Carla P. Gomez

The about two-ton whale shark being buried in Barangay Zone 1A, Pulupandan, Sunday.* Roy dela Peña photoA dead endangered whale shark, locally known as a Butanding, found trapped in a fish corral one kilometer from the shoreline of Barangay Zone 1A in Pulupandan, Negros Occidental, was buried on Sunday, September 26, Marian Jill Sajo Abeto, Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Bacolod OIC, said Monday.The whale shark was estimated to weigh about two tons, with a length of 7.37 meters, and a width of 1.42 meters.“Whale sharks (Rhincodon typus) are the largest shark, and indeed largest of any fishes alive today. They feed on plankton and travel large distances to find enough food to sustain their huge size, and to reproduce,” according to the World Wildlife Fund.“Whale s...

TF Disiplina photoEighteen persons were issued citation tickets for violating COVID-19 health protocols and curfew while waiting in line to register to vote outside the University of St. La Salle Coliseum on Monday, September 27.Thirteen were issued citation tickets for violating Bacolod City’s 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. curfew, Wilfredo Geolingo, Bacolod City Task Force Disiplina action officer, said.They were lining up to register to vote as early as 1:30 a.m., he said.Five others were issued citation tickets for violating the physical distancing rule, he added.About 1,600 people showed up to register to vote at the USLS Coliseum on Monday and the line was all the way up to the Doctor’s Hospital at BS Aquino Drive, he said.Bacolod Election Officer Kathrina Trinio Caña and ...

Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson and Senator Risa Hotiveros (5th and 6th from left) cut the ribbon at the inauguration of the Mobile Health Clinic at the Capitol grounds in Bacolod City*Richard Malihan photoSenator Risa Hontiveros launched her Mobile Health Clinic project with Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson at the Negros Occidental Capitol grounds in Bacolod City Monday afternoon, September 27.The mobile clinic aims to provide free health services, including X-rays, ultrasounds, ECGs, and blood chemistry.The mobile clinic will provide non COVID health services, she said.Hontiveros and Lacson also inked a partnership agreement to provide medical assistance for indigent patients at the Teresita L. Jalandoni Provincial Hospital in Silay City.Lacson said the launching of the Mobile H...

The active COVID-19 cases in Negros Occidental increased to 3,896, while there was a slight decrease in the Bacolod City cases to 1,973 on Monday, September 27.The active COVID-19 cases in Negros Occidental were 3,768 and 2,012 in Bacolod City on Sunday.The increase of the COVID-19 positivity rate of Negros Occidental from 4.70 percent from August 27 to September 9 to 8.25 percent from September 10 to 23, has triggered the elevation of the province’s risk classification to high, the DOH said yesterday.The risk classification of Bacolod City remained high with its COVID-19 positivity rate having increased from 13.59 percent from August 27 to September 9 to 19.89 percent from September 10 to 23, the DOH added.Both areas are under Alert Level 4, the DOH reiterated Monday.*

The hearing of the petition for exclusion of former Rep. Alfredo Abelardo Benitez from the list of registered voters of Bacolod City will be held at the Bacolod Hall of Justice 2 p.m. Tuesday, September 28, his lawyer Andrei Saril said.The petition filed by Grupo Progreso allies Hector Yula, Teodoro Abao and Jonah Tornea Abao will be heard by Judge Francisco Pando of the Municipal Trial Court in Cities Branch 4.The petition was filed against Benitez and the Bacolod Election Registration Board (ERB) composed of Bacolod Elections Officer Kathrina Trinio-Caña, City Civil Registrar Hermilo Pa-oyon and Schools Superintendent Gladys Amelaine Sales.The petitioners want Benitez excluded from the list of registered voters of Precinct No. 0629A in Barangay Mandalagan, Bacolod.Benitez...

Senator Risa Hontiveros at the Capitol in Bacolod City Monday.*Richard Malihan photoSenator Risa Hontiveros said Monday, September 27, that she is hoping for a united front among the non-administration presidential bets in order to defeat whoever is fielded by President Rodrigo Duterte.Hontiveros, who was in Bacolod City for the launching of her Mobile Health Clinic at the Capitol grounds, said she is still waiting for Vice President Leni Robredo to decide if she will run for president.“Whatever she decides it seems that there will be more than one presidential candidate among the opposition or non-admin,” she said.“So even if we don’t have a so-called ideal candidate I am hoping and pushing that we have a united front,” she said.During the campaign perhaps the non admi...

La Carlota Mayor Rex Jalandoon is the official candidate of the United Negros Alliance for the May 2022 polls, Negros Occidental Vice Governor Jeffrey Ferrer, UNegA president, said Monday, September 27.Ferrer said Jalandoon has already been issued a UNegA Certificate of Nomination and will be supported by the party.This was stressed by Ferrer amid reports that Jalandoon will be challenged by Councilor Demi John Honrado, former mayor of La Carlota City, who is also a UNegA member.Ferrer said Honrado has not spoken to him about any plans to run for mayor, and perhaps if he does he will do so as an independent.Jalandoon, who was vice mayor of La Carlota, assumed the post of mayor when Luis Jalandoni III died in January 2020.*

The Philippine College of Physicians (PCP) on Saturday, September 25, called on the public to double their efforts to stay safe amid the alarming surge of COVID-19 cases and deaths in Negros Occidental and Bacolod City.The PCP-Negros Occidental chapter headed by Dr. Ronel Sario, in a health advisory, said the number of persons infected by the virus in the city and province on a daily basis is increasing at alarming rates.The Department of Health in Western Visayas has placed Bacolod City and Negros Occidental under the highest COVID-19 alert level of 4 and classified both as high risk areas for COVID-19 transmission.Bacolod City had 2,012 active COVID-19 cases and Negros Occidental had 3,470 on Sunday, September 26, the DOH reported.Based on PCP data the number of COVID-19 ...

Some of the missing passengers from a fishing boat from Cadiz City in Negros Occidental that sank in the waters between Carles town in Iloilo province and Sicogon Island Friday were found during the weekend.*PCG photoThe bodies of five of the nine missing crew of a fishing boat from Cadiz City that sank in the waters between Iloilo province and Sicogon Island Friday were recovered during the weekend, Captain Ludovico Librilla, Philippine Coast Guard Western Visayas deputy commander, said Sunday, September 26.Recovered by divers inside the FB St. Peter the Fisherman II wreck that sank 44 meters deep were the bodies Norberto Parlotza of Bantayan Island, Cebu, and Rommel Engle of Cadiz City, Negros Occidental, on Saturday, September 25, Librilla said.On Sunday recovered were the b...

The Philippine Genome Center has found nine more Negros Occidental residents positive for the highly contagious COVID-19 Delta variant, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said Sunday, September 26.All nine, including a nurse from the Teresita L. Jalandoni Provincial Hospital in Silay City and a teacher, have recovered, said Diaz who received the report Sunday.Seven were unvaccinated and two were fully vaccinated, he said.Those detected with the Delta variant were a 60-year-old female, 52-year-old male and 40-year-old male from San Carlos City, 38-year-old female from Bago City, 8-year-old boy from Sagay City, 32-year-old male from Silay City, 45-year-old female from Kabankalan City, 26-year-old male from Escalante City and a 26-year-old male from Manapla.The nine new c...