The Ilocos Times

Cebu City —The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Field Office VII continues to assist victims of typhoon “Yolanda” who are moving out from the typhoon-ravaged Tacloban City. Personnel from the Department are deployed at the Mactan Air Base to meet these people who arrived in the city via C130. “ Tiniis naming maglakad mula 10:00 [ ng gabi ] hanggang 3:30 [ng umaga] para makaabot sa airport… naka -wheelchair pa ang tatay ko [We walked from 10:00 pm until 3:30 am just to reach the airport… And my father is wheelchair-bound],” said Kevin Talbo, 24, from San Jose, Tacloban City. “My grandson David let me stand on his lap and held me above water for hours and when the weather calmed down, he placed me safely on tree branch, left me with a shirt and told me not to move. I was so cold but I have to survive for my children and grandchildren,” said 84-year old Pilar Ferreras. As soon as these evacuees arrive at the airport, DSWD personnel interview them to

MAPAGWADAN a mangidaulo! Kastoy ti panangiladawan ni Fr. James Bonoan iti wagas a panangidaulo ni Gob. Ma. Imelda “Imee” R. Marcos iti probinsia. Iti misa a naidaton kas panagyaman iti kaaldawan ti panagkasangay ti gobernador, kinuna ni Bonaon a raemenda dagiti ganuat ni Marcos tapno matulongan dagiti marigrigat kasta metten ti naminpinsan a panaglupos ti probinsia. Gapu kadagitoy a kababalin ti gobernador, impanamnama dagiti panguluen ti simbaan Romano Katolika ti naan-anay a suportada ken ni Marcos. Ti misa a naangay iti Carmelite Chapel idi Nobiembre 12 ket tinabunuan dagiti amin a parish priest iti probinsia malaksid laeng ken ni Bishop Renato Mayugba nga adda ita idiay Siudad ti Baguio gapu iti taripnong dagiti amin a bishops ditoy amianan a Luzon.  Dagiti nabotosan nga opisial iti probinsia a timmabuno iti misa ket indauluan ni Ilocos Norte Bise Gobernador Eugenio Angelo M. Barba.

When the Yolanda typhoon crisis ebbs, Catholics here will be asked to give their views on 39 questions that Pope Francis fielded earlier. “A survey of ordinary believers' views on sexual ethics signals a potentially ground-breaking change of emphasis,” BBC’s religious affairs correspondent Robert Pigott writes.  Many Catholics   passively murmur amen to counsel from the Vatican. Now, Francis prods them to speak up. Francis “unprecedented initiative is a survey sent to Catholic bishops. Consult widely on touchy issues from contraception, sex outside marriage to divorced and remarried receiving Communion. The Catholic Church in England and Wales was the first in the world to put the survey online. It urged members: Submit by 20 December. Responses will be given to bishops before they gather in Rome next September. They meet for a synod to discuss the family". And their conclusions will be stitched into 2015 guidelines. A covering note hints all might not

LENDING A HAND. San Nicolas Mayor Melanie Valdez leads the repacking of relief goods for supertyphoon “Yolanda” victims at the San Nicolas Municipal Hall. San Nicolas is one of three Ilocos Norte LGUs which are preparing assistance to the typhoon-ravaged areas of central Philippines. The other two LGUs are Laoag and Batac Cities. (Doms dela Cruz) By Dominic B. dela Cruz Staff Reporter Three local government units (LGUs) in the province announced their intentions to help in the relief efforts for supertyphoon “Yolanda’s” victims in central Philippines. Members of the Laoag City Sangguniang Panlungsod unanimously approved two resolutions which were certified as urgent by Laoag Mayor Chevylle V. Fariñas for the donation of P50,000 each for the typhoon Yolanda victims in the cities Ormoc and Tacloban. The amounts were certified by the members of the local finance committee as available and to be sourced from the Laoag City Disaster and Risk Reduction and Management Coun

The Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation (PDIC) is set to sell via public bidding on December 3, 2013 a total of 118 units of Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) with an aggregate minimum disposal value of P20.9 million. The public bidding will be held at the PDIC Training Room, 9 th Floor, SSS Building, Ayala Avenue corner V.A. Rufino St., Makati City. Opening of bids will start at 2:00 p.m. The ATM units are properties of closed banks and will be sold on an “as is, where is” basis. Under the “as-is, where-is” basis bidding, prospective buyers are enjoined to physically inspect the ATMs, and examine and verify their condition, before submitting their bids. The PDIC will receive sealed bids only from direct buyers at the bidding venue on December 3, 2013 from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. No extension will be given for the submission of bids. Bidders are advised to come at least one hour prior to the opening of bids to register and submit the requirements. All bids must be acc

By Leilanie G. Adriano Staff Reporter Tobacco farmers here in Ilocos Norte need not to expect much livelihood assistance and farm-to-market roads improvement as the province’s share in the tobacco excise tax has decreased by almost P80 million, according to the provincial treasury office.   Under RA 7171, or the Tobacco Excise Tax law, tobacco-producing provinces get 15 percent of the excise taxes on locally manufactured Virginia-type cigarettes. Last year, Ilocos Norte received approximately P235 million from tobacco excise tax but this has been reduced to only P156 million this year, provincial treasurer Josephine Calajate told members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan during the first day of deliberation on the proposed budget of each department subject for approval by the Ilocos Norte board. According to Calajate, the tremendous decrease of the province’s share in tobacco excise tax would greatly affect the farmers in terms of giving them livelihood assistance and

By Dominic B. dela Cruz Staff Reporter The Laoag City government of Laoag has identified high risks schools, church, private and government buildings around the city to prevent the loss of lives and property during the occurrence of natural calamities, particularly earthquakes. Acting city engineer Fred Agpaoa said that this is view is line with the Disaster Preparedness Program of the provincial and the city governments. Based on the inspection conducted by the city engineering office, some of the schools identified were the old and new RTS buildings of the Ilocos Norte College of Arts and Trades (INCAT), building 3 of the AP Santos Elementary School, H.E. building of San Mateo Elementary School and the Industrial Arts and Multi-Purpose Hall building of Faustino Reyes Elementary School. The schools’ buildings were found to have dilapidated wooden flooring, roofing, ceiling, sagging of concrete flooring slab/beam, visible cracks on walls and dilapidated termite- inf