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Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson has ordered the imposition of a provincewide curfew from 8 p.m. to 4 a.m. in Negros Occidental and the mandatory registration of all individuals in the Safe, Swift and Smart Passage (S-Pass) Travel Management System.The orders came after an emergency meeting of the governor with the mayors of Negros Occidental at the Capitol in Bacolod City, Friday, April 9, to curb the rising COVID-19 cases in the province.In Executive Order 21-22 Series of 2021 Lacson said all the local chief executives agreed to the 8 p.m. to 4 a.m. curfew to limit mass gatherings and curb the unprecedented increase in COVID-19 cases.The provincewide curfew will start at 12 a.m. Monday, April 12.Exempted from the curfew are persons in need of emergency services, personnel in carg...

Himamaylan Mayor Rogelio Raymund Tongson and Vice Mayor Justin Gatuslao, and two more officials of Murcia town tested positive for COVID-19 Friday, April 9.Tongson said he has a slight fever and is on home quarantine.Gatuslao, who is on home quarantine, is believed to have been infected with the virus after he came in contact with a Binalbagan resident who may have attended a cockfight, Tongson said.Gatuslao had himself tested for COVID-19 after the Binalbagan resident tested positive, the mayor added.Four other Himamaylan councilors are waiting for their COVID-19 test results, he said.Meanwhile, 25 more Murcia residents, including two officials, tested positive for COVID-19 Friday, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said.The two are Councilor Bebot Gomez and M...

The Bago City Hospital was placed under total lockdown Friday, April 9, until further notice.The lockdown was imposed after several staff of the hospital are COVID symptomatic, Dr. Rey Pacillan, City Hospital OIC chief, said.A clerk, nurse, and four ward patients at the Bago City Hospital tested positive for the virus, he said.The hospital will be disinfected and the rest of the staff will undergo rapid tests for COVID-19, Pacillan added.The hospital may reopen on April 19, he said.The outpatient and emergency services of the Teresita L. Jalandoni Provincial Hospital were also temporarily suspended effective Friday until April 12.The services were suspended as the out-patient and emergency nurses and physicians are under quarantine, Negros Occidental Provincial Admi...

Archie Alipalo photoMembers of 1Sambayan Negros Occidental Chapter signed a manifesto on Friday, April 9, to support the fielding of a common opposition slate for president, vice president and senators and to work for their victory in the 2022 polls.The signing took place at the official launching of the 1Sambayan Negros Occidental chapter, which is part of a national broad based coalition of pro-democratic forces, at the Grand Hall of Acacia Hotel in Bacolod City.Former chief Justice Antonio Carpio, who congratulated former Negros Occidental governor Rafael Coscolluela via Zoom for organizing the first 1Sambayan provincial chapter, said it was a truly historic occasion.“On this Araw ng Kagitingan (Day of Valor), brave Filipinos are gathered here today because we want to sa...

Archie Alipalo photo“I am hoping we will have free and fair elections (in 2022), but I have not discounted the possibility of a no election scenario,” former Negros Occidental governor Rafael Coscolluela said Friday, April 9.Coscolluela, a convenor of 1Sambayan that is fielding a single opposition slate in 2022, said there are speculations that the government is “mishandling the COVID-19 pandemic on purpose so they can declare a state of emergency and say no elections will be held.”He also said that the lack of visibility of President Rodrigo Duterte is a very real issue.“After a certain period of time if you are unable to serve, you must let the public know what the problem is. Right now we don’t know who is running the country,” he said.The president or his minions ar...

The police are now preparing multiple murder charges against the primary suspect behind the massacre of four family members, including a six-year-old girl, in Barangay Tangub, Bacolod City.Maj. Joery Puerto, Bacolod Police Station 8 chief, said Friday, April 9, that they are considering Christian Don Tulot, 39, as the primary suspect of the killings of Jocelyn Espinosa-Nombre, 59; her sister Remedios Jemma Espinosa, 69; their nephew John Michael Espinosa, 35; and his six-year-old daughter because “all of the evidence are pointing at him.”The bodies of the victims were in a state of decomposition when they were found at their residence on Wednesday, April 7.Due to the inconsistencies in the statement of Tulot, the second suspect, who supposedly had a hand in the massacre, was re...

BCPO photoThe anti-criminality drive of the Bacolod City Police Office got a boost from stakeholders after it received P10,000 worth of gas assistance from local business groups.Col. Manuel Placido, city police chief, received the gas coupons Thursday, April 8, from businessman Crispin Chua, who represented the Northern Negros Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Metro Bacolod Chamber of Commerce and Industry.The local business groups met with the city’s top cop in February to express their concern over the series of shooting incidents in Bacolod since the start of the year.During their meeting, the business sector committed to donate a P10,000 gas allowance every month to the BCPO to boost their mobility and to help strengthen measures to prevent crime...

Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson lauded the province’s frontliners, whom he called present day heroes, as the country celebrated Araw ng Kagitingan (Day of Valor) Friday, April 9.“We acknowledge our present day heroes — our medical health workers, military, law enforcement officers, firefighters, and other frontliners in the service sector and other essential industries, who despite the risk, continue to work for the safety and well being of everyone. We are grateful for their courage and commitment,” he said.He said the nation, on the 79th Araw ng Kagitingan, remembers the valor of country’s troops when they made their last stand in Bataan during World War II.“Today is the time to be reminded that the freedom we enjoy is not free, that a great deal was paid for us to...