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There are only 13 of the 52 Negros Occidental provincial government employees who tested positive for COVID-19 since April who remain in quarantine at the Mambukal Resort in Murcia.Thirty-nine have recovered and returned to work, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said Tuesday, May 25.Among those still in quarantine is Board Member Manuel Frederick Ko who tested positive for COVID-19 for a second time.Diaz said aside from the mass vaccination of provincial government employees against COVID-19, several other measures have been taken at the Capitol to prevent the spread of the virus.Open air thinking spaces for provincial government employee on the roof decks of the Capitol are also being created, he added.Quarantine facilities in Negros Occidental are no longer ful...

Officials of the Negros Occidental provincial government and a private firm running the Negros First CyberCentre (NFCC) in Bacolod City are set to sign a mutual termination agreement at virtual rites Thursday, May 27.This will allow the provincial government to take over the management of the NFCC from the Negros Property Management and Development Corp. (NPMDC) by June 30 or earlier, he said.The move is aimed at enabling the provincial government to earn more from the NFCC under the operation of its Economic Enterprise Development Department than what the NPMDC has been paying, Diaz said.This will enable the provincial government to pay its bank loan for the construction of the NFCC from its own earnings, he said.The provincial government granted the request of NMPDC to re...

The Negros Occidental Tourism Office and Mambukal Resort Office at the Capitol Park* Barbara Mijares photoThe Negros Culture Hub walking tour of tourist attractions around the provincial Capitol area in Bacolod City will be launched Saturday, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said Tuesday, May 25The Negros Occidental Tourism Office, Mambukal Resort Office and CAFEtolyo at the Capitol Park, the Association of Negros Producers (ANP) Showroom at the South Capitol Road, and the Pala-Pala at the North Capitol Road will also be blessed.Tourists can register at the Provincial Tourism Office for the walking tour that will include a stop at the Mambukal Office, tasting of a native delicacy, taking selfies in front of the Capitol, feeding an endangered specie at the Talarak Found...

The road clearing in Campuestohan, Talisay City.*Rhoderick Samonte photoMayor Neil Lizares has asked a Bacolod contractor to temporarily suspend road clearing work in Sitio Campuestohan, Talisay City, within the Northern Negros Natural Park (NNNP).Lizares in a letter to Jerry Sy Monday, May 24, said while the Talisay City government “was not party to your special use agreement in protected area application, this matter concerns us since the area is under our jurisdiction.”The mayor asked Sy to temporarily suspend his activities in the area until they can come to an environmentally favorable agreement in a meeting to discuss the matter.“The City of Talisay has always been passionate in its pursuit to conserve, manage and protect its environment and natural resources for the ...

The Department of Health on Monday, May 24, raised the COVID-19 risk category of Bacolod City from low to moderate.While Negros Occidental remains a low risk area, Dr. Marie Jocelyn Te of the Department of Health reported in an online briefing on the COVID situation in Western Visayas.She said the average COVID-19 daily attack rate in Bacolod City from May 10 to 23 was 9.30 percent, while Negros Occidental’s was at 2.65 percent.Classified as high risk COVID-19 areas are Iloilo City and Guimaras.Aklan and Iloilo province are moderate risk areas, while Antique and Capiz are low risk areas.There is a slow decrease in the number of COVID-19 cases in Western Visayas, Te said.The positivity rate continues to increase that may indicate increased transmission of the COVID-1...

Iloilo Gov. Arthur Defensor said he is also seeking a week-long suspension of travel between Negros and his province in support of the move of Iloilo City to contain the spread of COVID-19.His request for the suspension of travel from Negros to the Dumangas port in Iloilo province is pending before the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases, Defensor said.Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas on Sunday ordered the temporary suspension of inbound and outbound travel between Negros Island and his city from 12 a.m. Tuesday, May 25, to 11:59 p.m. of May 31.Iloilo City is currently under Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine (MECQ) amid a surge in COVID-19 cases in the area.Bacolod Mayor Evelio Leonardia on Monday also issued Executive Order No. 27 ...

Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., National Task Force (NTF) Against Covid-19 chief implementer and vaccine czar, assured that Western Visayas will be considered a priority region for COVID-19 vaccines, Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said Monday, May 24.Galvez, Health Secretary Francisco Duque, and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año joined a NTF-National Inter-Agency Task Force (NIATF) meeting with Western Visayas local chief executives via Zoom Monday.Lacson said while the government priority for COVID-19 vaccination is the National Capital Region Plus, Galvez at the meeting “assured not equal distribution but they will consider Region 6 also as a priority region because of the (increase in) cases, especially what is happening now in Iloilo City.”“With that statement maybe we can exp...

President Rodrigo Roa Duterte in Dumaguete City for closed-door meeting with several local government officials at the Silliman University Gymnasium Monday afternoon, May 24.*Local officials, under the umbrella of the Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines (ULAP), pledged support the call of President Rodrigo Duterte and the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) to eradicate corruption, Bacolod Mayor Evelio Leonardia said.The declaration was made at the virtual launch of "Project Kasangga: Tokhang Kontra Korapsyon," a program that promotes good governance, transparency, and accountability in public service Monday, May 24, a press release from the Bacolod Information Office said.The launch was co-organized by the Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA) and the Union o...