The Ilocos Times

Ilocos Norte officials led by Governor Matthew M. Manotoc offers a prayer to victims of the Batanes quake. (Alaric Yanos) Laoag City --The Provincial Government of Ilocos Norte (PGIN) through the initiative of Governor Matthew Joseph M. Manotoc donated PHP500,000 as cash assistance to provide relief to almost 3,000 victims of twin earthquakes in Batanes. The two devastating earthquakes hit the Itbayat Island of Batanes on July 27, 2019, recording magnitudes 5.4 and 5.9, respectively. The earthquakes left more than nine hundred families affected, eight people dead, one person missing, and serious damages to ancestral houses, health facilities, and schools, among others. During the flag raising ceremony on July 29, 2019, Mr. Manotoc mentioned that the Governors League will deploy aircraft carrying relief goods for Batanes.    “The Governors League has been coordinating over the weekend and we will be arranging aircraft that will take off from Laoag International Airport

By Leilanie G. Adriano Staff Reporter LAOAG CITY—Ilocos Norte continues to attract more tourists each year. This time, tourism officials are grooming the province as a destination for meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibition (MICE). Department of Tourism Region 1 Director Martin Valera in an interview that there is an increasing demand for conferences in recent years and Ilocos Norte along with other neighboring provinces in the region has a great potential for this specialized segment of the tourism market. “Various regions are becoming competitive and each province has their own convention. For Ilocos, it offers huge potential because of good infrastructure and support facilities so we are good for regional and national conventions,” said Mr. Valera as he underscored there is a need to perfect the hosting of visitors for the first time to have repeat visitors. To date, the Northern Luzon Convention and Visitors Bureau is taking the lead to promote m

  101. Laoag  Mayor Michael M. Keon hands over checks worth PHP100,000 each to centenarian awardees Encarnacion Basilio-Quitola, 101 years old of Barangay 1; and Remedios Pastor-Ramos, also 101 of Barangay 54-A, both in Laoag City. Mr. Keon handed over the check from DSWD on July 8, 2019 at the Laoag City Hall. (Doms dela Cruz) By Dominic B. dela Cruz Staff Reporter Laoag City —The city government here honored two centenarians with plaques of recognition and PHP100,000 in check. New Laoag Mayor Michael M. Keon personally handed the checks to the two centenarians on July 8, 2019 at the Laoag City Hall. The first centenarian awardee is Encarnacion Basilio-Quitola, 101 years old and the wife of the late Domingo Quitola. Mrs. Quitola in her early years was a laundrywoman and her late husband was a farmer. The Quitola couple, who hails from Barangay 1, this city was blessed with eight children, 51 grandchildren and 8 great grandchildren. According to Mrs.

By Dominic B. dela Cruz Staff Reporter Batac City —After ordering former Dingras Mayor Marynette Gamboa’s arrest, Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 17 Presiding Judge Felix C. Salvador has also handed down another order for the immediate release of Mrs. Gamboa on July 23, 2019. The release order stemmed from a pending appeal at the Office of the President. The former Dingras mayor appealed the Ilocos Norte provincial prosecutor’s finding of probable cause against her as a co-conspirator in the killing of the late Ilocos Norte Electric Cooperative board president Lorenzo Ruiz on September 4, 2009. Judge Salvador immediately ordered the former mayor’s release on July 23, 2019 pending the appeal. The order further states that proceedings against the accused in this case should be suspended until her appeal in the said office is finally resolved with finality. With the new court order, the warrant of arrest issued against the former mayor was effectively set asi

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are encouraged to have online presence to ensure sustained growth of their business as thousands of new users continue to go online each month, according to an internet marketing expert. Denise Gamo-Halagueña, Google Philippines' head of ads marketing for large customers, said the online world is the new venue for small firms to drive business and revenue growth. But it is not just a matter of staying online, but also about knowing your customers and how they act and behave digitally. To effectively use the internet, businesses must make sure they are relevant. Being relevant, Ms. Halagueña said, means that they must be useful based on what the customer needs. This entails firms providing details that will lead to action, such as putting the address and business hours prominently, and including the telephone number of the physical shop online "so that people can just click on the button and call." Ms. Halagueña sugges

By Leilanie G. Adriano Staff Reporter San Nicolas , Ilocos Norte—The police here filed on murder charges against a janitor of Save More Market in this town, who is the prime suspect in the killing of 26-year-old Juvilyn Bardiaga from Santiago, Isabela, assistant store manager of the said establishment on July 15, 2019. Police Major Paul Benedict Parado, San Nicolas police chief confirmed this on following the filing of charges against the suspect identified as John Mariel Dador aka “Tisoy” at the Provincial Prosecutor’s Office. Based on the testimony of 16 witnesses including a CCTV footage taken at the victim’s apartment at Barangay 2, this town, the suspect was allegedly seen forcing his way through the apartment’s restroom window. The victim was found dead with a rice cooker cord in her neck in the morning of July 16, 2019. Fellow workers of the victim also narrated that after the victim scolded Mr. Dador, he uttered threatening words against her. As of pres

By Leilanie G. Adriano Staff Reporter LAOAG CITY—Several employees of the Provincial Capitol building were alerted on the morning of August 5, 2019, following a bomb scare at the east wing of the Capitol compound. At about 8:20 a.m., a maintenance staff noticed an unattended bag left near the Capitol 3-G generation park, which prompted guards on duty to call the police. Capitol employees and other visitors however kept going about their work while a bomb squad with a sniffing dog cleared the area. “We are thankful it’s negative,” said Michael Pe Benito, of the Provincial Resiliency Office under the provincial government of Ilocos Norte who saw the incident. The police traced the bayong to be owned by travelers bound to Pangasinan as they left their belongings in the area while waiting for a ride. It’s the latest false alarm in Laoag as residents were told to remain calm and refrain from sharing unverified information in social media platforms that may cause