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The Department of Health central office has sent an Epidemiology Bureau (EB) team to San Carlos City to look into the rising acute gastroenteritis and amoeba cases there, Dr. Adriano Suba-an, DOH 6 regional director, said Wednesday, March 1.He said the six-man team from Manila will augment the DOH regional team that was sent to San Carlos City earlier.San Carlos City recorded 469 acute gastroenteritis and amoeba cases and two deaths from February 1 to March 1, Joe Recalex Alingasa Jr., City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Officer, said.He said 268 patients were admitted at the San Carlos City Hospital, 31 at the San Carlos Doctor’s Hospital and 170 were home managed.There were 52 active cases at the San Carlos City Hospital and four at the San Carlos Doctor’s Hospital as...

Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) should be required before the Sangguniang Panlungsod grants Resolutions of No Objections (RONOs) to the proponents of two reclamation projects in Bacolod City, a youth environmentalist said Wednesday, March 1.Joshua Villalobos said aside from the actual destruction of marine life, these massive reclamation projects would also mean that mountains are to be flattened by quarrying to supply the materials needed. If not, they might source it from seafloors, he added.“I hope our officials will think of these massive impacts before they grant any permits,” he added.“The proposed reclamations are being blatantly fast-tracked, and communities in the margins are being blindsided. Proposals of this scale should be thoroughly discussed, consulted, a...

Businessman Ronnie Galve Pabilona was killed in his store in Himamaylan City.*A businessman was killed and three others were found dead in Negros Occidental, the police reported Wednesday, March 1.Businessman Ronnie Galve Pabilona, 47, was killed at Brgy.4 Poblacion, Himamaylan City, 1:45 p.m. Tuesday, February 28.Pabilona was eating lunch at his store when a male person entered and ordered lunch. The person went out of the store, and returned a few minutes later and suddenly shot Pabilona on the back of his head using a .45 caliber pistol, the police said.The victim was brought to the Governor Valeriano M. Gatuslao Memorial Hospital but was declared dead on arrival, the police added.The suspect escaped.Fisherman Jesus Sevilleno was found dead in a tricycle with a h...

Senator Risa Hontiveros *PNA photoSenator Risa Hontiveros said on Wednesday, March 1, that the memorandum by Department of Agriculture (DA) Senior Undersecretary Domingo Panganiban clearing the release of ”smuggled” sugar, which entered the country without proper permits is the “smoking gun” proof that high-ranking officials are behind the country’s latest sugar import fiasco.The senator issued the statement after Panganiban issued a memorandum dated February 27. The memorandum cleared for release imported sugar stocks consigned to All Asian Countertrade Inc. that entered the country with no proper permits and before a corresponding Sugar Order was issued by the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA), in violation of existing laws, Hontiveros said.SRA Administrator David Alba, o...

The Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) has appealed to the top officials of Negros Occidental for their full support for the Small Town Lottery (STL) operated by Super Lucky Beagler Inc. in the province.PCSO Negros Occidental branch manager, Jose Manuel Villagracia, in letters to Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson and Vice Governor Jeffrey Ferrer, said STL operations in the province other than that of Super Lucky Beagler Inc. are illegal, such as the "New STL"PCSO has designated Super Lucky Beagler Inc. as the Small Town Lottery Authorized Agent Corporation (STL-AAC) in Negros Occidental and Bacolod City pursuant to Board Resolutions 0205-N and 0205-0 Series of 2022, granting it authority to operate STL, Villagracia said.STL is one of PCSO's legal and authorized number games na...

A P33.4 million Bacolod City District Office in Barangay Mansilingan was inaugurated and turned over to the Land Transportation Office on Tuesday, February 28.The P32 million building with a P1.4 million fence was donated by the Negros Occidental provincial government along with the 1 hectare property it was built on.“The LTO, in order to be more responsive to the varied needs of its clients, has to adapt to the rapid growth of the Province of Negros Occidental and the City of Bacolod,” Lacson said.“The considerable increase in the volume of LTO transactions has overwhelmed the agency’s previous office location and had to be addressed. This bigger area and office building will certainly facilitate the flow of transactions and ease congestion, and will result to a more efficient...

Negros Occidental Gov . Eugenio Jose Lacson with Bacolod Bishop Patricio Buzon, Kabankalan Bishop Louie Galbines and San Carlos Bishop Gerardo Alminaza (l-r) at the Governor's Office on Tuesday.*The three Roman Catholic bishops in Negros Occidental issued a collegial pastoral statement Tuesday, February 28, calling for the urgent need to transition into renewable energy amid the current climate crisis.The statement was signed by San Carlos Bishop Gerardo Alminaza, Bacolod Bishop Patricio Buzon and Kabankalan Bishop Louie Galbines who met with Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson at the Capitol in Bacolod City.“Recognizing our shared responsibility and the need for collective effort in creating and shaping the future we want for our province, we as leaders of the Catholic fait...

Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez said on Tuesday, February 28, that he supports the proposed reclamation projects in Barangay Banago, Bacolod, that will draw investments to the city.Residents aired their opposition to the proposed 150-hectare reclamation project of the group of businessman Jerry Sy in Barangay Banago, which they said would dislocate them from their homes and livelihoods, at a Bacolod Sangguniang Panlungsod Committee on Environment hearing on Monday.Councilor Claudio “Kalaw” Puentevella, SP Committee on Environment chairman, said the residents’ concerns and the side of the proponents will be taken into consideration.The Banago residents are asking the SP to deny the Sy group’s request for a Resolution of No Objection to the project.The Bacolod Reclamation Gate...

Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez said he will not oppose a joint venture proposal with Central Negros Electric Cooperative (CENECO) if it brings down power rates.“If the joint venture proponents lower the price electricity, ensure 24/7 supply of electricity and convert to renewable power they will have my support,” the mayor said on Tuesday, February 28.MORE Electric and Power Corporation and Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) have submitted an unsolicited proposal for a joint venture undertaking with CENECO, Arnel Lapore, its acting general manager, said Sunday.CENECO sent the proposal to the National Electrification Administration for comment and guidance last week, Lapore said.The proposal is to help CENECO in its financials and operations, Lapore said.*