This Week in Bacolod (July 4 to 10, 2021)

President Rodrigo Duterte placed Bacolod City and Negros Occidental under general community quarantine for the entire month of July 2021 [1]. To support the president’s order, Bacolod City’s Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran told Ilonggos to follow the National Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF). He also stressed that the only difference between GCQ and modified general community quarantine (MGCQ) is the percentage capacity of attendees in gatherings. Under the GCQ, events are limited to 30 percent seating capacity while 50 percent for MGCQ.

Meanwhile, Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson said prohibiting senior citizens and minors from leaving their homes is the only difference under stricter GCQ. The governor also added that the current curfew hours in the province remain from 9:00 PM to 4:00 AM.

La Castellana in Negros Occidental developed sites and establishments for tourism activities and leisure spots amid an ongoing pandemic. According to La Castellana Mayor Rhumyla Nicor-Mangilimutan, the town was a former mass-based area of the New People’s Army and now transformed as an eco-tourism zone in the province [2].

The first development was the Mandayao Panorama View Park and Century Leaf Garden, where tourists can see a clear view of the Kanlaon Volcano. With these existing and upcoming developments through a public-private partnership between locals and the government, the mayor hopes to help its residents recover from the pandemic’s economic crisis.

To ensure that patients and medical workers are safe, the Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital temporarily closed its COVID-19 ward for repair. The restoration of the COVID-19 facility in its West Tower includes the repair of the sanitary pipeline. The management has yet to release when the ward becomes operational again [3].

Visit Yoorekka Consumer Magazine for more travel and COVID-19 updates and guidelines in Bacolod!