The Ilocos Times

Laoag City —Forty persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) from the Ilocos Norte Provincial Jail (INPJ) will soon take Alternative Learning System (ALS), sponsored by the Department of Education-Schools Division of Ilocos Norte (DepEd-SDOIN), and in partnership with the Ilocos Norte provincial government. ALS is a parallel learning system in the country established by the DepEd that provides all Filipinos, regardless of age, the opportunity to have access to and complete basic education. Provincial jail warden Benilda Sadian noted that the selected inmates will have to take the entrance examination first to be qualified in the said education:   “Our inmates expressed their joy upon receiving this news. However, they should pass their entrance test first so they could be included in the final list of qualified ALS takers,” Ms. Sadian said. Aside from ALS, the INPJ is also collaborating with the Technical Education Skills and Development Authority (TESDA) to provide emp

By Leilanie G. Adriano Staff Reporter LAOAG CITY—The provincial government here has installed COVID-19 quarantine checkpoints manned by an inter-agency health task force to check body temperatures and obtain health record of travelers if necessary, in all border areas going in and out of the province of Ilocos Norte. The checkpoint bars those who enter the province with symptoms attributed to COVID-19 based on their health information except for residents of the province. The checkpoints are located at the Badoc gateway separating Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur, Pagudpud and Nueva Era for Cagayan and Abra boundaries, respectively. In a public advisory issued on early morning of March 15, 2020, Ilocos Norte Governor Matthew Joseph M. Manotoc issued Executive Order No. 60-20, placing Ilocos Norte under “community quarantine” to prevent spread of COVID-19.   “General community quarantine will be observed throughout the province. LGUs shall abide by the direction

By Dominic B. dela Cruz Staff Reporter Laoag City —The Department of Health (DOH) is set to donate medical equipment to the Laoag City General Hospital. This development came following the Sangguniang Panlungsod’s approval of three resolutions authorizing Laoag Mayor Michael M. Keon to deal with the DOH for the said donation, DOH Director IV Dr. Valeriano Jesus V. Lopez will represent the health department. The donation will include a brand new unit of hematology analyzer worth PHP181,555.50; a brand new unit of table top sterilizer worth PHP33,000; and a brand new unit of pharmaceutical refrigerator worth PHP98,445. Giving quality health care, the Laoag City General Hospital (LCGH) is set to have brand new laboratory equipment. Laoag councilor Juan Conrado A. Respicio II said the acquisition of said laboratory equipment is funded from the Health Facilities Enhancement Program of 2017 worth PHP70 million which the DOH granted to Laoag. Mr. Respi

By Bernardo B. Ver II Contributor The government can still do more to make medicine prices the cheapest possible, Senator Ma. Imelda Josefa “Imee” R. Marcos said, after President Rodrigo R. Duterte ordered a price ceiling on 133 medicines. Ms. Marcos said that exempting the sale and importation of medicines from the value-added tax (VAT) could further reduce the maximum retail and wholesale prices of select medicines, which Executive Order No. 104 will subject to a review every six months. The senator added that the 56% average discount seen in the EO’s regulation of medicine prices could be larger because pharmaceutical companies themselves have said they could afford price reductions of up to 75%, before the EO was signed. More than half of the P413 billion Filipinos spent on health services in 2018 went to pharmaceutical companies, Ms. Marcos said, citing Philippine Statistics Authority numbers. She added that Department of Health (DoH) estimates put t

By Leilanie G. Adriano Staff Reporter Pinili , Ilocos Norte—The National Irrigation Administration (NIA) is throwing its support to cotton farmers of Barangay Lumbaan, this town with a PHP20 million worth irrigation project to boost their productivity. In a stakeholders’ forum attended by irrigators’ associations, loom weavers and cotton producers held at the Pinili Amphitheatre, NIA Administrator Ricardo R. Visaya said there is much potential in the cotton industry which farmers may consider as an alternative crop next to rice and other high value crops in the region. “We are extending PHP20-million support for cotton development in Pinili,” Mr. Visaya said in support of the government’s effort to revitalize cotton industry in the country. Cotton farmers in Lumbaan is adopting insect-resistant varieties of cotton to sustain raw materials needed in inabel weaving, the town is known for. “We are lucky as the pilot site of the project. As long as there i

Laoag Mayor Michael Marcos Keon welcomes the officers of the Ilocos Norte United Muslim Association (INUMA) led by Ismael Ali, president; Benhar Depundato, P.I.O. and Johary Guro, adviser. Joining them are several zonal leaders led by Maswara Alim, Halim Pandao Molve, Solaiman Batowa Maulana and Arafat Bacarat. During the meeting, they discussed the preparations for the upcoming Zonal Maswara Ijtima scheduled on February 23-24, 2020 with an estiamted 3,000 Muslim religious leaders and scholars from Luzon and other parts of the country attending. After the meeting, they visited the Laoag City Central Terminal and conducted an ocular inspection. (Doms dela Cruz)

By Leilanie G. Adriano Staff Reporter LAOAG CITY—Police Colonel Christopher Abrahano took over the reins of the Ilocos Norte Police Provincial Office (INPPO) in a formal change-in-command ceremony on February 19, 2020 at the Camp Capt. Valentin S. Juan, this city. He replaces outgoing police provincial director P/Colonel Cesar Pasiwen, who is now chief of staff of in Calabarzon regional police office. The incoming officer-in-charge hails from Sta. Barbara, Pangasinan and has held key posts at the Crime Investigation and Detection Group National Office and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency in Region 1 and IV offices. He also served as former chief of police in Dagupan City, Pangasinan. He graduated at the Philippine National Police Academy in 1996. Mr. Abrahano’s installation was presided by P/Brigadier General Joel S. Orduña, the incumbent Police Regional Office 1 regional director. In his short message during the turn-over rites, Ilocos Norte Gove