The Ilocos Times

By Leilanie G. Adriano Staff Reporter LAOAG CITY—Police officers in this city have tightened border control following the surge of people going to the urban center here as the province is placed under modified general community quarantine. General merchandise stores are not yet permitted to open, but many vehicle owners are already forming long lines in fast food chains' drive thru, as well as outside convenience stores and pharmacies. With this, Ilocos Norte Governor Matthew Joseph M. Manotoc on May 6, 2020, urged all local chief executives in Ilocos Norte to strictly limit social mobility in their respective areas of jurisdiction and only those workers engaged in essential services should be allowed to go out and on a limited number only. Though some barangay checkpoints have already relaxed the entry and exit restrictions, inter-town movement is still limited to authorized individuals such as the essential service workers. “We appeal for everyone’s cooperation and un

By Dominic B. dela Cruz ( Staff Reporter ) Laoag City —The city government of Laoag here celebrated the city’s 55 th Charter Day on June 19, 2020 in as the COVID-19 pandemic rages on. The simple celebration kicked off A wreath laying in-front of the city hall led by Ilocos Norte Governor Mathew Joseph M. Manotoc and Laoag Mayor Michael M. Keon kicked off the simple celebration. Mr. Keon said that this year’s celebration is “extraordinary” as it pays tribute to the great men, women and organizations who made significant contributions to the city in this time of pandemic. Despite the pandemic, Mr. Keon, in his speech, assured that the provincial government and the city government are doing their best to fight Covid -19 in order to protect the people of Laoag and Ilocos Norte. This year’s celebration also celebrated the 55 heroes, whose inspiring stories and sacrifices; and selfless dedication in this time of COVID-19: Barangay Covid-19 Task Force; MMMH & MC Department of

Laoag City —The Provincial Governm ent of Ilocos Norte (PGIN) has officially received its requested units of ambulance from the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO), in front of the Provincial Capitol Building in this city on April 7, 2020. Ilocos Norte Governor Matthew Joseph M. Manotoc, along with the heads of hospitals in the province who are recipients of the donation, witnessed the arrival of the first two out of four patient-transport vehicles, which the PCSO earlier pledged. The receiving hospitals will primarily use the ambulances as additional transport services addressing coronavirus-related concerns. “ Gusto naming magpasalamat dahil du mating na ang request ng provincial government. Wala pang mga medical equipment at instruments sa loob [ambulance] kaya magdadagdag tayo ng mga kulang at kailangan para maging full-pledged ambulance ang mga ito . ‘ Yung next two ambulances ay parating na rin , so we really thank our friends from PCSO,” Mr. Manotoc expres

By Leilanie G. Adriano ( Staff Reporter) LAOAG CITY—Keziah Aguinaldo, a resident of Brgy. San Luis in Pudtol, Apayao and who is currently reviewing for the upcoming Pharmacy Licensure Examination at the Mariano Marcos State University was finally reunited with her family on the afternoon of May 20, 2020 after she was locked down in her boarding house at Brgy. Caunayan in Batac City for more than two months. Ms. Aguinaldo is among the 27 stranded individuals from various parts of Ilocos Norte who were fetched by two government-owned shuttle buses from Apayao on May 20, 2020. “I’m thankful for MMSU and the Apayao government for helping us go home,” she said as she held her bag and stepped on the bus to bring her home. The local government unit of Apayao in coordination with the Ilocos Norte government facilitated the inter-province travel as public bus transport remains unavailable connecting both provinces as of the moment. Joeffrey Borromeo, Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction

By Leilanie G. Adriano ( Staff Reporter) San Nicolas , Ilocos Norte—Some housewives in Brgy. San Guillermo, this town, are working double time to ensure all frontliners have access to washable face masks to protect themselves from COVID-19 scare. As the entire Luzon is currently under enhanced community quarantine and authorities here are strictly regulating the movement of people from one place to another, Virginia Jose and a few others in the village who are into dressmaking business tried to craft do-it-yourself face masks. Since the COVID-19 outbreak, the selling of disposable face masks from commercial drugstores has been scarce, prompting them to create their own. “At first, we only thought of producing for ourselves and family but we were inspired to produce more for the safety of our community,” said Mrs. Jose. Using leftover fabric from the making of singlets and t-shirts for fun run and other sporting events which they do for a living, Mrs. Jose’s team reproduced

By Leilanie G. Adriano Staff Reporter LAOAG CITY—The Ilocos Norte Provincial library i-hub is offering free internet service and wi-fi access to students undergoing online class in this time of “new normal”. In a social media post on the official page of the provincial government of Ilocos Norte, the Ilocos Norte i-hub, located at the second floor of the Ilocos Norte Centennial Arena announced a new section has been added to the library called, ‘TeknoAklatan’. This is a digital library containing a collection or database of digital books (e-books) covering various subjects and accessed through the computers at the library i-hub. With the extended modified general community quarantine in the province where computer shops are not yet permitted to open, Ilocos Norte Governor Matthew Joseph M. Manotoc said students who lack computers at home or having problems with slow internet and wi-fi connectivity can avail of the i-hub’s new services for free. At present, some students in th

Laoag City— Guaranteeing food security in the province amidst the escalating threat of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the provincial government assures the public that it has enough rice supply during the month-long enhanced community quarantine.   According to Sustainable Development Center head, Edwin Cariño, the National Food Authority (NFA)-Ilocos Norte reported a total of 197,647 bags of rice serving as a buffer stock, good for 46 days, are available in their different warehouses. Also, the NFA has already released a total of 3,905 bags of rice to different local government units (LGUs).   He further assured that the second harvesting season this March and April will boost the rice supply in the province.   “15,000 hectares of the planted area can produce at least 1.2 million bags of palay and once milling preparation is completed, about 780,000 bags of rice will be added to our buffer stock which is sufficient for over six months,” Mr. Cariño added.   “ Hindi t