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DA-6 photoHog raisers from Western Visayas (WV) have shipped P255.2 million worth of live pigs to Luzon from June this year as the area was affected by the dreaded African swine fever, Remelyn Recoter, Department of Agriculture-Region 6 director, said Monday, October 26.Since WV is 151 percent self-sufficient in swine, based on the second quarter data of the Philippine Statistics Authority, local raisers with the intervention of the different local and Manila traders and various local government units in the region were able to market about 23,367 pigs worth P255.2 million to Luzon, Recoter said, citing the report of Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI)-Veterinary Quarantine Service Region 6."Our farmers have improved their income as they ship their surplus production to ASF red zon...

Inter-Agency Task Force-Visayas chief implementer Mel Feliciano is urging individuals showing early symptoms of COVID-19 to seek immediate medical attention.“Strict monitoring of symptomatic individuals is important for them to avoid developing moderate to severe symptoms that could lead to further hospitalization, and worst - death,” said Feliciano, who oversees the Bacolod City Emergency Operations Center Task Force.Bacolod City has had 4,749 persons hit by COVID-19, 4,248 of whom have recovered, 379 are active and 122 have died, the Department of Health reported Monday (October 26).In October, data from the Bacolod EOC-TF showed that 157 out of 706 individuals with flu-like symptoms tested positive for COVID-19, which translates into a positivity rate of 22.24 percent.As...

Capiz Archbishop Jose Advincula, former bishop of San Carlos in Negros Occidental, said Monday, October 26, that his appointment as cardinal by Pope Francis came as a surprise.Advincula said was informed of his appointment as cardinal by two priests at 7:30 p.m. Sunday because he did have his cellular phone with him.He was surprised as it never occurred to him that he would be named a cardinal, and there was no information that he was even being considered for the post, Advincula said.At first he thought there could have been a mistake as there are four other bishops in Panay with Jose as their first names.But soon he was receiving text messages and posts were appearing on social media that he was indeed appointed cardinal, he said.Advincula thanked God and the pope for...

Persons who need to secure medical certificates in order to be issued with a “Travel Authority” document will be required to register in the Bacolod Contact Tracing (BaCTrac) System starting October 26, in accordance with a new order from the Bacolod City Emergency Operations Center Task Force (EOC- TF).This new health protocol was recommended by the EOC-TF, the central body in Bacolod that collects and harmonizes relevant data that are transformed into policies against COVID-19, a press release from the city government said.In line with this new order from the EOC, City Health Office (CHO) officer-in-charge Dr. Edwin Miraflor Jr. issued Memo Order No. 102320-01.The said CHO memo discourages chest X-ray as a requirement for the medical certificate, as it “does not detect COVID...

303rd IB photosTwo alleged New People’s Army rebels belonging to the Central Negros Front – 1 surrendered to the Guihulngan City Task Force ELCAC headed by Mayor Carlo Jorge Reyes at his residence in Guihulngan City, Negros Oriental, Friday, October 23, Captain Kelvin Bayaban, 303rd Brigade civil military officer, said.The two were identified only as Mari, chairman of Kaugma-on Guihulngan City Chapter and Jomar, a member of a Central Negros 1 platoon of the Komiteng Rehiyon – Negros Cebu Bohol Siquijor, he said.The two said that aside from the unbearable hardships and hunger, they realized that their recruiter’s promise of “change” in their lives on joining the movement never came true, Bayaban added in a press statement.The surrender was made possible through the joint eff...

The damaged Talacagay Bridge in Hinoba-an (left). Flooding about 150 meters from the Hinoba-an municipal hall Sunday. Contributed photosHeavy rain brought on by Typhoon Quinta caused water from three rivers in Hinoba-an, Negros Occidental to overflow, destroying crops, killing farm animals and submerging houses starting 2 p.m. Sunday, town mayor Ernesto Estrao said today, October 26.He said they were still assessing the extent of the damage.Killed were carabaos, cows, pigs and chickens, while destroyed were corn and rice crops, and banana trees, Estrao added.A portion of the Talacagay bridge was also damaged and only one lane was passable yesterday, he said.The heavily silted rivers of Talacagay, Bacuyangan and Bulwangan triggered the flooding, Estrao said.The Provi...

Around 46 families in Moises Padilla were evacuated to the town’s auditorium after a flash flood hit the stockyard of Barangay 1 around 10 pm Sunday, October 25.The evacuation and relief operations were led by Mayor Ella Celestina Garcia-Yulo, and other local officials, along with the Disaster Response Office, the Philippine National Police, the Bureau of Fire Protection, and the Department of Social Welfare and Development.As of this writing, the local government is still conducting damage assessment. (Photos from Moises Padilla LGU)

Fastcraft trips between Bacolod and Iloilo cities will resume at the end of the month but those headed for towns and cities of Negros Occidental will be swabbed for COVID-19 tests, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said today.They will be swabbed and quarantined, anyway their test results will be out in three days, he said.The provincial government is also willing to swab those headed for Bacolod City if they cooperate for the good of everybody, Diaz added.However, he said mandatory COVID-19 testing of those headed for Bacolod is up to the city government. Bacolod is a highly urbanized city that is not under Negros Occidental.Travel between Bacolod and Iloilo cities had earlier been halted because of the spike in COVID-19 cases.Jose Venancio Vero, Maritime Industr...

Pope Francis announced today the elevation of Capiz Archbishop Jose Advincula, former bishop of San Carlos in Negros Occidental, to cardinal at a consistory on November 28.The pope announced the appointment of 13 new cardinals, including Advincula, during his Sunday Angelus.Advincula is the ninth Filipino cardinal, following cardinals Orlando Quevedo, Luis Antonio Tagle, Gaudencio Rosales, Jose Sanchez, Ricardo Vidal, Jaime Sin, Julio Rosales and Rufino Santos.Advincula was ordained priest of Capiz on April 14, 1976, appointed Bishop of San Carlos on July 25, 2001 and was consecrated on September 8 of the same year.On Nov. 9, 2011, Pope Benedict XVI elevated Advincula to Archbishop of Capiz.Advincula is 68 and is among the nine new cardinals eligible to vote in a concla...

A baby girl drowned in a creek near her home in Barangay Guinpana-an, Moises Padilla, Sunday morning, October 25.Reynald Horegue, head of the Moises Padilla Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office, said the one-year and three-month-old Princess Joy Eustañio was left under the care of her eight 8-year-old sibling, who momentarily left her unattended to get something.When the sibling returned, the baby was nowhere to be found. The child thought that Princess was taken by their aunts. When they found out that nobody took the baby, they searched for her at the creek, since their home was located near the water.Horegue said that their team and the barangay officials immediately responded to the scene.Later, the body of the baby was fished out of the water a few meters from...