The Ilocos Times

Ni Amado I. Yoro (Pakauna: Nasuratko daytoy  iti kaawan ni Mama Oyya [wenno Kasimpungalan] ta naisurot iti pilgrimage idiay Holy land manipud Nobiembre 1-21, 2007. Nagluasda, 36da amin mairaman ti padimi, ti tour director, dagiti kameng ti Womens of St. Paul's Church Honolulu, kdpy. Routeda ti Honolulu-San Francisco; San Francisco- Frankfurt, Germany; Frankfurt- Tel Aviv, sa agalla-allatiwda iti Hotel: Renaissance, Jerusalem, Golden Crown, Nazareth; Morgenland, Sinai, Helnan Palestine, Alexandria, Sofitel, Panorama, Radisson, Amman.) Mapantayon iti rabaw ti turod A yan ti balay dagiti agpasungad Itag-ay ti sagut; Rag-o daytoy awis Iti balay iti turod. Daytoy ti balay ti Dios Ni Jacob Daytoy ti dalan a mapan Iti pantok ti Zion Dagiti pannursuro ti Apo Usigen ti dagem ti basol Ket magna iti silaw ti Dios Rag-o daytoy awis Iti balay iti turod. Bay-am met ita nga agdakiwas dagiti dapan. Ala wen, surotem ti tugot ni Juan a Mammunniag Ma...

And so it came to pass that the man, who’d booked his return flight, stayed on and cancelled his home newspaper subscription. In between, Jorge Bergolio of Argentina, 77, emerged to the cry of  Habemus Papam  (“We have a Pope”). He stunned Piazza San Pietro crowds by asking, as Pope Francis, for their blessing instead.  At that time, his letter of mandatory retirement, on reaching age 75, was on the papal desk. In just nine months, Francis upended his church on issues from fixation on sexual morality to support for the poor. Time magazine picked him “Person of the Year. And across what seemed once an unbridgeable gap, so did “The Advocate”—the oldest US gay rights magazine. “Along comes a man with no army or weapons,” Time said. (“How many divisions has the Pope?” the dictator Josef Stalin once scoffed.)  Yet, when he kisses the face of a disfigured man or washes a Muslim woman’s feet, the image resonates beyond his 1.2 billio...

WITH TWO elections, 2013 became one of the busiest years for politicians, especially the local ones. Not only did they have to fight tooth-and-nails with their political foes, they also had to have a quick turnaround for round two in the barangay elections so they consolidate their hold in their respective fiefdoms. The result was staggering. Here in Laoag City and Ilocos Norte alone, allegations of record-high vote buying were thrown against politicians of all sorts and colors . And this only worsened during the October barangay elections as even a supposedly apolitical office became fair game for local political kingpins. Topping it up was the Liga mga Barangay elections, which expectedly were won by the politicians-in-power's choices; never mind if they turned out to be their wives, sons, daughters or any other relative. What really mattered was that they maintain a stranglehold on their political kingdom.   And as much as most—if not all—of them succeeded in their...

AT  least 100 families in Piddig, Ilocos Norte were given rice, grocery items and other gifts in the outreach program hosted by the employees of the Philippine National Bank – Laoag Branch. The activity was held at the St. Anne Parish Church in the said town. (Photo courtesy of Estelito Pablo) THE EMPLOYEES  of Philippine National Bank – Laoag Branch, headed by manager Metty Guerrero, held an outreach project in Piddig, Ilocos Norte. At least 100 families from the different barangays were given rice, grocery items and other gifts as part of their annual  Pasko Na Bayan  program. According to Mr. Estelito Pablo, relationship officer of PNB Laoag, they have been doing this project for seven years now. He said that this is one of their ways to fulfil their commitment to help the less fortunate families in the province. This year’s PNB outreach was held at the St. Anne Parish Church in Piddig where a Holy Mass was conducted before the beneficiaries w...

Senator Loren Legarda asserted the need for adaptation programs on rice amidst threats on low food production caused by climate change. “If we do not invest on climate change adaptation programs now, rice yield in the Philippines can decline by 75 percent in 2100, as shown by a 2009 study of the Asian Development Bank,” Legarda said during the opening of the Rice, Biodiversity and Climate Change: Celebrating the National Year of Rice exhibition at the National Museum early this week. Legarda, chair of the senate committee on climate change, noted that the typhoons, floods, and droughts from 1970 to 1990 resulted in an 82.4 percent production loss in the country’s total rice production. “We especially feel the urgency of providing rice to calamity survivors, like what happened after the wrath of super typhoon Yolanda. [Indeed, investment on rice means] investing on the very survival of the Filipino people,” she said. As patron of the exhibit, Legarda emphasized the im...

Agtultuloy ti ar-aramiden dagiti kameng ti Environment and Natural Resources a panagmula kadagiti kabanbantayan ken kabakiran ditoy probinsia. Kuna ni Estrella “Baby” Sacro, National Greening program Project manager a  daytoy ket tapno masalakniban iti aglawlaw ken maalay-ayan iti nakaro nga epekto ti climate change. Nagyamyamanan met ni Sacro ken ni Ilocos Norte Gobernador Ma. Imelda “Imee” R. Marcos gapu ta maysa ti re-greening kadagiti ipangpangrunana a proyekto. Mamati ni Sacro nga apaman a madanon ti tawen 2016, natalged ken napintaston dagiti kabanbantayan ditoy probinsia. Kunana a babaen kadagiti barangay ranger officers (BROs) a dinutokan ti probinsia ket dakkel a kabadangan a mangkita ken mangsalaknib kadagiti mula iti kabakiran ken kabanbantayan. Gapu kadagiti BRO, in-inuten  a mapugipog dagiti agisaysayangkat ti saan a makianatad a panagpukan ti kayo ken panagkaingin iti bantay. Mangnamnama ti Project Manager ti National Greening Program...

  Adu dagiti mabalin a pagtrabahuan apaman a dumteng ti tawen 2014. Daytoy ti impanamnama ni Ilocos Norte Gob. Ma. Imelda “Imee” R. Marcos kadagiti nagduduma nga ili a pagturturongan ti MDG Christmas Caravan. Kunana nga adu dagiti proyekto infrastraktura  a mabalin a panggedan dagiti kaprobinsiaan kangrunaanna dagiti saan a nakaturpos iti panagadal. Adu pay dagiti kalsada nga agturong kadagiti away a saan pay a nasemento isu a rebbengna a matarimaan tapno alisto ti panagdaliasat, kinuna ti gobernador. Uray dagiti kanal ti irigasion ket rebbeng pay a matarimaan tapno masolbar ti parikut pakaseknan ti padanom kadagiti kataltalonan. Ti pannakaipatungpal kadagitoy a proyekto ket mangpatud ti panggedan kadagiti bumarangay. Malaksid iti dayta, agbalin pay nga al-alisto ti pannakaibiahe ti produkto dagiti mannalon nga agturong iti sentro.  ( PGIN-CMO )

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UNITED STATES Secretary of State John Kerry met with Philippine and local U.S. business leaders in Manila on December 17, thanking the private sector for its work in the wake of typhoon Yolanda (international name Haiyan), welcoming the prospect of the Philippines’ joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade talks, and discussing how to advance the U.S.-Philippine economic relationship.  American Chamber of Commerce President Rhicke Jennings welcomed the secretary to the gathering of top Philippine and local American business leaders. Kerry began by thanking the business leaders for their efforts in saving lives and bringing relief to victims of typhoon Yolanda. In the days after the storm, he noted, local U.S. and Philippine companies such as Coca-Cola, Dow, FedEx, Procter & Gamble, and Citibank made vital contributions of relief supplies, and the business community continues to engage in initiatives to boost the local economy and provide livelihood to families ...

CAMP BGEN OSCAR M FLORENDO—72 top cops from the different local police stations of Region 1 finished the PATROL 1O1 training after a simple closing ceremony here on December 17, 2013. The police commissioned officers (PCOs) who serve as chiefs of police (COPs) in their assigned area became the second batch of graduates.  Weeks ago, 70 COPs from the cities and first class municipalities took the same training.  Acting as guest of honor and speaker was P/Sr. Supt. Moro Virgilio M. Lazo, deputy regional director for administration, who became the officer-in-charge PRO1 after Director P/Chief Supt. Ricardo C. Marquez took the Directorate for Operations post at Camp Crame.  A new regional director is still to be chosen by Chief PNP Alan LM Purisima.     In his message, Lazo congratulated the participants and quoted Marquez. “Patrolling is the bread and butter of police works, let us strengthen patrolling because we do not believe in magic...

Kiniddaw ni Ilocos Norte Gobenador Ma. Imelda “Imee” R. Marcos kadagiti taga Marcos, Ilocos Norte ti sangsangkamaysa a mangitandudo kadagiti programa ken proyekto ni Marcos Mayor Arsenio Agustin. Inbatad ti gobernador a napateg iti panagkaykaysa ken agnanayon nga adda iti likudan dagiti mangidadaulo iti ili. “Ti napudno a panangsuporta dagiti umili iti agdama a mayor iti Marcos nasisita para ti naan-anay a panagdur-as iti ili a Marcos,” inlawlawag ti gobernador. Nupay napintas a nagan ti ili a Marcos, maud-udin iti panagdur-as no idasig kadagiti sabsabali nga ili ditoy Ilocos Norte, innayon ti gobernador. Gapu iti daytoy,  impaganetget ti ina ti probinsia a  kasapulan iti  nayon panagkikinnammayet tapno magun-od ti al-alisto a pas dur-as ti Marcos, Ilocos  Norte. ( PGIN-CMO )

YES, indeed , let the spirit of Christmas be a daily affair for all us. It should not just be a yearly observance which we drown with a lot of fanfare and merry-making. It should not just be a historical event that we want to remember with some magical nostalgia. Christmas has to be way of life itself. It’s a spirit, more than anything else, a truth of faith that is supposed to animate every cell and pore of our being. It’s the marvellous reality that whoever and however we are in this earthly life, we are actually with Christ, conformed to him, formally or informally, regardless of whether we acknowledge it or not. That’s why Christmas always evokes joy and peace. Amid the ruins left by the natural calamities and the even bigger man-made disasters due to our pride and attachments that cause a Yolanda of partisan anger and hatred, a storm surge of collective cruelty and insensitivity among ourselves, the spirit of Christmas is what we need most urgently. The radical obje...

San Juan , La Union—The National Food Authority in Region I is set to receive around 35,000 metric tons of imported rice from Vietnam as part of the 500,000 metric tons additional imported rice sought by the agency through the government-to-government import scheme. Dir. Carlito G. Co said the imported rice is meant as “pre-cautionary stocks” of the government until it would start procuring palay anew from the farmers during the summer cropping season next year. He added that the first batch of the imported rice is expected to arrive at the Port of San Fernando middle of December and the remaining volume to be delivered to the region until March 2014. Co said the rice import will help shore up the existing inventory in the region even as it continues to buy palay from the farmers. This recent development, he stated further, is also seen as a way to ease up farm gate price of palay which he said is still very high. “The infusion of the imported rice will hopefully cushi...

By Cherry Joy D. Garma PIA The Provincial Agriculture Office (PAO) has shifted to providing hybrid tilapia fingerlings to fish growers after the latter observed increased production compared to ordinary varieties. Jose Ariston, a recipient from Barangay 2 Vintar town, said the hybrid tilapia brings in more harvests than the ordinary breed the PAO used to distribute. “The hybrid one grew faster than the usual tilapia breed. In five-month time, they are ready for harvesting,” he said. Ariston owns four fish pond near his house where tilapia is commercialized. “The income is better now, because aside from shortened harvest time, the product is (of good quality),” Ariston said. PAO regularly visits the fisheries to teach growers more technique in raising fish. The project was realized under the provincial government’s innovative program “Manang Imee’s Capitol Express.” Manang Imee’s Capitol Express is a pro-poor program of the provincial government that ...

The inclusive growth mantra has to be further asserted in the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), said Dr. Cielito Habito,   former Director-General of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA)   and Chief of Party of the USAID Trade Related Assistance for Development, during the 4 th   Final Workshop of the ASEAN Beyond 2015, a project of the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA). State think tank Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) co-organized the event held at the Carlos P. Romulo Hall, NEDA sa Makati Building. According to Habito, ASEAN trade relations must be competitive rather than complementary. “The Philippines has a predominantly intra-industry trade with the rest of the ASEAN countries, especially with its major trading partners in the region, meaning we trade in products within the same industries. The Philippines’ top exports to its major ASEAN trading partners are petroleum products, electronics, and chemic...

Happy New Year? By Leilanie G. Adriano Staff Reporter THE SANGGUNIANG Panlalawigan has passed an ordinance amending the 2013 Revenue Code on December 16, effectively increasing all fees and charges being collected by the provincial government by 10 percent. Sponsored by ex-officio board member Domingo Ambrocio Jr. and the committee on ways and means, provincial tax ordinance no. 2013-11-015 has been unanimously approved by all SP members and as such creates a significant increase in hospital fees, quarry fees, and rentals of provincial government-owned buildings among others. With the recent upgrade and purchase of new equipment of provincial and district hospitals here, Dr. Juanito Chua, chief executive officer of the Ilocos Norte Hospital Management Council (INHMC) said there were new sources of income the INHMC has identified to be at par with neighboring hospitals particularly the Laoag City General Hospital and the Mariano Marcos Memorial Hospital and Medical Cent...

By Rachel O. Acosta Contributor Atty. Miguel  B. Varela, president of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), emphasized that in 2014 the Philippines can benefit from the Asean integrated market by building its competitive advantages provided that several constraints to growth are lifted. “Next year is a critical year to take decisive action if companies are to satisfy a market of five billion strong consumers with products and services,” Varela said.  “We could lose out to our competitors if we delay in removing the constraints that have been making us just play catch up. Expanded trade has also an impact on the job-creating capacity of the economy.” The PCCI president said that government could clear the list of constraints and enable the private sector to maximize the competitive advantages by: Ensuring the adequacy and cost-competitiveness of fuel and electricity to power the growth of business and industries; Rehabilitating...