Carla P. Gomez

The fire victims are temporarily being housed in tents at the JR Torres Elementary School gym.*Bacolod PIO photoA fire that hit a densely populated area in Bacolod City left about 250 residents homeless Monday night, April 26, Singcang-Airport Barangay Captain Rosinie Distrito said.Initial figures show that 52 houses were destroyed affecting 61 families in Purok Neptune, Barangay Singcang-Airport, Distrito said.The fire began at about 3:30 p.m. and was placed under control at about 5:30 p.m., he said.It quickly destroyed houses made of light materials, and firefighters initially had a hard time entering narrow pathways to put out the blaze, Distrito said.Some residents were seen rescuing their pigs from the fire.A loud blast was heard from a house in the purok where...

The Department of Health in Western Visayas classified Bacolod City as a high risk area for COVID-19 Monday, April 26.Bacolod was classified as a high risk area because its average daily attack rate per 100,000 population grew from 6.18 percent to 7.12 percent in the last two weeks, Dr. Marie Jocelyn Te reported during the DOH Isyung Bakuna online press conference.The growth rate of the COVID-19 cases in Bacolod in the last two weeks was also placed 146.60 percent, she said.The DOH report said the top 10 COVID-hit barangays in Bacolod are Handumanan with 98 active cases, Mansilingan – 79, Estefania -74, Taculing – 63, Villamonte – 56, Mandalagan – 53, Tangub – 47, Alijis -44, Bata -33 and Vista Alegre -20.The Bacolod Emergency Operations Center reported that 12 city baranga...

Task Force Disiplina photoA long line of voter registrants flocked to the Bacolod Commission on Elections office Monday, April 26.Task Force Disiplina personnel had to remind them to practice social distancing and that only 100 walk-in applicants can be accommodated a day.Bacolod Comelec officer Kathrina Trinio-Caña said they are operating on a skeleton force and can only accommodate 50 online and 100 walk-in registrants a day.She said if one accomplishes and prints out an online voter registration application form, it will ensure an appointment at the Comelec and hasten the registration processA online registrant has to personally appear before the local COMELEC office with three copies of the printed online application form for QR scanning and biometrics capture to co...

Bacolod PIO photoThe number of senior citizens who received Sinovac jabs in Bacolod City rose to 541 on Monday, April 26, Dr. Chris Sorongon, Emergency Operations Center deputy for medical data and analysis, said.He said 133 more senior citizens were vaccinated on Monday.On Friday, 408 senior citizens in Bacolod City had also been vaccinated.The Department of Health reported Monday that the senior citizens under the A2 category targeted for vaccination in Western Visayas are 747,464.In Bacolod City, the figure is 66,000 senior citizens and in Negros Occidental – 201,985, the DOH said.Bacolod Mayor Evelio Leonardia, in a recorded message released Monday, said he has not had any side effects since his received his first AstraZeneca jab.An ant bite is more painful than...

Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said Monday, April 26, that the provincial government will continue to observe a four-day workweek until the COVID-19 cases in the province drop.Lacson ordered the observance of the four-day workweek on April 12 amid the surge of COVID-19 cases in the province.He said the four-day workweek would lessen the exposure of the provincial government employees to COVID-19.The four-day work will continue until the active COVID-19 cases in Negros Occidental drop to the level two and a half months ago, Lacson said.On Sunday, there were 122 COVID-19 recoveries and 22 new cases in the province so that’s a net recovery of 100, he said.Lacson said he is hoping the trend will continue, as he stressed the need to be vigilant and for everyone to follow health pr...

Forty-six inmates at the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) isolation facility in Barangay Handumanan and 19 employees at a talk firm at La Salle Avenue in Bacolod City have tested positive for COVID-19, City Administrator Em Ang said Sunday, April 25.The 19 of about 50 plus employees of an English tutorial firm with Korean clients tested positive for COVID-19 and have been quarantined, Ang, who is also the executive director of the Bacolod Emergency Operations Center, said.The employees have a boarding house behind their office where they live and it is a bit cramped, Ang said.The firm has temporarily been shut down while their work space and living quarters are being disinfected, she said.The employees who tested negative have also been quarantined, Ang added. ...

The Bacolod Police Station 4 chief and 13 other policemen have tested positive for COVID-19, PLt. Greeky Cayao said Sunday, April 24.PMaj. Jun Ray Batadlan, Station 4 police chief, said he tested positive late last week and was in quarantine along with the 13 other policemen.Deputy police chief Cayao said there are 42 policemen assigned to Station 4.The Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO) has sent 10 augmentation cops to Station 4 while the 14 who tested positive are recovering, Cayao said.On April 21, five Station 4 policemen were swabbed for COVID-19 and four tested positive, Cayao said.Batadlan was then swabbed and also tested positive the next day, Cayao said.PCol. Manuel Placido, Bacolod police director, issued a directive that all BCPO personnel should undergo C...

Thirty-five houses with 158 residents in a portion of Zone 1 in Barangay Bacuyangan, Hinoba-an, Negros Occidental, have been locked down to prevent the spread of COVID-19, Mayor Ernesto Estrao said Sunday, April 25.He ordered the granular lockdown of the 35 houses starting April 24, Saturday, after a male resident of Zone 1 in his 50s succumbed to COVID-19 Friday evening, the mayor said.Two persons in Zone 1 have tested positive for the virus, he said.Estrao said he ordered a 14-day lockdown but the period could change depending on the recommendation of the municipal health officer.Seven staff of the Eleuterio T. Decena Memorial Hospital in Hinoba-an swabbed last week have tested negative for COVID-19, the mayor said.However, seven other personnel of the hospital were a...

The COVID-19 active cases in Negros Occidental dropped below the 2,000 level Sunday, April 25, while a Capitol employee tested positive for the virus after being infected by a job applicant.The active COVID-19 cases in Negros Occidental dropped to 1,909 on Sunday, the Provincial Incident Management Team reported.The report also showed that local government units with three-digit COVID-19 active cases dropped to five, while Salvador Benedicto remained free of the deadly virus.The five LGUs still with three-digit COVID-19 active cases are San Carlos City - 211, Murcia – 130, Himamaylan City – 127, Pontevedra – 110, and La Carlota City -101, the report added.There were 122 COVID-19 patients in Negros Occidental who recovered Sunday, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said...

The Bacolod City Emergency Operations Center (EOC) is maximizing its testing operations, especially on individuals with high risk of COVID-19 infection.To further maximize the testing operations, the EOC is aggressively conducting surveillance testing in various areas, the recent of which was in the Bacolod City Police Office after some police officers tested positive for the virus, a press release from the Bacolod Public Information Office said.Those who test positive will immediately be placed under isolation, as ordered by Mayor Evelio Leonardia, chair of EOC, the press release added.Leonardia said testing plays a key role in the city government’s efforts to prevent the spread of the virus by identifying infected individuals and thus preventing further transmission.City ...