The administration’s Liberal Party (LP) has opened Tuesday its provincial headquarters in Negros Occidental at Mandalagan Bacolod City, led by Political Affairs Assistant Secretary Rolando Cusio.

The Liberal Party Provincial Headquarters in Mandalagan Bacolod City was inaugurated Tuesday.*

The inauguration of its headquarters was made on the first day of the campaign for national candidates - senatorial aspirants and partylist groups.

Cusio said President Benigno Aquino III, chairman of LP, will campaign hard for the party’s 12 senatorial candidates, and will lead the Team PNoy senatorial slate during the opening salvo of their campaign sorties in key cities nationwide, including Bacolod City.

LINGAYEN, Pangasinan - Maika De Oro, the 17-year old Political Science sophomore at University of St. La Salle established a new national Private Schools Athletic Association (PRISAA) record in her favorite event of discus throw, heaving the iron plate to a distance of 39.30 meters in the second day of athletics competition and gifted Western Visayas another gold medal in the ongoing 2013 National PRISAA at Narciso Ramos Sports and Civic Center in Lingayen, Pangasinan Wednesday.

De Oro eclipsed last year’s record of 32.49 meters set by Southern Mindanao April Rose Guiang in Cebu City as the latter only settled for silver with her 32.00 meters throw.

De Oro and Guiang’s rivalry started even during their Palarong Pambansa stints where the former would always reset the records in elementary and secondary until she graduated. De Oro did not compete in the last two staging of PRISAA in Zamboanga and Cebu City.

Their rivalry in college continues as De Oro also ruled the University Games with a distance of 37.65 meters, while the 17-year old sophomore criminology student of University of Mindanao could only manage 33.84 meters.

Fil-Am pointguard Joshua Urbiztondo of Barako Bull became the first recipient of the Accel-PBA Press Corps Player of the Week award after the spitfirish 6-1 sentinel towed the Energy Colas to two straight wins in a span of just three days in the current Commissioner’s Cup wars.

Nicknamed ‘Fire Ball’, the undrafted Philippine Basketball Association player out of Fresno Pacific University has become a journeyman in the pro league having played for four teams in the same number of seasons despite his unorthodox brand of play.

Urbiztondo was signed by the defunct Sta. Lucia Realtors in 2009 where he had the opportunity to play alongside former Most Valuable Player and Rookie of the Year winner Kelly Williams as well as another ROY winner in Ryan Reyes before the duo were shipped to Talk ‘N Text during the midseason.

Eventually, Meralco took over the Sta.Lucia franchise and Urbiztondo was quickly traded to Air21 together with the Bolts’ third overall rookie pick. At Air21 (renamed Barako Bull), Urbiztondo showed some promise and he even scored 31 markers on 7-of-8 shooting from downtown in a game versus San Miguel Beer (now Petron) they won, 92-87.

At season’s end, B-Meg (now San Mig Coffee) acquired Urbiztondo from his former quintet where he teamed up with James Yap and import Denzel Bowles for the Llamados in helping Coach Tim Cone win the 2011-12 PBA Commissioner’s Cup crown over the Tropang Texters.

LINGAYEN, Pangasinan - Western Visayas blanked Region 3, 15-0 and will face Region 5 today in Group A and the third day of football competitions on the 2013 National PRISAA Games being played at the Pangasinan State University football pitch here.

Midfielder Joel Bedia, Jr., started the onslaught in the 7th minute and followed by three other goals in 15th, 22nd and 40th, but it was midfielder Ralph Christian Layumas who had the most goals with five connecting in the 11th, 26th, 47th, 62nd and 68th minutes.

Striker Jimuel Ariola connects with three in the 13th, 25th and 33th minutes; J. Baguioro in the 18th and Angel Gabriel Bayohan in the 63rd and 65th minute.

Organizer Bing Soyao, adviser of the Basketball Unified Sports Group, announced on yesterday that the meeting of teams invited for the club’s 2nd invitational tournament set Saturday, February 16 has been postponed later this month.

Soyao said that this will give the 6 teams in the 40-up category and 4 in the 50-Up division time to finalize its lineup and submit for screening to the BUSG organizing committee composed of himself, vice chair Siao Hua Ng, commissioner Hermilo Borromeo, assistant commissioners Errol Dreyfus and Jorge delos Reyes.

Entry fee is P4,500 plus a refundable default bond of P500 is payable before the start of the tournament . Games will be played on Sundays at West Negros University gym and the No pay No play rule will be strictly applied.

The Philippine National Police (PNP) is zeroing in on five potential armed groups capable of creating election-related violence in Western Visayas (Region 6) but the Commission on Elections (Comelec) office has yet to validate the report.

In a Philippines News Agency (PNA) report quoting a declassified PNP information, the four of the five groups are based in the province of Negros Occidental:

• The Pena Group of the town of Pulupandan,
• Yap Group in Escalante City,
• the Malabor Group in Isabela
•  and Nazareno Group in Moises Padilla town.

Elements of Police Station 7 (Barangay Mansilingan) in Bacolod City arrested four persons who allegedly used a fake land title as a collateral for a loan.

PS7’s Police Officer 2 Rudymil Omison said collared were Jeffrey Tiangha, 25, single, of Abada-Escay, Brgy. Granada, Bacolod; Victoria Guinabo, 54, married, of E. B. Magalona, broker Diana Lachica, of legal age, resident of Eroreco, and Arceli Nonan, 51, of Brgy. 17, Bacolod.

Omison said that based on a police blotter, on February 1, Lachica went to the house of Norman Mejica, 40, married, of Brgy. Alijis, Bacolod, to mortgage a land title owned by a certain Carmen Chu Gonzales, in the amount of P150,000.

It was Vice Mayor Jude Thaddeus Sayson who said that the Northbound Terminal under the management of Mr. Crispin Chua "definitely has violation in the collection of terminal fees" because this did not pass approval or authorization from the Bacolod City Council.

"Why then would he ask me if the terminal is illegal or not?," challenged former Councilor Wilson Gamboa, Jr., adding, "It was admitted in a press conference of SSTONE officials last February 11, 2013 that there was no Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) or an Implementing Ordinance to support the continued collection of terminal fees therefore this is illegal."

"Why then would they challenge me to go to court when the burden of proof is now on them (Sayson and Chua) after all these admissions," Gamboa who authored Ordinance 480 creating the Northbound Terminal, said.

The Bacolod City congressional race is heating up with the three contenders vying for the post almost even in the latest poll survey among 326 Persons With Disabilities (PWDs) group.

The results of the mock election held over the weekend indicated very clearly the following.

Congressional race: Evelio Leonardia - 31%; Anthony Golez - 28%; Lyndon Caña - 24%

Congressional aspirant Caña has been inching up in the surveys, according to most of the PWDs, because of his excellent record of integrity, when he was a city councilor.

In the mayoralty race, Monico Puentevella is way ahead with 57.8% while mayoralty aspirant Thaddy Sayson only garnered 30.6%.