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Bacolod City got the highest score among provincial and city governments in Western Visayas that have already submitted their coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination plan to the Department of Health, and is all set, Dr. Mary Jane Roches Juanico, DOH-Western Visayas infectious disease cluster head, said today, February 25.Bacolod City has a rating of 75.9 percent, Capiz - 53.4, and Iloilo province - 43 percent, Juanico confirmed to DIGICAST NEGROS.“We are ready, except that the vaccines have not arrived yet,” said Bacolod City Administrator Em Ang, who is also the Emergency Operations Center Task Force executive director.Bacolod City’s COVID-19 vaccination education campaign is ongoing, Ang also said.“I have to be candid, the number of those who have registered from ...

Former governor Rafael Coscolluela says he has no plans of running for office in 2022* Archie Alipalo photoFormer governor Rafael Coscolluela said he has no intention of running for governor of Negros Occidental or mayor of Bacolod City in 2022.Coscolluela said running for office is the very, very last of the options he can think of, and “from a realistic point of view it’s impossible to put together a viable campaign when you have no resources.”He graduated as governor in 2001, it has been 20 years and many of the voters don’t know him, Coscolluela said.“It is time for us to develop a new crop of leaders with a different mindset about politics,” he said.The former governor said he is not running against Mayor Evelio Leonardia or fielding anyone against him, but is “ver...

The United Sugar Producers' Federation of the Philippines Inc. (UNIFED) is opposing the proposed public-private partnership for the development of the Bacolod Silay Airport in Silay City, Negros Occidental.UNIFED president Manuel Lamata said they are opposing the move because it will redound to higher plane fares for travelers.“We will be faced with increased and exorbitant plane fares because the private firm will charge huge fees in order for them to pay for their renovations. So the carriers will pass on the fees to us consumers,“ he said.Lamata said all travelers should file a manifesto opposing the public-private partnership move.The Negros Occidental Provincial Development Council endorsed the proposed Bacolod-Silay Airport Public-Private Partnership Project on Februa...

BAYAN Negros photoMilitant groups in Negros Occidental marked the 35th EDSA People Power anniversary today, February 25, with a protest in front of the Fountain of Justice at Araneta Street in Bacolod City.The groups led by BAYAN Negros marched through the major thoroughfares of the city, as they reiterated the call to continue the fight against the “tyrant.”They said, “35 years ago today, the Filipino people ousted a tyrant and until now EDSA remains a beacon of hope for all who resist tyranny.”“It is ironic that many of the issues hurled against the Marcos dictatorship are the same issues now hurled against (President Rodrigo) Duterte. Extreme hunger and poverty caused by the neoliberal policies in our economy,” they said.They stressed, “President Rodrigo Duterte is m...

San Carlos DRRMO photoRepresentatives of the Environmental Management Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (EMB-DENR) in Western Visayas inspected the San Carlos Bioenergy Inc. waste water holding ponds Wednesday that have been the subject of pollution complaints.The EMB team headed by engineer Paul Wellen Orosio and City Environment Management Office (CEMO) personnel examined the holding ponds, creeks, coastline, Tañon Strait, including the wastewater coming from the bioethanol plant, a San Carlos City press release said.Orosio said the San Carlos City government through City Mayor Renato Y. Gustilo requested the DENR investigation on reports that effluent from the bioethanol already reached Tañon Strait.They will make initial assessment based on t...

Contributed photoThe Federation of Urban Poor (FedUP) in Negros Occidental aired their opposition to COVID-19 vaccines from China as they marked the 35th anniversary of the EDSA People Power Revolution this morning, February 25.Bearing Philippine flags and yellow ribbons, the FedUP members gathered in front of the statue of Ninoy Aquino at Araneta Street to lay flowers and pray for democracy to prevail.“FedUP will not accept China-made vaccines. How can we trust a China-made vaccine when in the first place the virus came from them?” Joy Jarabelo, FedUP provincial coordinator, said.“How can we trust China that has been bullying us?” she asked.She also said China has “deprived us of our natural resources in the West Philippine Sea”.The EDSA People Power Revolution mus...

The performance of the Bacolod City government in the second wave of road clearing operations has “improved,” the Negros Occidental Validation Team headed by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) said.This was reported by the Validation Team, headed by DILG- OIC Provincial Director Roselyn Quintana of DILG Negros Occidental, to Mayor Evelio Leonardia and other officials at the Bacolod City Government Center, Wednesday, February 24, a press release from the Bacolod Public Information Office said.“This is welcome news. It means our inspection and enforcement units did a good job, and the affected residents generally cooperated. We should all be united for the good of the greatest number”, Leonardia said.Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran thanked the Validation Team...

BCPO photoMore than P200,000 worth of drugs were seized while three persons were arrested in separate buy-bust operations in Bacolod City, Wednesday, February 24.Nabbed in Barangay Singcang-Airport by operatives of the Police Station 8 Drug Enforcement Team was Eugene Pillada, 39, of Barangay 20.Confiscated from his possession were seven sachets of suspected shabu worth P207,000, and P2,000 in marked money.Meanwhile, John Paul Jovero, 35, and Adrian De la Peña, 39, were arrested in a drug bust at Barangay 27.Personnel of Police Station 4 seized five sachets of suspected shabu worth P6,800, P500 in marked money and P200 in cash proceeds.The suspects who are now in police custody are facing drug charges.*