 38 of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) in Dumaguete City Thursday morning.

Joinny Cahilog, also known as Rex Santos, represented by his lawyer, pleaded not guilty of the crime charged against him by businessman Nekane LLanderal Gobonseng more than six months ago.

'Swindler' in jail for keeping marijuana

THE Regional Trial Court (RTC) in Dumaguete City convicted an alleged swindler to a minimum of 12 years and one day to a maximum of 14 years in prison for keeping two sticks of marijuana more than two years ago.

The court also ordered Jefferson Cruz to pay a fine of P400,000.

15 illegally recruited farmers rescued

AT LEAST 15 famers from the hinterland of Mabinay town were rescued by the Philippine National Police (PNP) in cooperation with the village officials, a top official of the Visayan Forum (VF) said Thursday.

VF’s anti-human trafficking monitoring officer Romualdo Señeres told Sun.Star that the 15 farmers from Samac, Mabinay in Negros Oriental were first recruited on July 26 by a licensed recruiter for Central Luzon and Calabarzon regions to work in farms.

Dengue cases up

CASES of dengue in Negros Oriental increased by 129.6 percent in 2012 compared to 2011 of the same period, a top official of the Department of Health (DOH) Dumaguete City said.

Dr. Socrates Villamor, chief of the Provincial Epidemiology Surveillance Unit (Pesu) of the DOH, said as of July 28, a total of 581 cases were admitted at the three major hospitals in Dumaguete City with three deaths.

‘Standard helmet’ implementation moved

THE Land Transportation Office (LTO) in Dumaguete City has moved the implementation of the Helmet Law to January 2013 instead of August 2012.

LTO District chief Roland Ramos said the implementation of the law will be moved following the request of Governor Roel Degamo and Mayor Manuel Sagarbarria.

Soldier’s kin can’t take his death

THE family of a soldier from Tanjay City, Negros Oriental, who was killed in a clash between the government troops and the Abu Sayyaf bandits in Basilan last week, cannot accept his death.

The remains of Private First Class (PFC) Segundiano Tamayo arrived at the Dumaguete Airport from Zamboanga City through the Philippine Air Force C130 plane on Saturday afternoon.

Guv to meet LTO, police for helmet law suspension

GOVERNOR Roel Degamo is set to meet top officials of the Land Transportation Office (LTO) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) to ask for possible suspension of the implementation of the controversial helmet law.

In a public message during his radio program “Gugma sa Probinsiya” over dyGM on Thursday, Degamo said he, together with Dumaguete City Mayor Manuel Sagabarria, will meet LTO District Chief Roland Ramos and PNP Provincial Director Senior Superintendent Edward Caranza on Friday regarding their concern.

4 bridges to replace critical spillways

DUMAGUETE City Mayor Manuel Sagarbarria said Wednesday that the four critical spillways along Banica River will be replaced by four bridges through the National Government’s “Tulay ng Pangulo” program.

The spillways connecting Taclobo ang Bagacay, as well as Batinguel to Bagacay are the priority of the “Tulay ng Pangulo” projects, said Sagarbarria.