Carla P. Gomez

Bacolod DRRM photoBacolod City will continue to require negative COVID-19 tests results from Authorized Persons Outside of Residence as APORs from Panay entering the city have been found positive for the virus, City Administrator Em Ang said Thursday, August 5.“We want to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in Bacolod City, especially the highly contagious Delta variant that has already been detected in Panay,” Ang, executive director of the city Emergency Operations Center, said.On Wednesday alone, out of 40 new COVID-19 positive cases in Bacolod City, 12 came from Iloilo, nine of whom were APORs and three were returning residents, she said.She said if those persons who entered Bacolod were exempted from testing, they would be spreading the virus in the city, she said.If ev...

Bacolod PIO photoNegros Occidental and Bacolod City received more Sinovac vaccines Thursday, August 5, to boost the fight against the spread of COVID-19.Bacolod and Negros Occidental received 15,000 doses each, City Administrator Em Ang said.They were also informed that the city and province will receive Moderna vaccines next week, Ang, who is also executive director of the Bacolod Emergency Operations Center, said.Negros Occidental and Bacolod will receive 15,000 doses of Moderna vaccines each, Ang said.Moderna vaccines allocated for Iloilo City were 50,000 doses and Iloilo province 92,400 doses despite Bacolod and Negros Occidental having bigger populations, she said.She is hoping Bacolod receives more vaccines so they can hasten their vaccination drive to reach h...

The ERB new registration statistics.*The satellite registration schedule*Negros Occidental and Bacolod City now have a total 1,838, 457 voters, Acting Provincial Election Supervisor Fatima Aspan said Thursday, August 5.Aspan said the latest number of voters as of July 31 is expected to increase as the Comelec steps up its registration of new voters at satellite registration sites.Bacolod City now has 302,168 voters.The voters in the six districts of Negros Occidental are:FIRST DISTRICT: Calatrava - 51,692, Salvador Benedicto – 19,957, Toboso – 29, 458, Escalante City - 58,146 and San Carlos City – 83,802.SECOND DISTRICT: Manapla – 32,058, Cadiz City – 92,776 and Sagay City – 80,015.THIRD DISTRICT: EB Magalona – 38,237, Murcia – 51,450, Silay City – 83,337, Talis...

Negrense veteran television producer and director Kitchie Benedicto-Paulino passed away at her home in Pasig City at 11:15 p.m. Wednesday, August 4, her son-in-law Negros Occidental Vice Governor Jeffrey Ferrer confirmed.She was 74 and had liver problems.Paulino was the daughter of the late ambassador Roberto Benedicto and the mother of Rep. Juliet Marie Ferrer (Negros Occidental, 4th District).She was the producer of Nora Aunor’s weekly musical “ Superstar” and oversaw the production of Dolphy and Nida Blanca’s sitcom “John and Marsha" and Vilma Santos' weekly musical “Vilma in Person” among other television shows.The vice governor said “she was the best mother-in-law, she was a good person”.Her children, Juliet Marie, Tintin, Pia and Paulo, in a joint statement said t...

Richard Malihan photoNegros Occidental coronavirus cases have dropped and provincial government-run hospitals, including those designated for COVID -19 patients, are not overwhelmed, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said Wednesday, August 4.Negros Occidental will continue to vaccinate residents against COVID-19 and enforce strict health protocols to prevent new variants from causing a surge in local cases, he said.The Department of Health on Tuesday reported that two new COVID-19 Alpha and Beta variant cases had been detected in Negros Occidental.But Negros Occidental COVID-19 active cases dropped to 1,109 on Wednesday, a Provincial Incident Management Team report showed.COVID-19 surges in some areas in Panay and Cebu have overwhelmed hospitals, with some no long...

Negros Occidental Board Member Rommel Debulgado (1st District) and a provincial government employee have tested positive for COVID-19, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said Wednesday, August 4.Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson, who came in contact with them at a San Carlos City event on July 28, was swabbed on Tuesday and tested negative for the virus, he added.A cameraman of the Promotion and Information Section who tested positive had accompanied Lacson to San Carlos City. Two policemen, who were in the same vehicle as the cameraman, are in isolation and under observation, Diaz said.The Promotion and Information Section office has been closed and its staff have gone on home isolation for five days, after which they will be swabbed for RT-PCR tests, he said.Dubulgado experie...

There may be a new design for the Negros Occidental Provincial Administration Center (PAC) to be built in Talisay City, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said Wednesday, August 4.A new high-rise PAC was supposed to be built at Aguinaldo Street near the provincial Capitol in Bacolod City but a new design may be drawn up since the Talisay site has a wider area, he said.The PAC in Talisay will house the provincial government offices, but the Capitol building in Bacolod City will remain as the seat of government of the province, he said.The Capitol in Bacolod will be considered the seat of government of Negros Occidental and will be used for receiving diplomatic guests and holding formal functions, Diaz said.The governor will maintain offices at the Capitol and at the new...

The House Committee on Appropriations approved Wednesday morning, August 4, a bill co-authored by Rep. Francisco “Kiko” Benitez (Negros Occidental, 3rd District) that “aims to cultivate and grow creative industries as drivers of economic recovery and national pride, and support artists and artisans”.Benitez, who also co-sponsored House Bill No. 8101 as vice chair of the Special Committee on Creative Industries and Performing Arts along with chairman Christopher De Venecia of Pangasinan, thanked the committee for its approval.Following its passage by the appropriations committee, it is now ready for second reading once congress resumes after the lockdown, Benitez said.The bill will articulate the need for support to industries such as fashion, food and heritage tourism, handicra...