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A COVID-19 outbreak has hit the Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital operating room complex in Bacolod City, while a department head and national agency official in Cadiz City also tested positive for the virus.Elective surgeries at the CLMMRH operating room complex have temporarily been suspended.A symptomatic OR personnel tested positive for COVID-19 on April 12. The personnel was allegedly exposed to her parents who had symptoms, a report submitted by Dr. Joan E. Cerrada said.Two other OR staff later also tested positive prompting an outbreak investigation. It was not specified how they were infected.A total of nine OR personnel were confirmed to have COVID-19 mild infection, based on their PCR results, the report said.Seven were symptomatic and two...

A truck allegedly trying to beat a red light hit a motorcycle causing the death of a 3-year-old child and the injury of her parents at the Circumferential Road in Barangay Villamonte, Bacolod City, 10:10 a.m. Tuesday, April 18.Killed was Venice Niem Areglo, and injured was motorcycle driver Jude Jett Areglo, 40, and his partner Sheila Mae Niem, 23, who is 4 months pregnant, of Brgy Guinpana-an , Moises Padilla, , PSSgt. Joemarie Castillon, Police Station 4 traffic investigator, said.The 10-wheeler truck was driven by Jemmy Barneso Panes of Daan Banwa, Brgy 9, Victorias City, who is in police custody, he added.The two vehicles were travelling in the same direction when the truck accidentally sideswiped the motorcycle causing the couple and their child to fall off, Castillon said...

The likelihood of El Niño by June until the first quarter of 2024 has increased, an official of the weather bureau reported Tuesday, April 18.From a 55-percent probability, the chances for an El Niño between June and August have increased to 80 percent, Deputy Administrator Esperanza Cayanan of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), said.The probability of El Niño between November and January 2024 also rose to about 87 percent."El Niño's possible impacts in some areas of the country are drought or dry spell, but this will be felt towards the last quarter," Cayanan said in a briefing.It is possible to experience heavy rainfall prior to seeing the effects of El Niño since it will be rainy or "habagat" (southwest monsoon) sea...

Negros Occidental’s first provincial government-run animal learning park and hospital, and animal disease diagnostics laboratory situated inside the Panaad Park and Stadium in Bacolod City is offering more affordable services for raisers and pet owners.The facilities were opened to Negrenses on Tuesday, coinciding with the week-long staging of the 27th Panaad sa Negros Festival which started on Monday.Dr. Placeda Lemana, acting provincial veterinarian, said the rates for the services, which are based on a provincial ordinance, are lower compared to those charged by private animal hospitals.“We no longer have a clinic at the capitol area. All the services are now here in the park. We accept consultation, treatment, grooming and confinement. The learning park is where children ca...

The turnover of Command to PCol. Noel Calderon Aliño, second from right, as Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez , left, looks on.*Bacolod PNP photoPCol. Noel Calderon Aliño assumed the post of Bacolod City acting police director Tuesday afternoon, April 18, following the request of Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez for his swift appointment.Benitez said on Monday that the dumping of mutilated body parts in Bacolod City had become alarming and that he sent a message to Local Government Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr. asking him to hasten the appointment of a new Bacolod police director.Aliño, a Philippine National Police Class of 1998 graduate and the former provincial police director of Iloilo, replaced Col. Thomas Joseph Martir who is retiring.Benitez thanked Martir for hi...

A New People’s Army leader, who is allegedly one of the heads of an NPA kangaroo court, was killed in an encounter with 62nd Infantry “Unifier” Battalion troops at Brgy Quintin Remo, Moises Padilla, Negros Occidental, Tuesday, April 18.The fatality was identified by former rebels as Jose Albores Jr., alias “Jojo”, an alleged member of Central Negros 1 (CN1) under the NPA’s Leonardo Panaligan Command (LPC), the 62IB reported.The former rebels and civilians said that Albores is one of the heads of the NPA “Kangaroo Court” operating in the boundaries of Moises Padilla, La Castellana and Isabela in Negros Occidental, and Canlaon City and Guihulngan City in Negros Oriental, it added.His group is responsible for the killing of innocent civilians, even their own members who were tagge...

Mayor Salvador Escalante Jr. has ordered the mandatory wearing of face masks in government offices in Cadiz City, Negros Occidental.Escalante, in Executive Order No. SGE-012-2023 issued Monday, April 17, said the COVID-19 pandemic continues to pose a significant threat to the health and safety of the residents of Cadiz City.The wearing of face masks has been shown to be an effective measure in reducing the spread of COVID 19, he said.City government employees and clients should wear the proper face masks while inside the enclosed government offices in Cadiz City, he said.Minimum public health standards should continue to be observed to prevent and minimize the spread of COVID-19, he added.Those who fail to comply with the provisions of this executive order, as well as t...

Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez (center) at a press conference at Bacolod pavilion grounds at the Panaad Park and Stadium on Monday.*Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez said he is asking the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to explain why they are repairing roads that are not really damaged when there are others that are in need of repair.They are drilling holes in roads that are not in bad condition, Benitez said on Monday, April 17.There are currently 10 identified areas with major road works in Bacolod City, the majority of which are being undertaken by the DPWH.The city government is closely monitoring the road projects to ensure their completion on time.They are looking at ways to lessen the impact of road repairs on businesses and traffic, ...

Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson, senators Francis Tolentino and Bong Go, and Vice Governor Jeffrey Ferrer (l-r) at the opening of the Panaad sa Negros Festival (l-r) on Monday.*Richard Malihan photoNegros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson called on the public to buy locally manufactured goods at the 27th Panaad sa Negros Festival that opened on Monday, April 17.“I encourage everyone to shift their buying patterns towards the consumption and purchase of locally manufactured goods that we have in abundance in the Panaad Park and Stadium” in Bacolod where the weeklong festival is being held, Lacson said in his speech at the opening rites.Lacson said he was issuing the call in acknowledgment of “the substantial contributions of our MSMEs (Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises) t...