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Carl Angelo HofileñaThe Bacolod Sangguniang Panlungsod passed a resolution Wednesday, March 22, congratulating Carl Angelo Hofileña for placing 9th in the March 2023 Physician Licensure Examination (PLE).Hofileña, a Bacolodnon from Barangay 20, has brought honor and prestige Bacolod for passing the March 2023 PLE with a rating of 86.83 percent and placing 9th among 2,887examinees, the resolution authored by Councilor Em Ang said.Ang said Hofileña graduated valedictorian from the College of Medicine at the West Visayas State University.He obtained his Bachelor of Science in Medical Technology degree from the Colegio de San Agustin - Bacolod and finished his secondary education at St. John's Institute in Bacolod City.“Hofileña is a living testament that anybody can excel ...

Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz*The Negros Occidental provincial government will implement a four-day work week for its employees if it becomes a law, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said Thursday, March 23.“It will be good for our physical, psychological and mental health, other countries are also doing that,” he said.However, in some offices services will really slow down under four-day work week, Diaz said.There are some services that cannot be done from home such as the acceptance of payments and ocular inspections, Diaz said.The provincial government is ready to release Performance-Based Bonuses (PBB) to its employees as soon as it gets guidelines from the national government, he also said.The PBB is equivalent to 60 percent of an employee’s sal...

Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson sees no reason to come up with stringent rules and regulations as people return for Holy Week next month since COVID-19 cases in Negros Occidental are down, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said.There was only one coronavirus positive at the Cadiz District Hospital, the COVID-19 designated facility of Negros Occidental, on Thursday, March 23, Diaz said.Diaz said he believes local chief executives can be given more freedom to look at their own situation and come up with their own guidelines or protocols for Holy Week.In fact some local governments have already issued guidelines, he said.Negros Occidental is now open and ready to welcome tourists, Diaz said.*

Poll workers who are serving as Electoral Board (EB) members are set to receive higher honoraria in the upcoming Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE), the Commission on Elections (Comelec) announced on Thursday, March 23.Comelec Chairperson George Garcia said the teachers who will be part of the October 2023 polls are set to receive a minimum of P8,000 to as high as P10,000.“We will make it P10,000, P9,000 and P8,000. We will match it to what teachers receive in automated elections,” he said in a press conference Thursday.“We will make it effective in the Barangay and SK elections,” the poll body chief added.Bu the payment for teachers is not exempted from the Value Added Tax (VAT) deductions, he said.The new payment is higher than what the teachers receiv...

The televisions being removed at the Bacolod City Government Center.*Nico Delfin photoMore than 100 televisions are being removed from offices at the Bacolod City Government Center, City Administrator Pacifico Maghari III said Thursday, March 23.Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez ordered their removal after he caught five persons watching a TV program at the Cash Division of the City Treasurer’s Office during office hours.Maghari said records show that there are 133 televisions but he could not determine the actual number removed yet as it was ongoing.All department heads have been directed to coordinate with the General Services Office for the proper procedure on returning the televisions, Maghari said.The televisions are being pulled out so city employees are not ...

Negros Occidental hog raisers are happy that their pigs and pork products being shipped to Metro Manila are now selling at higher prices, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said Thursday, March 24.The Negros hog raisers shifted their sales to Metro Manila after Cebu province banned the entry of their products as a precaution against African Swine Fever (ASF).Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson has appealed to Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia to lift the ban but has not received a reply.Lacson pointed out that Negros Occidental remains ASF-free and the ban has prevented hog shipments from passing through Cebu on their way to Leyte and other parts of Eastern Visayas.This forced Negros hog raisers to find alternative markets in Metro Manila where prices were initially lo...

Relieved Negros Oriental Police Director, Col. Reynaldo Lizardo.*Judy Flores Partlow photoNegros Oriental Police Director, Col. Reynaldo Lizardo, has been relieved of his post effective Wednesday, March 22.His relief was part of the ongoing investigation on the death of Governor Roel Degamo and eight others during the March 4 gun attack at the governor’s residential compound in Pamplona town.Lizardo told the Philippine News Agency that he received a copy of the relief order on Thursday and immediately held an exit briefing with the police chiefs and other unit commanders.His new assignment was not immediately known.“This is an administrative process within the organization where a commander is relieved of his or her current position to give way to an impartial investiga...

Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson has invited President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Vice President Sara Duterte Carpio to the Panaad sa Negros Festival set on April 17 to 23.Letters have been sent to their offices but no confirmations have been made yet, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said.“Vice Governor Jeffrey Ferrer will be very instrumental in assisting us in convincing our top two national leaders to come to the Panaad,” he said.Once they confirm specific dates, plans will be made to adopt to their schedules, Diaz said.Senators have also been invited to the festival, he added.“Preparations are 100 percent full speed ahead … everything is on the right track” for one of the most memorable Panaad sa Negros Festivals, he said.The festival that return...

Administrator David John Thaddeus Alba told reporters on Wednesday, March 22, that he has not resigned from the Sugar Regulatory Administration yet.Sugar industry sources on Tuesday said he had submitted his resignation but President Ferdinand Marcos, concurrent agriculture secretary, has yet to act on it.Alba gave a brief response to reporters but they did not have a chance to ask about his allegedly having submitted his resignation letter earlier.Meanwhile, sugar industry leaders had mixed reactions to Senator Risa Hontiveros claim that three sugar traders “handpicked” by Agriculture Senior Undersecretary Domingo Panganiban to import 440,000 metric tons of sugar into the country may “outrageously” rake in billions of pesos in “super profits”.“|It's understandable that bus...