Carla P. Gomez

Negros Occidental Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz tested negative for COVID-19, but two more of his staff were positive for the virus Monday, May 3.There are now seven employees at the Provincial Administrator’s Office, two at the Teresita L. Jalandoni Provincial Hospital and one each from the Provincial Legal Office and Provincial Health Office who have tested positive for COVID-19.Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson said one employee at the Provincial Administrator’s Office went on a night out with friends, was hit by the virus and infected his officemates.Random testing of employees from various provincial government departments is being eyed to prevent the spread of the virus, Diaz said.Employees tasked with field work should also explore holding virt...

Bacolod Regional Trial Court Executive Judge Raymond Joseph Javier receives his first Sinovac jab.*Judges were among the senior citizens and persons with co-morbidities who received Sinovac jabs at the Bacolod City government mass vaccination site at SM City Monday, May 3.Bacolod Regional Trial Court Executive Judge Raymond Joseph Javier said he and seven other active and retired judges, Department of Justice and court staff, prosecutors and members of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines were vaccinated.The five-day mass vaccination at the Cinema lobby of the southwing of SM City will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. until May 7 to accommodate the remaining frontline healthcare workers, senior citizens, and persons with co-morbidities.Their schedule of vaccination is based ...

Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson leads the inauguration of the COVID-19 molecular laboratory in Valladolid town, Monday morning, May 3.*Richard Malihan photoGov. Eugenio Jose Lacson led the inauguration of Negros Occidental’s second COVID-19 Molecular Laboratory at the provincial government-run Valladolid District Hospital in Valladolid town, Monday morning, May 3.Lacson thanked local officials and partners in the health sector for their cooperation and support that paved the way for the establishment of the molecular laboratory that will cater to the needs of the towns and cities in southern Negros.The governor said with the added testing center in the province, he hopes that swab test results will have a faster turn-around time for the early detection of COVID-19.The Safeguard...

“I am not a drug lord and never had been a drug lord…I am innocent of all the accusations hurled against me,” former Bacolod councilor Ricardo "Cano" Tan said at a press conference Sunday, May 2.*CPG photoFormer Bacolod No. 1 Councilor Ricardo “Cano” Tan announced Sunday, May 2, that finally and officially the Philippine National Police has issued a certification clearing him and his family of any links to the illegal drugs trade.“I was a victim of fake news, intrigue, lies and deception. It destroyed my life. It destroyed my family. It ruined me,” said an emotional Tan, at a press conference at his Campuestohan Highland Resort in Talisay City.Tan, who made a public appearance for the first time since he and his wife, Nita, survived an ambush in Barangay Alangilan, Bacolod City...

Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said Sunday, May 2, that P221,810,000 in cash assistance for 44,362 Western Visayas workers in the tourism sector has been approved.In Negros Occidental, P80.7 million has been approved for 16,149 workers, Aklan - P48.6 million for 9,728, Iloilo – P45.3 million for 9,065, Antique – P37.6 million for 7,512, Guimaras – P5.3 million for 1,063, and Capiz – P4.2 million for 845, Puyat told DIGICAST NEGROS.The country’s lawmakers allocated P3.1 billion in financial aid under the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act, which President Rodrigo Duterte has extended until June, Puyat said.The beneficiaries were given P5,000 as a one-time financial assistance.Puyat earlier said the COVID-19 pandemic caused tourism revenues in Western Visayas to drop ...

Four more employees at the Negros Occidental provincial Capitol in Bacolod City have tested positive for COVID-19 bringing the total number to seven, Provincial Administrator Rayfrado Diaz said Sunday, May 2.The three who tested positive Sunday were from the Provincial Administrator’s Office and one was from the Provincial Health Office, he said.Two employees of the Provincial Administrator’s Office and one from the Provincial Legal Office also tested positive for COVID-19 last week.Diaz, who had close contact with one of those from his office who tested positive for COVID-19 Sunday, was swabbed last night for an RT-PCR test.The Provincial Administrator’s Office that has been disinfected will reopen Monday and will be manned by the staff who already tested negative, Diaz sa...

The Bacolod policemen who tested positive for COVID-19 rose to 72 Sunday, May 2, PCol. Manuel Placido, city police director, said.Police Station 4 had the most policemen hit by the virus at 15, he said.As of Sunday, 751 Bacolod police personnel had been swabbed for COVID-19, he added.All 10 Bacolod police stations and the main headquarters have had policemen hit by the virus, PLt. Liberty Indiape, Bacolod City Police Office spokesperson, said.None of the police stations have been locked down, but persons allowed inside are being limited to prevent the spread of the virus, she said.The police stations with COVID-19 positive cops have been augmented with additional policemen, Indiape said.The police surveillance testing that showed 72 cops positive for the virus start...

The secretary-general of the United Negros Alliance said Sunday, May 2, that he was not aware that two of their members are planning to challenge incumbent congressmen in the May 2022 polls.Cadiz Mayor Salvador Escalante, UNegA secretary general, was reacting to talk that Toboso Mayor Richard Jaojoco would challenge Rep. Gerardo Valmayor (Negros Occidental, 1st District) and former EB Magalona Mayor David Lacson would run against Rep. Francisco Benitez (Negros Occidental,3rd District).Both congressmen belong to Love Negros.“That has not been discussed, there is nothing serious about it,” Escalante said.UNegA and Love Negros are expected to maintain its coalition until 2022 that could respect the equity of the incumbent.Escalante said the only two areas where the two gro...

The COVAC team inspecting the set up of the vaccination area at the SM Mall.*Photo from Em Ang FBThe Bacolod City Emergency Operations Center is all set to start the mass vaccination program at SM Mall on Monday, May 3, City Administrator Em Ang, who is also executive director of the EOC, said Sunday.The COVAC team inspected and set up the vaccination area which is located at the lobby of SM Cinema at the south wing of the mall, she said.Remaining health facility frontliners, senior citizens and persons with co-morbidities will be accommodated based on a first-come first-served sequence in the order that their registration came into the city’s data base, Ang said.Those who intend to avail of free COVID vaccines from the city government, may register online through this l...