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San Carlos LGU photoNegros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said the San Carlos City government should lockdown Barangay Guadalupe proper where there has been a surge in COVID-19 cases.San Carlos City COVID -19 active cases hit 178 Wednesday, with 53 in Barangay Guadalupe, Joe Recalex Alingasa Jr., head of the city’s Emergency Operations Center, said.“San Carlos locked down a smaller barangay before, I think they should do that right now (in Brgy Guadalupe proper) because it is very clear where the cases are coming from,” Lacson said.The rise in COVID-19 cases in San Carlos is being caused by local transmissions, the governor said.The surge in COVID-19 cases in Barangay Guadalupe occurred after 16 choir members tested positive after going to an anniversary of a pries...

Mayor Jaojoco photoThe number of Toboso policemen who tested positive for COVID-19 rose to nine, with six new cases Wednesday, April 7, Mayor Richard Jaojoco said.One of three policemen who initially tested positive is the husband of a Department of Education official from Barangay Bug-ang, Toboso, who had been hit by the virus.The DepEd official from Barangay Bug-ang tested positive for COVID-19, and seven members of her family and one close contact have been infected, he said.Jaojoco ordered the seven-day lockdown of 700 houses in Barangay Bug-ang to contain the spread of the virus that began Wednesday.Food assistance was distributed to the 700 houses on lockdown.Toboso has recorded 88 COVID-19 cases, 22 of which are active, Jaojoco said.Jaojoco said he is req...

Bago LGU photoMayor Nicholas Yulo ordered all Bago City government employees, except for frontliners and security personnel, to work from home starting Thursday, April 8, while the Bago City Hall undergoes general disinfection.City Hall operations will resume on April 12 on a skeletal working arrangement, he said.Yulo told DIGICAST NEGROS that on Tuesday and Wednesday Bago City had 21 new COVID-19 positive persons , 16 of whom are city government employees.Yulo signed Executive Order No. 10 series of 2021 Wednesday adopting the work from home arrangement starting Thursday.All officials, employees and workers affected by COVID-19 are ordered to strictly comply with existing health protocols, Yulo said in the his EO.They are also mandated to report to their department...

Alfredo “Albee” Benitez, former Negros Occidental third district representative and now Capitol consultant, on Wednesday, April 7, dismissed the clamor for him to run for mayor of Bacolod City.Calls for him to run for mayor of Bacolod surfaced recently, weeks after a campaign for him to run for senator in 2022 popped up on social media.“As of now, I’m a provincial consultant. I’ll do whatever I can do as a provincial consultant, that’s what keeping me busy,” Benitez said Wednesday, April 7, when asked for a comment on this development.He stressed that he is focusing on his work right now. “There is a pandemic, which we should prioritize rather than politics.”Benitez added that he has not made a decision at all.Benitez’s son, Javier “Javi” Benitez, who will run for mayor...

PDEA-6 photosThe Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency in Negros Occidental continues to step up its campaign against illegal drugs by curbing smuggling through ports.PDEA’s K-9 Interdiction Unit conducted a random paneling and sweeping operation at the Simplicio A. Palanca Seaport Terminal at the BREDCO Port in Bacolod City Wednesday, April 7.Shey Tanaleon, PDEA-6 information officer, said the K-9 sweeping operation is primarily focused on mail, parcels, and cargo logistics in port terminals.Profiling of passengers is then conducted to detect drug couriers through their behavioral manifestation and to deter illegal drug activities inside the terminal, she added.For this operation, no presence of illegal drugs or contraband was recovered.Members of PDEA-Negros Occident...

Toboso DRRMO photoMayor Richard Jaojoco said 700 houses in Barangay Bug-ang proper, Toboso, will be locked down for seven days starting Wednesday, April 7, following a spike in COVID-19 cases.A Department of Education official from Barangay Bug-ang tested positive for COVID-19, and seven members of her family and one close contact have been infected, he said.They are waiting for the test results of 20 other close contacts, he said.The Toboso Inter-Agency Task Force decided to lockdown five puroks in Bug-ang proper to prevent residents from roaming around and spreading the virus, Jaojoco said.Food assistance was delivered to the Bug-ang gym Tuesday, April 6, for distribution to the 700 houses on Wednesday, he said.One essential pass will be provided for each househol...

San Carlos LGU photoThe COVID-19 cases in San Carlos City, Negros Occidental, hit 163 Tuesday, April 6, with more coming from Barangay Guadalupe where a large group of choir members had tested positive for the virus.The city had 140 active COVID-19 cases on Monday, April 5.No lockdown has been ordered, San Carlos Mayor Renato Gustilo said.Gustilo partly attributed the surge in COVID cases in San Carlos to the new policy of the national government that does not allow the swabbing of passengers on arrival for COVID-19 tests and quarantine until their negative results are out.He also cited the illegal entry of undocumented Locally Stranded Individuals from Cebu into San Carlos via Negros Oriental.A checkpoint at the highway border between San Carlos City and Negros Ori...

The Negros Occidental provincial government will continue to operate on a 100 percent workforce, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said Tuesday, April 6.“The province will continue under a 100 percent workforce, we will not adopt a skeletal force, we don’t see any need so far,” he said.Bacolod Mayor Evelio Leonardia on Sunday, April 4, issued Executive Order No. 17, Series of 2021 strongly advising all government and private offices to implement a skeletal work force system amid the rising number of COVID-19 cases.Diaz said the provincial government employees remain healthy, except for some who are recovering at the Mambukal Resort in Murcia.“We are good to go for another year…Everybody is motivated to work, we will deliver our targets for this year and there is no ne...