Carla P. Gomez

A Department of Health national biosurveillance report placed Bacolod City under Alert Level 3 for COVID-19 and Negros Occidental under Alert Level 2, Bacolod City Administrator Em Ang said Sunday, August 8.Alert Level 3 means case counts are high and or increasing with health care capacity utilization up, the DOH said.Ang, however, noted that COVID-19 cases in Bacolod City and health care utilization have dropped in recent weeks. Bacolod’s active COVID-19 cases were also down to three digits, with 868 cases on Sunday.The DOH said Alert Level 2 means case counts are low and decreasing but health care utilization is increasing.Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz questioned Negros Occidental’s being placed under Alert Level 2 when its hospitals are not fully occupied or o...

Five security men assigned to Bacolod Mayor Evelio Leonardia have tested positive for COVID-19, City Administrator Em Ang said Sunday, August 8.The mayor, who had no close contact with the five, has tested negative for COVID-19, Ang, who is also executive director of the Bacolod Emergency Operations Center, said.Fourteen of 20 employees of the Bacolod Public Information Office earlier tested positive for COVID-19 and are still in quarantine.All 14 are asymptomatic, Ang said.Four other PIO employees tested negative, while two others have not been swabbed for testing, she added.The Bacolod PIO at the Bacolod City Government Center remains locked down.Nineteen of the 20 PIO employees had been vaccinated against COVID-19, Ang said.She attributed the fact that the PI...

File photoA 19-year-old Negrense wanting to return to Negros Occidental recently submitted a fake COVID-19 negative RT-PCR test report and certification, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said Sunday, August 8.The fake certification alleged that it was from the Philippine Red Cross Molecular Laboratory in Mandaluyong City.The 19-year-old also submitted a fake S-PaSS (Safe, Swift and Smart Passage), which was not approved, Diaz added.The 19-year-old who was seeking permission to return to Negros by boat allegedly paid P2,000 for the certification.Executive Assistant to the governor Charina Magallanes Tan said the fake RT-PCR test certification was detected after it was noted that the document used different fonts from that of the Red Cross. They then checked the au...

Comelec Commissioner Rowena Guanzon during the virtual signing of the deed of usufruct with Iloilo City Mayor Gerry Treñas.*The Iloilo City government has provided the Commission on Elections with land for its Western Visayas Integrated Field Office.Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas and Comelec Commissioner Rowena Guanzon signed a deed of usufruct on Friday, August 6.The building to be built by the Comelec on the site will not only serve Iloilo but the entire Western Visayas, Guanzon said on Sunday, August 8.This is a realization of the Comelec’s strategic plan to construct its own main building and field offices to improve morale, efficiency and independence, she said.The deed allows the Comelec to use a 1,190-square meter lot owned by the Ioilo City government in Brgy....

Rep. Francisco “Kiko” Benitez (Negros Occidental, 3rd District) and Silay City Mayor Mark Golez congratulated Riah Angelica de Ocampo who made it to the top 10 in the Miss Philippines Earth 2021 virtual pageant finals held on Sunday, August 8.Benitez congratulated de Ocampo of Silay City, Negros Occidental, for a strong Top 10 finish. “Bugal ka sang (you are the pride of Third District”, he said.Golez also congratulated de Ocampo on behalf of the entire Silay City. “We are proud of you,” he said.“De Ocampo brought honor and glory to the city for representing it with class and brilliance. She surely made every Silaynon proud. She didn't only put Silay City in the national stage but she also excellently embodied every Silaynon's passion - representing our rich cultural history wi...

The Negros Occidental Promotion and Information Section at the Capitol in Bacolod City will reopen Monday, August 9, after the bulk of its employees tested negative for COVID-19, Executive Assistant to the Governor Charina Magallanes-Tan, PIS officer-in-charge, said Sunday, August 8.She said 11 PIS employees were tested for COVID-19 after a cameraman tested positive last week.Of the 11, one more PIS employee tested positive and has been isolated. He has allergies and had not been vaccinated against COVID-19 because he was waiting for advice from his doctor, Tan said.The 10 others who tested negative and the cameraman had received their first dose of AstraZeneca vaccines, she said.*

The Department of Health reported on Friday, August 6, the detection of 119 new Delta (B.1.617.2) variant cases in the country, 31 of which are from Western Visayas, Dr. Adriano Suba-an, DOH 6 regional director, said.All 31 new Delta variant cases are in Panay, there are none in Negros Occidental and Bacolod City, Dr. Glen Alonsabe, DOH regional epidemiologist, told DIGICAST NEGROS.Suba-a said Antique had 19 Delta variant cases, Capiz - two, Iloilo City – three, and Iloilo province - seven.The DOH in Western Visayas is also verifying the cases of two Returning Overseas Filipinos (ROFs) who were found positive for the Delta variant, with indicative addresses in the region, Suba-an said.The Philippine Genome Center also reported that Western Visayas had 36 Alpha (B.1.1.7) var...

Ronnie Baldonado photoFourteen employees of the Bacolod Public Information Office (PIO) have tested positive for COVID-19 and have been quarantined.They are all asymptomatic, a PIO source said Friday, August 6.One PIO employee tested negative while the results of five others are being awaited.Four PIO employees tested positive on Sunday, eight on Wednesday and two others on Thursday.The PIO office at the Bacolod City Government Center has been closed.Ten of the COVID-19 positive employees are at the city’s South Hills quarantine facility in Barangay Alijis and four others are at a private facility.*

A suspected rebel was killed and a government soldier and a civilian were injured in an encounter in Sitio Bugalo, Barangay Santol, Binalbagan in Negros Occidental 5 p. m. Thursday, Maj. Cenon Pancito, 3rd Infantry Division spokesman, said Friday, August 6.The 94th Infantry Battalion soldiers were conducting pursuit operations when they encountered five armed men believed to be New People’s Army rebels in Sitio Bugalo that resulted in a five-minute firefight.An unidentified alleged rebel, whose body was recovered, was killed, Pancito said.A soldier, whose name was withheld, was wounded on the right leg, and a civilian identified as Henry Pial was hit by a bullet on the left ear, Pancito added.The soldiers seized a .38 caliber pistol with ammunition from the encounter site. ...

Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said he hopes the national Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) reverses its policy that exempts government Authorized Persons Outside of Residence from mandatory COVID-19 testing and quarantine on entering the province.There have been cases where APORs have been carriers of the virus, he said Friday, August 6.IATF Resolution 98-A provides that government officials/personnel on official business shall be allowed unimpeded travel to their place of destination and shall not be required to undergo mandatory testing and quarantine protocols of the local government unit of destination, the governor pointed out.“We have appealed even before to no avail,” the governor said of their call to be a...