Top Stories

Alfredo Benitez, former Negros Occidental 3rd District representative and now Capitol consultant, assured the private sector that he will help them secure coronavirus vaccines.He gave the assurance during an economic consultation Saturday, April 10, at Nature’s Village Resort in Talisay City.During the gathering, Benitez told the stakeholders that if there is anybody from the private sector who is interested to get the COVID-19 vaccines, “we have a point person for distributor. They are willing to sign a multi-party agreement - the company, the buyer, and the government.”“I have a template of this multi-party agreement that can be executed,” Benitez said.He added the vaccines will be available in the third or fourth quarter of the year.Benitez said he talked with the bu...

Bacolod DRRM photoThere were 364 Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) who arrived at the Bacolod Silay Airport on three flights Sunday, April 11, and more are expected this week.They were swabbed for COVID-19 tests on arrival and allowed to go on home quarantine under local government unit supervision, Negros Occidental Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz and Bacolod Councilor Israel Salanga said.OFWs are not included in the moratorium on travel to Western Visayas and local governments cannot subject them to facility quarantine unless they test positive for COVID-19.Diaz said 228 Negrense OFWs arrived Sunday.Salanga said 136 OFWs arrived in Bacolod City Sunday and they were informed that more will be arriving until Wednesday.*

Curfew in Bacolod will remain from 11 p.m. to 4 a.m. and no request has been made for a change in the city’s quarantine status, Mayor Evelio Leonardia said Sunday, April 11.Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson has ordered a provincewide curfew from 8 p.m. to 4 a.m. effective Monday, April 12, to curb the surge in COVID-19 cases, but Bacolod City that is a highly urbanized city is not covered by the order.“Bacolod’s curfew will remain from 11 p.m. to 4 a.m., what we are doing is strictly implementing it,” he said.The police, barangay captains and Task Force Disiplina headed by Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran have been instructed to strictly enforce curfew and ensure drinking of liquor at restaurants, hotels and eateries is only from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., Leonardia said.“We ar...

Bago PNP photoA father and his son were hacked to death by their relative in their home at Barangay Ilijan in Bago City, Negros Occidental, on Thursday, April 8.Killed were barangay kagawad Manuel Suriaga, 71, and his son Rene Suriaga, 48, a utility worker.The third victim, 47-year-old Jonarie Suriaga, nephew and cousin of the victims, sustained minor hack wounds.A police report said the suspect Eleodoro Suriaga Jr., 48, nephew and cousin of the victims, was passing by the victims’ home when he allegedly heard Manuel saying that he raped a family member 20 years ago.This allegedly triggered the suspect to attack Manuel, who was with his daughter-in-law and grandchildren preparing dinner in their kitchen, with a bolo.The daughter-in-law and her children were able to ...

Bacolod PIO file photoDr. Chris Sorongon, Bacolod Emergency Operations Center deputy for medical data and analysis, said he has recovered from COVID-19.Sorongon was reacting to netizens’ posts questioning why he was spotted at a drug store in Bacolod City when he has COVID-19.Sorongon said his day of exposure to the virus was March 25 and he was discharged from the hospital on April 11, which covers 17 days.“I’m discharged and recovered from COVID,” he said.Sorongon said he was at the drug store to buy his medicines.*

Bacolod PIO photoThe Bacolod City government is imposing stricter minimum health protocols at the three major public markets, in light of the alarming increase in the number of COVID-19 cases in Bacolod.The stricter implementation started Friday, April 9, at the Central Market and Burgos Market, and Saturday, April 10, at the Libertad Market.Executive Assistant Ernesto Pineda and Bacolod City Police Ofice (BCPO) - City Operations Management Unit chief, Lt. Col. Lester Leada, conducted meetings with the market vendors prior to the imposition of the stricter health protocols, a press release from the Bacolod Public Information Office said.The meetings were held to ensure the commitment of the market vendors to help the city in the fight against COVID-19, Pineda said.The m...

Provincial Consultant Alfredo Benitez, Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson, Vice Gov. Jeffrey Ferrer, Rep. Francisco Benitez and Cadiz Mayor Salvador Escalante (l-r) at the emergency meeting Friday, April 9.*Richard Malihan photoGovernor Eugenio Jose Lacson asked the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases Friday, April 9, to place Negros Occidental under General Community Quarantine (GCQ) until April 30 to curb the surge of COVID-19 cases in the province.GCQ safety measures such as border control, modified home quarantine and swabbing and facility quarantine of incoming travelers have proven to be effective safeguards in the past in protecting Negros Occidental from the dreaded pandemic, Lacson said.“We on the ground and on the frontlines fighting again...