The Ilocos Times

LAOAG CITY – Reelected Ilocos Norte Governor Matthew Joseph M. Manotoc vowed to continue programs he started during his first term but on a much grander scale. In his speech during the formal presentation of documents for turnover at the Sangguniang Panlalawigan, Manotoc said that while expectations are high for the province of Ilocos Norte and its new set of leaders, he sees no problem achieving their goals, especially under the incoming administration of his uncle President Ferdinand "Bongbong" R. Marcos Jr. “We have the national government on our side. So, let us capitalize on the moment. We are at the forefront of the Philippines and everybody is looking at us. Let us make our president and our province mates proud,” Manotoc told the transition team and the department heads. He said he will push for agriculture modernization, tourism investments as well as manufacturing and product processing to generate more jobs and livelihood. "There had been a lot of dela

Bulacan Medical Center’s Ronchie D. Santos and Marc Anthony Payabyab (center) receive the QUILTS Award from EpiC Country Director Teresita Marie “Bai” Bagasao, USAID Foreign Service Officer Hoang Bui, AIDS Society Philippines President Irene Fonacier-Fellizar, and USAID Office of Health Deputy Director Yolanda Oliveros. Manila —The United States government, through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), recently partnered with the Department of Health and the AIDS Society of the Philippines to recognize seven facilities and organizations that made exceptional contributions to the country’s HIV treatment efforts. During the inaugural “Quality Uptake and Improvements in Lifesaving Treatment Services” (QUILTS) Awards held last May 31, the following facilities and organization were feted for their efforts in the following categories: Linkage to Care Champion – Bulacan Medical Center; Treatment and Care, Adher

By Noralyn Dudt When the Spanish Galleon San Clemente arrived in Manila in 1592, there were 50 kilos of Cuban tobacco seeds in the ship's hold.   Historical records indicate that these seeds were later planted in the Cagayan Valley by Catholic friars. The soil and climate of the Ilocos region and the Cagayan Valley were observed to be the best for planting and growing tobacco crops. It was Governor Jose Basco y Vargas who convinced the King of Spain that growing tobacco and monopolizing its production would guarantee the colonial government in Manila its financial viability and sustainability In addition to gaining revenue for the Spanish government, the Spanish colonizers must have recognized that it was also an opportunity for them to get rich. In light of that, they started commercializing the growing of tobacco and established the Tobacco Monopoly in 1782, giving them full control of the tobacco industry. The monopoly gave them the power to regulate the processing of toba

By Noralyn Dudt BASI, the Ilokano alcoholic beverage made from sugarcane juice that is fermented   and aged in a “burnay”,—a traditional earthenware—has been an integral part of the Ilokano culture even in pre-Spanish times. In his study on the “Basi Revolt”, researcher Jayson Antonio suggested that during those times basi “was one of the few—and free—pleasures in life available to the masses." They drank it after a day of hard work in the fields, they drank it when celebrating the birth of a child, they drank it to toast a couple getting married, and they drank basi in a ritualistic ablution after a funeral. From childbirth to marriage and   to death, it was part of their ritual,   tradition, and daily life. Commercial basi is produced by first crushing sugarcane and extracting the juice. The juice is then boiled in vats and then stored in earthen jars. Once the juice has cooled, flavorings made of ground glutinous rice and duhat (plum-like fruit in the tropics) or other

[ First of a series ] By Noralyn Dudt Wedged between the Cordillera Mountains and the South China Sea is a long strip of   land called the Ilocos. It's   a very narrow coastal plain where the mountains drop right down to the sea.   A rugged but beautiful terrain that shaped a people who are known for diligence, frugality, determination, simplicity, resourcefulness, and resilience.   "Beware of the Ilocanos for in the face of adversity they are hardy and resilient. They live simply... they are loyal... they have an elaborate network of beliefs and practices which they apply when dealing with people around them,"   was surely an apt   observation by an Augustinian friar back in the 1700s. Such Ilocano characteristics were probably unknown to the young conquistador Captain Juan de Salcedo who was sent to explore the northern part of Luzon in 1565. The grandson of an earlier Conquistador Miguel Lopez de Legazpi,   Juan was charged to lead Spain's investment of so

By Noralyn Dudt Now that a big chunk of the world population has had at least two doses of the coronavirus vaccine, scientists are focused   on designing a vaccine that is broadly protective and would last a long time. A tetanus-like shot is now the goal. The tetanus vaccine that my physician jabs into my arm every 10 years was designed to last 10 years. And now it's a scientist's dream to develop a vaccine for the Coronavirus that would last 10 years. The National Institutes of Health having taken that into account, awarded US$36 million to scientific teams last fall who were trying to answer basic questions that would lead to a breakthrough.   At a minimum, the world needs a truly variant-proof vaccines. Even better would be a vaccine that would stop a future pandemic—protection against a yet-unknown coronavirus. The first versions of coronavirus vaccines were powerful. From the virus that emerged in 2019, spiky proteins were taken from their surface and were tweaked to

By Noralyn O. Dudt GLOBALIZATION is not what one would associate with the 16 th and 17 th centuries   when ships with sails were the only means of transportation in crossing the great oceans and only horses and carriages in traversing the continents.   Jetting the globe on an airplane was still three centuries away. Globalization is what one may ascribe only to our modern era but the history of the   Galleon Trade between Manila and Acapulco tells otherwise. The Manila Galleons were the FEDEX of their time.   The Galleon Trade was the birth of what we now know as globalization. It was in 1565 when the Galleon Trade was first launched. Manila galleons as they were called were the Spanish Trading ships that linked the Spanish General of the Philippines with New Spain   (now Mexico) for 250 years. It made one or two round-trip voyages per year: one from Acapulco to Manila that took 120 days with some 500,000 pesos worth of goods—mostly silver from Spain's South American colonies