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PDEA-6 photoTwo drug dens were dismantled and 14 drug personalities were arrested in separate buy-bust operations in Barangay 5, San Carlos City, Negros Occidental, on Sunday, June 13.Arrested were suspected drug maintainer Jemar Flores, Gilbert Cabaluna, Restituto Descetiar, Reynald Rabaca, Rodito Mayagma and Raymund Rabaca.The suspects yielded 12 sachets of suspected shabu weighing 15 grams and worth P102,000, drug paraphernalia, and the buy-bust money, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency Region 6 said.In a separate buy-bust operation, eight drug suspects were arrested in the same village.Nabbed were suspected drug maintainer Joselito Gumilao, Jonrey Cabillon, JR Elladora, Gilbert Ullegi, Micheal Bacus, Joerge Eñeres, Efren Palaubsanon and Eugene Malinao.Suspec...

EB Magalona PNP photoBarangay San Isidro, EB Magalona, Negros Occidental, on Sunday, June 13.The EB Magalona police’s anti-illegal gambling operation led to the arrest of the suspects, who were caught engaging in illegal cockfighting.Recovered from the suspects were 14 fighting cocks, including six dead ones, P2,000 in cash, one gaff, a betting list, and two scissors.The suspects are under the custody of the EB Magalona police and will face charges for violation of Presidential Decree (PD) 449 or the Cockfighting Law.*

The Bacolod Casino Filipino has been temporarily closed for disinfection and sanitation after 79 of its employees tested positive for COVID-19 since May, its branch manager Jose Marciano Bautista said Sunday, June 13.The Casino, located at L ‘Fisher Hotel at Lacson Street, stopped operations Saturday and may hopefully reopen by mid-week, he said.The Casino is doing everything it can to help its employees, Bautista said.All of the about 360 organic and non organic employees of the Casino have already been tested for COVID-19, he said.“Rest assured that we are doing everything to contain this, it’s more on community acquired. If ever there is a transmission here we are stopping it,” he said.“Rest assured that the Casino is very, very safe because we follow all the protoco...

There is a possibility that Bacolod City will be placed under the more stringent Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine by June 16 because of the surge in its COVID-19 cases, City Administrator Em Ang said Sunday, June 13.Ang, Bacolod Emergency Operations Center executive director, said the national Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) is set to deliberate on the quarantine status of Bacolod, Negros Occidental and other areas of the country Monday, June 14.Ang said it is possible that Bacolod City could be placed under MECQ but they really do not know yet, IATF has yet to deliberate on it.A lot of the rules set under MECQ are already being enforced by the city government, including limiting public gatherings to 30 percent of a venue’s capacity, she said.Bacolod did not request fo...

The Cebu provincial government is regulating the entry of individuals coming from Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental and Bohol as it strengthened its measures against the spread of Covid-19.Governor Gwendolyn Garcia, in Executive Order No. 22 issued on June 12 and will take effect at 12:01 am of June 14, said that persons coming from the three provinces who will enter Cebu through all of its ports of entry will be required to present a negative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test result taken 72 hours before departure from the place of their origin or a negative rapid antigen test result taken at least 48 hours before departure.The Department of Health is charged with the responsibility of conducting a rapid antigen test in all ports of origin on all perso...

Bacolod Mayor Evelio Leonarda amended Saturday, June 12, Executive Order No. 28 that sets the guidelines for hospital-supervised home quarantine (HSHQ) for asymptomatic or mild COVID-19 cases in Bacolod City.Leonardia pointed out that Bacolod has been experiencing a spike and rebound in COVID-19 infection for the past 14 days of May that has continued in June prompting the Department of Health to classify the city as a “high-risk” area.The amended guidelines state that those who are qualified to apply for hospital-supervised home isolation/quarantine must have all of the following current conditions:*The patient is a confirmed asymptomatic or mild COVID-19 case only (meaning that he does not manifest moderate, severe, or critical symptoms of COVID-19, which would require facili...

Riverside Medical Center Inc. (RMCI) announced that it can no longer accept high risk Obstetrics-Gynecology patients and those with COVID-19 or coronavirus-like symptoms effective Sunday, June 13.This is based on the functional capacity of the COVID-19 designated facility of the hospital, it said in a public advisory.Such patients are advised to seek admission in an alternate healthcare facility, it said.The non-Covid and ancillary areas of RMCI continue to accommodate both outpatient services and patient admissions, it added.The Medical Arts Building also remains open for scheduled consultations with doctors, the advisory said.“We will issue an advisory as soon as there is a change in our current situation,” it said.*

Bacolod PIO photoNegros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson and Bacolod Mayor Evelio Leonardia called on the public to join forces in the battle to regain freedom from COVID-19 as the Philippines marked its 123rd Independence Day on Saturday, June 12.“The independence gained in 1898 and the fight we had to take to redeem our freedom in 1946 proved that of all the endowments we have as a people, our independence is among the most costly and the most demanding of all," Lacson said.“As we commemorate this second Independence Day amid a pandemic, we as a people are given an exceptional opportunity to honor the independence won a century and decades ago by taking part in this battle against an enemy that threatens not just our country, but the entire humanity,” he said.He said I...