Carla P. Gomez

Vaccination at Mandalagan Elementary School Monday, May 17.*City PIO photoMore Sinovac vaccines are set to arrive in Negros Occidental and Bacolod City Tuesday, May 18, as the mass vaccination of health workers, senior citizens and persons with comorbities continues.Negros Occidental and Bacolod City will receive 3,000 doses of Sinovac vaccines each Tuesday, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz and City Administrator Em Ang said Monday, May 17.Ang, who is also Bacolod Emergency Operations Center executive director, said 3,568 Bacolod residents were inoculated with AstraZeneca vaccines on Monday in 14 sites.Vaccinated at Ayala Malls Capitol Central were 564, SMX Convention Center - 369, Villamonte - 478, Taculing - 408, Mansilingan - 211, Andres Bonifacio Elementary Schoo...

Mayor Richard Jaojoco has placed 32 houses at Crossing Central Danao in Barangay San Jose, Toboso, Negros Occidental, under granular lockdown effective 5 p.m. Monday, May 17.The seven-day lockdown from May 17 to 24 will give way to contact tracing and disinfection, he said.Packs containing 10 kilos of rice, 20 can goods and mineral water were distributed to each affected household Monday afternoon, he said.The lockdown was implemented after six residents of Barangay San Jose tested positive for COVID-19, he said.Contact tracing is underway, especially because one of those who tested positive owns a store and had contact with a lot of people, Jaojoco said.*

A seven-day suspension of travel between Negros and Panay will cause a loss of about P50 million in revenues, Frank Carbon, chief executive officer of the Metro Bacolod Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said Monday, May 17.Dr. Bea Camille Natalaray of the Department of Health in Western Visayas, on the other hand, said it will help bring down the number of COVID-19 cases in the region.It is an effort of local government units to help curb the number of COVID-19 cases as it will restrict movement of people, Natalaray said.But Carbon maintained that any halt to travel would hurt the economy and he does not believe Malacañang will approve it.People will loose their livelihoods and businesses will be affected, he said.The Western Visayas Regional Inter-Agency Task Force (RI...

The Western Visayas Regional Inter-Agency Task Force (RIATF) is seeking permission to suspend travel between Negros and Panay for seven-days to contain the rising spread of COVID-19.But businessmen are against the move because it will further hurt the local economy, Frank Carbon, chief executive officer of the Metro Bacolod Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said Sunday, May 16.Thousands of people at the ports in Negros and Panay will be deprived of their sources of income, and businesses will further suffer, Carbon said.Carbon said he does not think the national IATF will approve the request because businesses have to survive to put money in the hands of the people.Businesses are closing faster than those that are reopening, Carbon said.The business sector was not consu...

One department head, two executive assistants, and four other employees of the Negros Occidental provincial government have tested positive for COVID-19, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said Sunday, May 16.This brings to 43 the total number of active COVID-19 Negros Occidental provincial government employees, Diaz said.The four tested positive late last week and three more on Sunday, he said.But the good news is the COVID-19 cases in Negros Occidental dropped below 2,000 during the weekend.Negros Occidental’s COVID-19 active cases on Sunday dropped to 1,845, the Provincial Incident Management Team reported.Negros Occidental had 33 new COVID-19 cases and Bacolod City had 53 on Sunday, the Department of Health reported.Bacolod City has 1,004 active COVID-19 ca...

Mass vaccination against COVID-19 will continue in 22 barangays and two malls in Bacolod City this week, City Administrator Em Ang said Sunday, May 16.The vaccination at the SMX Convention Center and the Ayala Malls Capitol Central will be held daily from Monday to Friday, said Ang, who is also executive director of the Bacolod Emergency Operations Center.On Monday, May 17, mass vaccination is set at 13 barangays – Villamonte, Mansilingan, Alijis, Granada, Andres Bonifacio Elementary School (ABES) in Barangay 3, Education and Training Center School (ETCS) in Barangay 16, Tangub, 39, Bata, Banago, Mandalagan, Taculing and Singcang, she said.Mass vaccination on Tuesday, May 18, will be at 11 sites – Montevista, Mansilingan, Alijis, Estefania, ABES, ETCS, Tangub, Bata, Banago, Tac...

Doctors at the Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital in Bacolod City performed their second pacemaker surgery on May 7.*CLMMRH photoDoctors at the Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital in Bacolod City performed their second pacemaker surgery on May 7, a week after their historic first, Dr. Julius Drilon, CLMMRH chief, said Sunday, May 16.Next month they will also conduct pediatric cardiovascular surgery on three patients, he said.He said the second pacemaker surgery at the hospital on May 7 was attended to by doctors Calvin Fernandez, Jorge Edward Masa and Kris Laura Crucero-Manuel.The patient who is a 48-year-old male surgeon had a complete heart block. He needed a pacemaker due to symptoms resulting from a very slow heart rate, Drilon said...

Binalbagan PIO photoMayor Alejandro Mirasol has issued an executive order directing a two-day temporary closure of the Binalbagan Boulevard and all beaches and resorts in Binalbagan, Negros Occidental, until Monday, May 17.Binalbagan is experiencing a sudden surge of COVID-19 cases suspected to be caused by a new variant, Mirasol said in Executive Order 24 Series of 2021.Binalbagan had 43 active COVID-19 cases on Saturday, May 15, he said.Binalbagan has had 432 residents hit with COVID-19 of which 370 have recovered, 15 died, and four were transferred to other LGUs, Mirasol added.Wearing face masks, social distancing, frequent hand washing and avoiding crowds is strongly encouraged, Mirasol said.All establishments and offices in Binalbagan should follow Executive Or...

Bacolod PIO photoThere were 1,818 Bacolodnons who were vaccinated against COVID-19 Friday, May 14, which was the highest number in Bacolod City in a single day, City Administrator Em Ang said.Vaccinated were frontline healthcare workers (A1), senior citizens (A2), and persons with comorbidities (A3).There were 51 who were vaccinated with Sinovac vaccines while the rest had AstraZeneca jabs, Ang, who is also the executive director of the Bacolod Emergency Operations Center, saidVaccinated in the Barangay 39 cluster were 41, Alijis - 92, Mansilingan – 130, Punta Taytay - 100, Villamonte - 392 Andres Bonifacio Elementary School - 120, Mandalagan - 92, SMX Convention Center - 367 and Ayala Malls Capitol Central – 484, she said.Ang said there was a low turnout at the Baranga...

Ceneco photoThe five electric cooperatives in Negros Island joined their counterparts nationwide in a Black Friday protest on May 14 against takeover and privatization attempts.The protest was in response to the call of the Philippine Rural Electric Cooperatives Association (PHILRECA), Danny Pondevilla, project supervisor and acting general manager of the Central Negros Electric Cooperative (CENECO), said.The five cooperatives are CENECO, Negros Occidental Electric Cooperative, Northern Negros Electric Cooperative (NONECO) and Negros Oriental Electric Cooperatives I and II.Pondevilla, who is also NONECO general manager, said they staged the protest in a show of support against takeover attempts at the Benguet Electric Cooperative (BENECO) and the Northern Davao Electric Coo...