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The provincial health officer and 70 employees of eight Negros Occidental hospitals have tested positive for COVID-19, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said Tuesday, September 28. The provincial health officer, Dr. Ernell Tumimbang, tested positive for COVID-19 after he was exposed to his son who was hit by the virus, Diaz said. Tumimbang’s close contacts at the PHO tested negative and the office remains open, he added. The COVID-19 vaccination drive at the Negros Residences in Bacolod City has temporarily been suspended, but the vaccine rollout in the towns and cities of Negros Occidental will continue, Diaz said. The 14 who tested positive for COVID-19 at the Teresita L. Jalandoni Provincial Hospital (TLJPH) in Silay City were medical technicians and encoders at i...

PCG photo Philippine Coast Guard divers failed to retrieve the body of one of two missing crew members of FB St. Peter the Fisherman II on Tuesday, September 28, because of zero visibility in the sunken vessel, Commander Jansen Benjamin, PCG Western Visayas District chief of staff, said. The divers attempted to retrieve the bloated body that was in an advanced state of decomposition from the vessel that sank 43 meters deep between Carles town in Iloilo province and Sicogon Island on Friday, September 24, but aside from the visibility problem, the pathway was very narrow and there was a lot of debris, Benjamin added. Missing are Manuel Auditor – third engineer and Julian Dungog – the cook from Cadiz City in Negros Occidental. The bodies of seven of the boat’s crew members have ...

Cadiz LGU photo The Cadiz Emergency Clinic‘s birthing section was temporarily closed starting Tuesday, September 28, after its employees were exposed to a COVID-19 positive pregnant woman, Mayor Salvador Escalante said. Only emergency cases will be accepted at the clinic, he said. The pregnant woman who was about to deliver was admitted at the birthing section and she presented a negative antigen result even if she knew that she had a positive RT-PCR result for COVID-19 on Monday evening, September 27, a Cadiz City advisory said. The CHO received her RT-PCR positive result from a private molecular laboratory Tuesday afternoon, it added. Escalante said the pregnant woman who had not given birth as of Tuesday afternoon would be transferred to the Cadiz District Hospital, whic...

The Negros Occidental provincial government officials running under the Love Negros-United Negros Alliance (UNegA) coalition and some congressional bets will file their certificates of candidacy (COC) on Friday, October 1, Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said Tuesday, September 28 The filing of COCs starts Friday until October 8. The filing of COCs for provincial and congressional bets will be held at the Social Hall of the Capitol in Bacolod City to ensure a bigger venue for social distancing, COMELEC provincial supervisor Ma. Fatima Aspan said. Lacson said they will assign specific hours for the Love Negros-UNegA bets to file their COC’s on Friday to prevent crowding in observance of COVID-19 health protocols. The governor and Rep. Gerardo Valmayor Jr. (Neg. Occ., 1st District)...

The petition is exactly the same as the one filed before the Bacolod Election Registration Board so it should have the same result. That was the answer of former Rep. Alfredo Abelardo "Albee" Benitez after the hearing of the petition for his exclusion from the list of registered voters of Bacolod City at the Municipal Trial Court in Cities Branch 4 Tuesday afternoon, September 28. Benitez said his lawyer presented counter-affidavits and he expects rejoinders will be filed. The MTCC could rule on the petition by next week, he added. The petition was filed by Grupo Progreso allies Hector Yula, Teodoro Abao and Jonah Tornea Abao against Benitez and the Bacolod ERB composed of Bacolod Elections Officer Kathrina Trinio-Caña, City Civil Registrar Hermilo Pa-oyon and Schools Supe...

Now is not the time to consider face-to-face classes in Negros Occidental with the surge in COVID-19 cases in the province, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said Tuesday, September 28. Diaz was reacting to reports that 16 schools in Negros Occidental and Bacolod City are being assessed by the Department of Education for limited face-to-face classes. The Department of Health has placed Negros Occidental and Bacolod City under Alert Level 4 and classified both areas as high risk for COVID-19. Negros Occidental had 3,963 active COVID-19 cases and seven deaths on Tuesday, the Provincial Incident Management Team reported. Bacolod City also had 2,026 active COVID-19 cases, the DOH reported on Tuesday. “Face-to-face class will unnecessarily expose children to danger and...

City PIO photo The Emergency Operations Center-Task Force (EOC-TF) sounded the alarm Tuesday, September 28, against the rising number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in Bacolod City as it called on Bacolonons to get vaccinated now. City Administrator Em Ang, EOC executive director and COVID-19 Vaccination Council (CoVaC) coordinator, pointed out that the Bacolod COVID-19 deaths for September have hit 122, surpassing the previously highest recorded number of fatalities in a month that was 76 in September 2020. "Our number of deaths as of September 28, 2021 almost doubled and we are averaging 109 infections daily. Our health frontliners are pointing out that those experiencing severe COVID cases in hospitals are those who remain unvaccinated," Ang said. Bacolod City had 2,026 activ...

Capitol photo President Rodrigo Roa Duterte approved the vaccination of the general population and children aged 12-17 years old against COVID-19, Malacañang announced Tuesday, September 28. The country’s general population or those who do not belong in any of the vaccination priority groups that were previously approved to be firsts in getting jabbed, will now have an opportunity to get vaccinated as well, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque Jr. said in a press briefing. He said because of a big supply of vaccines expected to be delivered in October, the President has decided that the vaccination program can now be expanded to the general population and children. On pediatric vaccination or the vaccination of children ages 12-17 years old, Roque said parents are encouraged ...