Carla P. Gomez

Ronnie Baldonado photoBacolod Mayor Evelio Leonardia has ordered the extension of the General Community Quarantine with Heightened Restrictions (GCQ-HR) in Bacolod City from Thursday, July 22, to July 31.Leonardia, in Executive Order No. 41, said this was pursuant to the decision of the National Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (NIATF-MEID).The mayor pointed out that national health authorities have issued “a massive warning and stern caution about the entry into the Philippines of the Delta variant of COVID-19, otherwise known as B.1,617.2, which has been found to spread more easily among humans and is more contagious and more virulent than the original strain.”Western Visayas health authorities have also issued public warnings aft...

Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson on Thursday, July 22, ordered the enforcement of more stringent protocols for inbound travel to Negros Occidental effective immediately, to prevent the spread of the highly contagious COVID-19 Delta variant in the province.Lacson signed Executive Order No. 21-38, Series of 2021 suspending Executive Order 21-34, Series of 2021, that allowed fully vaccinated individuals to enter Negros Occidental without negative RT-PCR test results.The governor said the Delta variant has been linked to new COVID-19 case surges in India, Indonesia, Europe, Israel and the United States. So far 35 cases have also been detected in the Philippines, two of which were in Western Visayas, he added.That is why all inbound passengers are now required negative RT-PCR test results v...

Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson on Wednesday, July 21, said travelers fully vaccinated against COVID-19 will no longer be allowed entry into Negros Occidental without negative RT-PCR test results as a deterrent against the highly contagious Delta variant.Lacson said he is amending Executive Order 21-34 that he issued on July 6 adopting Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases Resolution 14B that no longer requires fully vaccinated individuals negative RT-PCR test results for inter zonal movement.All travelers into Negros Occidental will now be required negative RT-PCR test results prior to arrival, or they may opt to be tested and quarantined on arrival until their results are out, he said.The Negros Occidental provincial government is not going to ru...

Travelers from areas in Panay Island under higher quarantine status than Negros Occidental must submit COVID-19 negative RT-PCR test results on entry into the province, Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said Wednesday, July 21.Negros Occidental is currently under General Community Quarantine (GCQ).Areas in Panay under higher restrictions are Iloilo City and Iloilo province that are under Enhanced Community Quarantine, and Aklan, Antique, and Capiz that are under GCQ with heightened restrictions.Bacolod Mayor Evelio Leonardia on July 18 also issued an executive order banning leisure travel between Bacolod City and Panay Island as a border control deterrent against the spread of the COVID-19 Delta variant.Department of Health (DOH) officials earlier announced that a close watch is up ...

Thousands of residents, mostly overseas Filipino workers, trooped to the Bacolod City Government Center Wednesday, July 21, for the Pfizer jabs.*City PIO photoA huge crowd, many of whom were overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), lined up for Pfizer jabs at the Bacolod City Government Center (BCGC) Wednesday, July 21.“We did not expect these many to arrive here, most of them are OFWs actually waiting for this vaccine brand (Pfizer) to become available because this is what is acceptable in the countries they are going to,” Ang said.She said the Department of Health sent Bacolod City 2,340 doses of Pfizer vaccines and they already used up close to 1,000 on Tuesday so there will not be enough.There are more than 5,000 OFWs in Bacolod City who have signed up to be vaccinated, Ang sa...

The Negros Occidental provincial government will roll out the AstraZeneca vaccines it purchased to A4 frontline workers on July 28, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said.Only 2,900 of the 100,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines that the provincial government purchased have arrived.The vaccines that arrived will be rolled out for workers in the sugar industry since Tatak Kalamay had donated to the provincial government for their purchase, Diaz said.Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said the provincial government purchased vaccines can be used for A4 individuals, but the rest sent by the Department of Health will still be for those belonging to A1 to A3 (health workers, senior citizens and persons with comorbidities).“The mere fact that we are still not allowed to vaccinate beyon...

Bacolod Election Officer Kathrina Trinio-Caña*The Bacolod Election Registration Board on Monday, July 19, approved the applications of 9,957 persons to vote in Bacolod, City Election Officer Kathrina Trinio-Caña said Tuesday, July 20.She said of the 10,199 voter registrants, the 9,857 were unopposed applicants.She said the registration of 242 others, including former Rep. Alfredo Abelardo Benitez, have been opposed and subjected to hearings.Benitez has been directed to file his position paper within three days in response to the opposition to his becoming a registered voter of Bacolod City.Caña said the ERB hopefully will be able to decide whether to approve or disapprove the applications of the 242 to be registered voters of Bacolod City by the end of the month.T...

Some 14 families fled from their homes following encounters between government soldiers and suspected rebels at Sitio Guinobatan in Barangay Caningay, Candoni, Negros Occidental, Tuesday, July 20.2nd Lt. Weann Sandag, 15th Infantry Battalion (IB) civil military operations officer, said the residents left their houses for their safety, and barangay officials have provided relief assistance to the affected families.The soldiers had overrun the rebels’ harbor site that can house 30 to 40 persons, Sandag said.The soldiers were conducting combat operations in the area following the reported presence of the New People’s Army (NPA) when they encountered the armed men that resulted in a firefight, she said.Hours later, the soldiers who were pursuing the rebels encountered them agai...

DPWH photoThe 49.68- kilometer P8.095 billion Bacolod Negros Occidental Economic Highway (BANOCEH) that starts in Barangay Sum-ag, Bacolod City, and ends in Victorias City is 41.55 percent complete, Regional Director Lea Delfinado of the Department of Public Works and Highways said Tuesday, July 20.Work began in March 2016 and target completion date is December 2024, she said.The total project cost is P8.095 billion and the total released amount is P4.059 billion, Delfinado said, adding that the 41.55 percent project completion is based on total project cost.The BANOCEH involves the opening, concreting and widening of 38.763 kilometers of road, construction of 10 new bridges, provision of slope protection works and improvement of the existing 11.149-kilometer road and six b...

Twelve staff at the Department of Tourism Western Visayas regional office in Iloilo City have tested positive for COVID-19.The DOT Region VI Office will remain closed until further notice, a public advisory issued Tuesday, July 20, said.The 12 have been isolated and most of them are asymptomatic, while others have mild symptoms, the advisory said.“Our transacting public can still reach us through the email address posted on the DOT VI Western Visayas Facebook page,” it added.