PNP, Army securing
ballot delivery today
BY CARLA GOMEZ

The Commission on Elections is delivering 1.57 million ballots for the May 13 polls to the treasurers of the 13 cities and 19 towns of Negros Occidental today, Provincial Elections Supervisor Wil Arceño said yesterday.

He said the ballots, that are packed and sealed for each town and city, and the ballot boxes, were complete and being loaded on delivery trucks at a Bacolod warehouse yesterday.

The police and the army will provide security for the ballots and ballot boxes, he said.

Security plan for
May 13 ready
BY GILBERT BAYORAN

The security preparations of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and National Police for the May 13 elections in Negros Occidental, are now in-place, Senior Supt. Ricardo de la Paz, officer-in-charge of the Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office said yesterday.

De la Paz said the detailed security plans, a product of a series of meetings held in every district of the province by local state security forces, was presented yesterday to Commission on Elections regional director  Renato Magbutay and Chief Supt. Agrimero Cruz, regional police director of Western Visayas.

De la Paz said the detailed election security plans aim to ensure fair and peaceful elections in Negros Occidental.

Workers call for wage
hike on Labor Day
BY LISA GAPAC & ADRIAN NEMES III

Workers pressed for the passage of a P125 across-the-board wage increase, and an end to union busting, “contractualization” and repression yesterday as they marked the 127th Labor Day celebration in Bacolod City.

About 3,000 members of the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, National Federation of Sugarcane Workers, the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines, General Alliance of Workers’ Assemblies, Partido ng Mangagawa, General Alliance of Workers’ Assembly, Confederation for Unity and Advancement of Government Employees-Bacolod, Kilusang Mayo Uno and their allied organizations bore the heat of the scorching sun and marched down the main thoroughfares of Bacolod in two rallies yesterday.