The Ilocos Times

  BJMP regional office personnel along with a K9 dog inspect all the belongings of the female PDLs at the BJMP Laoag during the surprise “Operation Greyhound” on May 20, 2019. PDEA also conducted a surprise and random drug test for PDLs and jail personnel. (Doms dela Cruz) By Dominic B. dela Cruz Staff reporter Laoag City —Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) Assistant Regional Director for Administration (ARDA) superintendent Florante Nisperos announced that Laoag City Jail remains ‘’drug free” after the recently concluded surprise operation greyhound on May 20, 2019. Mr. Nisperos said both the persons deprived of liberty (PDL) and jail personnel underwent surprise random drug tests. “In fact, very sanitized iti Laoag City Jail in terms of illegal drugs ken contrabands,” Mr. Nisperos said. BJMP Laoag J/Chief Insp. Herminigildo Rivera was thankful for the result and findings of the surprise “Operation Greyhound”. The recent operation feature

Laoag City —As part of the Provincial Government of Ilocos Norte’s (PGIN) bid to continue boosting employment opportunities for Ilocanos, the Provincial Employment Service Office (PESO) conducted a career orientation in partnership with K.R.T International Training Center Inc. (K.R.T-ITCI) on May 29, 2019 at the Provincial Capitol cafeteria. K.R.T-ITCI, a TESDA-accredited agency offers Korean language studies and cultural programs for students as well as corporate trainings for businesses. It provides proper guidance in terms of skills and information needed to qualify applicants as overseas workers. “ Ang K.R.T-ITCI ay isang international training center na nagbibigay ng oportunidad sa mga Pilipinong gustong magtrabaho sa South Korea. Maaaring mag-attend sa career orientation na ito ang mga senior high school students, undergraduates, at kahit sinong interesado ,” PESO officer Lizette B. Atuan said. Aside from the K.R.T career orientation, the PGIN-PESO wil

Here’s a 21 st  century classroom models now open to learners of the Burgos Agro Industrial School, the only secondary school in Burgos, Ilocos Norte, and the Burgos Central Elementary School. These classrooms are equipped with high-tech gadgets fitted for digital natives. ( Lei Adriano) By Leilanie G. Adriano Staff Reporter     Burgos , Ilocos Norte—At least two state-of-the-art classrooms equipped with high-tech learning gadgets for digital learners are now in place in Burgos, Ilocos Norte, a fifth-class municipality which hosts the largest wind farm in Southeast Asia. Funded through the municipality’s Special Education Fund tax, a 1% levy on the assessed value of real properties, the Burgos government led by the town’s longest-serving mayor, Rodolfo Garcia decided to pour in the funds for its young learners. “Our children [are] our future. Our investment in education is our way of expressing our love to them so that they will grow and develop their maximum potent

By Dominic B. dela Cruz Staff reporter Laoag City —The police in this city will continue to aggressively implement “Double Barrel”, the enhanced managing of police operations and the anti-illegal drugs campaign plan. Lt. Col Mar Louise Bundoc, Laoag police chief, made this announcement. Mr. Bundoc took over the city police’s reins on January 3, 2019. Records show that during his stay, they conducted 14 operations for “double barrel” including “buy-bust” operations from January to May in the different barangays in the city and all the arrested suspect landed in jail. Relative to this, Mr. Bundoc said Laoag is “generally peaceful” since the start of his stay in the city. He stressed that his stay in the city is challenging since he came during the election period. He, however, maintained that there were no elections-related incidents from the start of the election period until election day. The election period officially ends on June 13, 2019. In a related

Laoag City —The Provincial Government of Ilocos Norte (PGIN) through the Provincial Education Office (PEdO) conducted the screening and interview of new applicants for the senior high school (SHS) scholarship program on May 21-24, 2019, at the second floor of Ilocos Norte Centennial Arena, this city.  PEdO met 740 new applicants for initial screening, alongside 352 SHS students who eyes the renewal of their scholarship grants. Implemented in November 2018, the SHS scholarship program is the newest addition to the provincial government’s integrated Sirib Scholarship Program. It was established through the Provincial Ordinance No. 049-2018 sponsored by senior Sangguniang Panlalawigan member and Ilocos Norte Governor-elect Matthew Joseph M. Manotoc. The SHS Scholarship Program aims to provide monthly cash allowance to beneficiaries to augment fare and boarding fees, and to buy school supplies, among others. “Positive ang feedback ng unang taon ng SHS scholarship

By Leilanie G. Adriano Staff Reporter LAOAG CITY—The Provincial Incidence Response Management 911 in Ilocos Norte continues to save lives as quick-responders continue to act on hundreds of emergency calls over the last three years. With a growing number of callers every day, “Agent 5054”, a call taker at the PIRM center, reported that they receive an average of 50 calls per month or 600 calls annually. “Most of these cases are vehicular accidents next to health-related incidents and police assistance due to minor cases like nuisance and public commotion among others,” he said. Since it was launched on December 2016, the Ilocos Norte emergency hotline has grown from four call takers and one police officer on duty to 11 call takers and four police officers who take turns in a 12-hour shift. The center has a standby ambulance in front of the Capitol too. In 2018, the 911 Emergency Response Office was merged with the Department of Public Safety, adding two nurses an

the Dept. of Trade and Industry is encouraging franchise owners to expand in other Southeast Asian countries, as more Filipino brands are getting access to a larger share of the population of the region. Eric Elnar, DTI trade service officer of the Foreign Trade Service Corps, said they can use the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Economic Community (AEC) to penetrate the ASEAN region. "Under the ASEAN, we have an ASEAN free trade agreement so basically, it just says that franchising is one of the sectors that is being promoted in the ASEAN agreement. So, it's a good idea for franchise owners in the Philippines to look at expanding first in other ASEAN countries before you expand elsewhere," he said. Mr. Elnar pointed out that franchising is considered under distribution services, same with retail and wholesale services, stipulated in the packages of services commitments in ASEAN Framework Agreement on Services (AFAS). To expand presence in