Carla P. Gomez

The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) has issued a resolution allowing children who are five years old and above to go to outdoor areas provided they are supervised by adults in places under Modified General Community Quarantine and General Community Quarantine (GCQ).Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said Friday, July 9, that he will consult with the medical community before deciding if Negros Occidental should adopt the measure.Dr. Chris Sorongon, Bacolod Emergency Operations Center deputy for medical data and analysis, said they just received the IATF resolution that is up for discussion at a meeting with Mayor Evelio Leonardia on Saturday, July 10.“Most likely we will not adopt it especially since we have increasing (COVID-19) cases...

Individuals who present forged or falsified vaccination cards will be dealt with in accordance with the law, the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) warned.IATF-EID Resolution 125 Series of 2021 issued Thursday, July 8, clarified that for interzonal travel, local government units may accept a COVID-19 vaccination card of a fully vaccinated individual as an alternative to the RT-PCR testing requirement before travel or upon arrival.It also said intrazonal movement of fully vaccinated senior citizens within areas under General Community Quarantine and Modified General Community Quarantine shall continue to be allowed.Travelers and senior citizens must present vaccination cards issued by a legitimate vaccinating establishment/autho...

Rep. Francisco “Kiko” Benitez (Negros Occidental, 3rd District) has filed a Jobs Next Bill that aims to provide a skills voucher program for Filipinos to gain new and emerging skills for jobs of the future.House Bill 9807 filed July 7, Wednesday, is similar to Singapore's SkillsFuture program, which also aims to support companies in their upskilling programs, Benitez said Friday, July 9.“The Jobs Next Bill seeks to encourage and incentivize worker upskilling and reskilling to stimulate innovation literacy; and support the labor force to adopt to technologies that have the potential to disrupt jobs,” Benitez said.It aims to seamlessly integrate global skills trends with domestic industries’ skills through innovative transformation in high-quality training and skills development,...

USLS and Bacolod residents say thank you to former president Benigno Aquino III*Nining Tinsay photoBacolod residents have been placing yellow flowers, ribbons, candles and balloons beneath a tarpaulin with the message “Salamat, PNoy!” in front of the University of St. La Salle gate in Bacolod City.Bro. Kenneth Martinez, USLS president, said Friday, July 9, that they put the tarpaulin up to thank former president Benigno Aquino III, who passed away on June 24, for his presidency and his contribution to education, and residents spontaneously responded.Martinez said the tarpaulin placed last week was the initiative of the university community and the De La Salle brothers, and neighbors asked if they could bring flowers and candles so tables were provided.He said flowers, ribbo...

Signs stressing that COVID-19 jabs are free have been put up at vaccination centers in Bacolod City, Dr. Chris Sorongon, Emergency Operations Center deputy for medical data and analysis, said Friday, July 9.“This is simply to reiterate that the vaccines are free and that any malicious attempt to discredit our vaccination program is uncalled for,” he said.Sorongon said they also want to reiterate “that vaccines once available should be rolled out as soon as possible and to as many as possible.”Finance Executive Joey Ledesma on July 6 said that a friend of his and her sister were asked to pay P1,500 each by a “runner” to be vaccinated at the SMX Convention Center vaccination area.However, the names of the two were not provided.Ledesma recommended that posters be placed at...

A total of 19,645 Sinovac jabs were administered in Negros Occidental from July 1 to 8, with the cities of Silay, Victorias and Talisay having the most number of vaccinated residents.There were 21,388 Sinovac vaccines dispersed and 19,645 or 92 percent were utilized, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said Friday, July 9.More Negrenses were also vaccinated on Friday, he added.Vaccinated from June 1 to 8 in Silay City were 2,386 residents, Victorias City – 2,100, Talisay City – 1,667, Cadiz City – 1,484, Bago City – 1,326, Sagay City – 1,250, San Carlos City – 1,146, Escalante City - 950, La Carlota City – 926, EB Magalona – 840, Ilog – 772, Murcia – 749, Kabankalan City – 623, Sipalay City – 477;Pontevedra – 386, Himamaylan City - 304, Valladolid – 298, Pulupandan – 28...

The provincial government will continue to allow fully vaccinated individuals entry into Negros Occidental without negative COVID-19 reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test results despite a recent Department of Health (DOH) advisory, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said Thursday, July 8.So far 53 fully vaccinated travelers have been granted travel passes into Negros Occidental, he said.Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson issued Executive Order 21-34 on Tuesday, July 6, adopting Inter-Agency Task Force for Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) Resolution 124-B that states that fully vaccinated individuals need not present negative RT-PCR test results for interzonal movement.The DOH on Wednesday said local government units can still require...

The COVID-19 deaths in Negros Occidental and Bacolod City continue to rise.Negros Occidental had five more COVID-19 deaths while Bacolod City had two, reports showed Thursday, July 8.Negros Occidental also had 142 new COVID-19 cases and Bacolod City had 97, the Department of Health (DOH) reported.The Provincial Incident Management Team said Negros Occidental has had 19,772 COVID-19 cases, 17,438 recoveries and 484 deaths. It currently has 1,850 active cases.Bacolod City had 97 new COVID-19 cases, and 197 recoveries causing its active cases to drop to 1,440, DOH reported.Bacolod City has had 13,769 COVID-19 cases, 12,005 recoveries and 321 deaths.Pfizer and Sinovac vaccination drives in Negros Occidental continued Thursday.There were 467 Negrenses who received Pf...

Manapla PDAO President Charito Diaroz Pelita, Comelec Commissioner Rowena Guanzon (center) and Mayor Manuel Escalante cut the ribbon at the inauguration of the new Comelec building, as Manapla Election Officer Cindy Ballesteros and councilors Richard Legada and Elizabeth Andrino (l-r, back row) look on.*Commissioner Rowena Guanzon of the Commission on Elections called on the police, Army and politicians to keep the May 2022 polls in Negros Occidental free from violence.This will enable the people the freedom to vote for the candidates of their choice, Guanzon said in her speech at the inauguration of the Comelec building at Duyungan Street in Manapla, Negros Occidental, Thursday, July 8.The Manapla Election Officer is Cindy Ballesteros.Guanzon thanked Rep. Shernee Tan (Kus...

Only 5.07 percent of Negros Occidental’s targeted population has been vaccinated against COVID-19 and it may take some time before economic frontliners, under the A4 priority group, can be covered, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said Wednesday, July 7.A big portion of those under the A1 to A3 categories (health care workers, senior citizens and persons with comorbidities) have not been vaccinated so it would be hard to justify moving on to A4, he said.Perhaps when they hit 70 percent of those belonging to the A1 to A3 categories, they can justify moving on to A4, he said.The provincial government has so far vaccinated 92,632 Negrenses with their first doses or 5.07 percent of the target population, and 19,937 with second doses or 1.09 percent, Diaz said.Their targe...