The Ilocos Times

‘Bring your own bag’ By Dominic B. dela Cruz Staff Reporter GOING SHOPPING? Bring your own bag. This will soon be the new fad in Laoag City after Laoag Mayor Chevylle V. Fariñas announced that the city government would begin implementation of City Ordinance No. 2012-045. The said ordinance regulates the use of plastic bags and other plastic materials as secondary packaging and bans the use of styrofoam in the city. According to the mayor, this is the city’s contribution in protecting the environment and helping maintain ecological balance. Laoag councilor Joseph Tamayo, author of the ordinance, lauded the mayor’s move to implement the local law. He said this would mitigate the impact of the excessive use of hazardous wastes that often result in environmental degradation, flooding, sanitation problems and climate change. Tamayo, who chairs the council’s committee on environmental protection, said that based on scientific research, plastic and other items m

By Leilanie G. Adriano Staff Reporter September 13, 2013 Sarrat , Ilocos Norte—The familiar sight of uniformed men and women wearing red shirts with bold letters “FIRM” or Friends of Imelda Romualdez Marcos seems to be thinning every year as they occupy street corners of Ilocos Norte every 11 th   of September to commemorate the birthday of the late strongman Ferdinand E. Marcos. Taking time out from his fishing livelihood, Janito Lasotan, 64, together with more than 300 barangay coordinators of FIRM from Leyte travelled by bus to Ilocos Norte to join the Marcos family celebrate his 96 th   birthday. “Since childhood and now that I am 64, I will forever be grateful to him [Marcos] because of his projects such as fishing livelihood which has nurtured my family over the years,” Lasotan said saying it is his first time to attend the Marcos Day celebration as they were invited by their national coordinators from Manila. While hundreds join protests in Metro Manila, Ilo

WE can never have enough of it. That’s the problem with humility. The moment we say we have it, be ready also to lose it and again and again to go through the process of recovering it. It’s a very slippery virtue that requires constant interior renewal and conversion. If we only can reconcile ourselves completely with this reality and act accordingly, then much of the problem of the world will just vanish! But that’s a big if. Just the same, no matter how quixotic the pursuit of this virtue may be, we just have to try and try, helping one another to live it, because it is indispensable in our life. Humility makes us see the truth. It wipes away fantasies, illusions and delusions. It is the foundation of many other virtues, the good ground on which the seed of virtues can grow. Without it, good intentions cannot prosper, and what may begin as a good deed would soon turn into an evil one, dripping with malice. Humility makes us see who we really are, in our most radical

“You shall know the truth. And the truth shall make you mad.” That sums up reaction of many to whistleblower Benhur Luy’s testimony, before the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, on the most severe scandal to rock Congress since it opened in 1907.  Clad in a bulletproof vest, and hedged in by three Witness Protection Program guards, the 31-year longhaired former medical technologist testified how legislators swapped their pork barrels for 50 percent kickbacks. Six senators and 24 congressmen, to date, have been tarred. More names will most likely surface. Ten others are singing on pork dealings of now detained Janet Lim-Napoles. “The ‘happiest whistle-blower’ in Senate history is Benhur Luy,”   Senator Sonny Angara tweeted. “Frequently giggling.”  He spoke without notes. “Luy was engaged in a very serious matter,” Inquirer noted. “Possibly even deadly”, especially because he was credible. “I think he is very believable,” said Sen. Teofisto Guingona III, committee chair.

Leading state think tank Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) is conducting a series of forums and seminars for the whole month of September to tackle the state of the country’s health sector and how to make it more inclusive as the economy grows. These activities are in line with the observance of the Development Policy Research Month (DPRM).  “We need to address the urgent need of narrowing the gap between the richest and the poorest Filipino households in terms of health status,” said PIDS president, Dr. Gilberto M. Llanto.  “Despite the country’s significantly growing economy, the Philippines’s overall health indicators have not commensurately improved with that growth,” he added.  Llanto said the country is still suffering from high levels of non-inclusiveness and inequities in the aspect of health.  September of every year was declared as Development Policy Research Month (DPRM) by virtue of Presidential Proclamation No. 247 signed on September 2, 2002, t

By Dominic B. dela Cruz Staff Reporter September 5, 2013 THE LAOAG City government has backed the proposals to insure crops in the city and to purchase hybrid rice and corn seeds. The proposals were made by the City Agriculture and Fishery Council (CAFC).  In the said proposal, the council asked the city government to appropriate funds from the city’s tobacco excise tax share to be used for the premiums of the crop insurance and purchase of the hybrid seeds. Council chairperson Arlindo Canete explained in the proposal that the crop insurance proposal was made to help farmers whose crops are damaged by calamities and thereby safeguarding their income. Currently, farmers whose crops are damaged by calamities apply for production loans for replanting but according to them, this is takes a heavy financial burden on their part because of high interest rates. To remedy this, the council decided on crop insurance and has requested Laoag City Mayor Chevylle V. Fariñas

BUDGET HEARING IN CAGAYAN. Laoag City government officials headed by Mayor Chevylle V. Fariñas conduct budget hearings and team-building in preparation for the 2014 annual budget in Cagayan Holiday and Leisure Resort, Sta. Ana Cagayan on   September 12-14, 2013 . Photos by Rene Paguirigan