Carla P. Gomez

Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., National Task Force (NTF) Against Covid-19 chief implementer and vaccine czar, assured that Western Visayas will be considered a priority region for COVID-19 vaccines, Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said Monday, May 24.Galvez, Health Secretary Francisco Duque, and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año joined a NTF-National Inter-Agency Task Force (NIATF) meeting with Western Visayas local chief executives via Zoom Monday.Lacson said while the government priority for COVID-19 vaccination is the National Capital Region Plus, Galvez at the meeting “assured not equal distribution but they will consider Region 6 also as a priority region because of the (increase in) cases, especially what is happening now in Iloilo City.”“With that statement maybe we can exp...

Iloilo Mayor Jerry Treñas has ordered the temporary suspension of inbound and outbound travel between Negros Island and Iloilo City from 12 a.m. Tuesday, May 25, to 11:59 p.m. of May 31.Treñas in Executive Order 041-A Series of 2021 signed Sunday, May 23, placing IIoilo City under Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine (MECQ) ordered the suspension of passenger travel but said the unimpeded movement of cargo in and out of Iloilo and Negros Island will be guaranteed.Capt. Ludovico Librilla, Coast Guard Station Negros Occidental commander, said sea travel from Iloilo City to Negros will temporarily halt starting at 12 a.m. Tuesday in compliance with an order of Treñas.However, roll-on-roll-off vessels from Negros to the Dumangas port in Iloilo province will continue to operate un...

CLMMRH will observe stricter implementation of the existing hospital policies against COVID-19, Dr, Julius Drilon said.*CLMMRH photoNegros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson and Bacolod Mayor Evelio Leonardia were informed Saturday, May 23, that the dedicated beds for COVID-19 patients at the Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital in Bacolod City are nearing full capacity at 93 percent, Dr. Julius Drilon, CLMMRH chief said.He said, in letters sent to Lacson and Leonardia, they were informed that CLMMRH has observed an increasing COVID-19 positivity rate at a range of 32.7 percent to 42.2 percent for the past two weeks.CLMMRH has been accepting COVID-19 patients increasingly in the past few days that have an impact on the bed capacity, human resources for heal...

Bacolod residents who got their first dose of COVID-19 vaccines at the Bacolod City Government Center will receive their second dose at the SMX Convention Center in Bacolod on Monday, City Administrator Em Ang said Sunday, May 23.The city government has reserved vaccines for the second doses but has run out of supply for first doses, she said.They will resume the first dose mass vaccination when more supply arrives from the national government, Ang said.“With a more stable supply, we intend to put these vaccines into people’s arms as quickly as we can, so we can reach herd immunity status – sooner rather than later – and re-boost our local economy which has suffered in this pandemic,” Bacolod Mayor Evelio Leonardia said.Should more vaccines arrive, the city is ready to open...

Mayor Mark Golez has placed 19 Silay City government offices within the Silay City Hall and compound under zoning containment or temporary lockdown from May 24 to 28 for disinfection and to prevent the further spread of COVID-19.There are eight Silay City government employees who have tested positive for COVID-19 and two other probable cases, Silay City Administrator Edward Davila said Sunday, May 23.The Office of the Mayor and City Administrator’s Office will remain open, he said.Golez, in Special Executive Order 2021-05-07, said there is a need to strategically contain possible transmission of the virus among the 19 offices.Placed under zoning containment are the City Legal Office, City Assessor’s Office, Bids and Awards Committee Office, City Accounting Office, Internal ...

Three more Negros Occidental provincial government employees have tested positive for COVID-19 bringing the total to 50 since April, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said Sunday, May 23.The three are an emergency room doctor at the Teresita L. Jalandoni Provincial Hospital in Silay City, an engineer at the Provincial Engineer’s Office and a teacher at the Negros Occidental Language and Information Technology Center, he said.The mass vaccination of provincial government employees against COVID-19 began Thursday and will resume on Monday, May 25.Negros Occidental had 1,428 active COVID-19 cases Sunday, the Provincial Incident Management Team reported.The province had 93 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday and 153 on Saturday, the Department of Health also reported.*

Bacolod Election Officer Kathrina Trinio Caña Saturday, May 22, hit back at those who have unjustly accused her office of allowing the registration of voter applicants without any proof to support their being residents of Bacolod City.“We are not beholden to any person or politician…we are only beholden to the position that we hold and to the COMELEC as an institution where we belong,” she said.“You never have the right to accuse us of any wrongdoing if you do not have proof and personal knowledge of it. You never have the right to make malicious insinuations in the guise of exercising your freedom of expression,” she said in a Facebook post.She said for quite a time she has been silent to numerous social media attacks against her capability and her office’s handling of the reg...

Valladolid LGU photoThe mayor of Valladolid town in Negros Occidental tested positive for COVID-19 Friday, May 21.Mayor Enrique Miravalles will isolate at the Mambukal Resort in Murcia, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said.Negros Occidental had 1,535 active COVID-19 cases Friday, the Provincial Incident Management Team reported.Meanwhile, 50 more Negros Occidental provincial government employees were vaccinated against COVID-19 at the Negros Residences in Bacolod City Friday, Diaz said.Forty had AstraZeneca and 10 had Sinovac jabs, Diaz said.The vaccination of four other employees was deferred because their blood pressure went up, he added.The Barangay Kapitolyo Vaccination Program will resume Monday, he said.On Thursday, 221 employees were vaccinate...

Bacolod City has run out of first dose COVID-19 vaccines, but second dose jabs are still ongoing, City Administrator Em Ang said Friday, May 21.She said 29,407 Bacolod residents had been vaccinated with AstraZeneca and Sinovac vaccines as of Thursday.The city government will resume with its first dose vaccination drive when more vaccines from the national government arrive, Ang, who is also executive director of the Bacolod Emergency Operations Center, said.They were informed that Bacolod will receive 5,850 doses of Pfizer vaccines in June, Ang said.AstraZeneca, Sinovac and Sputnik V vaccines have also been promised but we do not know how many doses and when they will arrive, she said.Ang said the last of the first dose vaccines were being administered at the Ayala Mall...