Ilocos Norte rides pandemic: Resilience thrives among Ilocanos

By Leilanie G. Adriano (Staff Reporter)

LAOAG CITY—The pandemic has hit the world hard and without remorse including a small province up north. While many businesses have closed, other business opportunities have also shoot up as they adopt to the change of time.

The province of Ilocos Norte is emerging as an agro-industrial economy when the COVID-19 panic started. Everyone was forced to the confines of their homes except for people who have to report to work. Suddenly, it was all back to basic.

People left at home focused on home improvement and gardening too, for those with space available. Technology has also become more than ever in demand, not only for kids who are on homeschooling but also for families who are separated by distance.

Ilocos Norte Governor Matthew Joseph M. Manotoc acknowledged that 2020 has been a tough year for the province because of the presence and impact of pandemic but like in the past, the Ilocanos will continue to weather the storm and win the battle against all odds.

In the early part of last year, Ilocos Norte was among the first to implement an early lockdown through the governor’s executive order no. 60-20. Up to this date, it remains to be one of the “strictest” in terms of border control.

Ilocos Norte likewise became the first to open tourism for all Luzon residents as its COVID-19 cases remained "low and manageable” compared to other provinces.

But before opening for tourism, the provincial government has strengthened its border control protocols with the installation of high-end closed circuit television camera and at least two antigen testing machines at the Badoc and Pagudpud borders separating Ilocos Norte from the provinces of Cagayan in the north and Ilocos Sur in the south.

Over 200 medical health workers were also deployed at the provincial borders and in quarantine facilities as the provincial government hired additional 300 health professionals including two doctors to augment manpower in healthcare services.

Improvement and upgrading of major hospitals and health facilities are also ongoing with over PHP527 million allotment in local funds.

Some hotels were likewise turned as isolation facilities apart from the different local government units having their own quarantine and swabbing centers to speed up the process of detecting persons infected of the virus. Both public and private hospitals in the province have likewise agreed to have an integrated referral system with the state-run Mariano Marcos Memorial Hospital and Medical Center in the City of Batac as the lead team in addressing health emergency cases.

While the pandemic has taken its toll on three giant projects in the province due to delays in the delivery of equipment and construction materials, including skilled laborers, sourced by contractors from as far as Manila and Pampanga, assistant provincial engineer Lanie Daquioag said there were some changes in the original plan and design.

The “Big 3” projects of Ilocos Norte are the ongoing construction of the Provincial Capitol expansion building, reconstruction of the Dap-ayan Food Park, and the full rehabilitation of the President Ferdinand E. Marcos Memorial Stadium, all in this city.

These infra projects, worth a total of PHP2 billion, are part of the Metro Ilocos Norte master plan initiated by Sen. Ma. Imelda Josefa R. Marcos, which is being carried out under the administration of her son, Manotoc, to attract more investors and generate more local jobs and livelihood in the province.

As an agricultural province, Ilocos Norte continues to lead the way in terms of rice sufficiency as it hit again its rice production target with a 283% rice sufficiency and 91 % fish sufficiency in 2020.

On September 10, 2020, the construction of another pilot project, worth Php15 million from the Department of Agriculture, commenced at the Provincial Agriculture Office compound for a three-story research and extension center to boost local farming practices in the province.

The project is one of the commitments of the provincial government for being one of the five pilot provinces in the Philippines to lead the Department of Agriculture’s synergized agriculture and fisheries extension services.

The project is called the Ilocos Norte Agriculture and Fisheries Extension System (INAFES) where the 70,000 farmers and 15,000 fishermen in Ilocos Norte will be issued a farmer’s identification system to have a more centralized and comprehensive data in the agriculture sector.

Once fully operational, the INAFES will served as a link of the registered farmers and fishes to bigger markets.

“Agriculture is still the foundation of our economy, and we have to strengthen this sector and further support our farmers and fisherfolk. We are very hopeful that INAFES will be instrumental in assisting our farmers, most importantly, the synergy and collaboration that INAFES will provide,” said Manotoc.

To further boost food security in the province, the DA in cooperation with the local government units here have invested multi-million funds in the rehabilitation of provincial roads, repair of fish farms and upgrading of livestock industry among others.

As tourism is among the hardest hit during the pandemic, thousands of displaced workers including tourist guides, event organizers, drivers and vendors were given cash assistance through the re-alignment of funds of cancelled tourism events. 

Responding to the distance learning program of the Department of Education, the province has distributed a total of 369 desktop computers, 12 high-powered photo copier and 4,000 tablets to the different schools and learners. This is apart from the personal donations of ‘Good Samaritans’ that thrive during the pandemic. Some of them donated learning gadgets, printers, coupon bonds, and other learning materials to assist children who are on home schooling. A total of 4,500 students also availed various scholarship grants, including a medical scholarship this year courtesy of the provincial government.

On environment, at least 24,000 environment keepers were hired this year to help the provincial government in the upkeep of its 6,500-hectare ecological systems and in the planting of 1.1 million seedlings to build the "green wall” of Ilocos Norte to safeguard the province from strong typhoons and other calamities.

Ilocos Norte was also recently recognized as the country’s best model in solid waste management. Each of the 21 towns and two cities have functional sanitary landfills with additional 17 new garbage compactors. A Php25-million worth waste recycling facility is also being constructed in Marcos, Ilocos Norte.

With the increasing suicide incidents, Ilocos Norte established a mental health center to address this issue. The “Speak Up, I’m Here” campaign aims to provide an avenue for residents in distress to express whatever is bothering them which may lead to depression and other psychology-related incidents.

As a generally peaceful province and insurgency-free for almost a decade now, the Philippine National Police reported a 40 % crime rate reduction this year.

According to Provincial Police Director, P/Col. Christopher Abrahano, the intensified police presence, and maintenance of 24-hour checkpoints stationed in strategic locations contributed to the general peacefulness of Ilocos Norte.

As a member of the Provincial Health Task Force, the Ilocos Norte police helps in the enforcement of lockdown guidelines as well as those who violate health and safety protocols.

Among its initiatives include the protection of four provincial boundary checkpoints to certify that only authorized person can enter the province, including the integrated checkpoints in each city and municipality; enforcement of "one entry, one exit" policy in places of convergence such as groceries and public markets; and support in the regulation of price control and temporary closure of localized lockdown areas.