The Ilocos Times

MMSU President Dr. Shirley C. Agrupis delivers her state of the university address at the Batac campus’ Teatro Ilocandia. (Photo by Marc Kevin Bituen & Roi Domingo) By Matthew C. Esmino & Jonie C. Luis  (Correspondents) City of Batac —As the leading university in the Ilocos Region, the Mariano Marcos State University (MMSU) has started taking bold steps to become a “University of the Future.” In her state of the university address (SOUA) during MMSU’s Convocation Program on Jan. 20, 2022, MMSU President Shirley C. Agrupis bared the university’s goal of being “crisis-proof” by fully embracing the “Fourth Industrial Revolution (FIRe) or Industry 4.0”. “FIRe shall be the new norm in all university operations in order to stay relevant and responsive amid various crises,” Agrupis said. Agrupis added that the “MMSU 4.0 Framework and Road Map” has already gained the approval of the MMSU Board of Regents—ready to create policies, programs and funds for said purpose. It is a...

By Noralyn O. Dudt IT WAS 1898 at the Parque de   Luneta—a huge 140 acre (58 hectares)—park   overlooking the Manila Bay. Kommandant Krueger monitored the placement of the large statue of Kaiser Wilhelm II, offset from Jose Rizal's. His aides were putting up new signs. It was going to be the "Kaiser Wilhelm und Jose Rizal Stadtgarten." It had taken several days to remove the "Paseo de Luneta and Paseo Maria Cristina" signs along the way and replaced them with "Kaiser Wilhelm PrachtStrasse." From what he could see, it would be difficult to properly teach these natives proper respect for the Kaiser and to ferret out their resistance. It pained him that there was so little enthusiasm for cooperation especially after completion of a German non-aggression treaty with Japan. He has been quite certain that the Philippines would have a brighter future as a German protectorate. Vice Admiral Otto von Diederichs That's a scenario that has been going on in...

  Laoag City —In his first term, Rep. Eugenio Angelo Marcos-Barba—or popularly known as AMB—authored and co-authored 535 bills and resolutions. Barba’s legislative agenda focused on the promotion of agriculture, education, youth and sports, public health, service delivery, public order and safety, transportation, environmental protection, and local governance. Of the 535 legislative measures Cong. AMB principally authored and co-authored, 28 bills have been enacted into law.   Local measures For his constituents, Barba filed local measures that would improve service delivery in the province; the promotion of Ilocano culture and tradition, eco and local tourism, local sports development and sports tourism, and local agriculture development. House Bill No. 5950 is a measure seeking to establish a TESDA Training and Assessment Center in Ilocos Norte. By establishing a TESDA training and assessment center, students and residents from low-income families and out-of-s...

By Noralyn Onto Dudt The END of the pandemic is not yet upon us, and with variants making their rounds, it looks like it may never end.   However,   as   the latest research holds promise and has the scientific community looking up, we can greet the New Year in good spirits. The COVID-19 emergency has unleashed an unprecedented surge of innovation and collaboration in research. Just as the virus started spreading   around the globe about two years ago,   scientists around the world   became more adept at rapid response,   sharing genetic sequences and clinical data at the speed of light, enabling more discovery. Although the first wave of vaccines showed their   limitations, they have performed magnificently. Millions and millions of the world population are fully vaccinated, and an enormous amount of suffering and death has been averted. However, vaccine efficacy does wane, facilitating the need for boosters as one   variant after anoth...