Carla P. Gomez

The Election Registration Board disapproved five voter registration applications in Bacolod City, which now has 302,168 registered voters, Election Officer Kathrina Trinio-Caña said Friday, July 30.The five registrants were disapproved because they had moved to barangays that were different from what they stated in their applications at the time of the ERB hearing, Caña said.They, however, can file new applications stating the barangays where they now reside in Bacolod City, she said.One applicant had sold her house in Sum-ag and moved to Punta Taytay, so in her new registration she should place the barangay where she now lives, Caña said.Oppositions to 222 voter registration applications were filed in July, but 145 were withdrawn, leaving the ERB with 77 to rule on.Amo...

President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday, July 29, extended the General Community Quarantine with Heightened Restrictions (GCQ-HR) classification of Bacolod City until August 15 amid the Delta variant threat from neighboring Panay Island.The Department of Health (DOH) Thursday night reported the detection of four more COVID-19 Delta variant cases in Western Visayas bringing the total to six.Of the four new cases in Panay, three are local cases and one is a returning overseas Filipino, Dr. Helen Tobias, DOH 6 assistant regional director, said in a virtual press conference.The cases include a 59-year-old female from Antique where the two previous cases were detected. She was admitted at the Western Visayas Medical Center in Iloilo City on July 8, was discharged on July 20, and at pr...

Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson has issued an executive order extending the duration of the General Community Quarantine over Negros Occidental until August 31 and identifying establishments still not allowed to operate.Lacson issued EO 21-39, Series of 2021, Thursday, July 29, in compliance with the order of President Rodrigo Duterte placing the province under GCQ.Entertainment and recreational venues, amusement parks, fairs, playgrounds, kiddie rides, traditional cockfighting and cockpits will remain closed during the duration of GCQ, the governor said.The governor said more stringent travel protocols for inbound travelers and mass gatherings at 30 percent will remain in place to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 Delta variant in the province.Mandatory registr...

Twenty-five soldiers inside the 542 Engineering Battalion compound in Barangay Caradio-an, Himamaylan City, have tested positive for COVID-19, Mayor Raymund Tongson said Thursday, July 29.The 25 soldiers of the 16th Scout Ranger Company are now quarantined at the 542 Engineering Battalion compound, he said.The soldiers had come from Negros Oriental and some already had COVID-19 symptoms when they arrived, he added.The first Covid-19 case was detected on July 8 and on contact tracing the number reached 25, Tongson added.The 542 Engineering Battalion has been locked down, he said.The soldiers did not acquire the virus from Himamaylan City that was already down to only 13 COVID-19 cases Thursday, he said.The number of cases in Himamaylan increased with the 25 soldiers ...

The barangay captain and secretary of Bata in Bacolod City have tested positive for COVID-19.Barangay Captain Angelito Abaring said on Thursday, July 29, that he and his secretary tested positive for the virus on Tuesday.The Bata Barangay Hall has been closed for decontamination and those seeking death ad indigent certificates will be attended to by kagawads holding office at the barangay gym, Abaring said.Abaring said he was not aware that he had COVID-19 and only found out on Tuesday after he was swabbed for a RT-PCR test prior to a trip to Iloilo City for an angiogram.He was not feeling ill, Abaring said.The secretary was also swabbed as he was going to accompany the barangay captain to Iloilo City.*

Ramon Hofileña explaining art pieces in his ancestral home to guests.*Ronnie Baldonado photoRamon Hofileña, the “father of heritage conservation” in Silay City, Negros Occidental, passed away Thursday, July 29.He was 87.Secretary Bernadette Romulo Puyat said the Department of Tourism “acknowledges his great contribution to heritage preservation and cultural tourism, especially in his beloved hometown in Silay.”“A trip to this heritage city would not be complete without a visit to the Hofileña ancestral house where visitors used to be toured by sir Mon himself. The Annual Cultural Tour of Negros that he organized for 40 years instilled pride of place for Negrenses”, she told DIGICAST NEGROS.“We salute him for sharing his time and talent for the promotion of Filipino art,...

A husband and wife suffering from various ailments were found dead at their house at Hermelinda Homes, Brgy Mansilingan, Bacolod City, 10:30 a.m. Thursday, July 29.Found lifeless were Rene Ateles Gargoles and his wife, Jane Braga Gargoles, both aged 67 years old, PCapt. Elmer Bonilla, Police Station 7 chief, said.The victims’ nephew Ryan Mark Gargoles Pantanalgo, 34, a neighbor of the couple went to their house to bring their breakfast but when he called for them no one answered. The doors and windows of the house were locked prompting him to call for assistance from the police and Barangay Captain Rodolfo Pico, Bonilla said.The door was then forcibly opened by Pantanalgo.The wife was found on her bed and the husband was found in another room lying beside a bed face down wi...

The Election Registration Board (ERB) has approved the application of former Rep. Alfredo Abelardo “Albee” Benitez to transfer his voter registration to Bacolod City.The ERB resolution released Wednesday, July 28, denied the opposition to his registration filed by three Barangay Mandalagan residents."We respect and thank the ERB for the decision. We have complete faith in the Comelec-ERB process. Now, I am a registered voter of Bacolod City. Bacolod, here I come," Benitez said.Benitez earlier announced that he is running for mayor of Bacolod in 2022.Marcus Aurelian Vaflor, lawyer of the oppositors Hector Yula, Teodoro Abao, and Jonah Abao who are aligned with the Grupo Progreso of Bacolod Mayor Evelio Leonardia, said they will issue an official answer after reading the ERB ...

Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran said a message circulating Wednesday, July 28, that Bacolod City will be placed under Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine (MECQ) from August 1 to 14 is fake news.The message titled “circuit breaker lockdown style” circulating on social media said Negros Occidental would also be placed under MECQ.Familiaran said the national Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious will convene on Thursday so no decision has been made yet.“We should wait for an official announcement from the IATF,” he said.The Department of Health also issued a public advisory on circulating messages about lockdowns on Wednesday.“We would like to clarify that the IATF has yet to decide on the quarantine classification of Metro Manila and other area...

The head of the Negros Occidental Disaster Management Program Division and Provincial Incident Management Team has tested positive for COVID-19 for the second time.Zeaphard Caelian said he had a fever on Friday and had himself tested for COVID-19.On Monday, the results showed he was positive for the virus and he is now under quarantine at the Mambukal Resort in Murcia.Members of his family tested negative for the virus, he said.The Provincial Disaster Management Program Division and 911 offices at the Panaad Park and Stadium in Barangay Masilingan, Bacolod, were closed Monday night for decontamination and reopened the next day, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said.Caelian’s being hit twice is the hazard of being a frontline worker against COVID-19, Diaz said....