SP finally approves
P2B Negros budget
BY GILBERT BAYORAN

The proposed P2.02 billion budget of the province of Negros Occidental this year, was finally approved yesterday by the Sangguniang Panlalawigan, ironically, without questions from the 10 board members present.

The approval of the budget, deliberation on which lasted for only about 10 minutes, was endorsed and duly seconded by all members present, as requested by Board Member Salvador Escalante, chairperson of the SP committee on Finance and Appropriations.

Escalante thanked his colleagues for approving the budget, which he had been pushing for almost seven months, starting late last year.

Ibañez richest at SP
BY CARLA GOMEZ

Board Member Melvin Ibañez, a doctor and farmer, is the richest member of the Negros Occidental Sangguniang Panlalawigan, as shown in the Statements of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth submitted by members of the SP.

Ibañez’s net worth is P46,007,714.45while the SP member with the lowest net worth is Sangguniang Kabataan president Thea Mae Dino with P80,000.

Vice Governor Genaro Alvarez Jr. listed a net worth of P12,508,077.

Unions back pay hike bid
BY CARLA GOMEZ

Leaders of about 15 labor unions yesterday aired their support for a petition for wage increases in Western Visayas, filed by the Philippine Agricultural, Commercial, and Industrial Workers' Union-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines before the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board, RTWPB labor representative Wennie Sancho said.

The RTWPB, headed by Labor Regional Director Ponciano Ligutom, held a consultation at the Worker Livelihood Center in Bacolod with the workers’ groups.

“We will continue to consult not only with unions but the nonunionized sector,” Ligutom said. Unions should not only depend on wages, they should also get benefits from Collective Bargaining Agreements, he added.