CUT IN TRAVEL EXPENSES. Employees of the Negros Occidental provincial government avail of a free ride to work in this undated photo. On Wednesday (Sept. 7, 2022), Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz II said that every month, each employee enjoys a savings of about PHP2,000 since the service started last July.(Photo courtesy of PIO Negros Occidental) BACOLOD CITY - At least 100 employees of the Negros Occidental provincial government here are being served daily by the "Libreng Sakay" program that enables them to save on transport costs. Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz II said on Wednesday said that every month, each employee enjoys a savings of about PHP2,000, which they can spend for other needs. "So far, it's very successful. Our vehicles are fully occupied. The employees have already expressed their gratitude to the provincial government," Diaz told reporters. Launched last July, the free daily shuttle service is intended for employees living outsi
BACOLOD CITY - The Negros Occidental provincial government has set aside PHP15 million for the purchase of monkeypox test kits as part of its preparations for possible cases of the viral disease. Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz II said on Tuesday the province continues to prepare its molecular laboratory at the Teresita L. Jalandoni Provincial Hospital in Silay City. "We already need to purchase the test kits. We already provided for the budget for it," he told reporters. Diaz said the province's laboratory personnel will also train soon at the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM). "Once our (schedule) will come, the medical technologists will be deployed for training," he added. According to the RITM, the assay for the detection of monkeypox virus is run on the RT-PCR machines, similar to the coronavirus disease 2019 test. Diaz had earlier said that with the RT-PCR machines in place, the molecular laboratory in Teresita L. Jalandoni Provincia
INAUGURATION. Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson (center) shows his oath of office after his inauguration for a second term at the provincial capitol grounds in Bacolod City on Saturday (June 25, 2022). Lacson said Negros is more than just sugar and declared he will develop its vast potentials. (Photo courtesy of Negros Occidental-PIO) BACOLOD CITY - Negros Occidental will create more opportunities and innovations that will steer the province beyond its identity as the sugar capital of the Philippines. Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson said his second term will mark developments in health and social services, disaster management, education and sports, peace and order, food security, water and power supply sufficiency, environmental concerns, infrastructure, tourism economic development, and revenue generation. "It is high time that we seriously reinvent, to show the world that Negros is more than just sugar, that Negros is the place where you can succeed if you try, where a