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The Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) has designated  Bacolod City as an additional testing center for the September 25 Licensure Examination for Professional Teachers (LEPT), it announced Friday, July 8.This will enable concerned examinees to take the September 2022 LEPT without unnecessary distant travel and additional expenses, the PRC said in a press release.Those who have further queries and concerns can email the   Licensure Division at licensure.division@prc.gov.ph and licensure.office@prc.gov.ph and PRC-Iloilo at ro6@prc.gov.ph., it added.For  updates on LEPT, those interested may check the PRC website at www.prc.gov.ph or follow the  PRC official social media accounts at https://www.facebook.com/professionalregulationcommission and https...

There were 1,800 dengue cases in Negros Occidental as of July 2, with 10 fatalities, the Provincial Health Office (PHO) reported Thursday, July 7.Compared to the 2021 data, dengue cases are 725.69 percent higher this year, with Himamaylan City posting the highest number of incidents since January  with 179.According to the data, dengue cases in Negros Occidental have not reached the alert threshold.Some of the PHO's measures to address the cases are to issue a recommendation to declare outbreaks in towns and cities that are on the criteria for the epidemic.Weekly monitoring of dengue cases in hospitals and local government units will also continue.The PHO continues to campaign in communities to keep the environment clean.*

The 10-minute encounter resulted in the arrest of Isabelle Necesario, the Army said*A suspected high-ranking female leader of the New People’s Army (NPA) was captured in an encounter with  government troopers in Calatrava, Negros Occidental, on Wednesday, July 6.The troops of 79th Infantry "Masaligan" Battalion received a tip from residents of armed persons in the area and immediately responded.The 10-minute encounter resulted in  the arrest of Isabelle Necesario, alias Maoline/Nads/Diane/Idel. She was said to be the deputy secretary of North Negros Front (NNF).Recovered from the encounter site were two rifle grenades, two .38  caliber revolvers with seven live ammunition, a .45 caliber pistol with five live ammunition, five flash drives, eight cellphones, th...

Dr. Anna Maria Laarni Pornan and spokesperson Lyzander Dilag at a press conference Thursday, July 7.*Mayor Alfredo Abelardo “Albee” Benitez has issued an executive order streamlining Bacolod City’s COVID-19 response, his spokesperson Lyzander Dilag said Thursday, July 7.Executive Order 005, Series of 2022 transfers the functions  of the  Emergency Operations  Center Task Force to   the Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office that has been tasked  to   spearhead the COVID-19 response of Bacolod, complimented by the different departments and  offices of the city government, Dilag said during  in a press conference.Executive Order 005, Series of 2022, also creates the COVID-19 Action Team to come-up with a coordinated action resp...

“We cannot go back to the scenario of closing borders and lockdowns”, Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson said on Thursday, July 7.Negros Occidental will not be closing its borders to people coming from areas where there have been recent increases in COVID-19 cases, Lacson said.Iloilo City had 480 active COVID-19 cases, with 59 new cases on Thursday, the Department of Health reported.Negros Occidental had 23 active cases on Thursday, the Provincial Incident Management Team reported.Lacson said while the COVID-19 cases in Negros Occidental have slightly gone up they are clearly manageable, hospitals are not getting filled up that indicates that they are mild.This proves that the COVID-19 vaccination drive has helped, he said.“We’ll observe what’s happening...

Victorias City Mayor Javier Miguel “Javi” Benitez (seated, 3rd from left) with the Negros ACE mayors on Thursday.*Victorias City Mayor Javier Miguel “Javi” Benitez was elected president of the Association of Chief Executives (ACE) of Negros Occidental at Acacia Hotel in Bacolod City on Thursday, July 7.Benitez, who replaces former Victorias mayor Francis Palanca as Negros ACE president, said he is honored to be elected to the post.Elected Negros ACE vice president is Bago Mayor Nicholas Yulo, secretary general -  Cadiz City Mayor Salvador Escalante,  treasurer – San Enrique Mayor Jilson Tubillara, auditor – Himamaylan City Mayor Raymund  Tongson, and public information officer – Salvador Benedicto Mayor Marxlen de la Cruz,  Benitez said.Meanwhile, Negros...

Nine Negros Island representatives filed a bill seeking the creation of an expanded Negros Island Region before the House of Representatives on Wednesday, Rep. Francisco Benitez (Neg. Occ., 3rd District) said Thursday, July 7.House Bill 1446 seeks to create Region VI- B composed of the provinces of Negros Occidental and Oriental and Siquijor, he said.Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri, who is expected to be the next Senate president, told DIGICAST NEGROS he also filed a bill seeking the creation of the NIR, composed of Negros Occidental and Oriental, in the Senate on Wednesday.The expanded NIR bill in the Lower House  was introduced by  Benitez, Joseph Stephen Paduano (Abang Lingkod), Gerardo Valmayor Jr. (Neg. Occ., 1st District),  Emilio Bernardino Yulo (Neg. Occ., 5th...

A partnership agreement between the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA) and the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) for the implementation of the DigitalJobsPH program in Negros Occidental was signed at the at Negros Residences in Bacolod City on Thursday, July 7,  Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said.Formerly called Rural Impact Sourcing (RIS) Program, the DigitalJobsPH aims to capacitate people in the countryside to do online freelancing as a means of livelihood using their own Internet platform or RIS Hubs.It is a pioneering program in the region that aims to provide trainings to cooperatives in Western Visayas starting with the Kabankalan-Ilog Teachers and Employees Multi-Purpose Cooperative, Lacson said. Lacson said that the initiative is ...

The NAIA International Airport.* Maliz Ong photoAn alliance of labor groups in Negros Occidental is vehemently opposing the proposal to rename the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) into the Ferdinand E. Marcos International Airport.Rep. Arnolfo Teves Jr. (Neg. Or., 3rd District) filed House Bill No.610 on June 30 seeking the renaming of the NAIA.Wennie Sancho, General Alliance of Workers Associations (GAWA) secretary general, said on Thursday, July 7, that it is another attempt to rewrite if not distort history.“The people are the authors of our history and not the politicians. NAIA was named after former Senator Benigno ‘Ninoy’ Aquino Jr., who was assassinated on Aug. 21, 1983 on this airport which now bears his name sprinkled with his blood and a martyr's death th...

Hinoba-an Mayor Daph Anthony Reliquias*Mayor Daph Anthony Reliquias, the youngest mayor of Hinoba-an town in Negros Occidental, has issued executive orders creating  three new offices that will address the basic needs of his constituents.Reliquias ordered the establishment of Livelihood and Cooperative, Emergency Assistance, and Social Services Offices (LESS).For the first time in Hinoba-an and given the geographical location of the town, the one call/text/dm hotline was put in place as the cornerstone of DIAL D.A.P.H. Central Command as spelled out in Executive Order No. 1, a press release from the town said.Any concerns that focus on emergency, fire, police and medical support can be sent through the hotline so that the Central Command can relay and coordinate with p...