Carla P. Gomez

Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson said a decision will have to be made by early January on the transfer of the Negros Occidental provincial government offices to Talisay City, and on whether the Capitol can grant an additional P10,000 bonus to its employees.Lascon said a decision has to be made on whether the new Provincial Administration Center should be built at Aguinaldo Street in Bacolod City as originally planned or at the 25-hectare property of the provincial government in Talisay City.Dynamic Builders Inc. that is leasing the site of the old PAC where it will build a commercial complex, in 2018 also won the bid to build the new PAC at Aguinaldo Street.Lascon said Dynamic Builders is supposed to start construction of the new PAC so a decision has to be made soon on where it wi...

LacsonA dismissed lawyer of the Negros Occidental Provincial Legal Office has filed a complaint against Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson before the Office of the President through the Department of the Interior and Local Government and is seeking his immediate preventive suspension.Lawyer Ernie Magaspag, in a letter to President Rodrigo Duterte dated December 9, said he was filing a formal complaint against the governor for alleged abuse of authority, misconduct in office, gross negligence or dereliction of duty, and other administrative cases as his evidence may warrant.This is pertinent to the complaint before the Office of the President through the 8888 Citizen’s Complaint Hotline for undue delay in the payment of supplies by the province of Negros Occidental, endorsed by the DI...

The mobile medical team under the Abanse Negrense One Hospital System performing surgery at the Gov. Valeriano M. Gatuslao Memorial Hospital in Himamaylan City on December 16.*The Negros Occidental provincial government has launched its mobile doctors’ teams that will bring health services directly to the people, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said today, December 21.This is the concept of Gov. Eugenio Lacson's Abanse Negrense One Hospital System where complete medical teams are scheduled for deployment in all 11 hospitals of the provincial government of Negros Occidental, Diaz said.“We will bring our doctors to the people so patients do not need to be referred to distant hospitals,” he saidThe objective is to bring surgical, medical and obstetric services closer ...

Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson said today, December 21, that he has instructed the provincial administrator to determine how much funds the Capitol can allocate for the purchase of COVID-19 vaccines early next year.The purchase will be done to augment the supply to be provided by the national government.Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said they will know the amount that can be allocated by January.“We have a lot of savings from various programs that can be allocated in the first month of 2021. We have to close our books for 2020 first,” Diaz said.The governor already instructed him to ensure the allocation of the funds for the vaccine, he said.Former Rep. Alfredo Benitez, provincial consultant on economic affairs, will head the procurement effort...

The House of Representatives has approved on final reading a bill filed by Rep. Francisco Benitez (Negros Occidental, 3rd District) to establish a multi-species hatchery in Barangay Mambucog, Talisay City.“This will support the growing aquaculture and seafood industry in the Third District and ensure the steady supply of fish and blue crabs for the domestic market and for export,” Benitez said.The hatchery will be established under the supervision of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources of the Department of Agriculture, he said.The BFAR-DA will then transfer the management of the multi-species marine hatchery to the local government of Barangay Mambucog, Talisay City, within two years after construction, he added.It shall also implement a training and phasing-in pr...

Former Negros Occidental Rep. Alfredo Abelardo Benitez said he is negotiating for Negros Occidental to be among the first provinces in the country to avail of COVID-19 vaccines by early next year.Benitez, who turned 54 today, December 20, said his birthday wish is that the vaccines will arrive in the province in the first quarter of 2021.The former representative of the third district of Negros Occidental is the provincial government consultant on economic affairs.He already has an agreement with the national government for the purchase of the vaccines and they are trying to negotiate with US-based Moderna or Chinese biotech Sinovac for allocations, Benitez said.“As soon as we get an allocation I’ll bring them to Negros,” he said, adding that the provincial and national gov...

Budget Secretary Wendel Avisado said Local Government Units (LGUs) are not obligated to allocate funds for COVID-19 vaccines that will be provided for free by the national government.“That is the national government's responsibility, not the local government, but in terms of managing the virus and providing health responses and isolation facilities, these are really local. That's why under the existing issuances, the LGUs are allowed to utilize local funds for this purpose,” Avisado said in answer to a query of Bacolod Mayor Evelio Leonardia.However, if there are not enough vaccines the LGUs can also spend for those, Avisado said during a recent virtual meeting of the 70th LCP League of Cities of the Philippines- National Executive Board.Leonardia, LCP president, asked if there...

Eric Loretizo file photoThe United Negros Alliance (UNegA) and Love Negros are eyeing unified slates from the provincial level down to the towns and cities of Negros Occidental in the 2022 elections, UNegA secretary-general Salvador Escalante said today.They will work for the equity of the incumbent wherever it is possible, Escalante said, but acknowledged that it might not happen in some areas where political rivalry continues.Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson of Love Negros and Jeffrey Ferrer of UNegA ran under a coalition in 2019 and apparently plan on seeking reelection in the same manner in 2022.“The coalition is going strong, action speaks louder than words,” Escalante said.The UNegA officers took their oaths before Lacson at Natures Village Resort in...

Mary Ann Treyes and her mother, Lolita*A resident of Barangay Alijis, Bacolod City, is appealing for help for the speedy return of the remains of her daughter who succumbed to COVID-19 in Saudi Arabia.Mary Ann Treyes, 48, who worked as a midwife is believed to have been infected with the virus while assisting a patient delivering a baby, her mother Lolita Treyes told DIGICAST NEGROS today, December 20.Her daughter died on November 26 and they have sought the help of the Department of Foreign Affairs, she said.DFA Bacolod head Florentino Granada said the Philippine Embassy is processing the return of the remains of Mary Ann.Cases like these are given priority, he assured.There is no cremation in Saudi Arabia, he said.Lolita, however, said she hopes more agencies ...

Curfew in Bacolod City will be suspended on December 24 and 31, Mayor Evelio Leonardia announced today, December 20.Leonardia, in Executive Order No. 82, Series of 2020, said the suspension was granted “in observance of Filipino customs and traditions of celebrating Christmas and to welcome the New Year.”Bacolod City is currently under Modified General Community Quarantine.Leonardia, in his EO, said it is his intention to provide Bacolod residents a chance to exercise time-honored customs and traditions during the 2020 Christmas season.The mayor said he issued the EO after consultations with Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran, the Sangguniang Panlungsod members, barangay officials, and the City’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC) Task Force, to determine the feasibility, practica...