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Eight alleged members of the New People's Army (NPA) were killed in a clash with state troopers at Sitio Agit, Barangay Trinidad, Guihulngan City, Negros Oriental Tuesday, March 23.Maj. Cenon Pancito III, public affairs office chief of the 3rd Infantry Division of the Philippine Army, said government soldiers encountered the 40 rebels at about 12:55 p.m. after they went to the area following reports of the presence of armed men.The firefight lasted for three hours and the rebels withdrew towards the northwest direction, he said.The soldiers recovered 11 high-powered firearms - six M-16 rifles, two M-14 rifles, one M60 submachine gun, and one KG9 submachine gun, Pancito said.Also recovered from the scene were two M-14 magazines with ammunition, two landmines, two backpacks, ...

No lockdown has been declared in Western Visayas, all flights and sea vessel trips continue to cater to essential travelers and returning residents from areas not covered by National Inter-Agency Task Force Resolution 104.This was clarified by Juan Jovian Ingeniero, Western Visayas Inter-Agency Task Force chair, and Roberto Jose Nuñez, Regional Task Force on COVID-19 chair, in a joint statement Tuesday, March 23.They said their advisory issued earlier merely adopted the provisions of national IATF Resolution 104 that states that only essential travelers from the National Capital Region and its travel bubble circuit that includes Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna and Rizal, will be allowed to travel in and out of WV from March 23 to April 4.The essential travelers include health and emerg...

Capitol photoGov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said Tuesday, March 23, that he wants travel from Cebu to Negros Occidental halted, too, to prevent a further spike in COVID-19 cases in the province.On Monday, March 22, Negros Occidental had 263 active COVID-19 cases, and the Department of Health reported 16 new cases on Tuesday.Lacson earlier asked the National Inter-Agency Task Force (NIATF) to halt all air, sea and land travel into Negros Occidental for two weeks.The NIATF has not responded to his request but in its Resolution 104 it halted travel from the National Capital Region, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna and Rizal, except for essential workers, until April 4, he said.“It tells us that we have the same idea on how to control the spike of COVID-19 positive individuals. It (Resolu...

Andy Alvarez file photoThe vaccination against COVID-19 of Mayor Evelio Leonardia and the 61 barangay captains of Bacolod City at the Bacolod City Government Center on Wednesday, March 24, has been postponed, Dr. Edwin Miraflor Jr., OIC City Health Officer, said Tuesday, March 23.The Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases reclassified local chief executives as "essential workers" under Category A4 who are fourth in line to receive the coronavirus vaccines.First in line in the priority list are some 1.7 million healthcare workers, followed by senior citizens and persons with comorbidities.Miraflor said when the mayor informed him that his request for the inclusion of local chief executives in the vaccination priority was approved by the national Inter-Agency...

Authorities have discovered that some travelers requesting to enter Negros Occidental and Bacolod City have been using fake COVID-19 negative RT-PCR test results.Travelers to Negros Occidental and Bacolod City are required to submit negative RT-PCR test results valid for 72 hours from date of swab sample extraction.Some passengers wanting to enter Negros Occidental have been using fake or expired RT-PCR results, Zeaphard Caelian, Provincial Incident Management Team head, said Tuesday, March 23.Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said charges for falsification of public documents will be filed against those caught.Diaz said they have been informed that fake negative RT-PCR results are being sold at the pier in Manila for P900.Caelian said QR codes of the test results...

More AstraZeneca vaccines for Negros Occidental senior citizen health care workers arrive.*Capitol photoNegros Occidental has received 1,200 more doses of AstraZeneca vaccines from the Department of Health to protect its health care workers (HCWs) who are 60 years old and above from COVID-19, Zeaphard Caelian, Provincial Incident Management Team head, said Tuesday, March 23.He said 70 vials arrived from the DOH regional office in Iloilo and 50 from the cold storage facility of Bacolod City.Each AstraZeneca vial contains 10 doses of the vaccine, he said.Earlier, the DOH provided Negros Occidental with 5,180 doses of Sinovac vaccines and 740 AstraZeneca doses for 2,960 hospital HCWs.Meanwhile, the Department of Health yesterday reported that Negros Occidental had 16 new C...

PDEA photoAt least 14 more barangays in Negros Occidental, including Bacolod City, have been cleared of illegal drugs.Members of the Regional Oversight Committee on Dangerous Drugs cleared 51 barangays in Western Visayas during its deliberations on Monday, March 22.The barangays were screened and assessed by the members of the committee chaired by Edgar Apalla, regional director of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency-6.During the deliberations, representatives from the different barangays assisted by their local government units presented and defended their applications in compliance with the parameters of the Barangay Drug Clearing Program, Shey Tanaleon, PDEA-6 information officer, said.The new drug-cleared barangays in the province are Dulao, Napoles, Balingasag a...

The new P15 million building for the Department of Education-Division of Sagay City was inaugurated within a five-hectare area donated by the Sagay City government in Sitio Chloe, Brgy. Rizal, recently.The building occupies 3,500 square meters of the donated land, beside the two buildings of Sagay City Senior High School, a press release from Sagay City said.It will house more than 200 personnel of DepEd-Sagay City Division.The inauguration was led by Mayor Alfredo Marañon, III, DepEd-Sagay Acting Superindendent Arlene Bermejo, Acting Assistant Superintendent Ruby Therese Almencion, Vice Mayor Narciso Javelosa, former Schools Governance and Operations Head Nicanor Alparito, and other DepEd personnel and city staff.Marañon said DepEd-Sagay is growing fast and they need a big...