Allies of slain guards,
reservists swap blame
BY GILBERT BAYORAN

Who fired the first shot?

Colleagues of the two slain security guards and Army reservists, who figured in a shootout Monday, at a disputed property in Hacienda Handumanan, Brgy. Concepcion, Talisay City, yesterday traded accusations on who started the gun battle.

Lt. Col. Nelson Trujillo, commander of the Army Reserve Command 605 th Community Defense Center, yesterday claimed his two personnel were ambushed by a group of armed men in Hacienda Handumanan..

‘Team Patay' tag
unchristian, Rivas says
BY CARLA GOMEZ

Msgr. Victorino Rivas yesterday said he will not put up “Team Patay/Team Buhay” tarpaulins at the Shrine of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, also known as the Redemptorist Church, in Bacolod City because he believes it is “unchristian” to malign people.

The Diocese of Bacolod's naming of candidates it is for or against on a publicly-displayed tarpaulin is also a violation of the Canon Law of the Catholic Church, said Rivas, who is rector of the Shrine of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, and judicial vicar of the Diocese of Bacolod.

Rivas, who has a doctorate in Canon Law, is also the president of the Pope John Paul II National Institute for Studies on Marriage and the Family in Bacolod City.

The officers of the Progressive Alliance of Capitol Employees yesterday declared a period of mourning that they said will last until the Negros Occidental provincial government workers receive their salary increases mandated by law and their P20,000 extra bonus.

PACE president Ruben Diamante yesterday said they are calling on Capitol employees to wear anything black, such as armbands, pins or T-shirts, to manifest their grief as the Sangguniang Panlalawigan meets for its regular session this afternoon.

The majority in the SP associated with Vice Governor Genaro Alvarez Jr. late last year had denied passage of the 2013 budget, saying specific allocations need to be stated and reviewed to protect the interest of the Negrenses.