The Ilocos Times

The Laoag City government welcomes the pilgrim relics of St. Therese from Lisieux, France. The visit is part of the St. Therese’s four-month visit to the Philippines.    ( Doms dela Cruz ) By Leilanie G. Adriano Staff reporter LAOAG CITY—Hundreds of devotees swarm the pilgrim relics of St. Therese as they offered prayers and roses to venerate the saint. Touching down at the Laoag airport on January 15, 2018 via military plane, a crowd of local government, school, church and religious leaders welcomed the relics on its fourth visit to the Philippines. Enclosed in a golden reliquary some bone fragments of St. Therese, personnel of the Ilocos Norte Police Provincial Office carried the relics while members of the Knights of Columbus helped in crowd control. From the airport, organizers conducted a motorcade all the way to the St. William Cathedral in downtown Laoag. On the same day, Monsignor Leo Ruiz led the concelebrated welcome mass, attended by hundreds of

By Leilanie G. Adriano Staff reporter Burgos , Ilocos Norte— Gamet , a pricey seasonal seaweed that grows on sharp and slippery coral stones in the coastline of this town continues to sustain the livelihood of residents here. From November to March, seaweed pickers brave the cold breeze and strong waves to collect gamet akin to a Japanese nori. Ilocano salad, soups and omelet dishes often feature gamet . For Burgos town residents, they consider this a “black gold” as it commands a high price in the market. A square foot size when dried costs an average of PHP500. Because of its nutritious content and light weight, mostly balikbayans and tourists buy this for take-home or pasalubong to friends and relatives. For 58-year-old Natividad Parica of Brgy. Bayog, she said gamet picking has already been a way of life for her family. Mrs. Parica recalled that at the age of 10, she already started joining elders to pick gamet to help earn a living. During the

Ceremonial Opening led by Ilocos Norte governor Imee R. Marcos and other Guests—Engr. Fe Rebancos, GM John Teodoro, Dir. Zenaida Mariano, Dir. Rodrigo Pagtulingan, Dir. Nicetos Campos, Dir. Norman Rabago, Dir. Ameurfina Respicio and BM Jan Joseph Sta. Barbara. By Dominic B. dela Cruz Staff reporter PrimeWater Ilocos Norte, in partnership with the Ilocos Norte Water District (INWD), made another great stride as the joint venture celebrated the groundbreaking ceremony of the pipelaying project at Brgy. Buyon, Bacarra, Ilocos Norte on January 16, 2018. This project is a 2,200-meter Pipelaying of 350mm diameter pipe along the national highway, from Sitio Tamucalao to Sitio Liwliwa, Brgy. Buyon in Bacarra, Ilocos Norte. Bacarra. The project will benefit the people by providing an increased pressure of water, availability of water supply to 5,000 concessionaires of Laoag and Bacarra, and availability of water supply during the hot summer season. Ilocos Norte gover

By Leilanie G. Adriano Staff reporter LAOAG CITY—With the expected increase prices of oil and petroleum products and other basic commodities due to the recently implemented tax reform law, the Ilocos Norte provincial government is eyeing the revival of subsidized public transport services to students from marginalized families. As one of the pilot projects of the Ilocos Norte government, they launched the Sirib transport service for students last year, giving gas subsidy to public utility jeepneys and buses. In return, these registered PUJs and buses shall give 50% discount on student fares. For students to avail of discounted fares, they only need to show their valid identification cards. As of this posting, Ilocos Norte governor Ma. Imelda Josefa “Imee” R. Marcos said they are still finalizing with the Commission on Audit (COA) the arrangement since COA intensified the auditing rules. “We want to maintain high school attendance and not to fall back from so

What country in the world puts the welfare of illegal aliens ahead of its own citizens? The federal government was partially shut down for three days early this week because the Democrats in the U.S. Senate did not want to vote for a spending bill to get the government going unless the bill included a provision giving amnesty to alien children who were brought to the United States illegally. The Senate Democrats were sacrificing the interest of the American people for the benefit of illegal aliens. The Democrats were putting the welfare of illegal aliens first, rather than the welfare of Americans first.   Even the liberal, pro-Democratic party newspapers printed denunciations of this political misconduct. USA Today, quoted Thomas Hicks Jr. of The Hill, as saying: “Never before in American history has a major political party put the interests of lawbreaking foreign nationals ahead of the interests of law-abiding Americans. Yet that is exactly what the Democrats have done

Ilocos Norte governor Imee R. Marcos receives the check from Chinese consul Wang Jianqun. (Alaric Yanos photo) By Leilanie G. Adriano Staff reporter LAOAG CITY—The Ilocos Norte provincial government is currently developing a Chinese garden overlooking the legendary Paoay Lake as an added attraction for tourists. This is strategically located near the Malacañang of the North, former residence of the Marcos family turned into a presidential museum and a favorite venue for wedding receptions. In a recent meeting, the People’s Republic of China represented by Wang Jianqun, consul and head of post of the Chinese Consulate based in San Nicolas, Ilocos Norte, turned over around PHP2 million more to Ilocos Norte governor Ma. Imelda Josefa “Imee’ R. Marcos for the provincial government for the development of the Chinese garden which broke ground in January last year. With the increasing number of Chinese tourists visiting the province, the People’s Republic of China an

Laoag City could be one of the most LGBT-friendly cities in the Philippines. A third of its elected councilors are openly and proudly gay. There’s Rbee Ablan who comes from a prominent political family, businessman Handy Lao, and Mikee Fariñas who happens to be a daughter of the power couple—the Laoag city mayor and vice mayor. All three city councilors ran on a platform of gender equality and promised to promote gender-sensitive legislation. True to their promise, they pushed for the passage of The Comprehensive Anti-Discrimination Ordinance of Laoag City which is currently under review by the Sangguniang Panlalawigan. Moreover, Laoag mayor Chevylle V. Fariñas is known to be friendly with the LGBT community, and she has placed gay people in prominent positions in her administration. Gender discrimination was unheard of at the Laoag City Hall… Until lately. It comes as a surprise that there is much resentment among members of the local LGBT community at this time because of an i