Long blackout hits
north, millions lost
BY ADRIAN NEMES III

Victorias City, E.B. Magalona town and part of Manapla in Negros Occidental have not had electricity since Saturday because of a damaged 20 MVA transformer in one of the power sub-stations of the VMC Rural Electric Cooperative.

The blackout has affected at least 20,000 consumers and is causing about P1.2 million in losses a day to the electric cooperative, VRESCO general manager Arturo Cabrera said yesterday. Cabrera said the damaged transformer at the power sub-station of VRESCO located in Victorias City is very old as it had been installed in 1986 yet, like the transformers in their other sub stations.

To resolve the problem, VRESCO borrowed a 10MVA transformer from the Negros Occidental Electric Cooperative in Kabankalan and it was being installed as of yesterday, he said.

Hinobaan killer ma
freed from jail
BY GILBERT BAYORAN

The 33-year-old mother who killed her husband and one-year-old child in Hinobaan, Negros Occidental, Saturday was released yesterday from jail, after the lapse of the 36-hour reglamentary period of detention, when no criminal complaint had been filed against her, police investigator PO3 Eddie Napolis said.

Napolis, however, said that the Municipal Social Welfare and Development Office that took the suspect, Arlen Galan, into its custody, requested to have her remain in police custody, for safekeeping.

Galan, who is reportedly suffering from postpartum psychosis, killed her husband, Johnny, 50, and one-year-old son, Jay Mar, and inflicted injuries on her three other children, at their residence Saturday in Brgy. Bacuyangan, Hinobaan, Negros Occidental.

We’re still operating,
security agency says
BY CARLA GOMEZ

The owner of E and R Security Agency in Bacolod City yesterday said their clients have nothing to worry about as it is continuing to operate with the required licenses issued by government.

Enieda Montilla said the firearms used by her agency’s guards are all licensed.

She also stressed that her agency has a certificate of accreditation to deploy licensed protection agents or escorts, and a Commission on Elections certificate of authority for its personnel to transport firearms during the election period.