• RICHARD T. CABALLERO JR.
The Provincial Development Council (PDC) officially welcomed the 14 newly-elected city and municipal chief executives across the province of Negros Occidental, with three securing committee chairmanships.
The election took place yesterday during the PDC’s third quarter regular meeting at the Natures Village Resort in Talisay City.
Among the five committees within the PDC, three will be led by newly-elected mayors. Bago City Mayor Marina Javellana-Yao was elected as chairman of the Social Development Committee, Manapla Mayor Mikaela Escalante will serve as the chairman of the Institutional Development Committee, while La Castellana Mayor Añejo Nico is set to lead the Committee on Economic Development.
The new mayor of Don Salvador Benedicto, Nehemiah de la Cruz, was elected as the co-chairman for Infrastructure/Physical Land Use Development, alongside Mayor Ella Celestina Yulo, who was elected as chairman.
The organization’s meeting, led by Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson, welcomed the new mayors who will be the new members of the PDC.
Other new city chief executives were from La Carlota, Talisay, Victorias, and Sagay, while the new municipal mayors were in Binalbagan, Toboso, EB Magalona, Valladolid, Hinigaran, and Isabela.
“This is the first PDC meeting after the election, so we naturally welcome the newly elected mayors to the body,” Lacson said, citing that the previous meeting was conducted in May 2025.
The organization also opened their doors to newly accredited non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and civil society organizations (CSOs), which officially took their oath as the new members of the council, administered by Lacson.*
