Carla P. Gomez

The Progressive Alliance of Capitol Employees (PACE) will seek the help of President Rodrigo Duterte on the downgrading of the positions of 109 nurses working in Negros Occidental provincial government hospitals, Renelo Lastierre, PACE president, said.The downgrading has caused demoralization among government nurses, he said.PACE will also seek the help of the Department of Budget and Management and the Department of Health, he said.A new DBM circular caused the downgrading of the nurses positions.Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said the provincial government had to comply with the DBM circular this year, but the nurses have been assured that for 2022 they will create new positions so those downgraded this year can be promoted.Under the DBM memorandum, those classified from nu...

Capitol photoNegros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson and 18 others are under self-isolation after they were exposed Friday to a Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) official who tested positive for COVID-19, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said today, January 26.The governor and 18 employees of the DILG in Negros Occidental, including their provincial head Roselyn Quintana, were exposed during the Provincial Anti-Drug Abuse Summit at the Negros Residences in Bacolod City Friday, he said.The governor had handed a certificate of attendance to the DILG official from Iloilo present at the affair, who was found to be positive for COVID-19, Diaz explained.Hopefully, she does not have the highly contagious United Kingdom COVID-19 variant, he said. ...

The Negros Occidental Sangguniang Panlalawigan is drafting an ordinance that will condone interest and penalties on real property tax (RPT) amounting to P2.8 billion amid the economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Vice Governor Jeffrey Ferrer said today, January 26.The SP Committee on Finance met this morning to discuss the proposed ordinance “condoning or reducing real property tax and interest of property owners”.“This is a campaign to collect taxes and a way of giving tax relief,” Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said.The uncollected RPT obligations in Negros Occidental as of November 2020 were P2.8 billion, plus those properties up for auction sale, Diaz said.Ferrer, who was at the meeting, said “you cannot condone the principal amount, but you can do...

Bacolod DRMM photoThe Provincial Legal Office is preparing to file charges for falsification of public documents and violation of health protocols against five returning overseas Filipinos (ROFs) for false declarations on their return to Negros Occidental, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said today, January 26.“It is a clear directive of Gov. Bong (Eugenio Jose) Lacson and it's now in the hands of the legal office. We are waiting for their documents…if we find that it’s worthy of filling in court or before the prosecutor’s office then we will file it,” he said.Those facing possible charges are a couple and their son from Pontevedra who arrived from London and a Sagay resident from Saudi Arabia who listed themselves as locally stranded individuals (LSIs) and not ROFs in ...

A motion for reconsideration filed by Bacolod Councilor Wilson Gamboa to the dismissal of his petition seeking to nullify a joint venture agreement (JVA) between the Bacolod City Water District (Baciwa) and PrimeWater Infrastructure Corp. (PrimeWater) has been denied.Bacolod Regional Trial Court Branch 45 Judge Phoebe Gargantiel-Balbin dismissed the motion for reconsideration filed by Gamboa in a four-page order issued January 13.Gargantiel-Balbin on November 11 had dismissed the petition filed by Wilson Gamboa Jr. for declaratory relief and declaration of the nullity of the JVA for failure to state the cause of action.The judge also denied their petition for a preliminary injunction and lifted the temporary restraining order she issued on October 27 to stop BACIWA and Prime Wa...

Negros Occidental and Bacolod City officials today, January 26, welcomed President Rodrigo Duterte’s reversal of a rule allowing persons aged 10 to 14 years old in areas under Modified General Community Quarantine to go out starting February 1.The president Monday night overturned the decision of the national Inter-Agency Task Force (NIATF) on Emerging Infectious Diseases, amid concern over the new United Kingdom Covid-19 variant.This means only persons aged 15 to 65 will be allowed out in areas under MGCQ in February. Negros Occidental and Bacolod City are currently under MGCQ.Negros Occidental Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said he agrees with the president 100 percent, “it’s too early for us to let down our guards. We don’t want to be in a position where the infecti...

There were 20,626 new voter registrants in Negros Occidental and Bacolod City from Sept. 1 to Dec. 31, 2020, Commissioner Rowena Guanzon of the Commission on Elections said today, January 26.Acting Provincial Election Supervisor Fatima Aspan, in a report to Guanzon, said of the 20,626 new voter registrants 11,077 are female and 9,549 are male.The report said Bacolod City has 3,281 new voter registrants, while in the first district of Negros Occidental Calatrava has 879, Salvador Benedicto – 246, Toboso, - 243, Escalante City – 326 and San Carlos City – 1,146.In the second district, Manapla has 470 new voter registrants, Cadiz City – 429 and Sagay City – 1,718, while in the third district EBMagalona has 360, Murcia – 304, Silay City – 1,128, Talisay City – 435, and Victorias Cit...

President Rodrigo Duterte tonight, January 25, recalled a government decision to allow persons aged 10 to 14 years old to go out in areas under Modified General Community Quarantine starting February 1 amid concern over the new United Kingdom Covid-19 variant.The president overturned the decision of the national Inter-Agency Task Force (NIATF) on Emerging Infectious Diseases, which had met opposition in Bacolod City.Negros Occidental and Bacolod City are both under MGCQ.Secretary Karlo Nograles, NIATF co-chair, said this morning that they were loosening up quarantine restrictions in February to allow the economy to recover and businesses to rehire workers.Nograles, who was at the Bacolod Government Center, said we need to balance the economy and health when informed of Baco...

A new Department of Budget and Management circular has downgraded the positions of 109 nurses working in Negros Occidental provincial government hospitals.Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson said today, January 25, that the provincial government had to comply with the DBM circular in its 2021 budget.A meeting was held with the nurses to explain what happened. The nurses’ reactions were negative but it is a policy from the national government so they had to convince them to make a sacrifice this year, Lacson said.Under the DBM memorandum, those classified from nurse 2 to 7 will be downgraded 1 rank lower.Lacson said they have assured the nurses that for 2022 they will create new positions so those downgraded this year can be promoted, he said.The modification of the nurses' pos...

Capitol file photoThe Philippine Red Cross in Bacolod City is aiming to conduct saliva testing for COVID-19 by February 5, PRC governor Jay Jalandoni said today, January 25.Saliva RT-PCR tests, which have been approved by the Department of Health to be used by PRC, started at the Red Cross testing centers in Mandaluyong and Manila cities today.The PRC Bacolod laboratory also has the capability to conduct saliva tests and is just waiting for its testing kits to arrive, Jalandoni said.The saliva test will cost P2,000, which is cheaper than the nasal test that cost P3,800, he said.All one has to do is spit into a bag that will then be sealed and submitted to a medical technician for testing, Jalandoni said.The saliva test is a faster, easier, and more affordable mode o...