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Sagaynons and the local government of Sagay City mourn the demise of lawyer Amalio Rivera Cueva, Jr., father of Rep. Leo Rafael Marañon Cueva (Neg. Occ., 2nd District).He was 91.The Cueva patriarch was born on Nov. 10, 1929.Memorial services have been scheduled for Cueva at the St. Joseph Parish Church in Sagay City 5:30 p.m. on April 14, and 2 p.m. on April 15, Thursday, at 2 p.m., the family said.The bereaved family encourages everyone to offer prayers at the comfort of their homes due to the COVID-19 pandemic.In lieu of flowers or sympathy wreaths, donations to the St. Joseph Parish Church will be highly appreciated.The family is requesting those who are attending the memorial services to strictly adhere to government-mandated health protocols by wearing face mas...

Bacolod PIO photo“Without the COVID vaccines, we cannot see any other viable solution out of this pandemic,” Bacolod Mayor Evelio Leonardia told a group of about 90 pastors of various religious groups in Bacolod during a virtual dialog Monday, April 12.Leonardia, Vice Mayor El Cid Familiarian, Rep. Greg Gasataya, City Administrator Em Ang and other officials of the Bacolod City Emergency Operations Center (EOC) met with the church leaders to brief them on the current COVID situation and the vaccination plans of the City once the vaccines become available within the third quarter of this year, a press release from the Bacolod Public Information Office said.“Please remind your congregations that COVID-19 is still with us. It is growing even more infectious everyday. There is grea...

Richard Malihan photoA police special investigation task force has been activated to probe the killing of the Negros Occidental provincial consultant on hospital operations in San Carlos City Monday night, Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said Tuesday, April 13.The National Bureau of Investigation is also being asked to conduct a parallel investigation, Lacson said.Renoir Baldovino, NBI Bacolod chief, said NBI agents will be sent to San Carlos to investigate the killing of Cui on Wednesday, April 14.Mariano Antonio “Marton” Cui III, 62, was declared dead at the San Carlos City Hospital after he was shot as he was leaving his office at Emerald Arcade at F.C. Ledesma Avenue in San Carlos City at about 8 p.m. Monday, April 12.The police said he sustained two gunshot wounds in the ...

An outcry from netizens and a call from Bacolod Rep. Greg Gasataya saved nine decades-old trees from being cut down Tuesday, April 13.It was too late for 26 other trees.Netizens had slammed the cutting of decades-old trees along the Bacolod South Road at Barangay Singcang-Airport to make way for a shoulder paving project, and posted photos of the devastation on social media.“Stop now! Stop these abuses and indifference,” Rhoderick Samonte wrote on his Facebook wall in a “rage against the destroyers.”The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) are mandated to protect our environment, we are in the midst of a climate crisis and one of the right ways to deal with this is to plant more trees, Samonte wrote.Ap...

The number of active COVID-19 cases in Negros Occidental and Bacolod City breached the 2,000 mark Tuesday, April 13, a Department of Health 6 report said.The DOH also reported two new deaths in Bacolod.A Bacolod doctor who had been vaccinated against COVID-19 died.The doctor tested positive for COVID-19 but was suffering from other underlying illnesses, a source said.There were 159 new local COVID-19 cases in Negros Occidental Tuesday, the DOH said.Bacolod City had 32, three of whom were returning overseas Filipinos and the rest were local cases, the DOH added.Negros Occidental now has 1,591 active COVID-19 cases and Bacolod has 486, the DOH said.*

About P15 million worth of heavy equipment was torched by suspected members of the New People’s Army at Barangay Consing, EB Magalona, Negros Occidental, on Tuesday, April 13.A police report said the caretaker discovered at around 5 a.m. that three backhoes were burned.Recovered from the scene were a red flag, and an “NPA checkpoint” signage, Lt. Robert Petate, officer-in-charge of Silay City Police Station, said.However, he stressed that the police could not establish yet if the rebels were behind the incident.He said the investigation was turned over to the neighboring EB Magalona Police Station as the place of the incident was under their jurisdiction.It was initially reported that the incident happened in Silay.*

Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said stricter measures will be imposed to prevent the surge in COVID-19 cases in the province, with the denial of his request to place Negros Occidental under General Community quarantine.Among these measures will be the closure of tourist destinations in areas with high COVID-19 cases, he said Tuesday afternoon, April 13.Tourist destinations in areas with low COVID-19 cases will be allowed to operate at 50 percent of their venue capacity, he said.Cockpits have already been closed, Lacson added.Limited attendance at weddings, baptisms and funerals will be strictly enforced, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said.The swabbing of persons who die with COVID-19 symptoms will also be enforced, he said.This is to prevent the spread of COVID-...

Mayor Rex Jalando-on ordered the temporary closure of the three City Hall main buildings in La Carlota City, Negros Occidental, Tuesday, April 13, to prevent the spread of COVID-19.Jalando-on said he ordered their closure for disinfection after his secretary at the mayor’s office, who is symptomatic, tested positive for COVID-19.The city hall buildings will reopen on Thursday, he said.COVID-19 testing of persons who came in contact with the secretary in underway, he added.The mayor said he and other city government employees have gone into isolation while they wait for their COVID-19 test results.Jalando-on in Executive Order 19, Series of 2021, directed the Sanitary Division of the La Carlota City Health Office to disinfect all offices in the three buildings.All em...