The Ilocos Times

By Dominic B. dela Cruz Staff reporter Laoag City —The complaint letter against Laoag City schools division superintendent Dr. Joel B. Lopez has reached the Dept. of Education’s Region I office. The complaint details alleged corruption and abuse of authority against Mr. Lopez. The letter, which the unknown writer/s also furnished The Ilocos Times , has also reportedly reached Education Sec. Leonor M. Briones. The letter has a date of April 27, 2018. The letter alleges that Mr. Lopez “demands and accepts amount of money in return for favors, like appointments for promotions”. It also stated that Mr. Lopez allegedly “demands percentage from winning bidders/contractors and labelling the amount for ‘the bereaved family’ as cover up.” The letter writer/s, which went by the name “Concerned Ilocanos”, also accuses Mr. Lopez of “selective hiring”, as he allegedly favors applicants that also belong to his religious affiliation. On top of these, it also claimed

By Dominic B. dela Cruz Staff reporter Batac City — Education Undersecretary Atty. Nepomuceno A. Malaluan addressed of 429 pupils and students of the Alternative Learning System (ALS) from the entire province of Ilocos Norte during the 10 th Division Alternative Learning System graduation exercises held at the MMSU Teatro Ilocandia this city on July 27, 2018. Mr. Malaluan in his speech lauded the graduates, their parents and the ALS implementers for emphasizing the importance of education to every individual. He said their diploma or certificate is a testament that they have completed the basic education and that they now have better opportunities in the years to come. The education official challenged the teachers to believe and aim high in the educational system to think critically, to be entrepreneurial in capacities in any endeavor and to be successful leaders. Ilocos Norte DepEd ALS-EPSA Jacobino Galzote said that there were eight males and nine females wh

  Detained Marcos Mayor Jessie Ermitanio's lawyer Jason Perrera.  By Bernard Ver Contributor Laoag City —Bernie Lazo, also known as Alex Vergara, star witness in the murder case of the late Marcos Mayor Arsenio Agustin has recanted his statement, Atty. Jason Bader Ll. Perera said. Mr. Lazo’s statement implicated detained Marcos Mayor Jessie Ermitanio. Mr. Perera is Mr. Ermitanio’s lawyer. Perera said the arresting officers allegedly intimidated the witness to make a statement against Mr. Ermitanio. He added that the witness is ready to present an affidavit recanting his previous statement in court. The lawyer also said that they were able to establish that Mr. Ermitanio does not own the nipa hut where a raid on resulted in the seizure of unlicensed firearms and explosives. “The hut is owned by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and not mayor Jessie… We are confident that the name of Mayor Jessie will be cleared. We are hoping ag

By Leilanie G. Adriano Staff reporter Dingras , Ilocos Norte—Officials of this town has placed the “rice granary of Ilocos Norte” under a state of calamity due to the increase of Dengue cases here. Dingras Mayor Erdio Valenzuela confirmed this as he reported the municipality has recorded 66 suspected cases of dengue since the onset of the rainy season here. A child from the flood-prone village of San Marcelino died recently here due to dengue. “It was already too late when they brought the child to the hospital,” the mayor added. At present, he said they are carrying out fumigation activities in Dingras to contain the spread of the disease. “We have mobilized our barangay officials and barangay health workers to spearhead the cleanliness drive. Our municipal health unit is also on top of the situation to arrest this problem,” said Mr. Valenzuela. In putting this town as under a state of calamity, the mayor assured they have enough funds to contain the proble

By Dominic B. dela Cruz Staff reporter Laoag City —City government officials here favored the new location of the sanitary landfill at Brgy. Balatong, this city. The LGU eyes a six-hectare lot for the project, During a public hearing on the issue, with city officials led by Laoag vice mayor Franklin Dante A. Respicio, and Brgy. Balatong officials and residents, all stakeholders approved the location. Laoag assessor Ruben Domingo said the residents approved the proposed project provided that the city government strictly follows all rules and regulations from construction and maintenance. Mr. Domingo said the public hearing is one of the prerequisites for the issuance of Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC), and the payment of the lots affected. As of press time, the assessor said the city government is ready with the funding to purchase the lots. He disclosed that lots near the streets costs around PHP200 per square meters while those that are away

By Bernard Ver & Leilanie G. Adriano Laoag City —The National Movement of Young Legislators-Ilocos Norte, in cooperation with the Children International Philippines foundation distributed shoes for students at Brgy. La Paz village this city on August 8, 2018. Laoag councilor Roque Benjamin C. Ablan led the distribution with the special participation of Sangguniang Panlalawigan senior member Matthew Joseph M. Manotoc, Ilocos Norte Sangguniang Kabataan president Rafael Salvador Chua Medina and Laoag councilor Handy Lao. The Ilocos Norte Regional School of Fisheries is the second benefactor after Caoacan National High School. The INRSF received 600 pairs of shoes for each of their students as well as the faculty and staff. Gabu High School is their next destination with a target of 800 pairs of shoes to be distributed. The Children’s International Foundation works to get rid of poverty through diverse programs that provide children access to medical and de

Batac mayor Albert D. Chua presents the proposed PHP15 million series of improvement for the Batac Public Market to the members of the local media during a press interview. (Doms dela Cruz) By Dominic B. dela Cruz Staff reporter Batac City —For a better and more conducive Batac Public Market, the city government here has allocated at least PHP15 million for its improvement. Batac Mayor Albert D. Chua confirmed this after he received the program of works and the availability of funds coming from the local finance committee. The improvement includes a proposed façade, replacement of roofing and rehabilitation of the truss of meat and fish section building with an allocated amount of PHP3,017,000; replacement of roofing of the meat and fish section, PHP1.6 million; relocation of the carinderia section, PHP2 million; construction of tables and flooring for meat and fish section, PHP2.5 million; installation of ceiling spandrel at the ground floor of the public mark