The Ilocos Times

Singapore , a small country in Southeast Asia has been dubbed an economic "miracle."   On what account they call it so, I am not so sure.   I always thought a miracle was something that only a Divine Being could perform when something is deemed hopeless. To the secular, it may be called magic, like when Cinderella's fairy godmother turned a pumpkin into a coach as her ride to the Palace ball. So how did this once   upon a time sandbar   called Singapore become an economic "miracle." Did it suddenly find favor from a god who decided that Singapore needed a better economy? Or did Singapore's government have magical qualities that could just wave a wand and turn this little backwater place into an economic tiger? Let's take a look at what kind of people populate this city-state. It has a diverse population,   the result of considerable past immigration. The Chinese in Singapore are Singapore's largest ethnic group making up three-quarters of the cou...

By Noralyn Dudt For centuries , obesity has been viewed as a character flaw. Despite decades of research into the genetic and biological influences on body weight, people with obesity continue to be stigmatized,   more so than those with other chronic disease, as if their weight were their fault. In the latest issue of the European Journal of   Clinical Nutrition, researchers, clinicians and public health experts discussed and argued that overeating is not the primary cause of obesity. Looking at clinical trials and previous research,   they   came to the conclusion that the "process of gaining weight causes us to overeat." The usual way of understanding obesity is simple : if one consumes more calories than needed to fuel oneself, the surplus is deposited into body fat resulting in weight gain. Because, according to this approach, all calories are alike to the body   and the only way to lose weight   is to eat fewer of them, or burn them   off w...

MISS GAY ALLAWAGI WINNERS. (Counterclockwise) Miss Kyle Ranada (1 st  runner-up); Miss Gay Allawagi 2022 Miss Joanne Garduque (center); Miss Shane Marva San Jose ( 2 nd  runner-up); Miss Allen Inigo Butay and Miss KC Andrez.( Photo courtesy of Brgy. 11 SK officials) San Nicolas , Ilocos Norte—Residents of Brgy. 11 in this town celebrated their Allawagi Festival Year 2 from Oct. 26-30, 2022 with a series of activities. “ Napalaos man iti pinagyaman ko kadagiti amin nga adda iti likudan iti pannaka-selebrar iti Allawagi Fesival Year II kalpasan a duwa a tawen a saan tayo a sinelebraran gapu iti saan a napak-pakadaan nga isasangbay iti COVID-19 pandemic” Brgy. 11 Punong Barangay Dominic Dela Cruz said in his message during the Miss Gay Allawagi 2022. The weeklong Allawagi Festival Year II celebration kicked off with a Walkathon, Zumba, Holy Mass in commemoration of the barangay’s patron saint San Fernando and a barangay assembly on Oct. 26, 2022 followed by the opening of t...

By Dominic B. dela Cruz  (Staff Reporter) Laoag City —Elected barangay officials in this city who had served for three consecutive terms in the same position will soon receive cash incentives from the city government. Laoag councilor Jason Bader Perera made this announcement after the Sangguniang Panlungsod unanimously passed a measure to this effect. Perera, who authored the said ordinance, explained that the incentives are for the barangay officials’ being in the frontlines in the delivery of basic services, maintenance of peace and order as well as other government services. He added that despite the work they give and provide, they receive “insignificant benefits”, and low honoraria, instead of regular salaries. Perera cited Section 458 (a) of the Local Government Code which empowers the Sangguniang Panlungsod to enact ordinances and appropriate funds for the general welfare of the city and its inhabitants pursuant to section 16 of this code. Section 393 of the same...

By Noralyn Dudt A mosquito bites you while sitting outside in the yard and you wonder why the fellow sitting next to you does not get a bite?   Have you ever thought that you might be one of those mosquito "magnets?" According to the journal Cell (a peer-reviewed scientific journal that publishes research papers across a broad range of disciplines within   the life sciences), mosquito-borne diseases impact about 700 million people per year, and experts expect that number to increase as global temperatures rise. The A.aegypti mosquitoes are known to live in tropical or subtropical climates, but the insect has adapted   and now breeds in the cooler regions of the United States. Some people are "magnets" for mosquitoes, emitting a tantalizing combination of chemicals that invites the pesky insects to dine on them. Scientists have known that mosquitoes have a preference for some humans over others but the reason wasn't fully understood. A laboratory at Rockef...

Indauluan da Gob. Jeremias “Jerry” Singson (Maikatlo manipus kanawan) ken Bise Gobernador Ryan Luis Singson (maikadua iti kanigid) ti pannakagetteng ti laso kas mangipasimudaag iti panaglukat ti Kape de Ylocos Trade Fair idi Octobre 24, 2022. Karaman kadagiti sangaili da Vigan City Mayor Bonito Singson, sigud a Mayor Chavit Singson ken LMP pres. Germelina Goulart. Vigan City— Tapno masustiner ti kinangato ti kalidad ti Rubosta a kape a patanor ti Ilocos Sur, inyusuat ti Gobierno Probinsial ti Ilocos Sur ti Kape de Ylocos Trade Fair manipud Octobre 24-28, 2022 iti Provincial Farmers Livelihood Development Center, iti Siudad ti Vigan. Sangapulo ken lima a coffee shops/establishments ken lima nga coffee producing upland municipalities ti nangipatakder iti booth -da. Inarak dagiti managkape nga Ilocano dagiti booth tapno ramananda ti templa dagiti propessional a barista a nagusar kadagiti local a binukel ti kape ( coffee beans ) a produkto dagiti ili ti Sigay, Sugpon, Salcedo ken S...

NEWLY  elected League of Mayors of the Philippines (LMP) Vice President for Luzon Dingras Mayor Joefrey Saguid (left) and LMP newly elected national president La Paz, Abra Mayor JB Bernos (right) pose with His Excellency President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. during their oath taking at Malacañang Palace. (Photo courtesy by LGU Dingras) By Dominic B. dela Cruz ( Staff Reporter) Dingras , Ilocos Norte—Following closely to the selection of Laoag City councilor Handy T. Lao as national interim president of the Philippine Councilors League, another Ilocos Norte elected official, Dingras Mayor Joefrey Saguid, is elected as the League of Mayors of the Philippines (LMP) vice president for Luzon. “It’s an honor to be one of the vice presidents in the LMP national level representing Luzon because it was unexpected that I will be given the chance to be elected, more so in the national level,” Saguid said.    He thanked the Almighty for another position he now holds as he also acknowl...