IN WESTERN VISAYAS
2 boys, seafarer positive for H1N1
BY CARLA GOMEZ

The Research Institute for Tropical Medicine yesterday confirmed three patients positive for influenza A(H1N1) in Western Visayas, two of them brothers who returned to Bacolod from the United States, DOH Regional Director Ariel Valencia said.

“Although the patients were found positive, they all exhibited mild symptoms of fever, cough and sore throat,” Valencia said.

The brothers aged 7 and 8 years old and now confined at a Bacolod hospital had come from the United States, Valencia said.

Bacolod Vice Mayor Jude Thaddeus Sayson yesterday said they will request  the release of an initial P2 million from the calamity fund of the city to be used in preventing the possible community transmission of the Influenza A(H1N1) virus.

He said the fund will be used to buy protective equipment needed by health personnel, and for the information dissemination they will conduct in the public schools as part of the thrust to control community transmission of the virus.

Sayson said that, together with the City Health Office, they will meet with the school principals Friday on the information drive.

Central Negros Electric Cooperative is being asked to explain the legal basis for the 13 centavo per kilowatt hour “add on” charge on top of its present rate it is imposing.

The explanation is being sought by lawyer Jose Max Ortiz, in behalf of his client, Romeo Lavilla, a CENECO consumer-member.

“Our client is of the perception that a clearance should have been first taken from the Energy Regulatory Commission before an additional charge could be implemented because the latest order of the ERC is clear that only P0.83 could be immediately imposed,” Ortiz said.