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Lakawon Island. Photo from traveloka.comThe COVID-19 pandemic has displaced 2,637 tourism workers in Negros Occidental, Provincial Tourism Officer Jennylind Cordero said Monday, October 26.Updated data from 17 out of 31 local government units in Negros Occidental showed that among those displaced were 1,218 workers from accommodation facilities, 68 from tour and travel agencies, 68 tour guides, 156 in the tourism and transport services, 123 at sports and recreation facilities, 68 at wellness centers, 716 in the food and beverage sector and 220 in other resorts, she said.The 17 LGUs with displaced tourism workers are the cities of Bago, Cadiz, La Carlota, Kabankalan, Escalante, Sagay, Sipalay, Talisay, Victorias and San Carlos, and the municipalities of Hinigaran, La Castellana,...

DA-6 photoHog raisers from Western Visayas (WV) have shipped P255.2 million worth of live pigs to Luzon from June this year as the area was affected by the dreaded African swine fever, Remelyn Recoter, Department of Agriculture-Region 6 director, said Monday, October 26.Since WV is 151 percent self-sufficient in swine, based on the second quarter data of the Philippine Statistics Authority, local raisers with the intervention of the different local and Manila traders and various local government units in the region were able to market about 23,367 pigs worth P255.2 million to Luzon, Recoter said, citing the report of Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI)-Veterinary Quarantine Service Region 6."Our farmers have improved their income as they ship their surplus production to ASF red zon...

A baby girl drowned in a creek near her home in Barangay Guinpana-an, Moises Padilla, Sunday morning, October 25.Reynald Horegue, head of the Moises Padilla Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office, said the one-year and three-month-old Princess Joy Eustañio was left under the care of her eight 8-year-old sibling, who momentarily left her unattended to get something.When the sibling returned, the baby was nowhere to be found. The child thought that Princess was taken by their aunts. When they found out that nobody took the baby, they searched for her at the creek, since their home was located near the water.Horegue said that their team and the barangay officials immediately responded to the scene.Later, the body of the baby was fished out of the water a few meters from...

Inter-Agency Task Force-Visayas chief implementer Mel Feliciano is urging individuals showing early symptoms of COVID-19 to seek immediate medical attention.“Strict monitoring of symptomatic individuals is important for them to avoid developing moderate to severe symptoms that could lead to further hospitalization, and worst - death,” said Feliciano, who oversees the Bacolod City Emergency Operations Center Task Force.Bacolod City has had 4,749 persons hit by COVID-19, 4,248 of whom have recovered, 379 are active and 122 have died, the Department of Health reported Monday (October 26).In October, data from the Bacolod EOC-TF showed that 157 out of 706 individuals with flu-like symptoms tested positive for COVID-19, which translates into a positivity rate of 22.24 percent.As...

There has been a spike in COVID-19 cases in three cities in Negros Occidental, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said today, October 27.The increase in cases has been noted in the cities of Kabankalan, Cadiz, and San Carlos, he said.The spike in cases in Kabankalan City occurred at a relocation site where numerous people were hit by the virus, he said.This was exacerbated by the fact that a COVID-19 positive person joined the wake of a person who died and infected others present, he said.Diaz said the spike in Cadiz City occurred when City Health Office employees were hit by the virus, Diaz added.The increase in cases in San Carlos can be attributed to the fact that it is a port area where vessels from Cebu dock, he said.However, Diaz said the overall COVID-19...

City file photoPresident Rodrigo Duterte has announced that Bacolod and Iloilo cities will remain under General Community Quarantine until November 30.Duterte, in a pre-recorded message aired on national television, said it is for the good of everyone.Meanwhile, Negros Occidental will remain under Modified GCQ.Local government units have until October 28 to file appeals to their quarantine status before the national Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases, Health Secretary Francisco Doque III said.Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson welcomes Negros Occidental’s remaining under MGCQ to ensure the continued enforcement of measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19, Provincial Administrator Ray Diaz said.Mayor Evelio Leonardia has filed an appeal for Bacolod City ...

BY CARLA GOMEZThe Civil Service Commission has disapproved the appointment of three Sugar Regulatory Administration deputy administrators on the ground that the composition of the Human Resource Merit Promotion and Selection Board (HRMPSB) for 2nd Level Managerial and Executive Officers was not in accordance with the rules.This was disclosed by CSC-National Capital Region Director 4 Judith Dongallo-Chicano in a letter to SRA Board Members Emilio Bernardino Yulo and Roland Beltran following their request for the commission to disapprove the permanent appointments of the three issued by SRA Administrator Hermenegildo Serafica for alleged violation of the Civil Service Law.“We maintain that the appointment of the deputies was regular and the board members, as members of th...

The Bacolod-Silay Airport (BSA) is rolling out a coronavirus contact tracing system for its employees, passengers, and port users as part of its measures to curb the spread of the virus and to ensure the safety of everyone.In a statement Friday, October 23, BSA said it will implement the mandatory use of the mobile application Traze within the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) offices and facilities under the directive issued by the Department of Transportation on October 9.This is not only for CAAP and BSA personnel but for all airport users and passengers, it added.It said that the Traze mobile application is “a nationwide and unified contact tracing app that automates manual contact tracing by using Quick Response (QR) code scanning without the use of Blueto...

Photo courtesy of Frank CarbonThe business community in Bacolod City is calling on the local government to put “more effort” into its recovery action plan to stimulate economic activities.Frank Carbon, Metro Bacolod Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive officer, said they sought a meeting with the city officials “to ask for an update on where we are in the economic recovery effort and what has been done.”But during the meeting on Wednesday, October 21, it was lawyer John Orola, the city’s special consultant on trade and investment, along with lawyer Jesus Hinlo Jr., Land Bank of the Philippines director, who talked with the business community.The city government was supposed to update the business community on its economic recovery plan, but the latter ended up p...

BY CARLA GOMEZCapitol file photoThe Philippine Coast Guard has been instructed not to allow migratory workers to board vessels for Negros Occidental without prior coordination with the provincial government to ensure that they undergo COVID-19 tests, Zeaphard Gerhart Caelian, Provincial Disaster Management Program Division chief, said yesterday.There are 1,808 migratory workers from Antique who have recently arrived in Negros Occidental for the harvest season, eight of whom were found to be COVID -19 positive, he said.The majority of the migratory workers, , also known as sacadas, work as cane cutters in Negros Occidental that is the top producer of sugarcane in the country.They are swabbed for COVID-19 tests on arrival in Negros Occidental and quarantined in farm quar...