The Ilocos Times

Officers and employees of the Laoag Rizal Branch of the Bank of Philippine Islands (BPI) added a Spanish touch in their office decorations and costumes. This is in connection with the month-long celebration of BPI’s 165 th anniversary. The branch with the best cultural theme will receive an award from the head office of BPI. (Mayvel Julian Canlapan)

By Leilanie G. Adriano Staff reporter LAOAG CITY—Members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan here is set to conduct its own “deeper investigation”, following the Laoag City government officials’ failure to present a clear measure, assuring taxpayers here that the loss of over Php 85 million will not happen again and let those behind it be penalized. On August 22, the Laoag City council led by vice mayor Michael Fariñas was invited to the provincial board. However only three neophyte councilors appeared: Laoag councilors Handy Lao, Roque Benjamin Ablan and Justine Clarence Chua. The three councilors were not yet part of the Laoag council when the funds went missing, hence they were excused by the board. In explaining their non-appearance, Mr. Fariñas sent a letter dated August 18 expressing the city council’s inability to attend the committee hearing saying, the sanggunian “has done what it needs to do” and the request to investigate “has been accomplished.” Earlier,

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Batac City —With internet connectivity a must for developing areas, Batac mayor Albert D. Chua said they may need a city-wide internet access. He said his wish is Batac would cope with public utilities upgrade. The neophyte mayor notices that rural barangays in this city sometimes cannot connect to the internet. Either they have low or no signal. The poblacion area, or the city’s commercial area, is saturated with internet signals, he added. With this development, he stressed that the city’s rural areas should be served by service providers more. He emphasized that internet connectivity should now be considered a public utility. “Kasi gumatang da cellphones da plus loads ken ag access da dagitay promos ngem ton agawid da awan met gayam signal . Ket kasanu ngarud dagitay ginatang ken binayadan dan, maibos to latta dagitay loads dan nga saan da man pulos a nausar”, he explained. He added that city’s schools also need internet connections for their ICT programs. ( Dom

By Leilanie G. Adriano Staff reporter PAOAY, Ilocos Norte—The next time you buy your ‘Abel Iloko’ [handwoven cloth] product, chances are these may have become more intricate and stylish that goes with modern style. Leading the way in reinventing the modern fashionista style of unique abel products in Paoay town are some 10 highly-skilled women from the Nagbacalan Loomweavers Multipurpose Cooperative (NLMC) who were taught new designs courtesy of the state-run Mariano Marcos State University. In partnership with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and its implementer, the Research Triangle Institute, MMSU professor Ciriaco Ragual said the new patterns and designs transferred to the Paoay loom-weavers were produced by employing mathematical procedures. The new designs and patterns were showcased at the University Guest House in Batac City on August 10. Under a memorandum of agreement signed between MMSU representatives and the NLMC, both

The PhilRice Text Center (PTC) posted a 47.3% increase in client registration nationwide for the first quarter of 2016. Data shows that from 18,924 registered clients in March 2015, it jumped to 27,883 as of March 31, 2016. PTC is a digital platform that provides daily consultation services to rice farmers through call and short messaging services (SMS). It also caters to students, extension workers, researchers, and other stakeholders who are inclined to the rice industry. The PTC management considers this a milestone which went far from just less than a hundred registered clients in 2004 when it started its operations. PTC was initially launched as the Farmers’ Text Center (FTC) by the Open Academy for Philippine Agriculture (OPAPA). In 2015, PTC also received an average of 240 SMS per day. Other services it renders are monthly rice tips, weather advisories, promotions, and announcements.  “By responding to the farmers’ queries, we give them informed decisio

By Alfredo C. Garvida, Jr. Contributor President Duterte's controversial war on illegal drugs is widening, what with the unremitting occurrences of drug-related killings by the police and vigilantes nationwide which have now invited world attention, spearheaded by no less than the United Nations. Understandably, Mr. Duterte is unhappy with the UN censorious attitude toward this domestic problem of the Filipinos that the president has correctly labeled as one that can only be solved by Filipinos under a strong leadership, like the one he is giving now to them.  This writer has consistently questioned Mr. Duterte's style of dispensing justice on the criminals, centered mostly on his loosely unleashed rhetoric of taking up the cudgels for the police even if they get convicted given his constitutional power to pardon convicts upon his own discretion. In our perception, he has practically given the police the blanket authority to kill people, be they deem them to be crim