The Ilocos Times

By Leilanie G. Adriano Staff reporter Laoag City —The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is conducting on-site inspections of its local re-greening program covering about 4,000 hectares in the entire province of Ilocos Norte. Provincial environment and natural resources officer Juan delos Reyes said they are currently evaluating the previously planted tree saplings launched in 2011 in support of the government’s National Greening Program (NGP). On February 24, 2011, President Benigno Simeon C. Aquino III signed Executive Order No. 26, urging all national line agencies to embark on the “widest and most sustained reforestation venture ever” which is meant to plant 1.5 billion trees covering about 1.5 million hectares for a period of six years from 2011 to 2016. In Ilocos Norte, Mr. Delos Reyes said they are eyeing least an 85 % growth rate of the reforestation project, participated in by mostly peoples’ organizations who are engaged in the project,

By Dominic B. dela Cruz Staff reporter San Nicolas , Ilocos Norte—Recognizing the signs of the time, the municipal government here is set to create a Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office after the Sangguniang Bayan approved the ordinance for its creation. The Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010, or Republic Act 10121, enjoins local government units to adopt a disaster risk reduction and management approach. The same law also mandates the establishment of a Local Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (LDRRMO). San Nicolas is a flood prone area and the municipality has experienced both natural and man-made disasters which have caused extensive damages to both lives and properties. Sangguniang Bayan member Atty. Reynaldo Corpuz, the ordinance’s author, said the MDRRM officer shall receive compensation under Salary Grade 18. Atty. Corpuz added that the MDRRMO will be responsible for setting the direction, developme

By Dominic B. dela Cruz Staff reporter Laoag City —Mayor Chevylle V. Fariñas ordered the closure of a business establishment in the city for falsification of public documents. The city government also revoked its license to operate business. Ms. Fariñas’ order was based on a recommendation by the city police, headed by officer-in-charge P/Supt. Jeffrey T. Gorospe, which investigated the establishment. The neophyte mayor also said she has signed an affidavit for a case filed against the internet café owner, who allegedly printed falsified identification cards for tricycle drivers in the city. Ms. Fariñas disclosed that the business owner, accompanied by his mother personally appealed to her not to pursue a case against them but the mayor rejected this. She stressed that is not a personal issue between the owner and her but an issue that concerns the city government. Ms. Fariñas emphasized that the falsified IDs and her signature that appeared there made it app

By Leilanie G. Adriano Staff reporter Batac City —A detour road of an ongoing bridge construction in this city was closed after heavy rains caused a river to overflow. According to the Ilocos Norte second engineering district of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), the detour bridges located along the national highway in Barangay Tabug and Nangnuangan (Baligat-Dariwdiw) became impassable to all kinds of vehicles due to overflow. As per advisory from the Batac City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (CDRRMC), motorists bound to the northern and eastern parts of Ilocos Norte were advised take the Pias, Currimao-Balacad road instead. Intense rain brought about by the southwest monsoon for the past few days has flooded water canals and several farmlands in Batac City, stretching down to its neighbouring Paoay town as catch basis because the Quiaoit river in Batac City overflowed again. To date, the DPWH have yet to finish the on-going c

IF we do a little math, we can arrive at the clear  conclusion that we are meant to adopt the mind of God. In fact, not only his mind, but also his heart and his whole life, all of which he makes available here and now, and forever, through Christ in the Holy Spirit. This is made possible within the life of the Church which Christ established, endowing it with enough power and structure, both visible and invisible, to perpetuate his presence in the world till the end of time and to keep us as his people, as his family, nourishing and sustaining us and leading us to our ultimate perfection in him. We are made to adopt God’s mind because we are his image and likeness. And our mind itself, the way it is, needs to adopt something, to engage in some object. It cannot be by itself alone without an object. It can grow and develop only when it has something or someone that puts it into action. Even in its most idle and empty mode, it still needs to adopt something. If not adop

Batac CITY—Tomato farmers can now prolong the shelf life of their produce if they harvest them at mature green stage, mix them with rice straws, and store them in plastic sacks or paper boxes. This technique was proven to be very profitable if they want to sell the fruits in off-season months when there is a limited supply of tomato. In a test conducted by researchers Maura Luisa S. Gabriel, Marissa I. Atis, Aleta E. Dumaoal and Zenaida H. Esteban of the Mariano Marcos State University (MMSU) in this town, tomatoes stored using the improved technique will last for more than two months with extremely low percentage of rotten fruits. The containers, however, should be placed on an elevated floor with good ventilation, and with ambient temperature which ranges from 26 to 34 degrees Celsius. Places with ambient temperatures are those inside an ordinary store house with nipa or cogon grass roofings which are built under shady areas. The researchers said this improved

Is corruption a serious mental illness requiring psychiatric or psychotherapeutic intervention? Is it the ultimate addiction one could have when appointed or elected in public office? Is taxpayer’s money a corrupt politician’s best antidepressant?  Or have they lost their ability to situate themselves in normal perception that they could no longer distinguish the difference between self-aggrandizement, private gain and public service?  Should we require them to undergo a regular psychiatric test to determine their mental and psychological health? Or are they simply too insane, the corrupt, to be reformed? Quite recently some case researches in governance, psychiatry, psychology, political science and corruption studies suggests that corrupt public officers might be suffering from OCD or obsessive-compulsive psychiatric disorder. It means that if one is engaged in a ritual routine of self-aggrandizement or if one is habitually involved in a gluttonous act of accumulating or