ALMOST COMPLETE. Mayor Maria Isabelle Climaco-Salazar leads an ocular inspection of the PHP120-million mega isolation facility in Barangay Talisayan, Zamboanga City on Sunday (Oct. 31). The mayor on Monday said the facility will soon open and increase the city's bed capacity for coronavirus disease 2019 cases to 2,000 beds, including those in the village's other isolation facilities. (Photo courtesy of Zamboanga CIO) ZAMBOANGA CITY - The PHP120-million mega isolation facility here is almost finished and will be operational soon, Mayor Maria Isabelle Climaco-Salazar said on Monday. Salazar said the 320-bed capacity isolation center located at the Zamboanga Economic Zone area in Sitio San Ramon, Barangay Talisayan will greatly address the shortage of beds in hospitals caused by the rising cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) in the city. "The city government aggressively pursues measures to address the shortage of beds, manpower, and medical oxygen supply brought abo
City Hall of Zamboanga. (PNA file photo) ZAMBOANGA CITY - A total of 67 inbound travelers have so far been penalized for presenting falsified Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) negative test results since the start of the second semester this year. City Tourism Office Sarita Sebastian announced Tuesday that among these travelers, the latest to be sanctioned are seven travelers from Isabela and Lamitan Cities in Basilan who arrived between October 4 to 10 and presented falsified RT-PCR test results. "There are already 67 travelers with fake RT-PCR test results penalized by the police since July," Sebastian said. The penalty included the issuance of a citation ticket to pay the fine of PHP500 each and violators were ordered to return to the point of origin at their own expense. The requirement of RT-PCR negative test result is an added measure against the further spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19), especially among travelers, according to th
ZAMBOANGA CITY - A two-year-old girl was pinned to death while 27 houses were destroyed due to the southwest monsoon enhanced by Tropical Storm Maring in this city, officials disclosed Monday. Abraham Rojas, the chairperson of Barangay Tugbungan, identified the fatality only as "Athena", of Royal Lane Street in the village. Rojas said the toddler was pinned by an old gmelina tree that fell due to strong winds on Sunday afternoon. He said Athena was at the front section of their house when pinned down by the falling tree around 2 p.m. Rojas said the victim was rushed to the hospital but was declared dead on arrival by the attending physician. "We have to cut the tree with a chainsaw to be able to retrieve the child and rush her to the hospital," he said. At about the same time, Dr. Elmeir Jade Apolinario, the city disaster risk reduction management office (CDRRMO) chief, said 27 houses were destroyed when a twister hit two barangays here. Apolinario said that 26 of t
ZAMBOANGA CITY - A two-year-old girl was pinned to death while 27 houses were destroyed due to the southwest monsoon enhanced by Tropical Storm Maring in this city, officials disclosed Monday. Abraham Rojas, the chairperson of Barangay Tugbungan, identified the fatality only as "Athena", of Royal Lane Street in the village. Rojas said the toddler was pinned by an old gmelina tree that fell due to strong winds on Sunday afternoon. He said Athena was at the front section of their house when pinned down by the falling tree around 2 p.m. Rojas said the victim was rushed to the hospital but was declared dead on arrival by the attending physician. "We have to cut the tree with a chainsaw to be able to retrieve the child and rush her to the hospital," he said. At about the same time, Dr. Elmeir Jade Apolinario, the city disaster risk reduction management office (CDRRMO) chief, said 27 houses were destroyed when a twister hit two barangays here. Apolinario said that 26 of t