The Ilocos Times

  Ilocos Norte 1 st  district Rep. Sandro Marcos presents the letter requesting  Php 500 million for the access road project. Laoag City —Ilocos Norte first district Rep. Ferdinand Alexander “Sandro” Marcos replied to accusations that he is “politicking” when he criticized the Laoag City government’ mall bypass road project. His criticism of the said project happened during the filing of certificates of candidacy for next year’s elections. He pointed out that even if the proposal letter made by Laoag mayor Michael M. Keon—addressed to the Dept. of Public Works and Highways—was made during the first quarter of this year, Congress only gets to scrutinize the budget proposals for the general appropriations act in September of each year, or when the House of Representatives session resumes after the President’s state of the nation address. The young Marcos stressed that other than the timing, people should focus on the huge discrepancy between the DPHW project cost an...

  CLARK AIR BASE built in 1903, was a US military base in Central Luzon. It was known as Fort Stotsenburg when it  was first established as a US military camp for the 5th Cavalry after the Spanish-American War ( 1898). After the Second World War, it was renamed Clark Air Field after Major Harold M. Clark, a World War 1 pilot who was born in Minnesota and raised in Manila. The area covered an area of 12 square miles (30 square km).  The Clark family had a strong military tradition dating back to the Revolutionary War (late 1770s). His father fought Spanish forces in the Philippines while assigned to Company E, 13th Minnesota volunteer infantry during the Spanish-American War of 1898. The end of the Spanish-American War brought a period of growth and interest in the Philippines. In 1904, the Clarks moved to Manila, where they enjoyed considerable wealth and prestige due to the family's business ventures. After graduating from the American High School in Manila in 1910, Haro...

Land Bank of the Philippines (LANDBANK) has announced the availability of immediate financial assistance to businesses and individuals affected by Typhoon Kristine, reinforcing its commitment to helping rebuild communities and restore economic activity in hardly hit areas. Under the LANDBANK CARES Plus (Community Assistance and REintegration Support Plus) Lending Program, various sectors—including farmers, fishers, cooperatives, micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), large corporations, and electric distribution utilities—can access financial aid to rebuild, restore operations, and recover from disaster-related losses. “LANDBANK stands ready to provide accessible, responsive, and immediate financial assistance to sectors severely impacted by the typhoon. We are fully committed to doing our part in helping our kababayans and communities recover from this adversity while accelerating recovery efforts,” said LANDBANK President and CEO Lynette V. Ortiz. Eligible borrowers can...

RELIEF ASSISTANCE. Ilocos Norte Governor Matthew Joseph Manotoc leads the distribution of relief aid to evacuation centers in various parts of the province. ( PGIN) By Leilanie G. Adriano Laoag City —The provincial government of Ilocos Norte (PGIN), led by Governor Matthew Joseph M. Manotoc, has distributed PHP55.8 million in rehabilitation resources to farmers severely affected by super typhoon “Julian,” which battered the province last month. The multi-million worth of hybrid corn seeds, assorted vegetable seeds, rice seeds, and fertilizers, is aimed at restoring crops in lands damaged by extreme flooding and destructive winds. This initiative follows a recent assessment indicating that the typhoon impacted over 195,000 individuals across Ilocos Norte, with damages and losses reaching nearly PHP1.1 billion as of the report from the Provincial Resiliency Council dated Oct. 7, 2024. A total of 16,789 farmers received the support package, with the goal of ensuring timely agricul...

THIS is what we can gather as a lesson from that gospel episode about the two sisters, Martha and Mary, in their relation with Christ. (Lk 10,38-42) Both were good sisters and followers of Christ, but the former failed to take the proper priority regarding their relation with Christ. While everything temporal and earthly plays an important role in our relation with God, they can be dangerous if they do not have God as their beginning and end, and are simply understood and treated as temporal and earthly. We really need to train our mind and heart to be always anchored and focused on God. This will take a lifetime to achieve, and we may not be able to perfect it, but the point is simply for us to just try and try. Especially these days when we are heavily bombarded with fantasies and fictions in novels and movies, we can easily be gaslighted to believe in them if our faith in God is not nourished regularly in our mind and heart. We would fail to realize that these fantasies and...

TYPHOON IMPACT. One of the two Chinese vessels that ran aground at the shore of Currimao, Ilocos Norte on Friday (Nov. 8, 2024) due to to strong winds and waves caused by Typhoon Marce (international name Yinxing). Both vessels are processing their conversion as domestic traders.  Photo courtesy of Currimao LGU Currimao , Ilocos Norte—Authorities are monitoring possible oil leaks from two foreign vessels that ran aground in the Currimao shoreline early Friday, Nov. 8, 2024, because of strong waves and wind brought by typhoon “Marce” (international name Yinxing) MV Aries 1 and LCT PanPhil 8 were anchored at the Currimao port but were dragged to shallow waters, Lt. Joseph Christian Sagun, station commander of the Philippine Coast Guard Ilocos Norte, said in a phone interview. Sagun said both vessels are from China but have all-Filipino crews. MV Aries 1, with five crew members, has been at the Currimao port for five months already. LCT PanPhil 8, with 15 crew members, arriv...

Dear Mr . President: Technically senior citizens are not in the same category as persons with disabilities (PWDs), but in a manner of speaking, many seniors have already lost their abilities to function normally, such that they would already need some of the facilities that are intended for PWDs. But if I may ask you Sir, what does it take for a senior citizen to be considered as a PWD? Is it a cane? Or a walker? Obviously, it is not a wheelchair because if a senior citizen must use a wheelchair, that will already qualify him or her to be a PWD. Aside from some listings in the Office of Senior Citizens Affairs (OSCA) in the local government units (LGUs), that are probably mostly in paper form, there appears to be no reliable electronic databases that are hosted anywhere, at both the national and local levels. As proof of that, most of the local senior citizen’s cards and discount booklets are still in paper form. Aside from that, there is no real monitoring of local business establis...