The Ilocos Times

Batac City —Mayor Albert D. Chua said the equal sharing for all the barangays here will continue. However, it would not be the P1 million share for each barangay. He explained that the equal sharing in his administration would depend on each of the barangay’s respective projects. He stressed that barangays have different priority projects, hence the decision to change the scheme. With an initial ₱ 38 million budget for next year, Mr. Chua said he will address all priority projects to be presented by the barangays. He added that he will also give other city government services for free.  ( Dominic Dela Cruz )

  Laoag City —Police Supt. Edwin Balles said 8,000 of the 20,000 households in the city have been visited in their “Oplan Double Barrel”. “Double Barrel” is the nationwide police campaign against illegal drugs. In per barangay level, Mr. Balles explained this translates to 61 barangays, which is now declared as “drug-free”. He added that they still have to implement the program in the remaining 19 barangays. As of November 15, Mr.  Balles also said at 770 drug personalities have surrendered. He added that the police and barangay officials are strictly monitoring those who surrendered. The city government here is also offering free drug testing to all who surrendered. ( Dominic B. dela Cruz )

  Laoag City —Police Supt. Edwin Balles, Laoag police chief, said they are now in close coordination with various security agencies here to combat the possible entry of the ‘acetylene gang” in the city. Mr. Balles said they have met with security agencies here regarding the said gang. He stressed that one pawnshop in the city was already broken into by the said gang. He added that they suspect members of the gang to be from outside the province. In this regard, Mr. Balles asked managers and owners of financial institutions in the city, as well as other business establishments to be vigilant and to cooperate with the police and each other against the threat. He said security processes should be stepped up and closed-circuit television systems installed. The police also solicited the support of barangay tanods and other force multipliers to help them, especially in night patrols. Mr. Balles said the police will also patrol the city as well as install checkp...

The Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation (PDIC) announced that it has started mailing postal money orders (PMOs) for all valid deposit accounts with balances of ₱ 100,000 and below maintained with the closed Community Rural Bank of Dingras (Ilocos Norte), Inc. on November 17, 2016, 14 days after the bank’s closure on November 3, 2016. Eligible to receive early payments via PMOs are depositors with valid deposit balances of ₱ 100,000 and below; who have no outstanding loans with the closed bank, and who have complete mailing address in the bank records or updated this information through the PDIC Mailing Address Update Form (MAUF).  These PMOs may be encashed either with the local postal office or with the nearest branch of the Land Bank of the Philippines. Depositors who do not receive their checks are advised to contact the Public Assistance Department at telephone numbers (02) 841-4630 to 31, or e-mail PDIC at   pad@pdic.gov.ph . Depositors outside Metro Ma...

(Top row from left to right) DSWD-FO 1 ARD for Administration Nora D. Dela Paz, DSWD-FO 1            Senior Citizen Focal Person Edwina C. Masi, and DSWD-FO 1 Medical Officer III Mary Grace DV. Del Castillo together with SUPERB LOLO 2016 Wilfredo Rivera, SUPERB LOLA 2015 Belinda Barrozo, and SUPERB LOLA 2016 Gloria Managuira.  (DSWD) ­­­ “We will never be retiring because we will never get tired helping each other—helping our fellow older persons,” said Department of Social Welfare and Development-Field Office I (DSWD FO I) OIC assistant regional director for administration Nora D. Dela Paz during the recently held 6 th Regional Convention of the Local Social Welfare and Development Officers (LSWDOs), Office of the Senior Citizens Affairs (OSCA) Heads, and Regional Federation of Senior Citizens Association of the Philippines (RFSCAP) President at Hotel Veniz in Baguio City. Ms. Dela Paz also cheerfully annou...

Finally , former President Ferdinand E. Marcos was buried—at the Libingan ng mga Bayani (LMNB), no less. In a surprise move, the former president’s family decided to inter his remains on November 18, 2016. A Philippine Air Force chopper airlifted the remains from Batac to the LNMB before noon. The former president was accorded military honors. Wish Ilocos Norte governor Ma. Imelda Josefa “Imee” R. Marcos said it was his father’s wish to be buried at the LNMB. “Finally, on this day the wish of my beloved father, the late President Ferdinand Marcos to be buries together with his fellow soldiers was finally fulfilled,” Ms. Marcos said. She added: “Me and my family wholeheartedly thanked those who have proven his right to be buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani. First and foremost, to President Duterte who suggested this, to the Supreme Court who upheld the decision, and the thousands who showed their love and care for my family.” She also explained the ...

  EMMANUEL  S. Tipon with grandson Robbie at Kailua Beach in Hawaii. By Emmanuel Samonte Tipon “Oh God, please make Donald Trump win if you love America.” That was my prayer at the new Iglesia Ni Cristo Diamond Head congregation. This was the first time I ever prayed hard for a candidate to win. I had told Mr. Trump when I met him in Cleveland during the Republican Convention.  “Mr. President, I will pray for you.” “Thank you, thank you very much,” he whispered. Millions prayed for Mr. Trump to win. You all know God’s answer.  God spoke through the silent majority. Vox populi. Vox Dei . Congratulations Mr. Trump and Mr. Pence. The silent majority hearkened to Mr. Trump’s clarion call “I am your voice. I will speak for you.”  “The forgotten men and women of our country will be forgotten no longer,” promised Mr. Trump in his victory speech after Hillary Clinton conceded the election. Donald Trump will be the 45 th president of the...

President Ferdinand Edralin Marcos’s remains is finally interred at the Libingan ng mga Bayani. Now, the healing process of a fragmented nation can begin. Or so, claimed the former president’s family and most vocal and ardent supporters. The Marcos family interred the former president on November 18, 2016 with “honors befitting a soldier.” Expectedly, anti-Marcos forces did not take this peacefully. Protests began as soon as the burial was confirmed. The unannounced plan only stoked the flames of protests. The Marcos family, in justifying the “surprise” burial, said they want the internment to be a “private, family affair”. It was the wide belief of the Marcos family and their supporters that the burial would start the healing process towards real unity in the country. President Duterte, himself, said the burial would signal the end of the “great divide”; and that the country would move on from the issues of Martial Law and all other inconveniences that occurred from 1972 to ...

A police officer interviews the suspect. Laoag City --The police here arrested a suspected abortionist in an entrapment operation. According to Laoag police chief P/Supt. Edwin Balles, intel-operations elements conducted an entrapment operation after a report of “intentional abortion” on November 16, 2016 at the Vigare Clinic reached them. The said clinic is located at Brgy. 8 this city. The operation resulted in the arrest of Mary Jean Lagmay, 48 years old, registered and resident nurse of Vigare Clinic, owned by Dr. Teresita Vigare. The arrest was implemented after the nurse was “caught in the act” while in the process of employing intentional abortion procedures and dispensing abortive drugs to a pregnant female police asset at the said clinic. The police confiscated and seized pieces of abortive evidence in the crime scene. Among which were 1 D5LR Dextrose, 9 vials of Popicin (Oxytocin), 1 tablet of Cytotec, 1 vial of ambidol, 1 disposable syringe and ₱ 12,...

By Alfredo c. Garvida Jr. The Marcos family has pulled a fast one on the anti-Marcos loyalists last Friday, November 18 th , when they buried the former president in his rightful place in simple, private ceremonies attended only by his family and their friends.  The furor now cast by the Marcos enemies all over the media outlets in consequence of this brilliant move by the late president's family, frankly, is very understandable—and I commiserate with them contras for being made to look more stupid. But they were stupid, to begin with, because they wanted the Supreme Court to hold the burial in abeyance until they have filed their motion for reconsideration. They were stupid for waging their appeal first to the public in vicious propaganda attacks against the late strongman and his family via the news media instead of going directly, and immediately, to the highest court for relief. They were stupid for trying to make the Supreme Court stupid for upholding—b...

(The space below has been left intentionally blank. We respectfully suggest that Congress start with a clean slate in enacting THE TRUMP IMMIGRATION ACT that will serve the national interest and is fair to lawful immigrants. Congress must repeal and replace the entire Act which is a leaky cauldron containing an alphabet soup of laws like AEDPA and IIRIRA, is chock-full of grammatical errors, enmeshed in a bundle of self-contradictions, such as using the term “removal” in one place and “deportation’ in another, very harsh on lawful permanent resident aliens who commit petty offenses, and employing big and vague words without defining them like “crime involving moral turpitude” thereby wasting the time of the courts in explaining what they mean often with contradictory results.)  (Atty. Tipon has a Master of Laws degree from Yale Law School where he specialized in Constitutional Law. He has also a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University ...

Batac City —The city government here plans to put the whole city in closed circuit television (CCTV) coverage. The plan was given an initial ₱ 6- ₱ 7 million budget for 2017. Mayor Albert D. Chua said there will an initial 23 high definition CCTV system to be installed in strategic areas. Among the locations include the city hall, city inn, city health office, motor pool, city plaza, public market, busy intersections and the five entrance and exit points in the city:  Batac-Banna road, Batac-Pinili via Maipalig road, Batac-Currimao road, Batac-Paoay road and Batac-Laoag road. The mayor said that the CCTV to be installed will be equipped with solar power in case of power interruption for continuous and wide monitoring. He added that the city-owned CCTV will be an independent network to be put up by the city government of Batac; this means no provider from any telecommunication networks will be needed. “ Ta uray no awan signal, maka operate latta dagitoy CC...

DSWD-FO1 Regional Director Marcelo Nicomedes J. Castillo [in green polo] together with the security guard graduates in the Province of Ilocos Sur. (DSWD ) By Jaymante Pearl B. Apilado DSWD Salute ! The Security Guard trainees from the Pre-Licensing Training Course on Security Guard of the Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP) of the Department of Social Welfare and Development-Field Office 1 (DSWD-FO 1) will soon acquire an employment for a stable source of income. A total of 229 participants graduated recently in the Employment Facilitation-Skills Project of SLP on Security Guards. Out of the 229 participants, 163 are from the Province of Ilocos Norte and 66 are from the Province of Ilocos Sur. According to SLP Ilocos Norte provincial coordinator (PC) Anna Mae C. Palaroan, the 163 participants will soon be hired within this year by VNV Security Agency in San Nicolas, and by JTC Mall in Batac City, both in Ilocos Norte. Further, SLP Ilocos Sur PC Efren R. Ra...

Publication Notice R.A. 10172 NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC CCE-0068-2016 November 18, 2016.           In compliance with the publication requirement and pursuant to OCRG Memorandum Circular No. 2013-1 Guidelines on the Implementation of Administrative Order No. 1 Series of 2012 (IRR on R.A. 10172), Notice is hereby given to the public that RIZAL ALMAZAN VIEJO has filed with this Office a petition for correction of entry in the date of birth from January 6, 1966 to January 3, 1966 and the child’s middle name and mother’s last name from ALMASAN to ALMAZAN in the Certificate of Live Birth of RIZAL ALMASAN VIEJO at Badoc, Ilocos Norte and whose parents are BENITO T. VIEJO and SIMEONA U. ALMASAN.           Any person adversely affected by said petition may file his written opposition with this Office not later than Dec. 5, 2016. (SGD) PABLO M. REYES Municipal Civil Registrar Nov. 21-27, Nov...