The Ilocos Times

BURNING OF FARM WASTE IN LAOAG CITY . The Bureau of Fire Protection dubbed the number of forest fires in the first quarter this year as alarming, after these have reached 26, higher than the 21 incidents in the whole of 2023. ( Lei Adriano) By Leilanie Adriano LAOAG CITY—An inter-agency task force has been formed in Ilocos Norte to address causes of forest fires which have reached 26 to date. The group is composed of representatives from the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), the Philippine National Police (PNP), Philippine Marine Corps (PMC), Philippine Air Force (PAF), Philippine Army (PA), Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), and the provincial government of Ilocos Norte. Fire Supt. Roxanne Annie Parado, provincial fire marshal, in an interview   said the task force will conduct foot patrols in the forest fire-prone areas while providing alternative source of livelihood to honey bee collectors, wildlife hunters and kaingeros (or those involved in slash and bu

Laoag City —In a bid to enhance the firefighting capabilities and response readiness in Ilocos Norte, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) has turned over 11 newly-acquired fire trucks to the province on July 17, 2023. The towns of Bacarra, Badoc, Bangui, Currimao, Paoay, Pasuquin, Piddig, Sarrat, Vintar, and the cities of Batac and Laoag were the recipients of the new firefighting vehicles. "These fire trucks will undoubtedly bolster our firefighting capabilities. Prevention remains to be the first defense against fire hazards," F/Chief Supt. Leonida Gumanab-Rosales, Regional Director of the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP)-Region 1 remarked. Over the past months, Ilocos Norte Governor Matthew Joseph M. Manotoc closely coordinated with DILG and BFP in assessing the capacity of Ilocos Norte’s component Local Government Units, requesting the provision of fire trucks to priority towns. During the turnover event, Manotoc expressed his gratitude to th

By Dominic B. dela Cruz Staff Reporter Solsona , Ilocos Norte--The municipal government here has realized its dream to have a new evacuation center, and at the same serve as quarantine facility, as they held a groundbreaking ceremony for the project on June 30, 2021 at the project site, Brgy. Santiago, this municipality. Solsona Mayor Joseph De Lara said the project was in response to his request to the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) main office thru DPWH Region I Director Rommel Tan on October 2019.    De Lara believes the project “will be of great help especially in this time of pandemic as it will serve as a quarantine facility and evacuation center in case of calamities”. The one-storey building will sit in a lot with a total land area of 1,450 square meters; the lot is owned by the provincial government and municipal government of Solsona, and is the municipality’s counterpart for the project. The Ilocos Times learned that the project has a total cos

By Dominic B. dela Cruz  (Staff Reporter) Laoag City —Mayor Michael M. Keon and the city social welfare and development office (CSWDO) personally visited the families of Mrs. Fe Cadelinia and Mrs. Anita Ventura of Brgy. Dibua South this city immediately after a fire incident on November 5, 2020. Reports said the houses of Mmes. Cadelinia and Ventura were totally damaged by the fire; while the house of Ofelia Cadelinia, located near them, was partially damaged. In an interview with Mrs. Ventura, she said all their belongings inside their house were all burned and they were unable to save anything. CSWDO officer-in-charge Perlita Cabello said each of the three families received food packs from the city government consisting of eight kilos of rice, 12 packs of noodles, 20 sachets of coffee, 12 cans of sardines and eight cans of corned beef. The CSWDO also gave additional food packs for each family: six kilos of rice, four cans of sardines, four cans of corned beef and five twin

  Laoag City —The Provincial Veterinary Office, together with the Provincial Engineering Office (PEO), inspected four animal shelters to examine the facilities' level of disaster preparedness in case a strong typhoon hits Ilocos Norte. “ Kasama namin ang PEO sa pag -inspect ng mga animal shelters. Sinuri namin ang mga ito bago i -turnover sa mga local government units (LGU). Ayon sa memorandum of agreement, ang mga LGU ang bahala sa management ng mga animal shelters pagkatapos itong i -turnover sa kanila ," provincial veterinarian Dr. Loida M. Valenzuela said. The provincial government constructed animal shelters in four towns: Badoc, Currimao, Dingras, and Solsona. " Sa Dingras, due for turnover na. Sa Solsona naman, ang counterpart ng LGU ay ang pagpapalitada ng daan papunta sa shelter. Habang sa Badoc, may kaunting repair pa na kailangan gaya ng mga rain gutter sa building. At sa Currimao, ongoing pa ang construction ng animal shelter,"

Laoag City —In preparation for the coming rainy season amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management and Resiliency Council (PDRRMRC) will discuss the reconfiguration of evacuation centers in the province to ensure minimum health standards are implemented. “Next week, may meeting ang PDRRMRC upang talakayin ang configuration ng mga evacuation centers dito sa probinsya. Parte ito ng ating paghahanda sa pagsisimula ng habagat o rainy season. Mostly kasi ng evacuation centers ng iba’t-ibang bayan ay nagamit na bilang quarantine facility,” local disaster risk reduction management officer IV Marcell Tabije said. If severe weather conditions hit the province, Mr. Tabije explained that alternative evacuation centers should be sufficiently equipped to comply with the minimum health protocols such as social distancing, wearing of face mask, and establishment of hand sanitation areas. Moreover, component local government units (LGUs) of Ilocos Norte ha

Vintar Vice Mayor Amado Victor Racimo, representing the municipal government, meets the delegates from the Office of the Civil Defense (OCD) and the DPWH regional office on January 9, 2019 to verify the proposed rehabilitation of the hanging bridges destroyed by typhoon Ineng at Brgys. Isic-Isic and Lipay. The said project has an appropriated budget of PHP3 million and PHP8 million respectively, which was already approved. The Vintar government hopes the project will start at the soonest possible time. (Doms dela Cruz)

By Dominic B. dela Cruz Staff Reporter Laoag City —Better late than never. After one year, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has approved PHP56,504,000 for the repair of infrastructure damages wrought by typhoon “Ompong”. The DPWH-Ilocos Norte Engineering District I (INED-I) made the announcement. INED I district engineer Maria Venus Torio identified the damages as the flood control structures at Brgys. Bago and Tamdagan and Sitio Baldi in Vintar; Tulnagan Bridge in Pasuquin; flood control structure in Dumalneg; and flood control structure of Brgy. Ganagan in Bacarra. Originally, the total damages assessed amounted to PHP66 million but this was reduced after a rigid evaluation and validation by the DPWH. As this developed, Ms. Torio said the project is now published for public bidding. “The cause of the delay maybe because of a series validation and revisiting on the program of works,” Ms. Torio added.

By Leilanie G. Adriano Staff Reporter Paoay, Ilocos Norte —Improper waste disposal has worsened flooding problem in this town as tons of debris clogged a waterway connecting Brgys. Pannaratan and Cayubog. The local government unit here led by acting Mayor Romulo Acdal conducted the removal of plastic trash and debris using a backhoe. During heavy rainfall, low lying areas in this town are flooded because it serves as a catch basin of floodwaters from its neighboring Batac City. Following an ocular inspection at the flooded barangays where local officials witnessed the tons of garbage that clogged the creek, Mr. Acdal has appealed to all concerned residents to dispose their trash properly. One of the concerned residents Lily Guieb said she is a witnessed how people carelessly throw their garbage everywhere and it may have contributed to flooding. “It’s sad to note that there are heartless and irresponsible people who just throw their garbage that clogged our

By Leilanie G. Adriano Staff Reporter LAOAG CITY—Farmers in Ilocos Norte were all smiles as they received multi-million worth of aid courtesy of the Department of Agriculture. For 75-year-old rice farmer Guillermo Cacal of the Zanjera Tubburan Irrigators Association, Inc. of Brgy. Tubburan in Bacarra, Ilocos Norte, he said they are thankful for the one unit of hand tractor worth PHP137,798 which his group received. “This is a great help for us to improve our way of living,” said Cacal in Ilokano language after he got hold of the project certificate along with the brand new hand tractor unit from the DA led by the newly-appointed Agriculture Secretary William Dar at the Mariano Marcos State University covered court in Batac City. After awarding a total of PHP335 million worth of projects to Ilocos Norte, Mr. Dar said the agency has raised their focus on farmers to ensure food security while strengthening partnership and collaboration with local governmen

  Severe tropical storm Ineng damaged and eroded concrete bank  revetment  at Brgys. Cabayo and Isik-Isik in Vintar, Ilocos Norte Total infrastructure damaged in Ilocos Norte reached PHP131 million according to the DPWH. (Doms dela Cruz) By Dominic B. dela Cruz Staff Reporter Laoag City —The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) first and second engineering districts reported millions of infrastructure damages in Ilocos Norte brought out by severe tropical storm Ineng (Bailu) from August 22-24, 2019. DPWH Ilocos Norte Engineering District (INED) district I Engr. Maria Venus Torio reported estimated damages of PHP117 million for the entire first district of Ilocos Norte as of August 28, 2019. Ms. Torio said majority of the damages are roads/bridge slope protections, revetment, eroded slope protections and scoured shoulders and flood controls. Of the reported damaged amount, the San Marcos Flood Control Bongo River at Brgy. San Marcos in Sarrat, Ilo

  By Leilanie G. Adriano Staff Reporter LAOAG CITY—Heavy rains brought about by severe tropical storm “Ineng” [international name Bailu] left two deaths and over PHP1.1 billion worth damages, the Provincial Risk Reduction and Management Council (PDRRMC) reported on August 26, 2019. Based on its latest situation report, the PDRRMC said the biggest damage was recorded on infrastructure particularly on unfinished construction of national roads and bridges including buildings at PHP727.5 million. At the height of the typhoon on August 24, 2019, Ilocos Norte residents particularly in Laoag, Bacarra, Pasuquin, Burgos and Vintar experienced one of the worst flooding caused by unusual heavy downpour of around 50 millimeters volume of water for 16 hours, killing 17-year-old Pauleen Joy Corpuz in a landslide at Sta. Catalina in Pasuquin, and drowning of Ricky Manglallan, 37, of Brgy. Salet, this city. The PDRRMRC reported that Ms. Corpuz died due to a landslide th

Ilocos Norte Vice Governor Cecilia Araneta–Marcos Laoag City —Hopeful to continue the initiatives of her late husband, former Sangguniang Panlalawigan member Mariano “Nonong” V. Marcos II, new Ilocos Norte Vice Governor Cecilia Araneta–Marcos sees the importance of continuing the advocacy of preserving and protecting the environment through the anti-plastic ordinance.   The late Mr. Marcos served as chairperson of the Committee on Environment from 2016-2019. He sponsored Provincial Ordinance No. 056-2007, also known as the Enactment of Ilocos Norte Environmental Code of 2007 which aims to provide framework of norms, standards, and requirements in the restoration and sustainability of nature in the province. “I am very passionate about the ordinance since my husband is the one who sponsored Ilocos Norte’s environment code and right now we talk about the issue about single-use plastic and how to penalize violators,” Mrs. Marcos said.   According to her, the provi