Guv raising COA delay
on land sale to PNoy
BY CARLA GOMEZ

Gov. Alfredo Marañon Jr. yesterday said he will raise to President Benigno Aquino III the delay in the ruling of the Commission on Audit on the contracts for the sale and lease by the Negros Occidental provincial government of its 7.7-hectare property in Bacolod City to Ayala Land as a last resort.

The contracts were submitted to COA for review in August last year, and the governor has been asking the Commission to rule on them.

The Metro Bacolod Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Bacolod Filipino Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Bacolod Sangguniang Panlungsod have also called for COA action, saying it is delaying development for Bacolod City and Negros Occidental.

A construction foreman died in a hospital yesterday after relatives of his neighbor, whom he was suspected to have killed over coconuts, allegedly ganged up on him and stabbed him in Brgy. Alijis, Bacolod City, Sunday night.

The fatalities were foreman Jimmy Paypon, 49, and Romaldo Barena, 55, both of Purok Gaisano, Brgy. Alijis.

Investigation showed that at about 7 p.m. Sunday, Barena was having drinks with his companions, whose names were not disclosed, near his house when Paypon came and stabbed him repeatedly without provocation.

Airport officials yesterday said immediate measures are being taken to improve the facilities and services at the Bacolod Silay Airport amid mounting complaints, especially on Facebook, which have gone viral.

The assurance came from Bacolod Silay Airport manager Mecine Reyes and Assistant Director General II Edgardo Costes of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines.

In a letter posted on the Facebook group page called “Bacolod-Silay Airport... just our opinion!” yesterday by Joey Kilayko Montalvo, Costes wrote that “immediate measures are being taken up to address the problem, particularly on the reported dirty and awful smell of the toilets, which is believed caused by the failure of the electronic device to automatically flush the urinals.”