Carla P. Gomez

Aug302021 by Carla P. GomezNo Comments

Bacolod remains under GCQ-HR, Negros Occidental GCQ Sept. 1-7: Roque

Bacolod City and Negros Oriental will remain under General Community Quarantine with heightened restrictions (GCQ-HR) from September 1 to 7, Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque announced Saturday, August 28.The Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) retained the GCQ status of Negros Occidental, he added.”This latest community quarantine classification shall take effect beginning September 1 until September 7, 2021, pending a change in community quarantine guidelines,” he said.The IATF retained the Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine (MECQ) status of the National Capital Region, along with Aklan, Iloilo province and Iloilo City in Region 6, he said.Also under MECQ are Apayao, Ilocos Norte, Bulacan and Bataan in Region 3, Cavite, Lucena City, Rizal and Laguna in Region 4-A for Luzo...

Aug302021 by Carla P. GomezNo Comments

Delta hits four more in Bacolod; Covid infects 20 family members

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Photo from Em Ang FBFour additional Bacolod residents hit by the Delta variant and their close contacts were retested and found negative for COVID-19 on Sunday, August 29, Dr. Chris Sorongon, Emergency Operations Center deputy for medical data and analysis, said.While 20 members of a family who live in the same compound at Barangay Singcang Airport who tested positive for COVID-19 were extracted Saturday night and brought to quarantine facilities in Bacolod City, he said.There is one asymptomatic family member whose COVID-19 cycle threshold is 14, which means his viral load is high that is qualified for genome sequencing as a possible Delta variant, he said.“Our suspicion is that person was the cause of the spread of the virus in that compound,” he said.The COVID-19 was...

Aug302021 by Carla P. GomezNo Comments

Beltran votes for 100% ‘B,’ laments low production

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The representative of the millers on Saturday, August 28, informed his colleagues on the Sugar Board that he is voting to allocate 100 percent of the country’s sugar production for crop year 2021-22 for “B” or the domestic market.Board Member Roland Beltran said he is disappointed that the yearly production of raw sugar remains stagnant, if not in a declining trajectory, while the annual population growth is increasing in numbers.Inevitably, the demand for local sugar will outpace the supply denigrating the mandate of SRA “to establish and maintain such balanced relation between production and requirement of sugar and such marketing conditions as well insure stabilized prices at a level reasonably profitable to the producers and fair to consumers,” he saidSadly, opportunities w...

Aug302021 by Carla P. GomezNo Comments

House carried off by whirlwind disappears, 4 others destroyed

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Mayor Rhumyla Mangilimutan inspects the whirlwind hit area and delivers assistance.*A whirlwind destroyed five houses and damaged one at Sitio Old Manghanoy in Barangay Manghanoy, La Castellana, Negros Occidental, at about 4 p.m. Friday, August 27, Mayor Rhumyla Mangilimutan said Sunday.Two houses were also damaged in Moises Padilla, she said.Luckily none of the about 30 residents were injured, she said.She said the whirlwind carried off one house that has not been found, and dropped a bathroom 600 meters from where it was originally located.The mayor delivered food assistance, utensils, vitamins and health kits to the affected residents.The town government also sent construction materials worth P7,000 to each family, who will also receive an additional P3,000, she ...

Aug292021 by Carla P. GomezNo Comments

Macao: Former legendary rebel leader passes away

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Silvino “Macao” Gallardo, a legendary former commander of the New People’s Army in Negros during the Marcos regime, passed away at the St Luke's Medical Center Global City at 7 a.m. Sunday, August 29.Gallardo, 73, succumbed to multiple organ failure, his niece Tricia Gallardo-Yusay said.He underwent a heart bypass and aortic valve replacement surgery on Thursday, August 26, she said, but his heart and kidneys failed.After Gallardo left the rebel movement in the early 1990s he worked for Altertrade Philippines Inc. in Bacolod City, a firm committed to the holistic development of marginalized producers.He later worked full time as administrative officer and corporate treasurer of The Doctors' Hospital Inc. in Bacolod City, Yusay, the daughter of his brother Boyjie Gallardo, a...

Aug282021 by Carla P. GomezNo Comments

Mayor orders closure of 7 establishments in Salvador Benedicto

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DSB LGU photoSix business establishments in Salvador Benedicto, Negros Occidental, were closed for lack of business permits on Thursday, and a vacation home for rent was ordered to temporarily halt operations following a landslide on Friday, August 27, Mayor Marxlen dela Cruz said.Among the businesses closed on Thursday were a coffee shop, carinderia, resort and restaurant for failing to procure business permits, he said.Dela Cruz sad he also ordered the temporary closure of Casa Avelina at Barangay Pandanon, Salvador Benedicto, after a landslide caused by heavy rain hit the area.The landslide occurred near the property where Casa Avelina is located so they want to make sure it is structurally safe before allowing it to resume operations, he said.Dela Cruz said more bus...

Aug282021 by Carla P. GomezNo Comments

Raps filed versus three for fake licenses: police

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LTO-6 photoComplaints for violation of the Anti Red Tape Act and falsification of public documents were filed against an alleged manufacturer of fake drivers’ licenses and two others before the Bacolod City Prosecutor’s Office Friday afternoon, August 27, PMaj. Ramel Sarona, Bacolod Police Station 1 chief, said.Named in the complaints were Lorebelle Zamora Umbao, 43, alias Lorebelle Antiquera, and Jefferson Mendoza Panisa, 33, of Barangay Mansilingan, Bacolod City, and Marlon Dejaresco Pandongan, 48, of Barangay Taloc, Bago City, he said.They were arrested for license fixing activities and falsification of driver's licenses, LTO 6 Assistant Regional Director Gaudioso Geduspan, who led the operation, said.Panisa and Umbao were arrested during a Land Transportation Office (LT...

Aug282021 by Carla P. GomezNo Comments

Guv, DOH: Stay home during long weekend

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Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson is calling on all Negrenses to avoid non-essential travel during the long weekend to prevent the spread of COVID-19.It’s National Heroes Day on Monday, August 30, which is a public holiday.“The (COVID-19) numbers are inching up again after successive days of down turn. More Delta variants are showing although these individuals are now free of COVID,” Lacson said.Dr. Adriano Suba-an, Department of Health 6 regional director, also called on the public to stay home during the long weekend.He reminded the public against holding large family and social gatherings, going to the mall, and other unnecessary travel to prevent the risk of COVID-19 transmission.“Social events that gather together people coming from other places and differ...

Aug282021 by Carla P. GomezNo Comments

Ang: Nat’l task force to ramp up WV vaccine supply in September

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The Bacolod City vaccination drive along San Juan Street today, August 27.*Ronnie Baldonado photoBacolod City and Negros Occidental have been assured of more vaccines in September, City Administrator Em Ang said Friday, August 27.National Task Force Against COVID-19 deputy chief implementer Vince Dizon has assured that they will ramp up the COVID-19 vaccine supply of Western Visayas next month, Ang, Bacolod Emergency Operations Center executive director, said.The amount of vaccines to be provided will depend on the vaccination capacity of the local government unit (LGU), Ang said.They will determine the average vaccination capacity of the LGU, she said.Bacolod City’s highest one day COVID-19 jabs was almost 13,000, she said.“We can open up 33 vaccination sites simulta...

Aug282021 by Carla P. GomezNo Comments

Suspend all ‘A’ sugar allocation, PASON urges

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The Planters’ Association of Southern Negros (PASON) is appealing to the Department of Agriculture and the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) to suspend the allocation of all “A” US quota sugar for crop year 2021-2022 since the country’s projected production is just enough for domestic consumption.SRA Administrator Hermenegildo Serafica said on Friday, August 27, that hopefully, they can issue a new sugar allocation order by next week.PASON president Jesus Adrian Campos Jr., in a letter to Agriculture Secretary William Dar, said that in crop year 2020-2021 sugar production did not meet the targeted production and was slightly below that of the previous CY, while domestic consumption increased.“Our local production has reached the point that it cannot anymore meet the domesti...