National Bureau of Investigation agents yesterday seized several boxes of alleged counterfeit medicines from seven branches of Sincere Drug Store and the storage facility of their supplier in Bacolod City.

Ricky Enriquez, owner of the Sincere chain of drug stores, told Aksyon Radyo Bacolod that the raids conducted on his establishments were unfair as he was singled out.

NBI-Bacolod head Jose Ermie Monsanto yesterday said the raid was conducted by the Intellectual Property Rights Division of NBI Manila on the complaint of Unilab Laboratories.

A Bacolod resident facing three drug charges for possession and sale of shabu, was sentenced to life imprisonment for one of them yesterday.

Bacolod Regional Trial Court Judge Edgar Garvilles  sentenced Ruel Nemes Fernandez  of Purok Mahigugma-on, Barangay 22, Bacolod City, in Criminal Case No. 03-25489 to life imprisonment and  imposed a fine of P500,000 for selling  .05 gram of shabu  to a police  poseur buyer  for P100 on Oct. 9, 2003.

Fernandez was also sentenced to an indeterminate prison term of 12 years and one day as minimum, to 15 years as maximum and to pay and fine of P10,000 for possession of shabu in Criminal Case 03-25490.

If the state-managed Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office has the Philippine lotto and Small Town Lottery operating in Negros Occidental, the Philippine Amusement Gaming Corp. has its own Bingo Millions numbers game that also aims to eradicate the illegal numbers games, such as jai-alai and daily double, and to provide livelihood opportunities to 5,000 Negrenses.

PAGCOR has granted Comnet Management Corp., owned by businessman Cesar Reyes, authority to operate Bingo Millions in Negros Occidental, Gary Carreon, sales director of Comnet, said yesterday.

Carreon said the Comnet that started Bingo operations last year, is now operating in Leyte, Samar, Iloilo, Negros Oriental in Visayas, majority of areas of Metro Manila, and soon in Cebu, Bohol and in key areas of Mindanao.