The Ilocos Times

By Leilanie G. Adriano Staff Reporter LAOAG CITY—The Department of Trade and Industry here has cautioned once again buyers of Christmas lights to properly observe products safety. “We strongly advice the public to look for the Philippine Standard [PS] mark when purchasing Christmas lights to be assured of the product safety when used according to instructions,” said DTI acting provincial director Rosario Quodala. In time for the celebration of the National Standards Week, the DTI monitoring and enforcement team is currently monitoring retailers of Christmas lights in this city and neighboring San Nicolas town to ensure they are compliant with the law. “The retailers were also taught how to verify authenticity of ICC stickers using the latest application which can be downloaded from the Playstore of android phones,” she explained. As of this posting, the DTI were able to confiscate more than a hundred Christmas lights which are substandard. When buying Christ

By Bernardo B. Ver II Contributor Laoag City —Ilocos Norte artists joined together to share their arts thru wall-painting of the SIRIB Walk located at the university belt along Ablan Avenue here. Angelie Maranan Banaag, a rising artist in the country, said that they are doing this to add more excitement for the students who pass through the catwalk and to encourage the younger generation to be more creative and artistic in their way. Angelie believes that art is a form of expression that was stored in our minds. It is a top-down type of communication and the approach to the receiver depends on how he will depict it or analyze it. Now, their group is planning to have more artworks to be displayed in the entire city. Note, not for vandalism but to put colors to the gray and dirty-white sides of the place. Angelie added that these artworks must be respected and the people that pass more often to the place must take good care of it. The wall paintings are

Laoag City —With an aim to increase tobacco growers’ productivity and income, the provincial government of Ilocos Norte (PGIN) with the National Tobacco Administration (NTA) spearheaded a multisectoral collaboration through a meeting-workshop on “Tobacco Contract Growing System” at the Sangguniang Panlalawigan Session Hall on September 4, 2019. With officials from the NTA national and provincial offices facilitating, participants included mayors, agriculture officers, representatives from buyer firms, and other stakeholders of the agriculture sector. According to NTA’s data last year, the province’s farmers planted tobacco in more than 2,000 hectares of land and yielded 2.89 million kilograms. “I would like to encourage everyone to push our farmers to plant more tobaccos. If they [farmers] move to [planting] tobacco, we can support them better through the RA7171,” Ilocos Norte Governor Matthew Joseph M. Manotoc emphasized. Among Ilocos Norte’s front liners in

Laoag City —To set an example for the whole province, Ilocos Norte Governor Matthew Joseph M. Manotoc released a memorandum last month, directing all Provincial Capitol departments and agencies to strictly observe practical energy-saving measures.  PGIN employees should “strictly comply” with the memorandum including a 15-minute rule of switching on and off the air conditioning units (ACU) mandating that all departments should turn on the ACU 15 minutes after official start of office hours and it should be turned off 15 minutes before the end of office hours. Instead of using compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) and incandescent bulbs, offices are also advised to maximize the natural daylight and use energy-efficient light-emitting diodes (LED). Moreover, office equipment such as computers and monitors should be set to energy-saving modes; while kitchen equipment such as refrigerator and water dispenser should be turned off every weekend or when not in use.     Mr. Manotoc is h

Laoag City —In coordination with the Provincial Government of Ilocos Norte (PGIN), the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) rolled out the OWWA Rebate Program (ORP) on September 25-27 at the Provincial Capitol Auditorium, this city. The OWWA Rebate Program is in compliance with Section 67, Rule IV of the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act No. 10801 which aims to recognize the long-time members through granting of rebates and financial assistance. Alongside the ORP, the Commission on Filipinos Overseas led a mobile Pre-Migration Orientation Seminar (PMOS) and Pre-Departure Orientation Seminar (PDOS). OWWA granted assistance almost 40,000 qualified recipients in Region I alone. Beneficiaries received up to PHP13,000, depending on the total amount of contribution of the member-claimant. ( PGIN-CMO )

Tapno masursuruan dagiti kooperatiba a mangiwayat kadagiti naurnos a taripnong, maysa a serye ti parliamentary procedure training ti inisponsoran ti Department of Agrarian Reform-Ilocos Norte. Nangiwayat ti Department of Agrarian Reform-Ilocos Norte ti maysa a serye ti training seknan ti parliamentary procedure . Kuna ni agrarian reform program officer II Jocelyn M. Basilio, ti nasao a training ket naipaay kadagiti kooperatiba nga imanmaneher dagiti agrarian reform beneficiaries iti probinsia. Inbatad ni Ms. Basilio a gagem ti parliamentary procedure training a masursuruan dagiti opisial dagiti kooperatiba iti umno a wagas ti panangiwayat kadagiti taripnong ken nadumaduma pay nga aktibidad. Karaman kadagiti nagbalin a topiko iti training ket dagiti sumaganad: konsepto ken proseso ti parliamentary procedure ; panangipakat ti parliamentary procedure kadagiti taripnong; ken panangiwayat ti nabunga a meeting . Iti daytoy maikadua a semestre ti tawen, sangapulo

By Dominic B. dela Cruz Staff Reporter Laoag City —Better late than never. After one year, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has approved PHP56,504,000 for the repair of infrastructure damages wrought by typhoon “Ompong”. The DPWH-Ilocos Norte Engineering District I (INED-I) made the announcement. INED I district engineer Maria Venus Torio identified the damages as the flood control structures at Brgys. Bago and Tamdagan and Sitio Baldi in Vintar; Tulnagan Bridge in Pasuquin; flood control structure in Dumalneg; and flood control structure of Brgy. Ganagan in Bacarra. Originally, the total damages assessed amounted to PHP66 million but this was reduced after a rigid evaluation and validation by the DPWH. As this developed, Ms. Torio said the project is now published for public bidding. “The cause of the delay maybe because of a series validation and revisiting on the program of works,” Ms. Torio added.