The Ilocos Times

Top Row (L–R): Badoc Mayor-elect Virgilio Calajate and Provincial Treasurer Josephine Prieto-Calajate with Ilocos Norte Governor-elect Cecilia Araneta-Marcos; Mayor Calajate delivering his inaugural address; the JVC Family joining virtually from Hawaii. Middle Row: Mayor Calajate with his family. Bottom Row: Newly elected Badoc officials with Governor-elect Araneta-Marcos and Mrs. Calajate. (Photos by Ronald Macatulad/Coverlook) BADOC, ILOCOS NORTE—Surrounded by family, supporters, sectoral representatives, and fellow public servants, Virgilio M. Calajate was formally sworn in as the new mayor of Badoc in a solemn ceremony held on June 30, 2025 at the President Ferdinand E. Marcos Auditorium. The event marked a significant political transition for the historic town of Badoc, which prides itself on its cultural heritage, coastal resources, and a citizenry deeply rooted in faith. Ilocos Norte Governor Cecilia Araneta-Marcos administered the oath of office. At his side during the oa...

La Virgen Milagrosa, Baro a Badoc 2024 Bb. Badoc 2024 winners (top photo,  from left) Charmaine Joy Rabino (1st runner-up), Trisha Jane Fernandez (Bb. Badoc ABC), Bb. Badoc 2024 Mervichelle Agbayani, Kristine Joy Mayubay (Bb. Badoc Tourism) and Axl Monique Papel (2nd runner-up). Miss Gay Festival Queen winners (bottom photo). ( Photos courtesy of LGU Badoc) By Dominic B. dela Cruz ( Staff Reporter) Badoc , Ilocos Norte —The municipal government here successfully led the celebration of this year’s La Virgen Milagrosa, Baro a Badoc Festival highlighted by a series of programs and activities with the theme ‘’Panagtitinnunos en Panagkaykaysa, Tulbek Iti Natan-ok a Badoc; Napudno a Panagyaman, Ruangan Iti Natalged a Panagpapagayam’’. The four-day celebration started on April 14, 2024 kicked off by a “Diana Around the Town” at 4:00 in the morning followed by a Thanksgiving Mass held at the Minor Basilica of Saint John the Baptist Badoc, Shrine of La Virgen Milagrosa by Reverend Fathe...

Badoc, Ilocos Norte—This town’s Liga Ng Mga Barangay (LMB) President and Sangguniang Bayan ex-officio member Virgilio Calajate expressed his full support in the conduct of the first semi-annual barangay general assembly in all the barangays here with a theme ‘’Barangay At Mamamayan, Sama Samang Nagtutulungan Sa Pagtaguyod Ng Maayos, Maunlad At Mapayapang Pamayanan Tungo Sa Isang Bagong Pilipinas”. In expressing his full support for the conduct of the semi-annual general assembly as the “father” of all the Punong Barangays in this town, he said this would let their respective constituents about their accomplishment, especially on their plans, programs and activities for the barangay as well as their financial conditions. Calajate likewise emphasized his support for the “Bagong Pilipinas” campaign of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr., as the administration’s brand of governance and leadership which focuses on all-inclusive plans for economic and social transformation. “ ...

  By Leilanie G. Adriano ( Staff Reporter) LAOAG CITY—An idyllic cove with crystal clear waters at Sitio Pagetpet, Brgy. La Milagrosa in Badoc, Ilocos Norte is gearing up for a much-needed facility improvement while tourists are not yet allowed to visit here due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In recent years, the town of Badoc that hosts the La Milagrosa Cove and the Minor Basilica of Saint John the Baptist had drawn foreign and local tourists for devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. To keep up with a growing interest in faith tourism under the new normal, the Ilocos Norte government through members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan has approved a total of PHP5 million as additional funds for tourism facility improvement. According to provincial tourism officer Ianree Raquel, "part of the improvement includes the establishment if at least five comfort rooms for female and four for male.” In addition, there will also be three urinals for male. "Both male and female comfort ...

Tapno mapasayaat pay dagiti agrarian reform beneficiaries organizations ti pannakamaneher dagiti gungloda, nangiwayat ti DAR Ilocos Norte ti training maipanggep ti strategic planning ken management. (Photo courtesy of Ms. Gina Ruiz) Nangiwayat ti Department of Agrarian Reform-Ilocos Norte ti maysa a training maipanggep ti Strategic Planning and Management idiay Barangay Nagrebcan, Badoc, Ilocos Norte. Dagiti timmabuno iti daytoy a panagsanay ket dagiti opisyal ti Nagrebcan-Paruyan Rural Waterworks and Sanitation Association (RWSA). Ti Nagrebcan-Paruyan RWSA ket maysa kadagiti agrarian reform beneficiaries organizations wenno ARBOs nga adda iti aywan ti DAR Ilocos Norte. Dagiti dadduma pay nga ARBOs a dimmalan iti nasao a training ket ti Tribal Agrarian Reform Cooperative ti Nueva Era, SWISA ti Nagsurot iti Burgos ken Camguidan Multipurpose Cooperative iti Batac City. Kuna ni Provincial Agrarian Reform Program Officer II Vic M. Ines, babaen iti nasao a trainin...

Badoc, Ilocos Norte —The province of Ilocos Norte celebrated the first Pontifical Coronation Anniversary of its patron saint, La Virgen Milagrosa de Badoc on May 31, 2019. As part of the celebration, a fluvial parade highlighted the last of the nine-day novena in honor of the provincial patroness. The images of La Milagrosa and Sto. Cristo Milagroso de Sinait were paraded in the waters of Badoc, reenacting the historic arrival of the Blessed Virgin in the province. It showed how La Milagrosa came to be the provincial patroness: she is said to have arrived floating in a box together with the image of Cristo Milagroso between the shores of Brgy. Paguetpet in Badoc and Brgy. Dadalaquiten, Sinait, a bordering town of Ilocos Sur. Hundreds of local spectators united and revered the blessed images while the fluvial procession sailed along the cove. The procession was followed by a novena mass officiated by Metropolitan Archbishop of Nueva Segovia, Most Rev. Marlo M. Pera...

(File photo) By Leilanie G. Adriano Staff reporter Badoc, Ilocos Norte —Thousands of devotees, guests and visitors all over the Philippines and abroad witnessed on February 5, 2019 the solemn declaration of Saint John the Baptist Parish in Badoc, Ilocos Norte as a ‘Minor Basilica’. In the Philippines, the 200-year old Basilica Minore of Saint John the Baptist where the La Virgen Milagrosa de Badoc is currently enshrined, becomes the 14 th of its kind that was granted with privileges, obligations, and conditions as a minor Basilica. Barely nine months after the May 31, 2018 pontifical coronation of La Virgen Milagrosa de Badoc with the infant Jesus, thousands of pilgrims and devotees continue to visit the church believed to have been chosen as the sanctuary of the miraculous image of the Blessed Mother. In his homily, Orlando Cardinal Quevedo, OMI, Archbishop Emeritus of Cotabato said, “In his mysterious ways, God makes what it seems to be absurd as a chan...

Babaen ti pinangidaulo ni Mayor Maximo Cajigal, nagbalin a natalna, napintas ken naragsak ti ili iti Badoc. Daytoy a panagdur-as ket nagun-od babaen   ti panangibabaet ni Apo Sta. Maria, La Virgen Milagrosa de Badoc ken ti Patron iti ili a ni San Juan Bautista kasta met iti panagkaykaysa dagiti umili. Iti laeng uneg ti dua a tawen ken innem a bulan ket adun ti nagapuanan ti Baro A Badoc. Iti kangrunaan a sinolbar ti administrasyon ket dagiti kaso a mainaig iti illegal nga droga kasta met ti pannakatagiben ti linak ken talna. Idi tawen 2015, umabot ti 117 ti bilang iti crime volume, ita nga tawen bimmaba ti bilang ket agdagop laengen ti 56 segun ti kamaudian a datos. Ita a tawen, nangilatang iti administrasyon   iti P 640,000.00 a pondo para iti scholarship program. Kasta met a naidonar dagiti lote a pagpatakderen ti school buildings. Dagiti saan nga sakup ti Special Education Fund (SEF) nga pagkasapulan ti pagadalan ket inikkan tulong iti agdama nga dministra...

Naimbag a damag para kadagiti deboto ni Apo Santa Maria. Naaprobaranen ti panagbalin ti St. John the Baptist Church iti ili a Badoc a kas basilica minore. Inbunannag mismo daytoy ni Bishop Renato Mayugba iti nasapa a paset idi Disiembre. Narambakan iti maysa a misa iti panagyaman idi Dis. 27. Mainaig iti daytoy a pasamak, dakkel a suporta ti naggapo kadagiti umili nga idadaulwan ni Mayor Maximo Cajigal ken ti panangtarabay ni ABC President Virgilio Calajate tapnu magun-odda daytoy a gagem. Dakkel a tulong daytoy iti itantandudo ni Gobernadora Imee Marcos ken ti gobierno probinsial nga agbalin a kabbaro a destinasion iti ili para iti “faith tourism”. Iti baet daytoy, kinuna ni Municipal Tourism Officer Mr. Cesar Jade Raquel a kadagitoy pay laeng a gundaway ket namnamaendan a dayuen dagiti turista ti ilida a kas iti panagdudupudop dagiti deboto iti Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary idiay Manaoag, Pangasinan. Ni Mrs. Josephine Prieto Calajate, Ilocos Norte Pr...

In the not-so-distant past, Badoc was infamous for a lot of things—all of them violent. Recently, however, the province’s southernmost town has undergone a complete makeover: it is now the newest tourist “hot spot”. From being an election “hot spot” to the upstart and upcoming tourism attraction in the province; Badoc’s transformation can be attributed to the municipality’s new mayor, Maximo D. Cajigal. From a crime volume of 117 in 2015—the year before Mr. Cajigal took the reins of power—it went down to 107 in 2016. The steep drop in the 2017 crime volume to 60 signaled that the town is ready for change. And as Badoc became a new tourist destination, the crime volume last year further dropped to 56. Badoc’s new leadership proved that their campaign battle cry of “Baro a Badoc” [A New Badoc] in 2016 was not just rhetoric; it was a vision which they strove hard to realize in the last three years. And realized it they did. Badoc’s tourist arrivals, which was in...

By Reynaldo E. Andres Contributor BADOC, Ilocos Norte—Mayor Maximo D. Cajigal of this town has promised his constituents that he will pursue a clean, honest and peaceful elections this year amid speculations of an impending trouble that would erupt between his group and that of his rivals. “I have already mobilized the Philippine National Police (PNP) so that all things will go smoothly as we start the political campaign this year,” Mr. Cajigal said, vowing to end the town’s reputation as the most troubled election hot spot in the province for years. Previous situations have shown that Badoc has become an election “hot spot” in Ilocos Norte amidst reports that it has allegedly become the haven of loose firearms and hired killers. Police records in 2009 showed a suspected hired killer linked to the murder of Ilocos Norte Electric Cooperative (INEC) President Rey Ruiz was gunned down at Brgy. Saud here. And just after the 2016 national elections, the br...

By Leilanie G. Adriano Staff reporter Badoc, Ilocos Norte —Farmers groups in this town Norte are all smiles as they finally received farm machineries and fertilizers on July 5, 2018 courtesy of the municipal government. Funded under the tobacco excise tax share of Badoc town, the municipal government distributed at least 31 tractors to all the town’s barangays along with 4,307 sacks of fertilizers. “ Agyamankami unay kadagitoy a traktor ken abono. Dakkel a tulong kadakami a mannalon [We are thankful for all these tractors and fertilizers. These are great help for us farmers],” said Luciano Gamayo, of Barangay 13-B, Bato. During the distribution, municipal agriculturist Leonora Escarda reminded farmers to take good care of the new farm machineries to ensure its long- term use. As part of the agreement, the farmer organizations and barangay officials shall take charge of maintenance of the tractors while extension workers from the Municipal Agriculture Office...

In preparation for the wet season when pests and diseases are usually prevalent, local farmer technicians (LFTs) from Pangasinan completed a week-long specialized course at the PhilRice Central Experiment Station, June 4-8, 2018. Ev P. Angeles, training coordinator of PhilRice’s Technology Management and Services Division, said they trained LFTs to help their fellow farmers in identifying, assessing, and managing major pests and diseases in rice. She said LFTs are model farmers in farming communities who the Department of Agriculture tapped to complement local agricultural extension workers in providing technical assistance to farmers. “We chose participants from major rice-producing areas of the province who need to strengthen their pest and disease diagnostic skills or those who have not undergone other intensive field diagnostic and pest management skills training. Through practical, hands-on exercises, we hoped to enhance their competence in this critical aspect of r...

By Leilanie G. Adriano Staff reporter BADOC, Ilocos Norte—Residents here sang and danced in joy as they chanted, “Viva La Virgen Milagrosa” following the crowning of the image of the Blessed Virgin Mary carrying infant Jesus in her arms. Pope Francis mandated the crowning. More than a liturgical ritual, the people of Ilocos Norte, mostly composed of Catholics acknowledged the significance of the pontifical coronation as a show of love and devotion to Mary, revered as “queen of heaven and earth, a protector and inspiration” to mankind. For church historian like Father Danilo Laeda, who is also a native of Badoc, he said Ilocos Norte’s devotion to the miraculous image of the Blessed Virgin Mary began in the 1980s. Catholics believed she chose her enshrinement at the St. John the Baptist Parish here. Since then, several accounts of miraculous healing started and the people of Badoc and Ilocos Norte exalted for joy for the ultimate show of unity among govern...

By Bernard Ver Contributor The pontifical crown of La Virgen Milagrosa de Badoc features an immaculate depiction of cascading ocean waves—a tribute to the waters that brought the image of the Blessed Virgin to the Ilocanos. Inspired by the fortified buttresses of the St. Augustine Church of Paoay and St. John the Baptist Church of Badoc, the band of the crown displays stylized volutes. Also included in the band is the elaborate shell motif that pays homage to St. John the Baptist, patron of the town of Badoc. The vertical bands holding the orb depict Ilocos garlic, tobacco leaves and flowers—major cash crops of Ilocos Norte, and the bado-badoc grass, where Badoc got its name. Noli Principe Manalang . A native of Bocaue, Bulacan, Mr. Manalang is an architecture graduate from University of Santo Tomas in Manila. He was a recipient of the Freeman Fellowship Grant of Vermont Studio Center, VT, U.S.A. in 2004 and has won numerous painting competitions in the Philippines. He is ...

By Leilanie G. Adriano Staff reporter Badoc , Ilocos Norte—This town unveiled a marker of the pontifical coronation of La Virgen Milagrosa de Badoc on June 29, 2018. Just like during the pontifical coronation of the blessed Mother, Cesar Jade Raquel, Badoc municipal tourism officer said the unveiling ceremony drew hundreds of Catholic faithful from the different towns of the province and in nearby provinces. With the unveiling of the marker at the St. John the Baptist Parish, the church containing the enshrined La Virgen Milagrosa de Badoc, Mr. Raquel expressed optimism the number of visitors here will further increase due to the so-called ‘faith tourism.’ Gifted with heritage churches and natural landmarks, the Provincial Government of Ilocos Norte through its Ilocos Norte tourism office acknowledged there is a growing interest in faith tourism here as several travel agents are offering some tour packages regarding this purpose. As this developed, Mr. ...

The 2017 La Milagrosa Fluvial Procession (Alaric Yanos and Reu Dawner Flores) Badoc, Ilocos Norte —Ilocos Norte’s provincial patroness, La Virgen Milagrosa de Badoc, is set for her pontifical coronation on May 31, 2018, highlighting the annual La Milagrosa provincial fiesta and further boosting the ongoing bicentennial celebration of the province. The second fluvial procession featuring several bancas along the coast of the La Milagrosa Chapel and cove at Brgy. La Virgen Milagrosa, this town at 4:00p.m. on May 26, 2018 will precede the coronation. “This is not just a celebration and parade, but also an act of thanksgiving to the Almighty accompanied with devout prayer,” shared Jade Ceasar Raquel, Badoc tourism officer. The procession ends with a reenactment of how La Milagrosa came to be the provincial patroness: old storied narrate that she to have arrived floating in a box along with the image of Sto. Cristo Milagroso between the shores of Brgy. Paguetpet in Bado...