President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo signs Republic Act No. 9741 at Malacañang's Reception Hall as its author Rep. Jose Carlos Lacson (Neg. Occ., 3rd District) looks on*

After a long battle a milestone move to protect the environment has become a law.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo late Tuesday signed into law Republic Act 9741, which strictly imposes a logging ban in the third district of Negros Occidental, Rep. Jose Carlos “Kako”  Lacson (Neg. Occ., 3rd District) told the DAILY STAR  yesterday.

The new law sets a total log ban in the third district of Negros Occidental, which includes Silay, Talisay and Victorias cities, and EB Magalona, and Murcia towns.

An apparently insane man who climbed up the 9-foot Central Negros Electric Cooperative 10 MVA Burgos transformer substation in Barangay Estefania was electrocuted, triggering a shutdown of the system that caused a power outage in Bacolod City for more than an hour last night, CENECO spokesman Roel Venus said.

The shutdown began at 8:39 p.m. and power restoration began at 9:36 p.m., National Grid Corp. of the Philippines Negros head, Zosimo Briones, said.

The shutdown at the Burgos feeder caused an automatic isolation of the NGCP breaker in Kabankalan and also caused power outages in northern Negros Occidental, Briones added.

Manuel Lamata, president of the United Sugar Producers Federation, yesterday called on sugar planters to seek quedan financing through their associations, to prevent traders from buying their sugar at low prices.

He said sugar sold at P1,275 per Lkg at the  Southern Negros Development Corp. yesterday, from P1,375 the previous week, or a plunge of P100.

The traders are using the price freeze in typhoon-hit areas as an excuse for the low bids, but it is not a valid reason, Lamata said.