Top Stories

Dr. Adriano Suba-an, DOH 6 regional director, announces the detection of Delta variant cases in Western Visayas at a virtual press conference Friday, July 16.*The Department of Health announced the detection of two local Delta (B.1.617.2) variant cases in Western Visayas on Friday, July 16, and a close watch is up for clustering and surges of COVID-19 cases in the region to prevent its spread.Dr. Adriano Suba-an, DOH 6 regional director, advised the public to remain calm and vigilant, emphasizing that adherence to health protocols can still significantly prevent the risk of transmission.Hit by the Delta variant were an elderly couple from Antique who were hospitalized on May 27. The husband who was asymptomatic recovered but the wife died on May 31.The wife who was a type 2...

Former Rep. Alfredo Abelardo "Albee" Benitez categorically said he is running for mayor of Bacolod in the 2022 polls, sources at a lunch meeting with him Friday, July 16, said.Benitez, however, could not be reached for confirmation.He reportedly confirmed that he is running for mayor at a lunch attended by about 60 members of the Bacolod business community at the Nature’s Village Resort in Talisay City.Panchit Cajili Cuaycong, in a Facebook post, said Benitez publicly announced for the first time that he is running for mayor of Bacolod.“He told me he is running,” Manuel Lamata, president of the United Sugar Producers Federation of the Philippines, also said.Benitez, former representative of the third district of Negros Occidental, is the provincial consultant for econom...

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has warned healthcare professionals and the public not to purchase and consume Bongbong’s special piaya and small polvoron.In FDA Advisory No.2021-1589 issued on June 28, the agency said it verified through online monitoring or post-marketing surveillance that the food products are “not registered and no corresponding Certificates of Product Registration (CPR) have been issued.”Aside from Bongbong’s, a producer of staple delicacies in Bacolod City, the FDA also warned the public against consuming Sloan’s Food Products Barquillos Short, Mayo Bay Tablea, and Ruffa’s Banana Chips in its advisory.Pursuant to the Republic Act No. 9711, otherwise known as the Food and Drug Administration Act of 2009, the agency stressed that “the manufacture, im...

The first batch of single-shot Janssen anti-COVID- vaccines that arrived in the country Friday, July 16.*Western Visayas is set to receive 289,885 doses of Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines targeted for senior citizens and highly urbanized cities in the region, Dr. Adriano Suba-an, DOH 6 regional director, said Friday, July 16.The first batch of single-shot Janssen anti-COVID- vaccines consisting of 1,606,600 doses arrived in the Philippines Friday, the National Task Force Against COVID-19 announced.The vaccines produced by American pharmaceutical firm Johnson & Johnson were donated by the United States government through the COVAX facility.Suba-an said on top of the Johnson & Johnson vaccines other brands are also arriving in the region this month.The va...

Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson has yet to decide whether additional flights for fully vaccinated individuals from Manila to the Bacolod Silay Airport should be allowed, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said Friday, July 16.Philippine Airlines that operates two Manila-Bacolod-Manila commercial flights on Mondays and Fridays, is asking to be allowed to also fly in passengers on Sundays, Diaz said.Its flights from Manila on Sundays are currently only allowed to bring in cargo, Diaz said.“There is a proposal but it has not been analyzed by the governor yet,” Diaz said.*

The satellite registration for the youth in Bacolod Friday, July 16.*BaCoD photoThere were 309 youth voters who registered to vote in Bacolod City Friday, July 16, Election Officer Kathrina Trinio Caña said.The special registration of youth voters was held at the St. Joseph School - La Salle in Barangay Villamonte, Bacolod City.Those targeted for registration were from barangays Villamonte, Estefania, 8, 7, and 17, Genrick Catalonia, Bacolod Youth Coalition for Democracy (BaCoD) satellite registration onsite director, said.Catalonia said the youth were already identified by the Sangguniang Kabataan and had undergone pre-registration to ensure a “smooth and swift” registration process.The satellite registration in Villamonte was the first of three agreed on by BaCoD and...

Mayor Evelio Leonardia on Friday, July 16, appealed for the support and cooperation of the public in strictly observing health protocols and regulations, as the next quarantine status of Bacolod City will depend largely on its situation while under General Community Quarantine with heightened restrictions (GCQ-HR) from July 16 to 22.This is the first time ever that Bacolod’s quarantine status has been set for only a week, Leonardia said.“The reason, we can only surmise, is that the NIATF (National Inter-Agency Task Force) will continue to monitor or observe closely developments in our COVID-19 fight and determine again which quarantine status should be imposed upon us after the one-week period,” he said.“We appeal to all for support and cooperation because our quarantine status...

Bacolod Mayor Evelio Leonardia released an executive order Sunday, July 18, banning leisure travel between Bacolod City and Panay Island as a border control deterrent against the spread of the COVID-19 Delta variant, effective immediately.Leonardia, in Executive Order 39-A, Series of 2021, also said fully vaccinated Bacolod residents will again be required to present negative RT-PCR test results obtained within 72 hours prior to and upon arrival in Bacolod City.Leonardia said Department of Health (DOH) officials have warned of two COVID-19 Delta variant cases in Panay.Dr. Adriano Suba-an, DOH 6 regional director, on Friday announced the detection of two local Delta (B.1.617.2) variant cases in Western Visayas, and that a close watch is up for clustering and surges of COVID-19 c...

Former rep. Alfredo Abelardo “Albee” Benitez said Sunday, July 18, that he fully met the requirements to register to vote in Bacolod City and is ready for an Election Registration Board hearing.Kathrina Trinio-Caña, city election officer and ERB chair, has set the hearing at the Bacolod Commission on Elections office at 9 a.m. Monday, July 19.Three persons allied with the Grupo Progreso party of Bacolod Mayor Evelio Leonardia filed their opposition to Benitez's application for registration to vote in the city, for allegedly being a non-resident.The oppositors claim he is not a resident of Mountain View Subdivision in Bacolod City.His registration to vote in Bacolod is seen as a prelude to his running for mayor against Leonardia in 2022.Benitez reiterated that the opposi...