Carla P. Gomez

A Bacolod City Regional Trial Court judge Tuesday issued a 20-day restraining order enjoining the Bacolod City Water District and PrimeWater Infrastructure Corp. from implementing their joint venture agreement (JVA) until further orders from the court.Bacolod RTC Branch 45 judge Phoebe Gargantiel Balbin was acting on a petition filed by Bacolod Councilor Wilson Gamboa Jr. and Pepito Pico who are seeking the nullification of the JVA.The judge said granting the TRO is merely to preserve the status quo until the preliminary injunction is heard and determined, it having been made to appear that the acts of the defendants if not restrained would adversely affect water consumers and irreparable damage would be caused.She set the hearing of the application for a preliminary injunction...

EDC Negros Oriental facility head, Debonaire Mamhot (left), recently turned over the RT-PCR machines to Negros Oriental Gov. Roel Degamo (right) and the Negros Oriental IATF group. Raffy Cabristante photoNegros Oriental now has a much needed molecular laboratory that will soon be conducting 500 COVID-19 tests a day.Negros Oriental provincial government, Energy Development Corp. (EDC), and Negros Oriental Provincial Hospital (NOPH) officials inaugurated the province’s first molecular testing center today, October 28The testing facility will enable more timely reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) testing of COVID-19 swab samples from local residents once it completes all accreditation requirements and gets the green light from the Department of Health, Richard...

There has been a spike in COVID-19 cases in three cities in Negros Occidental, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said today, October 27.The increase in cases has been noted in the cities of Kabankalan, Cadiz, and San Carlos, he said.The spike in cases in Kabankalan City occurred at a relocation site where numerous people were hit by the virus, he said.This was exacerbated by the fact that a COVID-19 positive person joined the wake of a person who died and infected others present, he said.Diaz said the spike in Cadiz City occurred when City Health Office employees were hit by the virus, Diaz added.The increase in cases in San Carlos can be attributed to the fact that it is a port area where vessels from Cebu dock, he said.However, Diaz said the overall COVID-19...

City file photoPresident Rodrigo Duterte has announced that Bacolod and Iloilo cities will remain under General Community Quarantine until November 30.Duterte, in a pre-recorded message aired on national television, said it is for the good of everyone.Meanwhile, Negros Occidental will remain under Modified GCQ.Local government units have until October 28 to file appeals to their quarantine status before the national Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases, Health Secretary Francisco Doque III said.Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson welcomes Negros Occidental’s remaining under MGCQ to ensure the continued enforcement of measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19, Provincial Administrator Ray Diaz said.Mayor Evelio Leonardia has filed an appeal for Bacolod City ...

Lakawon Island. Photo from traveloka.comThe COVID-19 pandemic has displaced 2,637 tourism workers in Negros Occidental, Provincial Tourism Officer Jennylind Cordero said Monday, October 26.Updated data from 17 out of 31 local government units in Negros Occidental showed that among those displaced were 1,218 workers from accommodation facilities, 68 from tour and travel agencies, 68 tour guides, 156 in the tourism and transport services, 123 at sports and recreation facilities, 68 at wellness centers, 716 in the food and beverage sector and 220 in other resorts, she said.The 17 LGUs with displaced tourism workers are the cities of Bago, Cadiz, La Carlota, Kabankalan, Escalante, Sagay, Sipalay, Talisay, Victorias and San Carlos, and the municipalities of Hinigaran, La Castellana,...

Capiz Archbishop Jose Advincula, former bishop of San Carlos in Negros Occidental, said Monday, October 26, that his appointment as cardinal by Pope Francis came as a surprise.Advincula said was informed of his appointment as cardinal by two priests at 7:30 p.m. Sunday because he did have his cellular phone with him.He was surprised as it never occurred to him that he would be named a cardinal, and there was no information that he was even being considered for the post, Advincula said.At first he thought there could have been a mistake as there are four other bishops in Panay with Jose as their first names.But soon he was receiving text messages and posts were appearing on social media that he was indeed appointed cardinal, he said.Advincula thanked God and the pope for...

303rd IB photosTwo alleged New People’s Army rebels belonging to the Central Negros Front – 1 surrendered to the Guihulngan City Task Force ELCAC headed by Mayor Carlo Jorge Reyes at his residence in Guihulngan City, Negros Oriental, Friday, October 23, Captain Kelvin Bayaban, 303rd Brigade civil military officer, said.The two were identified only as Mari, chairman of Kaugma-on Guihulngan City Chapter and Jomar, a member of a Central Negros 1 platoon of the Komiteng Rehiyon – Negros Cebu Bohol Siquijor, he said.The two said that aside from the unbearable hardships and hunger, they realized that their recruiter’s promise of “change” in their lives on joining the movement never came true, Bayaban added in a press statement.The surrender was made possible through the joint eff...

The damaged Talacagay Bridge in Hinoba-an (left). Flooding about 150 meters from the Hinoba-an municipal hall Sunday. Contributed photosHeavy rain brought on by Typhoon Quinta caused water from three rivers in Hinoba-an, Negros Occidental to overflow, destroying crops, killing farm animals and submerging houses starting 2 p.m. Sunday, town mayor Ernesto Estrao said today, October 26.He said they were still assessing the extent of the damage.Killed were carabaos, cows, pigs and chickens, while destroyed were corn and rice crops, and banana trees, Estrao added.A portion of the Talacagay bridge was also damaged and only one lane was passable yesterday, he said.The heavily silted rivers of Talacagay, Bacuyangan and Bulwangan triggered the flooding, Estrao said.The Provi...

Fastcraft trips between Bacolod and Iloilo cities will resume at the end of the month but those headed for towns and cities of Negros Occidental will be swabbed for COVID-19 tests, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said today.They will be swabbed and quarantined, anyway their test results will be out in three days, he said.The provincial government is also willing to swab those headed for Bacolod City if they cooperate for the good of everybody, Diaz added.However, he said mandatory COVID-19 testing of those headed for Bacolod is up to the city government. Bacolod is a highly urbanized city that is not under Negros Occidental.Travel between Bacolod and Iloilo cities had earlier been halted because of the spike in COVID-19 cases.Jose Venancio Vero, Maritime Industr...

Pope Francis announced today the elevation of Capiz Archbishop Jose Advincula, former bishop of San Carlos in Negros Occidental, to cardinal at a consistory on November 28.The pope announced the appointment of 13 new cardinals, including Advincula, during his Sunday Angelus.Advincula is the ninth Filipino cardinal, following cardinals Orlando Quevedo, Luis Antonio Tagle, Gaudencio Rosales, Jose Sanchez, Ricardo Vidal, Jaime Sin, Julio Rosales and Rufino Santos.Advincula was ordained priest of Capiz on April 14, 1976, appointed Bishop of San Carlos on July 25, 2001 and was consecrated on September 8 of the same year.On Nov. 9, 2011, Pope Benedict XVI elevated Advincula to Archbishop of Capiz.Advincula is 68 and is among the nine new cardinals eligible to vote in a concla...