Voters in Negros Occidental are projected to increase by a little more than 200,000 when the count of new registrants is completed, outgoing provincial COMELEC Supervisor Daisy Real said yesterday.

Real, who has been promoted to director 3 of the COMELEC Planning Office, has been replaced by Jessie Suarez who assumed his post as provincial poll supervisor yesterday.

Negros Occidental currently has 1,485,900 voters but with the large numbers of new registrants before the December 31 deadline, Real expects an increase of voters by 13 to 15 percent. The registration period is over, the COMELEC is just completing the biometric data capturing of new registrants, she said.

10 die as Neg. Occ.
ushers in New Year
BY GILBERT BAYORAN & DONALYN GUERRERO

Ten persons died and eight were injured in Negros Occidental before and after the New Year's eve celebration in incidents not related to the explosion of firecrackers, the police said yesterday.

Senior Supt. Rosendo Franco, provincial police director, yesterday said the information dissemination campaign and warning against indiscriminate firing proved successful as they recorded zero incidents during the period.

Three of the suspects in the shooting incidents in Negros Occidental are members of the Philippine Army and a militiaman, police investigations show.

Reds ready to dialog with guv
BY CARLA GOMEZ

Frank Fernandez, priest-turned-head of the Communist Party of the Philippine-Negros, for the first time officially announced willingness to dialog with Gov. Joseph Marañon to explore avenues of "cooperation in the interest of the masses."

Fernandez, in a recorded message received by the DAILY STAR yesterday, said the dialog would not constitute localized peace talks as sought by the national government.

"It will just be a simple exchange of ideas that should not compromise the principles of the revolutionary forces," he said. "We appreciate the call of Marañon to dialog with the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army. We are ready to talk to any government officials or individual officers of the Armed Forces of the Philippines-New People's Army," he said, "to explore possible areas of unity and cooperation in the interest of the masses."