The Ilocos Times

  By Dominic B. dela Cruz ( Staff Reporter) Laoag City —In line with the PHP85.4 missing money form the city government’s coffers, the Sangguniang Panlungsod here appealed to the Commission on Audit (COA) to open the padlocked office of former city government treasurer Elena Asuncion, who has since absconded. All council members present during a regular session unanimously approved the resolution for an inventory of the city government properties at the said office; and preserve those which needs to be preserved and to allow the use of the said office space by the city government in a manner the city deems appropriate. Laoag councilor Juan Conrado Respicio, who moved for the resolution’s approval, said that in June 2016, Asuncion absconded, which led to the discovery of the loss of more or less PHP85.4 million in taxpayers’ money of the city. After the discovery of the missing funds, Respicio said COA padlocked the office, and has remains so until now. Relative to this, he sa

  By Leilanie G. Adriano ( Staff Reporter) LAOAG CITY—To boost the confidence of tourists to travel again, the Tourism Promotions Board of the Philippines, the marketing and promotions arm of the Department of Tourism (DOT) has approved PHP7 million for the RT-PCR (reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction) testing of tourism workers in the province. Covering at least 2,000 DOT-accredited tourism workers composed of tour guides, driver-guides, hotel and restaurant workers among others, RT-PCR testing bearing negative result is required before they can mingle with pre-registered tourists visiting Ilocos Norte. Xavier Ruiz, tourism operations officer II of the Ilocos Norte Tourism Office said they were able to secure the fund since November last year as they were supposed to roll out the free RT-PCR testing of tourism workers in December if for the rise cases of COVID-19, mostly in this city. “The free RT-PCR tests of tourism workers is meant to lessen the burden of tourism

Currimao Mayor Edward Quilala on Jan. 25, 2021 gives cash and household goods to a parent of a quadriplegic kid lying in a side car. ( Rey Andres) By Reynaldo E. Andres ( Contributor) CURRIMAO, Ilocos Norte—At least six quadriplegic children of this town received on Jan. 25, 2021 a monthly stipend of PHP3,000 each, including a package of household and food supplies. The package consisted of milk supplement, bed, pillows, electric fan, transistor radio and rice, among others. Quadriplegics are those who cannot move their four limbs as a result of either diseases of various congenital abnormalities. “Of this amount, PHP2,000 came from a donor who requested anonymity, while the PHP1,000 is a counterpart of our local government,” said Currimao mayor Edward Quilala, emphasizing that the compassionate donor is a native of Currimao, but is now living in the United States. The package of supplies was also provided by the local government here. “These aren’t much, but at least we coul

By Leilanie G. Adriano ( Staff Reporter) LAOAG CITY—The province’s livestock sector including other agricultural commodities is not swayed by the pandemic nor the threat of African swine fever in this part of northern Luzon. Dr. Loida Valenzuela, provincial veterinarian said the province has more than enough supply of pork and other meat products. “Our livestock situation in the province is stable. There has been no price increase of meat products and eggs amidst pandemic,” said Valenzuela. According to Valenzuela, the province continues to supply livestock and poultry products to neighboring cities and provinces such as in Tuguegarao, Ilocos Sur, La Union and Baguio City. To augment the high demand for meat products in Metro Manila, Ilocos Norte also hopes to share a pie in the supply chain by bringing in frozen goods in the area. Since May 2020, the Department of Agriculture-National Livestock Program (DA-NLP) reported around 213,500 hogs from Visayas and Mindanao were tr

By Leilanie G. Adriano ( Staff Reporter) LAOAG CITY—The pandemic has hit the world hard and without remorse including a small province up north. While many businesses have closed, other business opportunities have also shoot up as they adopt to the change of time. The province of Ilocos Norte is emerging as an agro-industrial economy when the COVID-19 panic started. Everyone was forced to the confines of their homes except for people who have to report to work. Suddenly, it was all back to basic. People left at home focused on home improvement and gardening too, for those with space available. Technology has also become more than ever in demand, not only for kids who are on homeschooling but also for families who are separated by distance. Ilocos Norte Governor Matthew Joseph M. Manotoc acknowledged that 2020 has been a tough year for the province because of the presence and impact of pandemic but like in the past, the Ilocanos will continue to weather the storm and win the bat

By Leilanie G. Adriano  (Staff Reporter) LAOAG CITY-- Philippine Army has called on the support of local government units (LGUs) here to help them in eradicating a “long-time virus that is deadlier than the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)”.   BGen. Audrey L. Pasia, Brigade Commander of the 702 nd Infantry Brigade 7th Infantry Division has asked the local chief executives present during the joint Peace and Order Council and Provincial Anti-Drug Abuse Council meeting on December 21, 2020 to get rid of the so called ‘white areas’ in Ilocos Norte where communist terrorists are likely to infect various sectors such as farmers and students among others. In his presentation during the meeting, Mr. Pasia identified several personalities in the province who are allegedly supporters of the CPP-NPA. “We are not red-tagging anybody here but there are some local threats in Ilocos Norte and some of them have surrendered already with the help of our LGUs,” said Mr. Pasia citing LGUs can

By Dominic B. dela Cruz  (Staff Reporter) Marcos, Ilocos Norte—The municipal government here proposed three-storey town hall from the existing 50-year-old two-storey old building. Marcos town mayor Antonio Mariano announced this in an interview saying, “it’s about time to construct a new building municipal hall of Marcos”. As of press time, the mayor said all offices at the municipal hall are all getting ready in transferring their office supplies and equipment temporarily to the rural health unit (RHU), ABC building and other offices outside the municipal hall. “Makita tay metten a daan detoy municipyo tayon ta agob-obo pay ketdin no kasta nga agtudo ta agarup nasursurok payen ngem 50 years nan , ” Mariano said. The neophyte mayor added that the municipal government has applied for a loan from the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) in the amount of PHP132 million with a 2.5% percent interest per annum payable for 15 years. The mayor hopes that construction will sta