The Ilocos Times

THE SEEMINGLY endless saga of Solsona’s two mayors have reached alarming proportions. Apart from having two mayors, Solsona now will also have no budget for 2016. Citing the active suspension order on Solsona’s top three officials, the Sangguniang Panlalawigan has invalidated the town’s 2016 budget upon review. The officials in question are Solsona Mayor Jonathan de Lara, Vice Mayor Joseph de Lara and senior councilor Edison de Lara. The trio has defied the suspension order handed down by Ilocos Norte Governor Maria Imelda R. Marcos as they continued on with their respective duties and responsibilities as elected officials. Among those duties included the passage of the town’s 2016 budget. From all possible angles, the suspension can only be tabbed as political. The De Laras have fallen from the Capitol’s grace. The governor, herself, is supporting candidates that oppose the De Laras. And in this power struggle in this eastern Ilocos Norte municipality, the biggest losers

AS social beings, we will always need leaders to bring us to our common good. We therefore need to choose leaders with the proper qualities. And this means that they have the proper understanding of what our common good is in all its aspects—from the temporal to the eternal, from the material to the spiritual, from the immediate to the ultimate, etc. We should stay away from the way of choosing our leaders simply on the basis of popularity, wealth or technical skills. While these have their objective value and should be given their due consideration, we have to understand that they cannot be the beginning and end of leadership. We need to go beyond them. We have to say this now since our current world culture seems to be practically at the mercy of these criteria that at best are only secondary and instrumental. We have to outgrow this kind of mindset. Leadership has God not only in its center and core, but also, in a manner of speaking, in every pore of its being. Withou

Nongovernment reforestation, or tree planting activities conducted by private land owners, organizations, and citizens, has been declining despite the introduction of the National Greening Program (NGP). Launched in 2011, the NGP is a priority program of the government that aims to rehabilitate the forests and, at the same time, to reduce poverty; promote food security, environmental stability, and biodiversity conservation; and enhance climate change mitigation and adaptation. According to a study by state think tank Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS), nongovernment reforestation contributed only about 2 percent of the total reforested area in 2013. This figure is much lower compared to the 56 percent of total area that private entities and individuals reforested in 2005. PIDS Senior Research Fellow Danilo Israel, author of the study, noted that nongovernment reforestation contributed a large share in reforestation before the early 2000s. However, at the tur

FAO leader hails role of agriculture in national pledges, applauds the promise to scale up funding Rome—FooD and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Director-General José Graziano da Silva has welcomed the approval of the Paris Climate Change Agreement, saying that "for the first time ever, food security features in a global climate change accord."   The Agreement recognizes "the fundamental priority of safeguarding food security and ending hunger, and the particular vulnerabilities of food production systems to the impacts of climate change". It underlines the need to "increase the ability to adapt to the adverse impacts of climate change and foster climate resilience (...) in a manner that does not threaten food production."  "This is a game changer for the 800 million people still suffering from chronic hunger and the 80 percent of the world's poor who live in rural areas and earn their income − and feed their families − via the

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ILOCOS Norte Governor Imee R. Marcos distributes stipends to technical-vocational students who are beneficiaries of the Iskolar ni Manang Imee program of the Provincial Government of Ilocos Norte in Laoag City.  (Reu A. Flores) By Mizpah Grace G. Castro PGIN-CMO ILOCOS Norte Governor Maria Imelda “Imee” R. Marcos through the Provincial Education Department (PED) distributed stipends to 399 "Iskolar ni Manang Imee" beneficiaries enrolled in technical-vocational programs on February 14 at the Centennial Arena in Laoag City. The "Iskolar ni Manang Imee" program of the Provincial Government of Ilocos Norte (PGIN) was launched in 2012 but only started including technical-vocational scholars in the first semester of Academic Year 2015-2016. The stipend is funded by PED, supporting students enrolled in technical-vocational programs of schools such as the Bangui Institute of Technology, Marcos Agro-Industrial School (MAIS), Ilocos Norte College of Arts and

By Leilanie G. Adriano Staff reporter LAOAG CITY—Members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) here declared on February 29 the 2016 budget of the Solsona town government as invalid in view of its top three local officials who continue to perform their duties and functions amidst a six-month suspension order signed by Ilocos Norte Governor Maria Imelda “Imee” R. Marcos. Upon recommendation of the provincial board, Ms. Marcos suspended Solsona Mayor Jonathan de Lara, Solsona Vice Mayor Joseph de Lara and Solsona senior Sangguniang Bayan member Edison de Lara since December 10 for grave abuse of authority but they all refused to step down from their respective positions. The de Laras are banking on an alleged ‘stay order’ the Office of the President issued on the same day the suspension order was served but until now, the SP have yet to receive an official copy of the said document, if any. “It’s very unfortunate that the people of Solsona have to suffer because of this