The Ilocos Times

Change can be a powerful force—sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse. But one thing remains certain: it’s not always inevitable. As witnesses to many changes, we know that embracing or resisting them is a gamble. What matters most is not the change itself but our decision to accept or reject it. In the City of Batac, voters face this choice in next year’s midterm elections. Competing for their trust are two teams: the incumbents, with outgoing Mayor Albert Chua stepping down after three terms to run for vice mayor, and his son, neophyte Councilor Christian Mark Chua, aiming for the mayoralty. On the other side, former Mayor Jeffrey Nalupta seeks a comeback, with Councilor Bismark Quidang as his running mate for vice mayor. History is telling. Nalupta challenged Albert Chua in 2019 and lost by more than 10,000 votes. Another Nalupta contender faced off against Chua in 2022, suffering an even greater defeat. This voting pattern suggests that Batac voters know what they...

As journalists , we do have our own personal biases, beliefs and principles. As human beings, it is inevitable that there are just things and persons we like and don’t like. Here at The Ilocos Times , the only criterion we use for news stories is objectivity. We don’t include opinions of the news writer neither do we allow their “slants” for or against the personality involved in the news. We try to balance the issues by getting both sides’ comments and takes. There may come a time when a person concerned is not interviewed or asked about the issue he/she may be involved in; but this is mainly due to the fact that the person is unavailable or simply doesn’t want to comment. Either way, we do try our best to get their take on whatever issue they may be concerned with. Opinion pieces, on the other hand, is a totally different animal. Here, our opinion and editorial writers make their stand on issues they are tackling. On this side of journalism, the personal biases, prejudices and ...

Batac has always played second fiddle to Laoag since time immemorial. And with the resurgence of San Nicolas as an alternative business hub in the province, the erstwhile municipality skidded a rung lower. Yet in 2016, things in President Ferdinand E. Marcos’ hometown began to change. Shaking free from decades of political dynasty, Batac voters opted to elect a new mayor with a different surname. The new mayor was not a political neophyte, mind you; he was as political as any politician. But the refreshing change in this young city’s political landscape also heralded a drastic pivot in governance thrust. Batac Mayor Albert D. Chua personified the change the city needed for it to return to relevancy—both politically and economically. Now a three-year term later, Mr. Chua managed to significantly tilt the city government towards a more inclusive governance. From agriculture to education and to health care; up to caring for senior citizens and gaining a major foothold in ...

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...

As the debate rages on the proposed tricycle fare rates increase, the riding public now wants more involvement—both in the deliberations and public hearings. An open letter has made its rounds at the Sangguniang Panlungsod. It chastises the proposed PHP15 and PHP2 per kilometer after the first kilometer. It also drives home the point the city’s public transportation system state as broken. From overcharging to refused conveyance; over-speeding and cramped tricycle designs; up to tricycle franchise issues; and down to the inefficient, inexact and basically inexistent distance rate; the open letter points out all that is wrong with the city’s public transportation system. And how our local officials are essentially winging it when it comes to managing public transportation. The letter also points out that when the city government raised basic fare rate to PHP11 from PHP8 in 2011, gasoline prices then averaged PHP59.39 per liter. During the first quarter of this year, gasol...

AS PRICES of basic commodities continually increase, courtesy of the TRAIN law, local tricycle operators and drivers have petitioned the Laoag Sangguniang Panlungsod for a PHP2 fare hike. Though this seems fair in the face of rising fuel prices, the city government needs to put a measure to crackdown on rogue tricycle drivers who prey on the riding public for it to become genuinely fair. It has become the norm rather than the exception for tricycle drivers to ask for additional fare when they ferry a lone passenger; some ask for a nominal addition while others ask a lone passenger to double their fare. The local fare law has specified the additional amount for fare for every kilometer after the first kilometer, but drivers ask for payment that is above and beyond the legal rates. According to the local law this was supposed to be illegal; yet they do happen anyways. Though the passenger may have a way to fight back by reporting the abusive tricycle driv...

It may turn out good; it may also become a disaster. The only thing certain for now is it would still take time for a federal Philippines to emerge. As in the many fora the Department of Interior and Local Government conducted, the questions far outnumber the answers. And the questions continue multiplying. Yet the most basic question really is: are we ready for federalism? Are we, as a people and as an electorate politically mature enough for this? Federalism may turn out to be good for the Philippines. It will render “Imperial Manila” useless, and will task each state—or regional—government to chart their own course. Public services may also become better, faster and more efficient. As it is, it will also bring governance truly closer to the people. But are we really ready for it? Is the Filipino electorate mature enough for it? And are our politicians prepared to become real public servants instead of what most of them are today? For if we are not, we will simp...

FROM MUHAMMAD Ali to David Bowie to Prince to Allan Rickman to Craig Sager and to, most recently, George Michael and Carrie Fisher, 2016 has terribly become a year of deaths.   Closer to home, President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s “war on drugs” have so far yielded 6,206 deaths—as per Rappler account. Of the total, 2,157 were killed in police operations while 4,049 were killed vigilante-style. But 2016 proved to be not just a year for literal death; it displayed more so the death of sensibilities, morality, common sense and empathy. We cheer the deaths of illegal drug trade suspects—both alleged users and pushers; while we also gnaw at our fingernails hoping and praying that we and our loved ones are spared from either being collateral damage or simply being suspected then killed. We nonchalantly spew thoughts that those who died deserved their violent deaths; yet we feel the chill of understanding that we—or our family members and friends—may be next. We continue to ...

President Ferdinand Edralin Marcos’s remains is finally interred at the Libingan ng mga Bayani. Now, the healing process of a fragmented nation can begin. Or so, claimed the former president’s family and most vocal and ardent supporters. The Marcos family interred the former president on November 18, 2016 with “honors befitting a soldier.” Expectedly, anti-Marcos forces did not take this peacefully. Protests began as soon as the burial was confirmed. The unannounced plan only stoked the flames of protests. The Marcos family, in justifying the “surprise” burial, said they want the internment to be a “private, family affair”. It was the wide belief of the Marcos family and their supporters that the burial would start the healing process towards real unity in the country. President Duterte, himself, said the burial would signal the end of the “great divide”; and that the country would move on from the issues of Martial Law and all other inconveniences that occurred from 1972 to ...

The Supreme Court has spoken. And even if there are others who do not agree with the High Tribunal’s decision, it will remain so—unless the SC reverses itself.   Finally, after 27 years, the late President Ferdinand E. Marcos will be laid to rest—at the Libingan ng mga Bayani, no less. True enough, Martial Law victims have not taken the decision well. And what was being touted about as the “ultimate act of reconciliation” between the “red” and “yellow” forces—and everything else in between—is both proving to be off the mark and thoroughly wrong. Judging from posts in social media, the Marcos loyalists are not quite magnanimous with their court victory. Something that can also be said to those on the other side of the ultimate political divide in the country; for they have been protesting endlessly against the burial of the late president at the heroes’ cemetery. True enough, Mr. Marcos’ burial at a place considered as “hallowed ground” is indeed a closure ...

THE WAR against illegal drugs in the country became serious when President Rodrigo R. Duterte assumed office. Since then, it has escalated in both rhetoric and lethalness; soon enough thousands lay dead. The past two weeks saw another escalation when two mayors were killed. Both were included in Mr. Duterte’s so-called “narco list.” But the way they died was questionable at best—one allegedly died while engaging the police in a shootout in a checkpoint; the other died while also engaging the police in a shootout inside a jail cell. Datu Saudi-Ampatuan (Maguindanao) mayor Samsudin Dimaukom was killed along with his bodyguards at 4:30 am of October 28. The police said they were tipped off that the mayor was transporting large amounts of shabu [methamphetamine hydrochloride]. Apparently, the mayor and his men opened fire at the police officers manning the checkpoint. This prompted the police to fire back, the report said. The results, however, is not only mystifying but more so, ...