The Ilocos Times

Ni Amado I. Yoro (Pakauna: Nasuratko daytoy  iti kaawan ni Mama Oyya [wenno Kasimpungalan] ta naisurot iti pilgrimage idiay Holy land manipud Nobiembre 1-21, 2007. Nagluasda, 36da amin mairaman ti padimi, ti tour director, dagiti kameng ti Womens of St. Paul's Church Honolulu, kdpy. Routeda ti Honolulu-San Francisco; San Francisco- Frankfurt, Germany; Frankfurt- Tel Aviv, sa agalla-allatiwda iti Hotel: Renaissance, Jerusalem, Golden Crown, Nazareth; Morgenland, Sinai, Helnan Palestine, Alexandria, Sofitel, Panorama, Radisson, Amman.) Mapantayon iti rabaw ti turod A yan ti balay dagiti agpasungad Itag-ay ti sagut; Rag-o daytoy awis Iti balay iti turod. Daytoy ti balay ti Dios Ni Jacob Daytoy ti dalan a mapan Iti pantok ti Zion Dagiti pannursuro ti Apo Usigen ti dagem ti basol Ket magna iti silaw ti Dios Rag-o daytoy awis Iti balay iti turod. Bay-am met ita nga agdakiwas dagiti dapan. Ala wen, surotem ti tugot ni Juan a Mammunniag Ma

And so it came to pass that the man, who’d booked his return flight, stayed on and cancelled his home newspaper subscription. In between, Jorge Bergolio of Argentina, 77, emerged to the cry of  Habemus Papam  (“We have a Pope”). He stunned Piazza San Pietro crowds by asking, as Pope Francis, for their blessing instead.  At that time, his letter of mandatory retirement, on reaching age 75, was on the papal desk. In just nine months, Francis upended his church on issues from fixation on sexual morality to support for the poor. Time magazine picked him “Person of the Year. And across what seemed once an unbridgeable gap, so did “The Advocate”—the oldest US gay rights magazine. “Along comes a man with no army or weapons,” Time said. (“How many divisions has the Pope?” the dictator Josef Stalin once scoffed.)  Yet, when he kisses the face of a disfigured man or washes a Muslim woman’s feet, the image resonates beyond his 1.2 billion flock. Change does not come easy to hi

WITH TWO elections, 2013 became one of the busiest years for politicians, especially the local ones. Not only did they have to fight tooth-and-nails with their political foes, they also had to have a quick turnaround for round two in the barangay elections so they consolidate their hold in their respective fiefdoms. The result was staggering. Here in Laoag City and Ilocos Norte alone, allegations of record-high vote buying were thrown against politicians of all sorts and colors . And this only worsened during the October barangay elections as even a supposedly apolitical office became fair game for local political kingpins. Topping it up was the Liga mga Barangay elections, which expectedly were won by the politicians-in-power's choices; never mind if they turned out to be their wives, sons, daughters or any other relative. What really mattered was that they maintain a stranglehold on their political kingdom.   And as much as most—if not all—of them succeeded in their

AT  least 100 families in Piddig, Ilocos Norte were given rice, grocery items and other gifts in the outreach program hosted by the employees of the Philippine National Bank – Laoag Branch. The activity was held at the St. Anne Parish Church in the said town. (Photo courtesy of Estelito Pablo) THE EMPLOYEES  of Philippine National Bank – Laoag Branch, headed by manager Metty Guerrero, held an outreach project in Piddig, Ilocos Norte. At least 100 families from the different barangays were given rice, grocery items and other gifts as part of their annual  Pasko Na Bayan  program. According to Mr. Estelito Pablo, relationship officer of PNB Laoag, they have been doing this project for seven years now. He said that this is one of their ways to fulfil their commitment to help the less fortunate families in the province. This year’s PNB outreach was held at the St. Anne Parish Church in Piddig where a Holy Mass was conducted before the beneficiaries were treated with gi

Senator Loren Legarda asserted the need for adaptation programs on rice amidst threats on low food production caused by climate change. “If we do not invest on climate change adaptation programs now, rice yield in the Philippines can decline by 75 percent in 2100, as shown by a 2009 study of the Asian Development Bank,” Legarda said during the opening of the Rice, Biodiversity and Climate Change: Celebrating the National Year of Rice exhibition at the National Museum early this week. Legarda, chair of the senate committee on climate change, noted that the typhoons, floods, and droughts from 1970 to 1990 resulted in an 82.4 percent production loss in the country’s total rice production. “We especially feel the urgency of providing rice to calamity survivors, like what happened after the wrath of super typhoon Yolanda. [Indeed, investment on rice means] investing on the very survival of the Filipino people,” she said. As patron of the exhibit, Legarda emphasized the im

Agtultuloy ti ar-aramiden dagiti kameng ti Environment and Natural Resources a panagmula kadagiti kabanbantayan ken kabakiran ditoy probinsia. Kuna ni Estrella “Baby” Sacro, National Greening program Project manager a  daytoy ket tapno masalakniban iti aglawlaw ken maalay-ayan iti nakaro nga epekto ti climate change. Nagyamyamanan met ni Sacro ken ni Ilocos Norte Gobernador Ma. Imelda “Imee” R. Marcos gapu ta maysa ti re-greening kadagiti ipangpangrunana a proyekto. Mamati ni Sacro nga apaman a madanon ti tawen 2016, natalged ken napintaston dagiti kabanbantayan ditoy probinsia. Kunana a babaen kadagiti barangay ranger officers (BROs) a dinutokan ti probinsia ket dakkel a kabadangan a mangkita ken mangsalaknib kadagiti mula iti kabakiran ken kabanbantayan. Gapu kadagiti BRO, in-inuten  a mapugipog dagiti agisaysayangkat ti saan a makianatad a panagpukan ti kayo ken panagkaingin iti bantay. Mangnamnama ti Project Manager ti National Greening Program ti ENRO

  Adu dagiti mabalin a pagtrabahuan apaman a dumteng ti tawen 2014. Daytoy ti impanamnama ni Ilocos Norte Gob. Ma. Imelda “Imee” R. Marcos kadagiti nagduduma nga ili a pagturturongan ti MDG Christmas Caravan. Kunana nga adu dagiti proyekto infrastraktura  a mabalin a panggedan dagiti kaprobinsiaan kangrunaanna dagiti saan a nakaturpos iti panagadal. Adu pay dagiti kalsada nga agturong kadagiti away a saan pay a nasemento isu a rebbengna a matarimaan tapno alisto ti panagdaliasat, kinuna ti gobernador. Uray dagiti kanal ti irigasion ket rebbeng pay a matarimaan tapno masolbar ti parikut pakaseknan ti padanom kadagiti kataltalonan. Ti pannakaipatungpal kadagitoy a proyekto ket mangpatud ti panggedan kadagiti bumarangay. Malaksid iti dayta, agbalin pay nga al-alisto ti pannakaibiahe ti produkto dagiti mannalon nga agturong iti sentro.  ( PGIN-CMO )