The Ilocos Times

By Dominic B. dela Cruz Staff reporter Batac City —All public elementary and secondary schools in this city are now also evacuation centers for calamities and disasters. This was the result of a recent Sangguniang Panlungsod resolution that authorized Batac Mayor Albert D. Chua to enter into a memorandum of agreement with the local Dept. of Education office here. Division supt. Joann A. Corpuz will represent DepEd in the MOA. Batac councilor Jeremiah C. Nalupta sponsored the resolution is in line with the thrust of the national and local leaderships to mitigate the impact of such foreseen and unforeseen disasters and calamities. Mr. Nalupta said this is for the city’s preparedness and resilience to minimize, if not eradicate, undue losses such as lives and properties. The vice chairman of the committee on education therefore, said that the city government should have initiatives and protocols to establish a permanent standby or areas which can become evacuation

By Dominic B. dela Cruz Staff reporter Laoag City —A city councilor proposed the renaming of the Laoag City General Hospital (LCGH) into the Michael V. Fariñas Memorial Hospital (MVFMH). The council tackled the proposed resolution, sponsored by Laoag councilor Edison Siazon on first reading. The council later referred it to the committees on health and laws. Laoag vice mayor and council presiding officer Franklin Dante A. Respicio requested that they should also refer the proposal to the National Historical Institute of the Philippines to know the requirements needed for its renaming. Mr. Siazon, who chairs the committee on health, welcomed the suggestion saying he will secure all the needed requirements, if there are any. Relative to this, Mr. Siazon said that the measure would be in recognition and a memorial to the late Laoag mayor and vice mayor for the “big transformation” he made for the LCGH. Mr. Fariñas perished in a car crash last June.

By Leilanie G. Adriano Staff reporter LAOAG CITY—The mecca of rice in Ilocos Norte has been attracting farmers and students as well. Ask a 10-year-old Gian Abad, a Grade V pupil of Shamrock Elementary School in Laoag City what are the tools to harvest rice and he may stare at you with a blank look on his face. As a city boy, he regularly consumes rice at least three times a day but he may not have been to the rice fields or witnessed what is was like to be planting or harvesting rice under the scorching heat of the sun.   With the continuing farm modernization, the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) in Batac City established a rice museum where young learners can go to appreciate the culture of this staple food for Filipinos. The rice museum located at the lower ground floor of PhilRice building is the first of its kind rice museum in the province that houses rice-based farming systems, involving pieces of material culture, from the past and present a

By Leilanie G. Adriano Staff reporter LAOAG CITY—Amidst the implementation of the sin tax law, a multi-national tobacco company is ready to expand to a bigger market and partner with Ilocos Norte farmers to plant tobacco. Edwin Cariño, head of the Sustainable Development Center under the provincial government confirmed this as he reported the management of the Universal Leaf Philippines Inc. (ULPI) is set to visit Ilocos Norte to discuss the possible partnership agreement with Ilocos Norte Gov. Ma. Imelda Josefa “Imee” R. Marcos. “We are expecting the top executives of ULPI represented by its president Winston Wi or the vice president Erwin Ang to meet with our governor in the upcoming week,” said Mr. Cariño. According to Mr. Cariño, ULPI is interested to enter into a contract growing scheme with tobacco farmers here. Under the contract growing scheme, he explained ULPI will assure tobacco farmers that they have a ready market for their products. They will als

By Leilanie G. Adriano Staff reporter Pinili , Ilocos Norte—The Philippine National Police conducted a surprise earthquake drill at the Badio Elementary School in this Pinili town on the morning of July 19, 2018 to assess the knowledge and preparation skills of learners here in the event of calamity. At 9:45 in the morning, the school bell rang, which surprised the students. A grade 3 pupil, Hannah Luzcille Pagdilao and her classmates immediately ducked and covered their head with a book and moved out of the classroom since an “earthquake” has disturbed their on-going classroom activity. While they were at the open ground, the eight-year-old Ms. Pagdilao who became the team leader, started to count her classmates to check if there anyone trapped inside the classroom. In a corner, SPO1 Noel Abad along with PO Claire Ramiscal, Princess Aguinaldo, Sammy Sangbaan, Neil John Kieran Leano and Richard Rafanan of the Police Community Relations Office of the Ilocos N

  Better late than never. Laoag Mayor Chevylle V. Fariñas and Sangguniang Panlalawigan member Ria Fariñas lead the distribution of housing materials of typhoon Lawin (international name: Haima) victims in 2016. Those with totally and partially damaged houses totaling 120 received eight galvanized iron, one kilo nails and roof sealants each. The funding came from the National Housing Authority thru Rep. Rudy C. Fariñas (Ilocos Norte, 1 st  district). The city government also gave financial assistance in the amounts of PHP5,000 and PHP3,000 to those who suffered totally and partially damaged houses right after the typhoon, respectively, and aside from the relief goods. (Doms dela Cruz)

Laoag City —The Provincial Government of Ilocos Norte (PGIN), through its Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEi Office brought local products to an open trade fair in Tuguegarao City, Cagayan on June 24 to July 1, 2018 in response to a vegetable shortage in the said province. The trade fair was part of the Aggao Nac Cagayan Festival and allowed the showcase and promotion of products coming from nearby provinces. In addition to answering Cagayan’s vegetable shortage, it was an opportunity for Ilocos Norte enterprises to increase profit. According to Edison Natividad, administrative officer IV at the SME office “[T]he purpose of this project is to eradicate the middleman, to directly sell the product of our SMEs to consumers; so ibig sabihin, maalis yung middleman sa proseso kasi kung mayroong middleman, liliit yung profit o kita ng mga farmer o producer natin .” Agricultural produce, processed foods, and native accessories were among the Ilocano products marketed at the