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The provincial government is asking the Department of Health (DOH) to lower the alert levels of towns and cities in Negros Occidental that have high COVID-19 vaccination performances, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said Tuesday, March 29.This will enable local government units (LGUs) that have been performing well to enjoy their efforts under lower alert levels, while keeping those with poor vaccination performances at higher alert levels, he said.This will serve as a reminder to LGUs who continue to have low vaccination numbers to ramp up their efforts, Diaz added.At present the alert level ranking is based on the overall performance of all LGUs in Negros Occidental.Negros Occidental has remained under Alert Level 2 because of the low percentage of its overall tar...

Former Bacolod mayor and representative Monico Puentevella announcing the visit of presidential candidate Manny Pacquiao.*CPG photoPresidential candidate and Senator Emmanuel “Manny” Pacquiao will be campaigning in four cities in Negros Occidental on Friday, April 1, former Bacolod mayor and representative Monico Puentevella said on Tuesday, March 29.Puentevella refuted rumors Pacquiao will back out of the presidential race in favor of Vice President Leni Robredo.Pacquiao has stated “very clearly that he is not thinking of withdrawal at all, I don’t know where these rumors are coming from”, Puentevella said.“He is a fighter, he believes in himself,” the former mayor added.Pacquiao will arrive at the Bacolod Silay Airport from Iloilo City at 10 a.m. Friday, and his first...

A woman and her two minor nieces drowned in the Bago River in Bago City, Negros Occidental, Tuesday morning, March 29.Killed were 31-year-old Riza Macatigos and her two nieces aged 16 and 11.MSgt. Sargeant Mars Anthony Luto, Bago police investigator, said that the minor victims were taking a bath in the river when one of them pushed Macatigos’ 13-year-old daughter to the deeper portion of the river.When the mother saw the incident, she tried to save the minors, but she could not swim.The mother and her two nieces then drowned.Only Macatigos’ daughter survived as she was the only one who knows how to swim, the police said.*

Police Station 7 photoFour suspects who robbed a gas station in Brgy. Alijis, Bacolod City, past midnight Monday, March 28, carted away P1 million in cash.The four suspects entered the office of the gas station as seen on the closed-circuit television, the police reported.The robbers then destroyed the lock of the cabinet and the vault, where the money was placed.One of the suspects was identified as an admin worker of the gas station, whom the police did not name.Police continue to investigate the case.*

Photo from Albee Benitez FBMayoral candidate Alfredo "Albee" Benitez said on Tuesday, March 29, that he will duplicate the Negros Occidental Comprehensive Health Program (NOCHP) in Bacolod City if elected mayor.The Bacolod City Comprehensive Health Program (BACHP) will be patterned after the NOCHP that addresses the health needs of indigent patients, he said."We have seen the success of the NOCHP. A program for health is one of the most crucial and needed programs in any local government unit," Benitez said.Benitez said he has discussed this with owners of private hospitals in Bacolod City and they will recognize the BACHP health card.He pointed out "those private hospitals by law must provide 10 percent of their bed capacity for no balance billing for the poorest of th...

Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson, Rotary Club of Metro Bacolod president Jeinz Kreistein Salgado and past president Renato Monfort, and Alfredo “Albee” Benitez, provincial consultant on economic affairs, (l-r) cut the ribbon at the inauguration of the Human Milk Bank on Tuesday.*Richard Malihan photoThe first Human Milk Bank (HMB) in Negros Island was inaugurated at the Teresita Lopez Jalandoni Provincial Hospital in Silay City on Tuesday, March 29, which is vital to saving lives, especially of premature babies.The HMB is a project of the Rotary Club of Metro Bacolod in collaboration with the Negros Occidental provincial government.Dr. Mary Ann Maestral, TLJPH chief, said there are a lot of mothers who over produce milk and there are those who do not have enoug...