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The head of the Negros Occidental Disaster Management Program Division and Provincial Incident Management Team has tested positive for COVID-19 for the second time.Zeaphard Caelian said he had a fever on Friday and had himself tested for COVID-19.On Monday, the results showed he was positive for the virus and he is now under quarantine at the Mambukal Resort in Murcia.Members of his family tested negative for the virus, he said.The Provincial Disaster Management Program Division and 911 offices at the Panaad Park and Stadium in Barangay Masilingan, Bacolod, were closed Monday night for decontamination and reopened the next day, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said.Caelian’s being hit twice is the hazard of being a frontline worker against COVID-19, Diaz said....

PIMT photoThe Negros Occidental provincial government will have fully vaccinated 200,000 Negrenses when all of its 70,000 doses of Johnson and Johnson vaccines are administered, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said Tuesday, July 27.The target is to vaccinate 1.4 million Negrenses, so they have 1.2 million more to cover, he said.The rollout of the provincial government’s Johnson and Johnson vaccines in towns and cities of Negros Occidental began Monday.Diaz said 11,515 Negrenses were vaccinated with Johnson and Johnson vaccines on Monday and 12,455 on Tuesday.The provincial government will also rollout 700 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccines it purchased to frontline workers in essential sectors under the A4 category at the Negros Residences in Bacolod City on Wedn...

The vaccination of VMC employees kicked of Wednesday, July 28.Two large firms in Negros Occidental have launched their own vaccination programs for their employees.Victorias Milling Co. started its COVID-19 vaccination program for its employees, service providers, family and household members at its mill site Wednesday, July 28, Anne Tiongco, VMC corporate communications chair, said.VMC thanks its partners, the Lucio Tan Group and Zuellig Pharma for facilitating the procurement of AstraZeneca vaccines, she said.By the end of this week, more than 2,000 members of the VMC community will have been inoculated, Tiongco said.San Miguel Corp. also announced that it has started administering company-procured vaccines to its workforce, after taking delivery of 150,000 vaccines i...

Capitol file photo“We are exploring ways to bring down the cost of green energy in Negros Occidental”, Alfredo Abelardo Benitez, provincial consultant on economic affairs, said Tuesday, July 27.Benitez and Rafael Coscolluela, provincial consultant on energy and environment affairs, led a pre-power summit on Monday.They noted that green energy is more expensive than coal.If we want to go green in Negros we have to work on finding ways to bring down the cost, he said.They are looking at batteries to store solar generated power, Benitez said.“The goal is to reduce power cost to benefit consumers, and allow stable and competitive rates and power supply to entice the technology industry to come here and invest ,” he said.A power summit is likely to be held in August,...

Nationwide there will be at least 40 masses offered for former president Benigno “PNoy” Aquino III, including in Bacolod City, on Sunday, August 1, lawyer Andrea Si said Wednesday, July 28.“In Negros Occidental and Bacolod City, grateful Negrosanons are invited to join the special mass to be celebrated at the University of St. La Salle Chapel at 2:30 p.m. on August 1, she said.Aquino, the 15th president of the Philippines, succumbed to renal disease, secondary to diabetes on June 24 at the age of 61.Si said the main mass offering with the Aquino family will be live at 5 p.m. on August 1 at the FB page of Kaya Natin: https://www.facebook.com/KayaNatinPH.Vice President Leni Robredo will give a message after the 5 p.m. mass, she said.“Everyone who joins this online mass is...

BCPO photoThree suspects, including two street-level drug personalities, were arrested in separate drug bust operations in Bacolod City Tuesday, July 27.Nabbed at Purok Amalez 1, Brgy. 40 was 36-year-old Erwin “Nonoy” Toledo, who was tagged by the police as a street-level individual.Upon arrest, he yielded the P500 marked money, seven sachets containing suspected shabu worth P170,000, and a coin purse.In a separate operation, Jonel Alquiza, 39, a street-level individual, of Puentebella Subdivision in Barangay Taculing, and Rene Mijares, 29, of Brgy. Vista Alegre were arrested at the former’s residence.They yielded nine sachets of suspected shabu, including the buy-bust item, worth P27,200, drug paraphernalia, and two pouches.All suspects are under the custody of the...

San Carlos PIO photoNinety-seven employees of the San Carlos City government underwent surprise drug tests at the Barangay 6 covered court on Monday, July 26.The surprise drug test for the government workers, which was the first one this year, was conducted by the San Carlos City Anti-Drug Abuse Council.Of the 97 employees, 49 came from the Bantay Dagat, 36 were job orders and 12 were regular employees of the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CDRMMO) in the Operation Sector.Ana Liza Macaraya, Legal Assistant II and SCCADAC Secretariat, said in a statement that they need to conduct a random drug test every year even with the ongoing pandemic since it is part of the requirement for a drug-free workplace as mandated by the city and Civil Service Commission th...

House Minority Floor Leader Stephen Paduano in his “contra SONA (state of the nation address)” delivered before the House of Representatives Wednesday, July 28, said the Philippines is in very bad shape and there is a need to act on its problems swiftly.“We are suffering from terrible heartbreak due to the COVID outbreak. Whatever gains we have achieved cannot measure up to the pains we have endured. The loss of lives and livelihood, the economic collapse, and the hard climb to recovery tell us only a thing - this country is in a very bad shape,” Paduano (Abang Lingkod Partylist) said.Filipinos need not have to choose to die in hunger or from the virus. Amid the pandemic, a balance between health and economy must be maintained, said Paduano, who is from Negros Occidental.Inequi...