The Ilocos Times

Day-Care pupils of Laoag join the celebration of the Oral Health Month in cooperation with the Department of Health Region I with the theme: "Kalinisan ng ngipin laging panatilihin, ugaliing kumain ng masustansyang pagkain". The simultaneous tooth brushing drills held in front of the city hall on February 26, 2016. (Doms dela Cruz)

By Monette H. Herrera DOST Close to eastern part of Pangasinan province is the first class municipality of Sta. Barbara where capable residents of Brgy. Malanay has thrived to be one of the community’s cost-effective assets.  It was the “Long Live Pharma” where Racky D. Doctor, 26 years-old then, started the production of water disinfectant (hyposol/waterine) to purify water safe for human consumption.  How it all began Way back in 1997, Mr. Doctor started the operation of Long Live Pharma and production of hyposol with an initial capitalization of P20,000. Hyposol is a simple water treatment technology or a 1.25% sodium hypochlorite solution packed in 100 ml plastic bottle good in purifying 20 liters of raw water. It is registered with the Department of Trade and Industry in 2010. Most of its products are distributed in regions 1, 2 and 3 along with its market linkages to include Department of Health (DOH), World Health Organization (WHO) and the United...

Modesty aside, we are part of the history from the start when the Ilocos Surian Association of Hawaii (ISAH) was still being organized. Salute to the individual leaders who put their time and energy to run this provincial organizational that exist in the Land of Paradise, known as Melting Pot of the Pacific or Crossroad of the Pacific. ISAH first set of officers (1977): Atty. Peter Aduja, president; Pacita Saludes, first vice president ; Mel Europa, second vice president; Annie Lugmao, secretary; Francisco Ugale, treasurer; Mario Albalos, asst. treasurer; Amado Yoro, auditor; Mike Ulibas, business manager; PRO: Ernie Cardenas, Bert Ugalino, Francisco Ponce; Sarhento: Elvin Quiocho, Johnny Villanueva, Jun Abinsay; John Quiocho, adviser. The first officers were installed on March 27 1977 at the Holiday Inn Airport. Consul Purisimo de Peralta, Philippine Consulate General served as guest speaker. The program. With Ernie Cardenas as emcee, has Rev. Mariano Caneso with the...

Accenture new delivery center in San Nicolas, Ilocos Norte. (Lei Adriano) By Leilanie G. Adriano Staff reporter SAN NICOLAS, Ilocos Norte—A working student Camille Joyce Calipjo, 22, of the Divine Word College of Laoag struggled through a long and tough journey to finish her accountancy course but it’s all worth it, she is now one of the pioneer employees of a giant information technology and business process management (IT-BPM), which is now officially open for business in this northern gateway of Luzon. For Ms. Calipjo and the rest of the over 200 new workforce of Accenture Philippines’ newest delivery center in San Nicolas town, she said, “It’s a life changing experience” to be part of this global company, servicing about 89 companies worldwide. “Despite being just a fresh graduate, actually I’m graduating on March but I was already hired during a school job fair, Accenture participated last year,” Ms. Calipjo said. Since February 2015, Accenture has start...

By Arnel M. Barangan Contributor I am a pure Ilocano and a Sarrateño residing now in Cebu City. I spent the last Christmas in Sarrat and in time also on the occasion of my first cousin’s wedding last December. I used to visit Sarrat, my father’s hometown and birthplace in the late 1990s. How I loved to swim in the crystal clear waters of Padsan River that divides the town. My cousins and I were very happy catching goby or the so-called “bokto”. Then we caught crabs, lobsters, tilapia, dalag from their rama, a cluster of twigs covered with coconut leaves submerged into the water and used as a sanctuary and a habitat of fish and other crustaceans. We also had a nice time picnicking at Sagpatan Dam located at Barangay 22 in Sarrat. To maximize my last vacation here in Sarrat, we toured and traveled the neighboring cities of Batac and Laoag and almost all the towns of Ilocos Norte except Carasi and Adams. I’ve noticed how fast Ilocos Norte have soared to progress. I love t...

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Adjudicators of the Department of Agrarian Reform Adjudication Board (DARAB) of Region I held a training-workshop on agrarian laws on February 22-24 in Baguio City. Regional Adjudicator Annabelle Madayag-Oandasan (first row, second from the left) gave a lecture on the latest jurisprudence on agrarian cases. (Jopo Guerrro) Aiming to increase rice production, the Department of Agrarian Reform through its Agrarian Reform Infrastructure Support Project III (ARISP), implemented a Hybrid Rice Production Project in Ilocos Norte . The project , which was carried out by the San Roque Multi-Purpose Cooperative (ARC) at the Cabaroan Agrarian Reform Community (ARC), was designed to improve rice yield through the use of hybrid seeds, organic fertilizer and appropriate farm technolog ies . It was implemented in three phases: the first phase was a production of hybrid rice in an area of 18.25 hectares with 67 farmer beneficiaries; the second phase involved an increased area of 36...

THE SEEMINGLY endless saga of Solsona’s two mayors have reached alarming proportions. Apart from having two mayors, Solsona now will also have no budget for 2016. Citing the active suspension order on Solsona’s top three officials, the Sangguniang Panlalawigan has invalidated the town’s 2016 budget upon review. The officials in question are Solsona Mayor Jonathan de Lara, Vice Mayor Joseph de Lara and senior councilor Edison de Lara. The trio has defied the suspension order handed down by Ilocos Norte Governor Maria Imelda R. Marcos as they continued on with their respective duties and responsibilities as elected officials. Among those duties included the passage of the town’s 2016 budget. From all possible angles, the suspension can only be tabbed as political. The De Laras have fallen from the Capitol’s grace. The governor, herself, is supporting candidates that oppose the De Laras. And in this power struggle in this eastern Ilocos Norte municipality, the biggest losers ...

AS social beings, we will always need leaders to bring us to our common good. We therefore need to choose leaders with the proper qualities. And this means that they have the proper understanding of what our common good is in all its aspects—from the temporal to the eternal, from the material to the spiritual, from the immediate to the ultimate, etc. We should stay away from the way of choosing our leaders simply on the basis of popularity, wealth or technical skills. While these have their objective value and should be given their due consideration, we have to understand that they cannot be the beginning and end of leadership. We need to go beyond them. We have to say this now since our current world culture seems to be practically at the mercy of these criteria that at best are only secondary and instrumental. We have to outgrow this kind of mindset. Leadership has God not only in its center and core, but also, in a manner of speaking, in every pore of its being. Withou...

Nongovernment reforestation, or tree planting activities conducted by private land owners, organizations, and citizens, has been declining despite the introduction of the National Greening Program (NGP). Launched in 2011, the NGP is a priority program of the government that aims to rehabilitate the forests and, at the same time, to reduce poverty; promote food security, environmental stability, and biodiversity conservation; and enhance climate change mitigation and adaptation. According to a study by state think tank Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS), nongovernment reforestation contributed only about 2 percent of the total reforested area in 2013. This figure is much lower compared to the 56 percent of total area that private entities and individuals reforested in 2005. PIDS Senior Research Fellow Danilo Israel, author of the study, noted that nongovernment reforestation contributed a large share in reforestation before the early 2000s. However, at the tur...

FAO leader hails role of agriculture in national pledges, applauds the promise to scale up funding Rome—FooD and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Director-General José Graziano da Silva has welcomed the approval of the Paris Climate Change Agreement, saying that "for the first time ever, food security features in a global climate change accord."   The Agreement recognizes "the fundamental priority of safeguarding food security and ending hunger, and the particular vulnerabilities of food production systems to the impacts of climate change". It underlines the need to "increase the ability to adapt to the adverse impacts of climate change and foster climate resilience (...) in a manner that does not threaten food production."  "This is a game changer for the 800 million people still suffering from chronic hunger and the 80 percent of the world's poor who live in rural areas and earn their income − and feed their families − via the ...

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ILOCOS Norte Governor Imee R. Marcos distributes stipends to technical-vocational students who are beneficiaries of the Iskolar ni Manang Imee program of the Provincial Government of Ilocos Norte in Laoag City.  (Reu A. Flores) By Mizpah Grace G. Castro PGIN-CMO ILOCOS Norte Governor Maria Imelda “Imee” R. Marcos through the Provincial Education Department (PED) distributed stipends to 399 "Iskolar ni Manang Imee" beneficiaries enrolled in technical-vocational programs on February 14 at the Centennial Arena in Laoag City. The "Iskolar ni Manang Imee" program of the Provincial Government of Ilocos Norte (PGIN) was launched in 2012 but only started including technical-vocational scholars in the first semester of Academic Year 2015-2016. The stipend is funded by PED, supporting students enrolled in technical-vocational programs of schools such as the Bangui Institute of Technology, Marcos Agro-Industrial School (MAIS), Ilocos Norte College of Arts and ...