DUMAGUETE CITY, Negros Oriental (PIA) – The Dumaguete City government has opened its Business One-Stop-Shop (BOSS) here. Dumaguete City Mayor Manuel Sagarbarria said BOSS is a system in which all government agencies involved in the processing of business permits are gathered in one area inside the city hall. Business owner-operators are expected to have an easy time processing their business permit applications or renewals because they need not go to the offices of the said agencies to have their permits processed, said Sagarbarria. Over 4,000 business firms are expected to avail of BOSS.
EYE SURGERY
MAASIN CITY, Southern Leyte (PIA) – A team of doctors from the Department of Health (DOH) based at the Eastern Visayas Regional Medical Center (EVRMC) in Tacloban City conducted a three-day free eye cataract operation here last week, in coordination with a parish-based group and the provincial government. Some 41 patients from this city and province availed of the free cataract surgery, according to Dr. Joselito Trumata, Provincial Health Officer at the Salvacion Oppus Yniguez Memorial Provincial Hospital (SOYMPH) who informed that the activity is a regular undertaking of the DOH team of doctors touring the region yearly.
BLOCKTIMERS ADVISED
BACOLOD CITY, Negros Occidental (PNA) – The Negros Occidental election supervisor last Monday, January 14 told broadcast media block-timers here to observe ethics and adhere to journalism practice standards. “It is a given fact that media can make or break the integrity, image, and even social status of a person, but that goes beyond professional conduct. It is an unethical practice,” said Negros Occidental election supervisor Jessie Suarez who stressed that block timers only stick to positive and developmental issues and not engage in attacking a candidate's personal life. “It is unfair for a candidate to be maligned, criticized, and hit below-the-belt because that person or a subject politician may not have the opportunity to explain his side,” he said.
COMMUNITY LAUDED
CEBU CITY, Cebu (PNA) – Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma lauded local Catholic charismatic groups as they celebrated their 37th anniversary in Cebu City last Sunday.Palma congratulated the groups for their unity and urged them to share the teachings of God to more people. Over 30 Catholic charismatic groups all over Cebu gathered Sunday at the covered court of the old Sacred Heart School in Cebu City where Palma said mass. The Catholic Charismatic Communities of Cebu (CCCC)’s anniversary celebration coincided with the feast of the baptism of Jesus Christ.
VISAYAS QUAKE
ILOILO CITY, Iloilo (PNA) – Four earth shocks jolted the northernmost town of Hinobaan and Sipalay in Negros Occidental and Guimaras island province Sunday night, January 13, 2013. A Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) bulletin said a magnitude 5.0 earthquake shook Sipalay in southern Negros Occidental and Guimaras at 9:08 p.m. Sunday, with its epicenter 25 kms. southwest of Nueva Valencia, Guimaras. A mild quake also jolted Iloilo City with a magnitude recorded at Intensity 2.