The Ilocos Times

By Dominic B. dela Cruz ( Staff Reporter) Laoag City —In a move to help avoid future wide-scale flooding in the province and with the effect of typhoon Ineng in 2019 still fresh on everyone’s minds, the provincial government of Ilocos Norte (PGIN) along with four government agencies officially launched Phase 1 of the Padsan River Restoration Project through a ceremonial dredging in Metro Gabu, this city, on Dec. 15, 2022. PGIN, through the Provincial Quarry Office, has been collaborating with the Depts. of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Public Works and Highways (DPWH), and DENR’s Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) and Environmental Management Bureau (EMB), as well as the official contractor, He Sha Prime Sand & Gravel Aggregates Philippines Inc., to conduct vital research, studies, and campaigns for the project. Present during the ceremonial dredging were Ilocos Norte Governor Matthew Joseph M. Manotoc, Ilocos Norte Vice Governor Cecilia Araneta-Marcos, regional d...

The waste issue is a global problem as shown here in a photo of a dump site that can be found everywhere in the world. (File photo) By Dominic B. dela Cruz ( Staff Reporter) Laoag City —In a concerted effort and continuing action of a global scale to address the negative impact of the excessive use and disposal of hazardous wastes, the city government here has reiterated the ban on the use of plastic bags and Styrofoam packaging. City environment and natural resources officer (CENRO) Mylene Isabel Pascual said the use of said packaging has resulted in environmental degradation, flooding, problems on sanitation and worst of all, climate change. The local government units (LGUs) “has a sublime responsibility must have to protect the constituency from the harmful or even fatal effects as ill results of disregarding the environment and therefore must support this move to save Mother Earth from total degradation”. Citing Article II Section 6 of the Philippine Constitution, it provid...

By Dominic B. dela Cruz ( Staff Reporter) City of Batac —As the Christmas season goes into high gear the New Year beckons, four local government units in the province said they will have a reduction of their annual budgets in 2023 compared to this year. Batac Vice Mayor and Sangguniang Panlungsod presiding officer Atty. Windell D. Chua said this city will have a decrease of PHP70 million for next year compared to the current budget. From the PHP903,677,575.48 2020 annual budget, the Batac council only approved PHP833,473,836.08 for the 2023   annual budget. Among the major reasons for the decrease, Chua said, was the National Tax Allocation (NTA) share reduction wherein the city government here had PHP 107 million less, or 14.46%, from their last year’s share. Chua promised though that services offered by the city government,   particularly in the agricultural sector, health, social welfare and infrastructure projects will not be affected, adding only the budget for ...

By Noralyn Dudt I'm writing this on board the Viking Jupiter cruise in the South Atlantic. To mitigate the effect of the tons of delicious foods that I am eating, I have been going   to the gym   to run on the treadmill. It has been days and I'm still here. My running at a speed of 5.5 km per hour has not gotten me anywhere. And with the vast ocean around me, there seems to be no "land" in sight. The cleaning crews do their cleaning and scrubbing early in the morning, and do it all over again by midday, and in the late afternoon.   All of these remind me of the term "Sisyphean."   It's never ending, not arriving at any place....a Sisyphean task it's called. Where and how did such an odd-sounding   term originate? Sisyphus in one of the Greek myths was the founder and   king of Ephyra ( now known as Corinth ) who was punished for his trickery by being forced to roll a massive boulder to the top of a steep hill. Every time the boulder neared the t...

By Dominic B. dela Cruz ( Staff Reporter) Laoag City —As the closed-circuit television (CCTV) system has proven effective on both deterring and solving crimes, the Sangguniang Panlungsod here amended City Ordinance No. 2020-054. The amendment expands the coverage of its application, requiring a minimum specification, number and location of CCTV installation, and regulating the examination, duplication and recording of CCTV footage along with penalties of violations. Laoag councilor Jason Bader Perera, who authored the ordinance said the ordinance shall now include business establishments with a capital lower than PHP500,000, and on their own discretion may install a CCTV security system in accordance to their needs. Bader added that this include all restaurants and carinderias, irrespective of the amount of their capitalization, that are serving alcoholic beverages to the public. The amended ordinance also includes all privately owned educational institutions and dashboard ca...

The following is an open letter penned by Ofelia A. Laguardia addressed to Dept. of Migrant Workers Sec. Susan Ople pleading for her help in the case her husband, Manual P. Laguardia Sr., which has now dragged on for three years. “WHEN THE Dept.   of Migrant Workers was created by the Marcos Administration, my husband and I—among the multitude of Filipinos beset with problems overseas—saw a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. “My husband, Manual P. Laguardia Sr. worked in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia as civil engineer for 37 years and yours truly as educator for 20 years. We both retired three years ago and I was able to return to our beloved Philippines; but my poor husband was left behind wallowing in sickness and despair because his passport was confiscated by his employer in Saudi Arabia for reasons we could not fully comprehend. “Our separation led us both to fits of depression and helplessness as since then, we were both unemployed and that our savings was being depleted...

  By Noralyn O. Dudt In 279 BC, King Pyrrhus of Epirus (an ancient state in Greece) defeated the Roman legions in the Battle of Asculum. Although he was the victor, he lost many of his Macedonian troops including his commanders and his friends, a toll so devastating that it was tantamount to defeat.   A "pyrrhic victory"   it was. Pyrrhic victory is a phrase that may not be familiar to many.   The term is used as an analogy in business, politics and sport to describe struggles that end up ruining the victor. It's a victory that comes at a great cost. The losses are so high and heavy   that they outweigh the gain   so as to render the struggle not worth the cost. It's a triumph that negates any true sense of achievement and ultimately   damages long-term progress. The journal, "The Military Engineer" explains that regardless of what happened with the landmark battle,   King Pyrrhus was a brilliant historical example   of hard-won, hard-...