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The Negros Occidental governor’s office at the Capitol in Bacolod City will reopen Monday, June 14, after the rest of its staff tested negative for COVID-19, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said Sunday, June 13.The office was closed late last week for disinfection after two employees in-charge of attending to indigent patients tested positive.Meanwhile, Mayor Neil Lizares ordered the closure of the City Mayor's Office and the Executive Assistants Office staring Monday June 14, until further notice to give way to a thorough disinfection of the premises and contact tracing of COVID-19 affected individuals.Business will proceed as usual once disinfection and contact tracing are done and the results of the swab tests of employees who had close contact with infected individu...

BCPO photoA senior citizen was killed in a hit-and-run incident at the Alijis-Murcia Road in Barangay Alijis, Bacolod City, early Saturday, June 12.Killed was Oliva Porceso, 69, of ECC Villas of the said barangay.The victim was crossing the road when she was hit by a Toyota sedan driven by an unidentified person, who immediately sped away after the incident.Police have called on the driver to surrender to the authorities.*

Kabankalan PNP photoMore than P500,000 worth of drugs was seized from a Kabankalan resident in a buy-bust operation at Barangay 1 on Friday, June 13.Nabbed was Francisco “Frankie” Ala-onio, 47.Recovered from his possession were 21 plastic sachets of suspected shabu weighing 80 grams and worth P544,000, drug paraphernalia, a cellphone, a motorcycle, personal belongings, and a .45 caliber pistol with one live ammunition and magazine loaded with six live ammunition.The items were subjected to laboratory examination at the Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office crime laboratory, while the suspect, who was in police custody, was also subjected to a drug test.The suspect will face drug and illegal possession of firearms charges.*

The ”Negrosan Youth for Ping Lacson” urged the senator to run for president in 2022 at a press conference in Bacolod City on Saturday, June 12.Romeo Castillo Jr., co-convenor, said their members come from different youth groups in Negros Occidental and Bacolod City.The group said “with the strongly-worded statements of Sen. Ping Lacson urging the current administration to stand against the bullying by China, and the massive corruption despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, we are one with him in calling for more public vigilance”.They are appealing to Lacson not to retire, and to carry on his advocacies by running for president, Castillo said.“We believe Senator Ping Lacson carries the cry of every Filipino,” the group said.“Please continue to safeguard the Philippine n...

Bacolod PIO photoMayor Evelio Leonardia said he has been assured that Bacolod City will receive a “much bigger allocation” of COVID-19 vaccines from the national government.“You know, Metro Manila is not the Philippines. Apparently, they listened to us. Secretary [Carlito] Galvez himself is seeing it through that we will get a much bigger allocation. That is what is happening now,” the mayor said in a press release from the Bacolod Public Information Office Sunday, June 12.Leonardia said he waiting for word from the national government as to how many of the Pfizer vaccines that recently arrived in the country will be allocated for Bacolod.The Pfizer vaccine is a “different breed” in the sense that it requires its own particular temperature conditions for proper storage, the...

Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson (center) meeting with the mayors via Zoom Friday, June 11.*Richard Malihan photoGov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said he is issuing an executive order Monday imposing more stringent measures to curb the surge in COVID-19 cases in Negros Occidental.Lacson met with the Negros Occidental mayors Friday, June 11, to discuss the call of the medical community for immediate action versus the COVID-19 surge before it is too late.The mayors agreed to strengthen border control between Negros Occidental and Oriental to prevent the entry of non essential travelers, but travel between Panay and Negros will be allowed, Lacson said.The EO will also require persons 18 years and below to stay home, he said.They will also call on residents to continue observing health pro...

There are 31 COVID-19 positive inmates at the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) isolation facility in Barangay Handumanan, Bacolod City, Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran said Friday, June 11.However, he stressed that not all of them are Bacolod residents, many of them come from BJMP facilities in various parts of Negros Occidental.Jail Inspector Jude Ledesma, representative of the BJMP Negros Occidental, said that of the 31 cases, 9 are from Bacolod and 22 are from other towns and cities.The Emergency Operations Center-Task Force (EOC-TF) invited officials of the BJMP to join the EOC huddle Friday because of the increasing COVID-19 transmission among PDLs (persons deprived of liberty) in various BJMP facilities.The EOC has urged the BJMP to have the PDLs tested for ...

The Philippine Councilors League of Negros Occidental has issued a manifesto urging former Rep. Alfredo Abelardo “Albee” Benitez to run for mayor of Bacolod City in 2022.“Should you decide to take up this challenge, we pledge our unending support to you and the principles and values for which you stand, that will surely propel Bacolod to greater heights,” the manifesto said.PLC Negros Occidental president Ryan Gamboa said they submitted the manifesto Benitez Friday, June 11.Though it is an economically independent and highly urbanized city, Bacolod is still an integral part of Negros Occidental and should synergize its vision with that of the rest of Negros Occidental, the manifesto said.Bacolod City connects the north to the south. It is the center of commerce and trade. It is...