Carla P. Gomez

The Human Resource Management Office (HRMO) head and the former provincial agriculturist of Negros Occidental have sought 15-day extensions to answer administrative charges lodged against them, Provincial Legal Officer Alberto Nellas Jr. said Thursday, August 19.HRMO head Anabelle Palic and retired Negros Occidental Provincial Agriculturist Japhet Masculino were granted the extensions in the spirit of fair play, and have until August 28 to submit their answers, Nellas said.Palic, who has been suspended for 60 days, was initially given three days to submit her evidence, and state if she will opt for a formal hearing or submit a position paper, he said.She, however, filed a motion for extension of time.Palic is facing charges for oppression, conduct prejudicial to the best in...

Vallacar Transit Inc. has offered the use of one of its buses for the Mobile Vaccination Drive of Bacolod City, Councilor Cindy Rojas said.*City PIO photoOf the 402 persons who died after being hit with COVID-19 in Bacolod City, 398 were unvaccinated against the virus, Dr. Chris Sorongon, Emergency Operations Center deputy for medical data and analysis, said Wednesday, August 18.Four others who died had received their first dose of Sinovac vaccines, he said.The vaccine could have helped the four fight COVID-19, but because of their multiple comorbidities the virus complicated their conditions, Sorongon added.Bacolod City had 39 new COVID-19 cases for a total of 751 active cases on Wednesday, the Department of Health reported.Meanwhile, Sorongon said more “Drive-Thru”...

More than P34 million in Special Risk Allowances (SRA) have been paid by the national government to health care workers engaged in the fight against COVID-19 in Negros Occidental, Dr. Ernell Tumimbang, Provincial Health Officer, said Wednesday, August 16.He said P30 million plus was paid to health care workers in Negros Occidental hospitals and P4 million to those at the Provincial Health Office this year.However, Tumimbang said the Department of Health has set new and very specific guidelines that state the SRA can only be paid to hospital personnel directly treating COVID-19 patients.But there are grey areas, the other hospital support staff and the PHO personnel are also exposed to COVID-19 patients in their work, he said.He said a new claims list is set to be submitted....

The lockdowns of the houses of a 3-year-old boy and 63-year-old woman from Barangay Mansilingan, Bacolod City, who were hit with the highly contagious COVID-19 Delta variant, have been lifted, Dr. Chris Sorongon, Bacolod Emergency Operations Center deputy for medical data and analysis, said Wednesday, August 18.The two and their family members on re-testing were negative for COVID-19, he said.“They are already marked recovered…they are ready to be reintegrated in the community,” he said.Sorongon said they are also waiting for the test results of 77 specimens they sent to the Philippine Genome Center for testing for COVID-19 variants.Meanwhile, the 35-year-old Valladolid resident who was hit with the Lambda variant has also been declared recovered after she tested negative f...

The Commission on Elections has rejected the call to extend the voter registration beyond the September 30 deadline, but will extend registration hours starting August 25, Comelec Commissioner Rowena Guanzon said Wednesday, August 18.Starting August 25 voter registration will be from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. from Monday to Friday, she said.Registration on Saturdays and holidays will be from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., she added.She said for areas under Enhanced Community Quarantine, immediately after ECQ ends they can start the 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. registration.The Comelec cannot extend the voter registration beyond September 30 because they have to finish the preparation of precincts by October, she added.It is not possible to extend the registration deadline even for a week as it will affe...

Kabankalan LGU photoThe Negros Occidental Provincial Health Office aims to vaccinate 100 percent of its target senior citizens against COVID-19 by next week, Dr. Ernell Tumimbang, Provincial Health Officer, said Wednesday, August 18.So far they have fully vaccinated 48.389 percent of the 113,000 plus targeted senior citizens, while 60.758 percent received their first doses, Tumimbang said.Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said there has been an improvement in the vaccination of senior citizens against COVID-19 in the province.“I think the concern now is that there are some senior citizens that have difficulty going to vaccination centers. It has to be figured out how to address that, especially those in the hinterlands whose houses are so far apart from each other,...

TF Disiplina photoA total of 31,724 persons have been arrested in Bacolod City for violating COVID-19 health protocols from January 1 to August 15 this year, Emergency Operations Center data showed Wednesday, August 18.The bulk of those arrested were for failure to use face masks at 10,521.Those arrested for violation of curfew were 7,358, no face shields – 7,006, defying the liquor ban – 3,728 and social distancing - 3,111.*

Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said he will deliver his annual State of the Province Address virtually next week.Efforts made by the provincial government to address the COVID-19 situation will be part of the SOPA, he said Wednesday, August 18.“Of course we will recognize all other departments’ performance in line with the Abanse Negrense,” Lacson said.Negros Occidental’s active COVID-19 cases were down to 679 on Wednesday, the Provincial Incident Management Team (PIMT) reported.The province had three new COVID-19 deaths Wednesday bringing the total to 585 since March last year, the PIMT added.Negros Occidental has had 22,129 COVID-19 cases since March last year and 20,865 recoveries, it said.*