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The Negros Occidental provincial government is holding a Health Summit on November 24, Dr. Ernell Tumimbang, provincial health officer, said Friday, September 23.The summit will be held in preparation for the implementation of the Universal Health Care (UHC) program in Negros Occidental, he said.The provincial government will have to create a special health board for the UHC, which will be funded by the national government through PhilHealth, Tumimbang said.The board’s function is to manage the Special Health Fund and to set policy direction, he added.The budget needed by the Negros Occidental hospitals will be identified by the provincial government and the local government units will also have budgets for their health care networks, Tumimbang said.Officials of the Dep...

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has revised its calendar of activities for the December 5 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) because of its possible postponement to December 2023.Under the revised schedule the filing of Certificates of Candidacy (COCs) has been moved from October 6 to 13 to October 22 to 29, except October 23, Negros Occidental Elections Supervisor Ian Lee Ananoria said on Friday, October 23.The Comelec also reset the election and gun ban period from October 6 to December 12, to November 6 to December 20, he said.The House of Representatives has approved a bill postponing the BSKE to December 2023 on third and final reading, and the Senate passed a similar measure on second reading.Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri expects the Senate...

The License To Own and Possess Firearm Registration Caravan in E. B. Magalona.*About 200 gun owners and enthusiasts from E. B. Magalona and nearby cities renewed the licenses of their firearms at the one-day License To Own and Possess Firearm Registration (LTOPFR) Caravan, at the E. B. Magalona Public Plaza Friday, September 23.PCapt. Eric Doronila, E. B. Magalona acting police chief, said Mayor Marvin Malacon had asked the Police Regional Office - 6 to conduct LTOPFR Caravan so that Saraviahanons need not travel to Iloilo City to renew their firearms’ licenses, as the regional offices of these concerned government agencies are based there.Doronila also thanked Malacon for funding the one-stop-shop caravan.The E.B. Magalona caravan offered four services: Issuance of Nationa...

The police are investigating the allegation of the family of a slain commercial sex worker that the pimp who was beheaded was behind her death.Capt. Elmer Bonilla, Bacolod Police Station 7 commander, said they are not discounting the possibility that Mario Demetrio may be behind the killing, but they need evidence to prove the claims of the slain sex worker’s family.Demetrio was said to be the last person to see the commercial sex worker alive. She was found dead on the side of a road in Barangay Alijis on September 8.Demetrio, who was beheaded, was found on September 17.The Bacolod and Negros Occidental police are currently working together on the two cases.*

Anti-drug operatives in Negros Occidental undergo drug tests this week.*NOCPPO photoMore than 100 anti-drug operatives from various drug enforcement teams in Negros Occidental underwent drug tests on Tuesday, September 20.This is part of the internal cleansing policy of the Philippine National Police to ensure that policemen, especially those who focus on illegal drug operations, are not using illegal drugs.The target of the NOCPPO is to subject all 307 personnel of the drug enforcement teams of the police stations to the drug tests.Their drug test results are expected to come out next week.Lt. Judesses Catalogo, NOCPPO public information officer, said policemen who refuse to take the mandatory drug test will have to submit a written explanation or may face an administr...

The motorcycle that was hit by a truck.*Murcia PNP photoA 21-year-old motorcycle driver was killed after he was hit by a truck at the national highway in Brgy. Blumentritt, Murcia, Negros Occidental, Wednesday, September 21.Killed was Andrie Ditching of Brgy. Blumentritt.Police said the motorcycle driver overtook two sugarcane trucks he was following, but had to slow down and return to his lane because of a parked truck on the side of the road.He failed to notice that one of the trucks was being towed, so he hit the tow bar, fell from his motorcycle and was run over.The two truck drivers are detained at the police station.*

Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson is reminding local government units to inspect water refilling stations and sources of commercial water with the onset of the rainy season.The governor issued the call on Thursday, September 22, following a reported cholera case in Bacolod City and the Department of Health (DOH) alert against the rising cases of acute gastroenteritis in Western Visayas.The Provincial Health Office is on top of that, they are monitoring especially water refilling stations, Lacson said.“We’re particular about local brands, we really have to check on their water stations,” he said.So far there are no cholera cases in Negros Occidental, but he is reminding the public to be very particular about their sources of water, Lacson said.It was found that ...

The harvest season in the sugarcane industry has started.*Nilry Austine Lobaton Balasa photoThe about 3,000 migrant workers arriving in Negros Occidental for the sugarcane harvest season are required to have booster shots against COVID-19, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said Thursday, September 22.They will no longer be required to undergo RT-PCR (reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction) or Rapid Antigen Tests but they must have booster shots, he said.Their vaccination cards will be checked on entry into Negros Occidental, “we will make sure nobody comes in who is not boostered”, he said.The migrant workers will be picked up by their employers on their arrival and brought directly to their farm quarters for observation for a number of days before they are a...

Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri *The Senate is expected to approve the bill seeking to postpone the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections (BSKE) to December 2023 on third and final reading next week.It is expected to be approved on Monday, September 26, Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri told DIGICAST NEGROS on Thursday, September 22.Senate Bill No. 1306 that seeks to postpone the barangay and SK elections, on Dec. 5, 2022, to December 2023 was approved on second reading on Wednesday, he said.The measure also sets the subsequent synchronized barangay and SK polls to the second Monday of May 2026, and every three years thereafter, said Senator Imee Marcos, chairperson of the Committee on Electoral Reforms and People's Participation, who sponsored the measure.T...