The Ilocos Times

By Leilanie G. Adriano  (Staff Reporter) LAOAG CITY—The province of Ilocos Norte has intensified its efforts to protect the province from African swine fever (ASF) by requiring hogs and chicken suppliers to register with the Provincial Veterinary Office (PVO) here. Sangguniang Panlalawigan member Domingo Ambrocio, chair of the committee on agriculture, said the move is meant to keep the province protected from the highly infectious and contagious disease that has been affecting the hog industry since it entered the country in August 2019. As one of the three remaining provinces in mainland Luzon that is free from the viral disease, Ambrocio said there is a need to implement more stringent measures and help stabilize exorbitant pork prices. " Viajeros [traders] and their partner buyers shall be both responsible for anything related to each and every hog shipment. Both partner and viajero , when found in violation of any or part of the ordinance, or any guidelines and pro

Vintar municipal health officer Dr. Heidi Albano (standing, right) speaks to the members of the Sangguniang Bayan presided over by Vintar vice mayor Amado Victor Racimo (seated, left) on the Jan. 18, 2021 regular session regarding the plan of the said municipality for the procurement of COVID-19 vaccine. (Doms dela Cruz) By Dominic B. dela Cruz  (Staff Reporter) Vintar , Ilocos Norte—Of the 23 local government units (LGUs) in the province, Vintar is still among those few which has yet to pass its 2021 annual budget. In an interview with Vintar Sangguniang Bayan member Arlene Ruadap, she disclosed that the proposed budget of said municipality for CY 2021 was still under review due to lack of documents needed and they are still incorporating additional items. In the proposed budget, Ruadap, who chairs the committee on finance and appropriations, said the municipality of Vintar deemed it proper to incorporate financial assistance for the transport sector, like the tricycle and jeepn

By Bernardo B. Ver II  (Contributor) Senator Ma. Imelda Josefa “Imee” R. Marcos has called on the government to prevent pork importers from taking over local market supply and pushing Filipino producers out of business. “The slaughter of our local hog raisers will begin if the Department of Agriculture (DA) executes its plan to raise the minimum access volume of pork imports by as much as three times the present 54,000 metric tons,” Marcos said. “The DA may be overcompensating in its rush to increase imports to reduce consumer prices. It may deal the coup de grace to our pork industry before Vietnam could release a vaccine against African swine fever (ASF) later this year,” she added. Marcos, who chairs the Senate committee on economic affairs, said the DA should instead speed up its investigation into the hoarding of pork products that may be causing an artificial hike in market prices amid the spread of ASF, particularly in Luzon. “Many local hog raisers have already shut

  By Dominic B. dela Cruz ( Staff Reporter) Laoag City —In line with the PHP85.4 missing money form the city government’s coffers, the Sangguniang Panlungsod here appealed to the Commission on Audit (COA) to open the padlocked office of former city government treasurer Elena Asuncion, who has since absconded. All council members present during a regular session unanimously approved the resolution for an inventory of the city government properties at the said office; and preserve those which needs to be preserved and to allow the use of the said office space by the city government in a manner the city deems appropriate. Laoag councilor Juan Conrado Respicio, who moved for the resolution’s approval, said that in June 2016, Asuncion absconded, which led to the discovery of the loss of more or less PHP85.4 million in taxpayers’ money of the city. After the discovery of the missing funds, Respicio said COA padlocked the office, and has remains so until now. Relative to this, he sa

Mayor Albert D. Chua leads the blessing and inauguration of various projects in the city of Batac. ( CMO Batac photo) By Dominic B. dela Cruz  (Staff Reporter) City of Batac—Delivering on its commitment to build safe, resilient and livable communities, the city government here lead the blessing and inauguration of various projects in this city. On November 10-11, 2020 Batac mayor Albert D Chua, along with Batac vice mayor Windell Chua distributed garlic and onion planting materials and fertilizers. Aside from the said farming materials, each of the 682 garlic and onion farmers also received 15 kilos garlic bulb, 25 kilos complete fertilizers, 25 kilos sulfate and 1 kilo foliar fertilizer. On November 15, was the celebration of mayor Chua’s birthday. A total of 43 computer units were donated by the city government of Batac to DepEd Batac for the Science and Technology Academic and Researched-Based Openly Operated Kiosk System (STARBOOKS) that will be rolled out to the 43 b

By Leilanie G. Adriano  (Staff Reporter) LAOAG CITY—Business owners may soon be able to apply or renew their business licenses online through an internet-based program developed by the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) to prevent direct contact and possible coronavirus transmissions. Laoag Mayor Michael M. Keon said the city’s electronic business permits and licensing system (EBPLS) is the first of its kind in the region to ease business registration and license application procedures, which may take some time and may necessitate close contact with other people—violating physical distancing protocols. “This is a testament to our thrust for a more business-friendly, competitive, and progressive Laoag City by providing a more efficient way of doing business and eliminating red tape in the government,” he said. Mr. Keon added the new system will also facilitate the fast issuance of business permits which will be convenient for the business owners becau

Laoag Mayor Michael M. Keon and Laoag councilor Handy Lao, chairperson of the committee on agriculture, lead the ceremonial stocking of modified intensive fry rearing of tilapia to advanced fingerling stage for village level production at Brgy. 60-B Madiladig. (Doms dela Cruz) By Dominic B. dela Cruz  (Staff Reporter) Laoag City —To ensure quality fingerlings supplies for fisher folks in the city, the city government stocked at least 600,000 fries were at the Natures Wealth Probiotics Fish Farm located at Sitio Baldias, Barangay 60-B Madiladig, this city. Laoag mayor Michael M. Keon and Laoag councilor Handy Lao, chairperson of the council’s committee on agriculture, personally visited the site recently for the “ceremonial stocking of modified intensive fry rearing of tilapia to advanced fingerling stage for village level production”. Mr. Keon said this is a joint project between the National Fisheries Research and Development Institute (NFRDI), Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Re

Laoag City —At the beginning of his term, Ilocos Norte Governor Matthew Joseph M. Manotoc pledged to "further develop Ilocos Norte by investing in the health of Ilokanos," recognizing his constituents as "greatest assets" of the province.   With this, the provincial government of Ilocos Norte has been expanding its healthcare infrastructure to increase the capacities of all government-managed hospitals in the province. For the fiscal year 2020, the provincial government allocated over PHP118 million for the improvement, rehabilitation, and renovation of the Governor Roque B. Ablan Sr. Memorial Hospital (GRBASMH) and the province’s district hospitals. Included in the completed infrastructure projects in GRBASMH are the improvement of the computerized tomography (CT) scan building, renovation of the intensive care unit (ICU) room, and the rehabilitation of comfort rooms. Also included are the rehabilitation of the operating and delivery rooms of Dingras Distri

Batac mayor Albert D. Chua leads the lighting of the giant Christmas tree on Dec. 8, 2020 at the heart of the city. ( Doms Dela Cruz) By Dominic B. dela Cruz  (Staff Reporter) City of Batac —The city government here led the commemoration of the feast of Immaculate Conception of Mary—the Principal Patroness of the Philippines—and the opening of the annual city fiesta, despite the threat of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). A mass held at the Immaculate Conception Church in the morning kicked off the festivities followed by the blessing and inauguration of 43 barangay multi-purpose vehicles, which the city government later distributed to all the 43 Barangays in this city. Rev. Fr. Philip Anthony Dimagiba led the blessings of the 43-brand new multi-purpose vehicles witnessed by Batac mayor Albert D. Chua, Batac vice mayor Windell D. Chua, city councilors and all the punong barangays with their kagawads. Mr. Chua said the PHP50 million L300 multi-purpose vans are for the bar

By Dominic B. dela Cruz (Staff Reporter) Laoag City —The Court of Appeals (CA) first Division has dismissed the petition of Laoag councilor Roger John Fariñas on the disapproved City Ordinance No. 2016-111 granting franchise to Alejendro “Bong” Taylan to operate the Laoag City Sports Complex (LCSC) for a period of five (5) years. CA Associate Justice Nina G Antonio-Valenzuela penned the decision dismissing the petition. The Sanggunian Panlalawigan earlier disapproved the city ordinance on February 2017; based on a committee report which said subject ordinance was void for being “ultra vires” as it failed to indicate the citizenship of the franchisee (Taylan). The said ordinance also did not indicate the scheduled days of cockfighting, the location of the cockpits and the effectivity of the franchise. An earlier petition prayed that the Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 12 will issue a writ of certiorari against the higher sanggunian for its disapproval. However, the provincia

By Dominic B. dela Cruz  (Staff Reporter) Laoag City —As the number of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) continue to increase in this city, the Sangguniang Panlungsod passed three resolutions, which Laoag mayor Michael M. Keon earlier certified as urgent.   Public jeepneys to transport APORs within the city Foremost among these is the granting of authority to the mayor to sign a memorandum of agreement with Laoag jeepney operators and drivers to ferry authorized persons outside residence (APOR) from the city’s boundaries to designated unloading areas, and vice versa. Laoag councilor Edison Bonoan, the council’s transportation committee chair and the measure’s sponsor said the MOA will last until the provincial government lifts the localized modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) that took effect on Nov. 27, 2020. Ilocos Norte Governor Matthew Joseph M. Manotoc’s localized MECQ order bars public transportation from entering the city. As a result, APORs who do not

By Leilanie G. Adriano  (Staff Reporter) Pagudpud , Ilocos Norte—Owing to massive river siltation and soil erosion in this town, Pagudpud mayor Rafael Ralph Benemerito sought the help of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to reconsider the grant of gratuitous permit to the local government unit in order to extract quarry resources from the silted rivers at Brgys. Dampig, Saguigui, Pancian, Pasaleng, Burayoc and Caparispisan. The mayor likewise urged local communities to support the DENR’s greening program as part of mitigating the impact of climate change and help preserved the town’s remaining forest cover. In October, this year, Mr. Benemerito was accused of illegal quarrying in his town, prompting members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan to recommend to Ilocos Norte Governor Matthew Joseph M. Manotoc to revoke the municipality’s gratuitous permit for violations of its terms and conditions. Based on the investigation report of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan, it

It was bound to happen. Laoag City now has the highest incidence of COVID-19 cases in Ilocos Norte. It also has, as I write this, the highest number of active cases, making up 74 percent of total infections in the province. As a capital city with the biggest and most dense population, this was not unexpected at all. Last November 14, 2020 alone, 14 new cases were announced, all from Sitio Dungtal in Brgy. 23. It was a record high, not only for Laoag City but for the entire Ilocos Norte province. In the middle of this spike in cases, Laoag applied a new measure: home isolation now in place for COVID-19 patients in Brgy. 23 and also in Brgy. 5. As with anything that is new, home isolation was met by people with apprehension and fear. Some were understandably wary about having COVID-19 patients a stone’s throw away from their own homes, not least because the enemy is unseen, and they would embrace paranoia with arms wide open if that is the best way to be safe. I myself was surpr

  Batac mayor Albert D. Chua leads the distribution of 161 goats to farmers affected by typhoon “Ompong” as part of the city's rehabilitation program for affected farmers in cooperation with the Dept. of Agriculture regional field unit I. (CMO Batac photo) By Dominic B. dela Cruz  (Staff Reporter) City of Batac —The city government executive branch here has proposed an allocation of PHP735,688,227.36 annual budget for 2021. The budget proposal is at least PHP1 million short compared to this year’s budget of PHP736,647,586.14. The Sangguniang Panlungsod here is already tackling the budget proposal. During their October 26, 2020 session, the budget proposal was on its first reading and was referred to committee of the whole in preparation for budget hearings. Based on the budget message of Batac mayor Albert D. Chua, the proposed allocation breakdown is PHP73,114,406.36 for the beginning balance; PHP630,883,521.00 for general fund; and PHP31,690,300.00 for economic enterp

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

By Dominic B. dela Cruz  (Staff Reporter) Laoag City —The city government of Laoag has proposed PHP910,121,177.48 million annual budget for 2021, an amount lower compared to this year’s budget of PHP928,331,364.63, or a decrease of PHP18 million or 1.96 percent. The local finance committee said the proposed 2021 budget was a result of a “thorough study, review and evaluation” on the proposals of the different offices of the city government. According to the said committee, the decrease was due to the effects of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, which slowed collections on local sources since the national government declared a public health emergency in March 2020. The economy started to slow down as a result of the sudden closure of business establishments and other sources of income.    The budget was adopted using the mechanism of a participatory budgeting to “ensure prudent, transparent and accountable allocation and use of the public funds to improve the q