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Dr. Beverly Lorraine Ho, OIC Health Undersecretary, and Renato Limsiaco Jr., PhilHealth senior vice president, at the Negros Occidental Universal Health Care Summit in Bacolod City on Thursday.*Richard Malihan photoThe Philippine Health Insurance Corp. will be allocating billions of pesos for the primary health care of Negrenses with the implementation of the Universal Health Care (UHC) law, a PhilHealth official said Thursday, November 24.So far PhilHealth has accredited 19 consultation clinics in Negros Occidental to serve the primary health care needs of Negrenses, and there are six more with pending applications, Renato Limsiaco Jr., PhilHealth senior vice president on UHC administration, said.Limsiaco and Dr. Beverly Lorraine Ho, , OIC Health Undersecretary, were among the...

The dengue cases in Bacolod City have hit 939, with 13 deaths, which is 191.6 percent higher than last year, the City Health Office reported Thursday, November 24.The barangays with the highest dengue cases are Mansilingan – 115, Taculing – 78, Estefania- 66, Tangub – 61, Singcang- 61, Villamonte – 55, Alijis – 50, Cabug – 47, Mandalagan – 47 and Sum-ag – 42.The CHO has been conducting information drives against dengue in the barangays and fogging areas with clustering of cases such as Mansilingan, Handumanan, Alijis and Taculing, the report said.Dengue still affects people of different ages and gender through a bite of female infected mosquitoes.Mosquitoes carrying the dengue virus breed in non-moving, clear water in big or small containers, the CHO said.Patients with ...

A Bacolodnon was arrested for possession of a firearm during a police buy-bust operation at Brgy. Damgo, E.B Magalona, Negros Occidental, Tuesday, November 22.Nabbed was 43-year-old Jared Banay of Prk. 3, Magsungay, Brgy. Singcang-Airport, Bacolod City.During the bust, he yielded a .45 caliber pistol with magazine, the P100 bill, boodle money, and a plastic bag.He is now in the custody of EB Magalona police and is facing criminal charges.*

Several students of the University of St. La Salle in Bacolod City lighted candles in the school premises Wednesday, November 23, to commemorate the 13th year of the Ampatuan massacre, which was considered as the deadliest single attack on journalists in the world.The commemoration rites was led by the USLS Communication Society, which also unveiled a two-day exhibit that featured updates on the case 13 years after.Andrew Matthew Ortoño, society president, said the people involved in the inhumane event that happened on Nov. 23, 2009 is a “manifestation that freedom is still curtailed by those who are in power, and justice remains elusive to people like us—people who are mere commoners in the society.”“The 32 fallen heroes were a few of the many journalists who lost their lives ...

The Negros Occidental Comprehensive Health Program cards.*Vinthony Ong photoThe Negros Occidental provincial government has been able to save about P80 million in its Negros Occidental Health Care Program (NOCHP) expenses with the implementation of its Management Information System (MIS) even with the increase in its members, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said on Wednesday, November 23.He said from a budget of P120 million in 2019 the NOCHP expenses from 2021-2022 have gone down to P40 million.Their in-house designed MIS has allowed the provincial government to monitor NOCHP availment by its members in real time, which is a deterrent against duplication of expenses, Diaz said.Diaz said the Capitol Cab System where the vehicles of the provincial government are now ...

LTFRB 6 spokesman Salvador Altura*More than 700 traditional jeepneys in Bacolod City could be issued interim service permits by the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board to operate by January, LTFRB 6 spokesman Salvador Altura said Wednesday, November 23.The interim service permits could be in effect until March 31, 2023, and can be extended if not all modernized jeepneys for the city are delivered by then, he said.The LTFRB has authorized 1,099 modernized jeepneys to operate in Bacolod but so far only 173 have arrived. The modernized jeepneys in Bacolod could reach more than 500 by the end of December, Altura said.At the end of day there is only one goal to give commuters sufficient vehicles, he said.The traditional jeepneys will be allowed to operate in...

The calibration of weighing scales.*City Treasurer’s Office photoThe Revenue Inspection and Miscellaneous Services Section of the City Treasurer’s Office - License Division, assisted by the City Legal Office enforcement team, is calibrating weighing scales at public markets in Bacolod City.Out of 261 weighing scales inspected, seven have been confiscated at the Libertad Public Market, the city government reported Wednesday, November 23.The team is continuing to calibrate and inspect defective and underweight weighing scales in major public markets, bagsakan, and barangay satellite markets.Vendors interested in having their weighing scales calibrated voluntarily may visit the RIMSS-CTO located at the ground floor of the Bacolod City Hall, the report said.*

A cholera outbreak has been declared in a second Bacolod City barangay.Dr. Grace Tan, OIC- City Health Officer, declared a cholera outbreak in Barangay Mandalagan on Wednesday, November 23.Water samples sent to the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine from the two open dug-wells in Purok Luhod-luhod and Purok Ipil-ipil in Barangay Mandalagan where found positive for Vibrio cholerae bacteria, she said.There have also been two recent positive cases of cholera infection at Purok Luhod-luhod, Tan said.Cholera is caused by ingesting water or food that has been contaminated by the cholera bacterium, causing the infected person to suffer from severe diarrhea and vomiting, she said.She said Bacolod City has recorded 23 positive cholera cases so far.The CHO in October al...