The Ilocos Times

Associate Justice Diosdado M. Peralta administers the oath of newly promoted Judge Myra Sheila M. Nalupta who was appointed by President Rodrigo Roa Duterte as the new Presiding Judge of Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 65, Laoag City. Judge Nalupta was previously appointed as the Presiding Judge of the MTCC Branch 01, Laoag City from January 4, 2012 to February 2019; Executive Judge of the MTCC Laoag for 5 years; City Prosecutor of Batac City and Associate City Prosecutor and Public Attorney at the PAO Laoag City and Batac City District Offices. Ms. Nalupta obtained her Juris Doctor degree from the Ateneo De Manila School of Law graduated 2nd Honors Dean's List in 1997. Her pre-law course was BS Legal Management graduated at the Ateneo De Manila University in 1993 as cum laude, departmental awardee and merit scholar. Witnessing the oath taking is her mother former Batac Mayor Elena Marders Nalupta, brother Atty. Richard M. Nalupta of the Register of Deeds in Marikina City, ne

By Leilanie G. Adriano Staff reporter LAOAG CITY—Ilocanos here has joined child rights advocates in pushing for legislations that protects the rights and welfare of children above anything else. In a public forum held at the Student Center of Northwestern University here, school President Ferdinand Nicolas welcomed over a hundred participants mostly composed of students from different colleges and universities in the province to support the campaign to end child rape. “The campaign aims to raise the age to determine statutory rape in the Philippines from 12 to at least 16 years old. It also aims to introduce the progressive amendments in the anti-rape law, such as the equalization of legal protection for both boy and girl child victims and the removal of forgiveness clause in cases of marital rape,” CRN convenor Romeo Dongeto said in an interview. In Ilocos Norte, record from the Philippine National Police shows an increasing trend of rape cases while some remai

Ilocos Norte Governor Ma. Imelda Josefa “Imee” R. Marcos urged authorities to crack down on dating sites being used as platforms for “love scams” victimizing gullible Filipinos especially on Facebook. "Paraphrasing our great poet Francisco Balagtas  na nagsabing ang pag-ibig pag dumapo sa puso ninuman, hahamakin ang lahat masunod ka lamang...ayun, na- love scam,  napahamak nga ," Ms. Marcos said.  “In October last year, an overseas Filipino worker lost PHP600,000 after falling in love with a woman using a fake FB account. That poor OFW is just one of thousands of Filipinos who fall victim to online predators who manipulate their feelings to extort money,” she continued.  “ Nakakabulag kasi talaga ang pag-ibig . If someone appears too good to be true,  sigurado hindi mapagkakatiwalaan yun lalo na kung ayaw makipagkita in person  at video chat  lang ang gusto . People should be very careful with their hard-earned money and life savings  dahil lamang sa mga m

Makati City treasury administrative officer Joselito Altero personally hands over a PHP1 million check as aid from Laoag’s sister city to Laoag Mayor Chevylle V. Fariñas after the flag raising ceremony for the rehabilitation of damages caused by typhoon “Ompong”, which lashed the city on September 14-15, 2018. (Doms dela Cruz) By Dominic B. dela Cruz Staff reporter Laoag City —The city government here received PHP1 million as aid from the Makati City government to help Laoag recover from the damages wrought by typhoon “Ompong”, which lashed this city and entire province on September 15 and 15, 2018. Makati City treasury office administrative officer Joselito Altero personally handed the check over to Laoag Mayor Chevylle V. Fariñas after a regular flag raising ceremony. Laoag and Makati are sister cities, and as such, help one another during times of emergencies. City disaster risk reduction and management council officer Dr. Medel Manuel expressed his gra

DepEd Ilocos Norte Superintendent Vilma D. Eda, NLREC CSR manager Maria Meliza Principe and YGOAL representative Irineo Demecais Jr. during the MOU signing for Learning Laboratory at a hotel in San Nicolas, Ilocos Norte.    (Cherry Joy D. Garma) By Cherry Joy D. Garma Contributor LAOAG CITY— To foster environment-friendly schoolchildren in Ilocos Norte, the North Luzon Renewable Energy Corp. (NLREC) in partnership with the Department of Education in Ilocos Norte have established a learning laboratory in Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte. The laboratory hub, located at the Caparispisan wind power plant will benefit at least 12 elementary schools under the supervision of the Schools Division of Ilocos Norte (SDOIN), and other host communities of NLREC. During the signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on January 31, 2019, DepEd-Ilocos Norte superintendent Vilma D. Eda expressed support to the project as the division also advocates environmental protection in schools

Ni Elizabeth M. Raquel Contributor Laoag City —TI awan kadagiti dadduma nga ili ket adda iti ili a Currimao. Ti adda kenkuana ket ti kaadda ti rocks a porpormaen dagiti dalluyon agpapan ita, maysa a nakaskasdaaw a mapaspasamak iti nasao nga ili. Ti “Coral Rock Formation” iti kadilian ti Currimao ket maysa a phenomena a di maibaga wenno mailawlawag no kasano a dumakdakkel dagiti rocks a taptapliakan dagiti naungsot a dalluyon. Kuna dagiti umili nga idi kano un-unana nga aldaw, babassit kano pay laeng dagiti rocks iti igid ti baybay. Ngem kalpasan iti sumagmamano a tawen, nadlawda kano laengen a dumakdakkelda. “Nakaskasdaaw ti idadakkel dagiti rocks,” kinuna ti maysa a residente iti asideg ti kadilian. “Kasla milagro ti ar-aramiden dagiti dalluyon a pagsidsiddaawanmi a residente iti Brgy. Pangil.” Saan met a mailaksid iti imatang dagiti opisial ti ili a Currimao maipanggep iti “rock formation” ti kadilian iti Brgy. Pangil, Currimao, Ilocos Norte. Kinunada

By Leilanie G. Adriano Staff reporter Piddig , Ilocos Norte—The small farming Brgy. Maruaya here is developing itself as the first flower capital in Ilocos region with thousands of sunflowers and other edible flowering plants and lowland vegetables ready to wow visitors. Located about 22 kilometers, or less than an hour drive from Laoag City, the Piddig Organic Farmer’s Association established the huge flower farm in time for its grand opening on February 14, 2019. Inspired by various world-class attractions being frequented by tourists here and abroad, the Piddig flower farm features picturesque landscape of sunflower maze, bougainvillea, blue ternatea , roses and assorted vegetables. According to former Piddig Mayor Eduardo “Eddie” Guillen, who serves as adviser of the farmer’s organization here, he said local farmers here are shaping their agricultural town into an agri-tourism destination where visitors can relax, learn and take advantage of their organic