The Ilocos Times

By Dominic Dela Cruz Staff reporter Laoag City —With still over two months to go, the city government here has begun preparations for next year’s Pamulinawen Festival. Over-all festival coordinator Lilian Abijero announced that next fiesta’s theme is “Transcending”, as unanimously approved by all fiesta committees. Ms. Abijero explained that the theme must be continuance of what was “ Achieved ” , which was the theme for the 2017 edition. “Kasi no naka achieve kan, siyempre you don’t rest on your laurels. You keep on moving forward. Transcending means you can break barriers. You can overcome problems and struggles. You address challenges, ” Ms. Abijero expounded. Ms. Abijero also confirmed several changes for the fiesta, foremost is the removal of “street pageantry” as a fiesta highlight. She said it is because it is only a redundancy of the province’s “Tan-ok Festival of Festivals” which also features dance parades. The Tan-ok Festival is set for Febru

Keyboard-of-Japanese-language (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) By Leilanie G. Adriano Staff reporter LAOAG CITY—Ilocanos wanting to improve their knowledge and skills for better work opportunities here and abroad may consider learning a third language. In Laoag, a company is set to inaugurate a one-stop shop language center by January next year to offer Nihongo, German and International English Language Testing System (IELTS) review. The language center will rise in the city’s business district. Initiated by a Piddig-born specialist nurse who is now based in London, United Kingdom, the Talaytayan Language Center-Laoag branch is now ready to accept new enrollees. “The world is changing in a way that familiarity of a foreign language is needed before deployment for work abroad. And the people of the north should not [fall] behind compared to other parts of the country,” said Riza Tongson-Espe, a technical consultant of Bison Management Corporation and the current manag

Map of the Philippines with Ilocos Norte highlighted (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) L AOAG CITY—With the continuing implementation of Ilocos Norte’s cash-for-work program, hundreds of residents who are looking for additional source of livelihood are taking advantage of it. In Vintar town, Arlene Rosario, a full-time mom of three growing children said was trying to figure what to cook for lunch when she learned a roving team from the Capitol Express was at the town’s gymnasium offering various government services. Out of curiosity, she checked on the list of services and tried to apply for a cash-for-work, a continuing program of the Ilocos Norte government in collaboration with the Department of Social Welfare and Development. Initially, the program is meant for calamity victims. Then it expanded to marginalized earners or indigents. For a few hours of rendering community service in their respective barangays, they receive cash based on the prevailing regional wages in

Map of Ilocos Norte showing the location of Laoag City (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) By Leilanie G. Adriano Staff reporter LAOAG CITY—Children’s rights advocates both from the public and private sectors gathered at the Ilocos Norte Capitol auditorium recently to increase awareness on the rights of children with disability. With the help of the Philippine Association of Children with Developmental Learning Disabilities, Inc. (PACDLD) in partnership with the Department Health and the Ilocos Norte government, Felicite Jean Gonzales encouraged participants to continue educating parents on their vital role in promoting the welfare of children with specials needs. Over the years, Mr. Gonzales said there had been many laws and resolutions protecting the rights of children but there is poor implementation. Having a child with autism, Jean and husband Octavio had been reaching out to the different provinces nationwide to meet with Day Care teachers and barangay health work

  Dr. Shirley Agrupis, MMSU President leads the farmers' field day in Batac City. ( MMSU Research Directorate) By Leilanie G. Adriano Staff reporter BATAC CITY—The state-run Mariano Marcos State University is encouraging farmers to plant new climate resilient rice varieties to increase their productivity. This planting season, MMSU in collaboration with the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) set up a 1,600-square meter demo farm showcasing its 14 varieties that are resilient to prolonged drought or wet season. “But no matter how good the variety is or no matter how advance the technology to improve rice productivity in the country, it is nothing without your heart in managing the rice field. Like a person, you should talk to your plants,” MMSU president Dr. Shirley Agrupis said during a farmer’s field day held at the demonstration site. Dubbed as the “President’s farm”, the program featuring climate resilient crops hopes to inspire farmers to a

Piddig , Ilocos Norte – The Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP)-Ilocos Norte Chapter spearheaded by Atty. Cherrie Grace Bareng-Asistin initiated a legal aid consultation for town folks here for free. At least 20 participants attended the said activity with most of their queries concerning land disputes and ownership. Other participants availed of the free public notary on their legal documents. Ms. Asistin emphasized that this activity is part of the local bar association on their Law Week Celebration. This year’s is “IBP: Promoting Justice through the Rule of Law.” “We [IBP] are here to help our kababayans [countrymen] in the entire province [Ilocos Norte] with their dilemmas and other concerns on the laws of the land—under the Republic of the Philippines and our office is open for everyone,” Ms. Asistin added. As part of their other notable projects, the IBP is active in safeguarding the integrity of the bar exams; promoting ethical practices of lawyers,

LAOAG CITY—Over 50 delegates from the Hawaii State Government and the Filipino Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii (FCCH) visited Ilocos Norte to shop for business ideas to benefit both Filipinos and Americans. In a media interview upon the group’s arrival at the Laoag International Airport, Brandon Dela Cruz, FCCH president said he has heard so much about Ilocos Norte and it feels great that finally, they are now in Laoag. From Hawaii, the group led by Hawaii governor David Ige stayed in Manila for two days as they met with the United States Ambassador prior to their visit in this northern gateway of Luzon. As part of the annual goodwill and trade mission to the Philippines, Mr. Dela Cruz said they are here to help support and uplift Filipino business. “We travel in the Philippines and try to find where we can strengthen ties between Hawaii and the Philippines. Perhaps, it can be done through export of goods from the Philippines to Hawaii and vice versa. Let’s find out wher