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TFM photoAbout 50 landless farmers marked the 33rd anniversary of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program Thursday, June 10, with a picket to call on President Rodrigo Duterte to stop former landowners from obstructing land reform and earning millions of pesos from land they no longer own.Donning their sacada clothes and wearing black masks with “Stop CARP obstruction!” protest slogans written on them, the farmer-members of Task Force Mapalad (TFM), staged their picket in front of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) Provincial Office at San Sebastian Street in Dawis, Bacolod City, Negros Occidental.“Perhaps, it is only in the Philippines, particularly in Negros and in the Panay region, where this ‘doble kabig’ phenomenon happens: former sugar landlords already compensated...

Bacolod PIO file photoDr. Hector Gayares Jr., a volunteer doctor who has helped the city manage the COVID-19 pandemic since it started last year, will be the guest of honor and speaker at the 123rd Philippine Independence Day program of Bacolod City on June 12.As a volunteer, Gayares has been functioning as deputy medical of the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) of the City, and a private sector representative at the COVID-19 Vaccination Council (CoVaC), a press release from the Bacolod Public Information Office said.In inviting Gayares, Mayor Evelio Leonardia told him, "Having been with us since we started as a team in our fight against this dreaded pandemic, we believe that you are the right person who could give our people more insights about this unseen enemy that has cause...

Infectious diseases doctors are calling on Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson to close borders or ports of entry in Negros Occidental to non essential travelers, including overseas Filipino workers, for two weeks to curb the COVID-19 surge.Lacson and provincial consultant Alfredo Abelardo Benitez held a meeting to listen to the inputs and concerns of the medical community at the Capitol in Bacolod City and via Zoom Wednesday afternoon, June 9.“We will adopt what we can. The Provincial Incident Management Team will deliberate and adopt measures,” Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz, said.The Philippine Society for Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (PSMID) - Western Visayas doctors called on Lacson to implement their recommendations at the soonest possible time before the situation ...

A government soldier and an alleged New People’s Army fighter were killed in two encounters in Purok Galaupan, Barangay Carabalan, Himamaylan City, Negros Occidental, Wednesday morning, June 9.The first encounter between the 62nd Infantry Battalion soldiers and nine communist rebels at 9 a.m. resulted in the wounding of two government soldiers, Maj. Cenon Pancito III, spokesperson of the 3rd Infantry Division of the Philippine Army, said.The wounded were immediately transferred by helicopter to a hospital in Bacolod where one of the soldiers was declared dead on arrival, Pancito said.The fatality was identified as Cpl. Rodney A. Luces of Alimondian, Iloilo, who died a hero protecting the people of Himamaylan, Pancito said.The other wounded soldier, whose name was withheld, ...

City PIO photoPresidential Spokesman Harry Roque said Wednesday, June 9, that Bacolod City will be among the priority areas for additional vaccines because it has been tagged by the Department of Health as a high risk area for COVID-19.He, however, told DIGICAST NEGROS that he would have to ask how many vaccines will be sent to the city and when.President Rodrigo Duterte said Tuesday night that he plans to allot more Covid-19 vaccine doses to provinces that have reported a surge in infections.He, however, only named Cebu, Cagayan, and Zamboanga.The Bacolod City government has administered of 39,232 doses of vaccines against COVID-19, as of June 8.The Emergency Operations Center-Task Force and the COVID-19 Vaccination Council is continuing to administer the first and...

CLMMRH will observe stricter implementation of the existing hospital policies against COVID-19, Dr, Julius Drilon said.*CLMMRH photoNegros Occidental COVID-19 patients are not stressing hospitals in Bacolod City, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said Wednesday, June 9.Of the 1,747 active COVID-19 cases in Negros Occidental, only 105 are hospitalized, 21 of whom are at the Valladolid District Hospital and 54 at the Cadiz District Hospital, he said.Only 30 patients have been referred to Bacolod hospitals, he said.Bacolod City had two deaths and 94 new COVID-19 cases for a total of 1,578 active cases on Wednesday, the Department of Health said.Negros Occidental had 43 new cases and one death, it also reported.*

Salvador Benedicto LGU photoMayor Marxlen dela Cruz ordered the granular lockdown of Purok Super L in Barangay Pandanon, Salvador Benedicto town, Negros Occidental, Wednesday, June 9, after a resident tested positive for COVID-19.The lockdown of 113 residents of the purok will be for three to four days, he said.This is being done while contact tracing is underway so that those who may have had close contact with the COVID-19 positive resident of the purok, who is confined at the Bacolod Adventist Medical Center with mild pneumonia, can be tested for the virus, the mayor said.Currently we have 12 close contacts who will be placed in the town’s quarantine facility, he said.*

The Victorias City Resort and Gawahon Eco-Park reopened Tuesday, June 8, with customers limited to 30 percent of their venue capacity, Mayor Francis Frederick Palanca said Wednesday, June 9.They had earlier been closed to help curb the spread of COVID-19 in the city, he said.Malls, supermarkets, retail stores, restobars, restaurants, fast-food outlets and the like are allowed to operate until 10 p.m., and selling of liquor is until 6 p.m. only in accordance with Executive Order No. 15, the mayor said.Palanca said business establishments in Victorias City must strictly adhere to the guidelines specified by the Business Permits and Licensing Office, such as:* Implementation of minimum health protocols such as wearing of facemask and social distancing;*Providing soap and water...