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The City of Bacolod will mark the World Press Freedom Day 2021 Monday, May 3, as declared in City Ordinance No. 687 to recognize and respect the freedom of the press as an inseparable partner of a democratic society.“The observance of ‘World Press Freedom Day’ in Bacolod tells us that indeed our city is in sync with the rest of the free world. We call media the 4th estate because that is how highly we value freedom of the press. There can be no real democracy if media is not free but this must also comes with its corresponding responsibilities and ethics,” Mayor Evelio Leonardia said.Activities for World Press Freedom Day will be held in Bacolod this month, which will be organized by the Bacolod City Public Information Office (PIO) in partnership with the Negros Press Club, Kapisan...

Last Sunday’s gospel gave us a glimpse of Jesus’ intimate relationship with his disciples through the much-loved image of the Good Shepherd (who knows his sheep and lays down his life for them).This Sunday we are given another equally powerful image of the same relationship in the parable of the vine. “I am the vine, you are the branches… and my Father is the vine grower.”The metaphor of the vine and the branches speaks of Jesus’ relationship with his disciples at its most profound level. It is a relationship of a shared life, a communion of life that comes from the vine and flows to the branches and vivifies them. What an awesome reality, if we only think of it. It means that the life which flows in our veins is not ours, but Christ’s. Thus, St. Paul could only say, “It is no...

Bacolod City is now experiencing its second wave of the deadly coronavirus pandemic, City Administrator Em Ang said Friday, April 30.There were 28 deaths and 1,415 new COVID-19 cases in Bacolod in April, said Ang, who is also executive director of the city’s Emergency Operations Center.The number of Bacolod policemen who have tested positive for COVID-19 in April have hit 68 with nine new cases Friday, she said.The inmates at the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology isolation facility in Barangay Handumanan who have tested positive for COVID-19 also hit 53 Friday, she added.“In August 2020, Bacolod had 1,244 COVID-19 cases and in April of this year there have been 1,415 cases so it is really a second wave,” Ang said.The highest COVID-19 cases of Bacolod were in August...

Richard Malihan photos“It is one jab to heal humanity, that’s what it means to me,” Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said after he received his first Sinovac jab.Lacson, five provincial board members, five mayors and one department head were vaccinated against COVID-19 at the Teresita L. Jalandoni Provincial Hospital in Silay City Friday, April 30.The vaccination of Hinoba-an Mayor Ernesto Estrao was deferred because his blood pressure was very high, Dr. Ernell Tumimbang, Negros Occidental provincial health officer, said.Tumimbang said the high blood pressure of Estrao had to be addressed before he could be released from the hospital.He said other Negros Occidental mayors are opting to be vaccinated in their localities, some have already been vaccinated, while...

The COVID-19 cases in Negros Occidental are “very slowly going down, there has been no more spike,” Dr. Mary Ann Maestral, Teresita L. Jalandoni Provincial Hospital officer-in-charge, said Friday, April 30.The TLJPH molecular laboratory in Silay City conducts the bulk of the COVID-19 tests for the towns and cities of Negros Occidental.In Negros Occidental, we did not let up on our COVID-19 tests and contact tracing, she said.In the second week of April, Negros Occidental had a spike in COVID-19 cases but now it is very slowly going down, she said.They are appealing to everybody to wear face masks and shields, and practice social distancing and hand washing, she said.“Please refrain from group activities,” she said.Negros Occidental had 308 new COVID-19 cases on Thur...

Two more Negros Occidental provincial government employees have tested positive for COVID-19, Provincial Administrator Rayfrado Diaz said Friday, April 30.An administrative aide at the Provincial Legal Office at the Capitol tested positive but there was no need to close the PLO since there was no work at the Capitol on Friday anyway, he said.The Negros Occidental provincial government is operating on a four-day work week as a deterrent against the spread of COVID-19.The rest of the PLO staff will be swabbed on Sunday for COVID-19 RT-PCR tests, Diaz said.The Provincial Administrator’s Office was closed on Thursday for disinfection after one of its staff tested positive for COVID-19.A second employee of the Provincial Administrator’s Office tested positive for COVID-19 Fr...

PIA Negros Occidental photoNegros Occidental and Bacolod City received 23,480 more Sinovac vaccines Friday, April 30.The Sinovac vaccines from the Department of Health arrived via a Philippine Airlines cargo flight that landed at the Bacolod-Silay Airport.Negros Occidental received 16,000 vials and Bacolod City - 7,480 vials.Provincial Health Officer Ernell Tumimbang said the next to be vaccinated after the health care workers are the senior citizens under A2 to be followed by those with co-morbidities under A3.“We will follow the DOH priorities so we will be moving on to A2 and then A3,” he said.The 16,000 vaccines will be divided among the local government units of Negros Occidental, he said.The Food and Drug Administration has already approved the use of Sino...