IN BACOLOD
Rerouting of loaded
cane trucks started

The Bacolod government yesterday implemented a rerouting of cane trucks passing through the city to avoid accidents while the repair of a 40-year-old bridge is ongoing.

Bacolod City Police Office Traffic Management Unit chief, Senior Inspector Levy Pangue, said the traffic scheme will affect loaded cane trucks traversing the circumferential road until the renovation of the PHHC Bridge near the Jack and Jill School is finished.

There is a hole in one part of the bridge that could cause it collapse if loaded cane trucks will continue to pass there, Norma Delonguines, Bacolod City Department of Public Works and Highways chief, said.

Instead of proceeding to the bridge, loaded cane trucks have to turn left to Burgos Street and make a right turn to Lopez-Jaena Street , make another right turn towards Tindalo Street , until they reach C.L. Montelibano Avenue and go back to the circumferential road, Pangue said.

He emphasized, however, that loaded trucks can only use this alternative route between 9 p.m. and 7 a.m. while empty cane trucks, cars and jeepneys can still use the bridge.

Members of the TMU and the Bacolod Traffic Authority Office will be detailed to guide the traffic in the two areas, Councilor Wilson Gamboa Jr. said.

Delonguines said that the rerouting aims to prevent accidents while they repair the bridge, which she said, was built in the early 1960's, according to residents.

She also said they expect to finish the project in January, adding that she will ask for a total replacement of the structure from the DPWH central office but the total reconstruction of the bridge will depend on the availability of a budget from their central office.*PP

back to top

‘Court order needed for disposal'
OF SEIZED FIRECRACKERS

The Bacolod City police yesterday said that the firecrackers worth more than P300,000 seized from a marketing firm Wednesday will be destroyed as soon as the court authorizes their disposal.

The police, Bureau of Customs, Philippine Coast Guard, and the Navy, were, however, are still uncertain as to how the pyrotechnics had entered Negros Occidental and stored in a non-designated place in Bacolod City despite checkpoints at the city's ports and at major roads.

Senior Supt. Ronilo Quebrar, Bacolod City Police Office director, said they would most likely douse the 72 boxes of piccolo, rockets, and colored fireworks with water as soon as Municipal Trial Court in Cities Branch 4 Judge Danilo Amisola directs them to do so.

Police Station 1 commander, Chief Inspector Noel Manaay said he has requested for the disposal of the items because they are highly flammable and cannot be stored at the precinct.

The boxes that were confiscated from One Plus One Marketing by a police team led by Manaay, Wednesday, on the strength of a search warrant issued by Amisola for violations of Bacolod City Ordinance No. 186 and Executive Order No. 2, are now piled up at Police Station 1.

C.O. No. 186 designates certain areas in the city where approved firecrackers could be stored and sold, while E.O. No. 21 states the fees for the items.

The marketing firm has admitted the lack of necessary permits for the items to be stored and sold in the city.

The Bacolod City government has designated the area along Palanca Drive at the reclamation area, behind the SM North Wing to be the place where vendors can store and sell firecrackers.*PP

back to top