Carla P. Gomez

Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson called on Negrenses today, December 29, not to let their guards down even if Negros Occidental remains under the more lenient Modified General Community Quarantine in January as the threat of a new COVID-19 strain looms.President Rodrigo Duterte announced Monday night that Negros Occidental and Oriental, and Bacolod City will remain under MGCQ in January.The new COVID-19 strain is not deadlier but it is 70 percent more contagious, Lacson warned.So he hopes Negrenses continue to practice minimum health standards, which include wearing face masks and shields, proper hygiene, and social distancing, Lacson said.The provincial government in 2021 will continue to swab persons entering Negros Occidental for COVID-19 tests and quarantine them until thei...

Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Lacson distributes gift packs to all job order employees of the provincial government at the Capitol grounds Tuesday, December 29. Capitol photoThe Negros Occidental provincial government will give its 600 plus job order workers P3,000 each in gratuity pay, Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson said today, December 29.However, the provincial government can only give P1,700 in Service Recognition Incentive (SRI) to each of its more than 3,000 regular employees, he added.President Rodrigo Duterte in separate orders allowed the granting of the P3,000 Gratuity Pay to JO workers and P10,000 SRI to regular employees of the government.If the provincial government grants the P10,000 SRI to each of its more than 3,000 employees it will exceed the salary cap...

City PIO photoPresident Rodrigo Duterte announced tonight, December 28, that Bacolod City and Negros Island will remain under Modified General Community Quarantine in January.Metro Manila, the provinces of Davao del Norte, Batangas, Isabela and Lanao del Sur, and the cities of Santiago, Iloilo, Tacloban, Iligan, and Davao will remain under General Community Quarantine, he said.The rest of the country will be under the more lenient MGCQ.Mayor Evelio Leonardia earlier today said he expected Bacolod City to retain its MGCQ status in January with its daily COVID-19 cases having dropped to single digits.Bacolod’s new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday were 7, Thursday - 4, Friday - 4, Saturday -1, Sunday – 0, and today – 1, the Department of Health reported.The city’s active CO...

The Negros Occidental provincial government is consolidating its savings and other funds for the purchase of COVID-19 vaccines in early 2021, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said today, December 28.The provincial government is still determining how much its savings are from Personal Services, Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses and other programs and projects that were cancelled in 2020, he said.On top of the savings the provincial government has other sources of funds for the vaccines, he also said.The provincial accountant gives all the provincial government offices until the first week of February to submit all their reports so the books for 2020 can be closed and the savings can be determined, he said.Vice Governor Jeffrey Ferrer said it is important that t...

The Negros Occidental provincial government can only legally allocate P1,711 in Service Recognition Incentive (SRI) to each of its more than 3,000 employees, and not P10,000 as ordered by President Rodrigo Duterte.That is because it can only spend P5,233,154 more for Personal Services this year to avoid exceeding the PS cap set under the Local Government Code, he said.If the provincial government allocates P10,000 each in incentives it will exceed its PS cap by P27 million, which will be in violation of the law, he said.The provincial government has the funds to give its employees P10,000 each in additional incentives, but needs permission to exceed the PS cap, he said.Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson is still waiting for the DBM reply on whether the granting of the P10,000 SRI...

City PIO photoMayor Evelio Leonardia said today, December 28, that he expects Bacolod City to retain its Modified General Community Quarantine status in January with its daily COVID-19 cases having dropped to single digits.Bacolod’s new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday were 7, Thursday - 4, Friday - 4, Saturday - 1, Sunday – 0, and today – 1, the Department of Health reported.The city’s active COVID-19 cases were also down to 74 today, the DOH reported.But they are keeping a close watch on the COVID-19 cases in the next two weeks because of the holiday gatherings, he said.BREAKING NEWS President Rodrigo Duterte announced tonight, December 28, that Bacolod City and Negros Island will remain under Modified General Community Quarantine in January. Metro Manila, the provinces of...

Capitol photoVice Governor Jeffrey Ferrer said today, December 28, that it is better for the Negros Occidental seat of government to be located in an area that is under its jurisdiction, “especially since Bacolod has a separate kingdom.”He said the provincial government officials will begin a serious discussion in January on the proposed transfer of their offices to the Capitol’s 25-hectare property in Talisay City.The seat of the provincial government is currently located in Bacolod that is a highly urbanized city and is not under the control of the provincial government.Ferrer said he is okay with the transfer as long as the new site is near the Bacolod Silay Airport.The 25-hectare property of the provincial government in Talisay is located along the Bacolod-Silay Air...

Capitol file photoThere have been fewer locally stranded individuals arriving in Negros Occidental lately, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said today, December 28.This is because of the moratoriums on LSI arrivals in the 19 cities and municipalities in Negros Occidental, he said.Many of the moratoriums are expected to end by early January.Diaz said because of the drop in LSI arrivals swab samples for COVID-19 tests from air and seaports in the province have not exceeded 500 daily.Earlier, the samples for COVID-19 testing were from 1,200 to 1,400 a day, he said.Diaz said the Teresita L. Jalondoni Provincial Hospital molecular laboratory in Silay City staff have been working in three shifts a day to hasten COVID-19 test results to ensure the faster release of ...

The Bacolod City government is preparing a multi-million peso fund for the purchase of COVID-19 vaccines in 2021, Mayor Evelio Leonardia said today, December 27.Leonardia said he has been meeting with his Finance Committee and they are finalizing the amount to be allocated.“We are very confident we have the funds,” the mayor said.“We will see to it that any and all resources that we have, we can realign, we can augment, including our savings” will be used for the purchase of the vaccines, he said.Leonardia said providing COVID-19 vaccines for the people of Bacolod will be the highest priority of his administration in 2021.Leonardia, president of the League of Cities of the Philippines, on December 23 created a Committee on Vaccine Availment headed by Iloilo Mayor Jerry ...