Ilocos Norte News

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Province of Ilocos Norte - Archived News

Wars of ancient history were about possessions, territory, power, control, family, betrayal, lover's quarrel, politics and sometimes religion.

But we are in the Modern era and supposedly more educated and enlightened .

Think about this. Don't just brush off these questions.

  • Why is RELIGION still involved in WARS? Isn't religion supposed to be about PEACE?
  • Ask yourself; What religion always campaign to have its religious laws be accepted as government laws, always involved in wars and consistently causing WARS, yet insists that it's a religion of peace?

WHY??

There are only two kinds of people who teach tolerance:
  1. The Bullies. They want you to tolerate them so they can continue to maliciously deprive you. Do not believe these bullies teaching tolerance, saying that it’s the path to prevent hatred and prejudice.
  2. The victims who are waiting for the right moment to retaliate. They can’t win yet, so they tolerate.
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Ilocos Norte

Dietary supplement is a product that contains vitamins, minerals, herbs or other botanicals, amino acids, enzymes, and/or other ingredients intended to supplement the diet. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has special labeling requirements for dietary supplements and treats them as foods, not drugs.

Manufacturers and distributors of dietary supplements and dietary ingredients are prohibited from marketing products that are adulterated or misbranded. That means that these firms are responsible for evaluating the safety and labeling of their products before marketing to ensure that they meet all the requirements of DSHEA and FDA regulations.

Tagalog news: Palengke ng Laoag City inihahanda na para sa kapaskuhan

LAOAG CITY- Puspusan ang isinasagawang paghahanda ng Laoag City Market Council (LCMC) sa palengke ng siyudad para sa parating na holiday season. Maraming mga pagbabago ang inaasahan para sa darating na Pasko at Bagong Taon.

Mahigpit nang ipinatutupad ng lokal na pamahalaan ng Laoag ang pagsasagawa ng ‘waste segregation’ sa lahat ng parte ng siyudad lalong-lalo na sa mga palengke upang siguruhin ang kalinisan at kaligtasan ng mga mamimili pagdating ng inaasahang bakasyon.

Palagian din ang pagsasagawa ng Oplan Dalus sa loob at labas ng palengke tuwing Biyernes ng alas tres ng hapon. Masigasig namang nakikiisa ang mga market vendors dito.

Nagkaroon na din ang pagpipinta sa mga parking areas para sa maayos na pagpaparada ng sasakyan.

Sinabi ni Alfonso Antonio, assistant market officer ng Laoag na nagsasagawa sila ng pagpupulong sa lahat ng ng mga market vendor para kunin din ang kanilang mga hinaing at suhestiyon sa kani-kanilang mga puwesto.

“Mas nakatuon kami ngayon sa mga nagtitinda sa labas ng palengke kagaya ng mga fruit stand, binibigyan talaga naming sila ng puwesto para mas maayos ang ating palengke pagdating ng Pasko” dagdag pa ni Antonio.

Ipinag-utos din ni Laoag City mayor Michael V. Farinas ang paglalagay ng mga lead television sa ikalawa at ikatlong palapag ng palengke. Ito ay para ma-update ang mga tao sa loob ni palengke sa mga anunsyo ng siyudad.

“Bukod sa mas mabilis ang pagpapaalam ng mga anunsyo sa mga tao, mas matipid pa ito kaysa sa palagiang pagpapagawa ng mga tarpaulin at banner para sa mga patalastas” saad ni Farinas.

Inaasahan ng lokal na pamahalaan ng Laoag na sa mga ganitong paghahanda ay maiibsan ang mga hindi magandang pangyayari sa siyudad sa darating na holiday season.

Tech-Voc students showcase skills in TESDA regional competition

The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) in this province hosted the Regional Youth Skills competition held at the Provincial Training and Development Center here.

Manuel Wong, TESDA-Pangasinan provincial director said the three-day competition aimed to showcase technical vocational education and training.

Competitors coming from the four provinces of the region - La Union, Ilocos Sur, Ilocos Norte, and Pangasinan were the winners in the provincial level competition conducted in their areas, he said.

Ilocos Norte provincial director Felisa Carag said the event was an opportunity for people to see what skills could be developed. “ It is a way of further developing our youth and at the same time show the standards that are being set as far as tech-voc education is concerned,“ Carag said. Provincial directors Marissa Alcantara of La Union and Joel Pilotin of Ilocos Sur said the coaches and other TESDA officials rallied their contestants to do their best in the competition.

Students competed in 12 trade areas – visual web page, software, hair dressing, beauty care, fashion technology, wielding, automotive mechanic, electrical, refrigeration and air conditioning, and the tourism areas that included food and beverage, commercial cooking, and restaurant management.

In the awarding ceremonies, the province of Pangasinan emerged as the regional champion with nine golds, two silvers, and one bronze. Ilocos Norte came in second with one gold, six silvers, and one bronze.

Finishing third and fourth are the provinces of La Union and Ilocos Sur with one gold, two silvers, one bronze; and one gold, one silver, and two bronze, respectively.

Regional director Washington Agustin told the contestants that they are not competing against each other but rather, against the standards of tech-voc education.

Winners in this regional contest will represent Region I in the national competition slated next year.

Ilocos Norte bikers, Diocese of Laoag on the road for ecology

LAOAG CITY- Bikers in the province of Ilocos Norte are back on the road. And they are biking to raise level of environmental awareness.

Edgar delos Trinos of the Commission on Social Action of the Diocese of Laoag said they are holding the Bike for Ecology as an annual cycling activity for ecological preservation, protection and rehabilitation.

“The Bike for Ecology continues to serve as an affirmation of our common and enduring effort to promote environmental awareness among our people,” Trinos said.

Now on its 10th year, the event will be participated in by more than 200 bikers from the different cycling groups in the province. “When the Director of the Commission on Social Action initiated the activity 10 years ago, there were only around 20 participants. Through the years, more and more joined this worthy cause,” he said.

Biking itself is good for the environment because it does not use fuel or pollutants to run.

The Bike for Ecology is also in line with the Christ the King celebration. It will be held on November 19, a day prior to the Roman Catholic celebration.

Armed with stamina, bikers will negotiate a northbound 54-kilometer stretch, from San Nicolas de Tolentino Parish in the town of San Nicolas to St Francis de Asisi Parish in Pasuquin town, the host of this year’s celebration.

Those who want to join may register at the Commission on Social Action near the Laoag Cathedral.

Ilocos Norte renewable energy sources attract more investors

LAOAG CITY, Ilocos Norte- A memorandum of understanding was recently signed by Governor Imee Marcos and Mr Bae Jongsoo, a Korean national and CEO of Mirae Energy Corp for the construction and operation of a solar power plant in the coastal town of Currimao.

Lito Badua of Mirae Asia Energy Corp. said they are eager to start the 20 megawatt power plant to generate renewable source of energy. The corporation will initially conduct soil testing in Barangay Pagulodan for the project.

Governor Marcos hopes that this new energy resource will lead to further development in the province thru more revenues, job generation and cheaper electricity.

Aside from the solar power plant, there will be more wind farms to be put up in the province. Governor Marcos, in the second quarter of the year, announced that three more wind power developers were given the go signal to build five more power plants this year.

Energy Development Corp. will operate a $310 million 86MW facility in the town of Burgos while Energy Logistics will put up its plant also in Burgos and another in Pasuquin town with a capacity of 120MW costing $380 million.

UPC Renewables will also build a 50-MW wind farm in Pagudpud, the northernmost town of Ilocos Norte.

“We break our dependence on fossil fuels and within the next few years, we must generate 50% of the energy used by the province from renewable energies,” the governor said.

Ilocos Norte is home to the first windmills in the country and Southeast Asia. The 20 windmills in Bangui town is a milestone that jump-started the initiative of the government for energy projects across the country that would cut down dependence on existing generating systems using imported fossil fuels.

Aside from the windmills, the province has also hosts and operates a hydropower plant in Pagudpud.

Ilocos presents its rich, unique products at trade fair

LAOAG CITY- Come and buy the best of Ilocandia products at the trade fair in Ilocos Norte.

Shell craft from the artisans of Pagudpud. Table runners, shawl, blankets, barong tagalog made of Abel fabric from the loomweavers of Paoay. Damili or clay pots from San Nicolas. Fruit wines from the mountains of Adams. Mouth-watering longganiza and empanada from Batac. Crispy-licious chicharon or bagnet from San Nicolas. Native kakanin from Currimao.

These are just some of the products showcasing Ilocano pride being sold at the 16th “Sagut ni Ilokano,” Partuat ti Kalokuan Trade Fair 2011 at the Ilocano Heroes Hall in Laoag City.

The trade fair is spearheaded by the Partuat ti Kailokuan, an organization of micro, small and medium entrepreneurs in the province, in partnership with the Department of Trade and Industry, Laoag City Government and the Provincial Government of Ilocos Norte.

According to Norbel Dolores of the DTI, the fair aims to promote the One Town, One Product (OTOP) of the different towns and develop markets for the products of the MSMEs.

“This is also to uphold and promote local products,” Dolores said.

Aside from the OTOPs, there are other products from other provinces of Region 1 and the Cordillera Administrative Region at the trade fair. Some of these are the sweet puto calasiao and kutsinta from Pangasinan; furniture from Ilocos Sur; knitted garments, wooden crafts and leather goods from CAR; wooden wellcrafts from Bauang, La Union.

There are also ornamental plants and flowers being featured at the trade fair. A big pot of Poinsettias in time for the holidays, for example, cost P250 while decorative cactus cost much less.

If, however, one gets tired of shopping, one can sit down to a delicious empanada, longganiza, igado, miki and other native foods at food kiosks at the trade fair.

The trade fair is open from 9 am to 8 pm and will run until November 18, 2011.

Ilocos Norte gov’t gives free PhilHealth cards to indigents

LAOAG CITY- Some 10,615 indigent-families were the beneficiaries of free Philhealth insurance from the provincial government of Ilocos Norte recently. Governor Imee Marcos distributed the health cards during ceremonies held at the Marcos Stadium in Laoag City.

According to Lilian Rin, provincial social welfare and development officer, the beneficiaries are “regular indigents” identified by the local social welfare office based on the National Household Targetting System for Poverty Reduction. “The recipients are former beneficiaries. The health insurance is just a renewal because their cards are about to expire,” Rin said.

The beneficiaries are from the 2 cities and 12 towns of the province, namely: Laoag City, Batac City, Banna, Dumalneg, Marcos, Currimao, Paoay, Adams, Burgos, Carasi, Pagudpud, San Nicolas, Sarrat and Solsona.

The provincial government shares with the national government in paying the premium of the health insurance to secure the health needs of the families. The percentage, however, depends on the class of local government unit.

“Governor Imee wants to give free Philhealth insurance to more indigents in the province,” Rin said.

Schools along nat’l hi-ways ordered to regulate road barricades

LAOAG CITY- The province of Ilocos Norte ordered the schools division of the Department of Education (DepEd) to regulate the putting up of barricades along the roads in front of schools.

Atty. Windell Chua, provincial administrator, said that the province will coordinate with the barangay officials so that the barricades will only be put up when students are arriving and departing from school. The barangay tanods are usually the ones manning these barricades.

For the Philippine National Police the barricades serve as obstacle to slow down crime suspects during hot pursuit operations.

To some tourists visiting the province, the sight of barricades is like a scene in a conflict area thus affecting tourism in the area.

Cecilai Aribuabo, DepEd superintendent in Laoag, said that they will coordinate with principals and officials of different schools to comply with the provincial government’s order.

This year, the local government of Ilocos Norte is focusing on eliminating crimes and promoting “boating” tourism in the province.

‘Self- reliant NGOs’, subject for summit

LAOAG CITY- "Be a self-reliant non-government organization."

This was emphasized by Dr. Roberto de los Reyes, Chairman of Regional Association of Non-government Organization (RANGO) as the resource speaker of the recently conducted NGO summit in Ilocos Norte.

In the summit, the non-governmental organizations taught them to have their own strategy on rasing funds for the mobilization of their projects and programs such as fund-raising activities, engage in businesses ventures for profit, and empowering the local NGOs to be able to establish a well-known organization to carrying out various activities with the local government units (LGUs).

The empowering should begin with the Municipal Association of Non-government organization (MANGO). The same should develop activities that would multiply the funds of the NGOs in their area.

Dr. de los Reyes also encourages the NGOs of each municipality to establish a cooperative as a way of earning profit and helping the members to earn individually.

NGOs are self-funded organization which particular aims to help the members earn money for their needs and eventually breaks the cycle of poverty through their partnership with the government.

As a civil society organization, they have three (3) main components: People’s organization, the social development, and the private sectors. Each of them has a vital role in attaining the objectives of the Millennium Development Goals.

The summit also taught the members the ability of the NGOs in settling and managing things the right way, the NGO way. “We must show that private individuals are taking vital roles in the elimination of poverty, and we must show them our NGO leadership style, that we are self-reliance and a self-governing organization”- Dr. de los Reyes emphasized.

Aside from empowering the organization from the private sector, the summit also stressed its role in uniting and strengthening the LGUs- NGO partnership towards local development.

The summit was attended by various members of NGOs from the different municipalities in the province.

Marcoses firm on hero's burial

LAOAG CITY- For more than two decades, the body of the late President Ferdinand Marcos has been lying in a mirror casket in a mausoleum in his Batac hometown waiting to be buried.

Former First Lady and now first district representative of Ilocos Norte, Imelda R. Marcos, said in an interview that the Marcos family is still waiting for a miracle. They are still fighting for a decent and a hero’s burial.

“We will still fight that Ferdie will take his final rest at the Libingan ng mga Bayani, maybe not now but in the near future. I believe there is a divine purpose why Ferdie was kept this long” said the former First Lady.

Contrary to what VP Binay declared four months ago when he was assigned by Pres. Aquino to look into the matter, the Marcoses confirmed on having no final say on that.

Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos said, “We have not yet agreed on that, our family still counts on hero’s burial.”

Ilocos Norte Gov. Imelda “Imee” Marcos is also open in making public apology to Martial law victims. She reiterates that their family is open and has always been open in saying sorry to those people who believed they were victimized during his father’s regime.

The Marcos corpse is still visited by local tourists who want a glimpse of his body, most of them Marcos loyalists who want to pay tribute to the late president.

Ilocos creates ‘Task Force Lambat’

The Ilocos region police office intensified its drive against all forms of criminality, with emphasis on countermeasures against the so-called “riding-in-tandem” criminals.

This developed when the ranking police officials in Ilocos province agreed during their recently concluded command conference to create “Task Force Lambat” in every police station in the region to identify the criminals.

Senior Superintendent Mansue N. Lukban, Ilocos region’s deputy director for operations, told that the “Oplan Lambat” enhances the Police Integrated Patrol System (PIPS), which is now already in full operation in the region.

Lukban said that the “Oplan Lambat” aims to put in place a more pro-active intelligence driven checkpoint operation to deter or drive away criminals and denies them the opportunity to commit crimes.

“We will create a Task Force Lambat in every police station to identify criminals, particularly those engaged in gun-for-hire activities using motorcycles and other vehicles to conceal their weapons and evade fixed and mobile checkpoints,” he added.

For his part, Ilocos region police director Chief Superintendent Franklin Jesus B, Bucayu reiterated his call for a more focused approach against the existing riding-in-tandem criminals and other lawless elements in the region.

“We will neutralize them and keep the community safe,” Bucayu stressed.

Feature: Ilocos Norte’s White Giants of tourism, energy

LAOAG CITY- The traveler going north of Laoag would not miss them by any chance. From a distance, they are like white three-horned giant robots guarding the seashore. For others, they seem white monuments, rising to the sky, in all their glory.

But for the province of Ilocos Norte, they are mighty giants in tourism and renewable energy.

They are the Windmills in the town of Bangui, the first wind power plant in the country and Southeast Asia, which set the trend in the development of renewable energy this side of the world. The traveler can count 20 windmills standing by the Bangui Bay. This flagship project of the NorthWind Power Development Corporation initially consisted of 15 Vesta wind turbines generated 24.74 megawatts and completed on May 7, 2005.

Another 5 wind turbines were later added increasing the plant’s total generating capacity to 33MW. Support facilities included the 5.7km 69kV transmission line from the plant to Laoag City and the 30MVA 13.8/69kV substation.

The Bangui wind farm is a response to the government’s call for the development of renewable energy sources. Dubbed ‘clean and green’ it is a milestone that jump-started the initiative of the government for energy projects across the country to cut down dependence on existing generating systems using imported fossil fuels. The use of and emissions from fossil fuels, scientists proved, have catastrophic effects to the environment which largely contributed to climate change.

In a couple of years, however, the traveler will be counting more windmills. That is because Governor Imee Marcos, in the second quarter of the year, announced that three more wind power developers were given the go signal to build five more power plants this year, all not far from Bangui.

Energy Development Corporation will operate a $310 million 86MW facility in the town of Burgos while Energy Logistics will put up its plant also in Burgos and another in Pasuquin town with a capacity of 120MW costing $380 million.

UPC Renewables will also build a 50-MW wind farm in Pagudpud, the northernmost town of Ilocos Norte.

“We break our dependence on fossil fuels and within the next few years, we must generate 50 percent of the energy used by the province from renewable energies,” Governor Marcos said.

Investors and developers of renewable energy have become interested in investing in the country following the passage of RA 9513 or the Renewable Energy Act of 2008 which gives incentives to foreign and local developers, suppliers and end-users of renewable energy.

The ordinary tourist, however, may not be fully aware of, or particularly interested in, the technical and economic benefits of the Bangui wind farm, how it supplies 40 percent of the entire province’s electricity thru its connection to the Luzon Grid delivering power via Transco Laoag and reaches households via the Ilocos Norte Electric Cooperative.

It is because the 20 wind mills immediately captivate the eye – an aesthetic feast, a testament to the wonder of nature combined with the genius of man.

One of Ilocos Norte’s most famous images, the Bangui windmills have attracted hundreds of thousands of tourists. It made Ilocos Norte one of the top 10 tourist destinations in the country.

Data from the Department of Tourism showed that tourist arrivals in the province in 2010 numbered 191,300 while arrivals for the first quarter this year have reached nearly 50,000.

During the summer months, particularly during Holy Week, thousands of tourists walk the strip of the Bangui Bay foreshores under the gigantic windmills. One might feel rather so tiny under each turbine that stands 70 meters each, each blade measuring 41 meters in length or a total diameter of 82 meters.

Due to the influx of tourists to the wind farm, livelihood entrepreneurs have mushroomed. Many houses sell garlic and onions, straight from their farms. The more enterprising and skilled ones make wooden replicas of the windmill, complete with rotating blades, pebbles and seashells.

Manang Cely, one of the vendors of these replicas, said tourists go gaga over the miniature replica of the windmills. “They want it as souvenir for themselves or as gifts to friends,” she said in the local dialect.

During peak season, Cely said, they can sell as many as 100 of these replicas in a day. The smallest sells for three for a hundred; fifty pesos for the medium size; and one hundred for the one-foot tall replica.

“This has helped us augment our income from farming. We use the additional money for other expenses such as for education of our children and food” she said.

Suffice it to say, the Bangui Windmills blew in progress through natural technology to the province and people of Ilocos Norte as well as protection for Mother Earth.

Amazing Race Asia cruises to Ilocos Norte for next season’s epic

LAOAG CITY- Get ready for the season of 5 of the reality game show The Amazing Race Asia for will go to Ilocos Norte.

Ilocos Norte, particulary the municipality of Burgos, Bangui and Pagudpud will be the show’s trail for season 5 which will be aired in next year’s episode.

The US-based reality show chose the seven great wonders from Burgos, Bangui and Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte for the utilization of the shows venue.

These spots include the Kaangrian falls, Avis falls, The Cape Bojedour which is thehighest light house in Asia, the famous Kapurpurawan rock formation all from Burgos, the Patapat bridge, the beaches of Pagudpud, and the first windmills in Asia located in Bangui.

Mayor Chrisente Garcia of Burgos said, “the team of the show were mesmerized with the tourist spots in our place and decided to shoot the episodes of the show here, upon the initiative of our provincial governor.”

“This is good because this will also be part of promoting tourism in our place,” he added.

The seven stop-overs in the place compliment the component and the game orientation of the show.

Basically, the structure of the race is for the teams to travel to different locations by following the route information, perform some various tasks, and checking in at the Pit Stop.

Teams normally complete all the tasks and check in at the Pit Stop before they are eliminated. Occasionally, on an elimination leg, if all other teams have checked in and the last team is very far behind, Route Markers may instruct them to go directly to the Pit Stop without completing the rest of the leg.

Milagros Gonzales, Chief of Department of Tourism Field office in Ilocos Norte, together with the mayor of Burgos, is currently having their field inspection to places where the show will commence.

The participants for the competition will be arriving this December to start the race.

Burgos’ Buraan River wins best inland body of water in Ilocos Norte

LAOAG CITY- Buraan River of the municipality of Burgos is this year’s winner in the search for best inland body of water in the province of Ilocos Norte

Lined with trees along the riverbanks and a mangrove, Buraan River has clean and clear waters and a source for fishing among the townsfolk.

Buraan River bested Pagsan River of Nueva Era and Magalis River in Banna, making it to the Hall of Fame in the province. It was also last year’s winner in the Regional Search.

The search for the best inland body of water is part of the Search for Cleanest, Greenest and Safest Local Government Unit (LGU). The search aims to recognize the efforts of LGUs in managing the environment and promoting people’s participation in all local governance and operations.

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources led other government agencies such as the Department of Education, Department of Interior and Local Government, Department of Health, Department of Public Works and Highways, Provincial Government of Ilocos Norte and the Philippine Information Agency during the monitoring and evaluation of inland bodies of water of various municipalities.

Arsenio G. Sandi, senior forest management specialist and head of the evaluation committee said, “We are here to see whether they are with the national government in protecting and maintaining the cleanliness and greenest of their place and bodies of water.”

“We also make sure that the residents along these bodies of water are complying with the Clean Water Act or other environmental laws that the discharge of their water waste is within the standards of the law.” he added.

The winning river is highly- equipped with support systems used to mobilize and maintain the cleanliness and protection of the environment.

The Municipality of Burgos is conducting a regular clean-up for the river. They even had a mangrove plantation. Planting of mangroves could improve the water quality by absorbing nutrients and other organic pollutants.

The competition is simultaneously conducted with the search for cleanest, greenest and safest Local Government Unit in the north.

No state honors for Marcos—Aquino

There will be no state funeral or any kind of state honors for the toppled dictator Ferdinand Marcos under the Aquino administration, President Benigno Aquino III said Wednesday.

Aquino said before the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines that the victims of martial law have yet to be accorded any apology or compensation.

“It will be the height of injustice to render any state honors to the direct mastermind of all their suffering,” the President said.

“I will not be sanctioning a burial for the late President Marcos,” he said.

Early this year, Aquino asked Vice President Jejomar Binay to study Marcos’ burial and recommend how the long-divisive issue could finally be settled. Aquino had refused to decide alone on the issue, saying he would naturally be biased.

Binay in June recommended that former Marcos should not be buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani but that full military honors could be accorded if he is laid to rest in his northern political stronghold instead.

His flamboyant widow, Imelda, has long pushed for the burial of her husband in the Libingan ng mga Bayani (Heroes’ Cemetery) in Taguig City, but has been opposed by pro-democracy and left-wing groups, which have accused the late dictator of plundering the nation’s coffers and of massive human rights violations during his two-decade rule.

Marcos was ousted in a 1986 “People Power” revolt led by Aquino’s late mother, Corazon Aquino. Marcos died three years later in exile in Hawaii and his body was returned in 1993 to his northern Philippine hometown of Batac in Ilocos Norte province, where it has been displayed in a glass coffin and has become a tourist attraction.

Fun-filled competitions in celebration of children’s month in Ilocos Norte

LAOAG CITY- The provincial government of Ilocos Norte through the Provincial Social Welfare and Development (PSWD) Office will hold a fun-filled dance and chorale competitions for day care center children, ages 3–5 years in celebration of National Children’s Month this October, according to Lilian Rin, PSWD Officer.

“The contestants will be the representatives of the 21 municipalities of the province, excluding the cities of Laoag and Batac,” Rin said.

“This is one way of making the public, particularly our children, aware of their rights and privileges, such as the right to education; health care; play and recreation, among others. We also want to hone the talents of our children and teach them camaraderie and sportsmanship,” she said.

The competitions will be held on October 21. Winners of the provincial contest will compete at the regional level to be held in San Fernando City, La Union on October 28.

The theme of this year’s celebration of Children’s Month is “Local Council for the Protection of Children (LCPC) Para sa Bright Child: Pakilusin, Palakasin, Pagtulungan Natin.” This is in support of the campaign to strengthen the LCPC which is the enabling mechanism for the creation of a child-friendly society that is sensitive to the needs of the child, and where all sectors work to produce holistic and sustainable strategies that promote child rights.

Olot Resthouse still under government control

THE Olot Resthouse in Tolosa town, Leyte remains with the government despite a Supreme Court ruling last year ordering a government body to return ownership of the property to the family of late President Ferdinand Marcos.

Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) Commissioner Ma. Ngina Teresa Chan-Gonzaga said Thursday that Ilocos Norte Representative Imelda Marcos, wife of the late dictator, has not made a claim on the 42-hectare property barely a year after the High Court ruled that the sequestration is invalid.

The Supreme Court issued the order on December 7, 2010.

"The writ of sequestration for Olot property was defective. It has to do with the possession only. In terms of the main case, it is still pending in court. That decision has not been executed and it is still under the possession of PCGG," Gonzaga said.

The court said an order of sequestration could only be issued upon a showing "of a prima facie case" that the properties are ill-gotten wealth, in accordance with Section 26 of Article XVIII of the Constitution.

According to Gonzaga, even if the mansion will be restored to Marcos, there are still limitations like disposing the property since it still under litigation.

In its latest ruling, the Supreme Court said that the lifting of the sequestration order will not necessarily be fatal to the main case since it does not follow from such lifting that the sequestered properties are not ill-gotten wealth.

"Such lifting simply means that the government may not act as conservator or may not exercise administrative or housekeeping powers over the property," the decision said.

On February 28, 1986, immediately after assuming power, President Corazon Aquino issued Executive Order 1, creating the PCGG, which is empowered to recover all ill-gotten wealth of the former President, his family and close allies.

Within a month of its creation, the PCGG moved to sequester any property, documents, money and other assets in Leyte, belonging to Representative Marcos, her brothers Benjamin Romualdez and Alfredo Romualdez, and their agents.

The sequestration order against the Olot Resthouse was issued March 18, 1986. The Marcos widow filed a motion to quash the sequestration order against the Olot Resthouse, claiming that such order was issued only by PCGG agents, violating rules.

The former first lady also claimed that no prima facie evidence that the Olot Resthouse constituted ill-gotten wealth. She pointed out that the property is the ancestral home of her family.

The property has 17-room sitting on 42 hectares of beachfront land, with a golf course, swimming pool, cottages, a pelota court and a pavilion.

Gonzaga said that even if Marcos will claim the estate, it will still be classified as recovered assets with the pending case.

The official confirmed that other than the Olot Resthouse, there are also other PCGG recovered assets questioned in High Court due to defective writ of sequestration.

PDEA boosts campaign against illegal drugs

LAOAG CITY- The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) enhances their campaign on Anti-Illegal Drugs in Region 1.

This is according to Agent Charlton John Carame during the Provincial Peace and Order Council (PPOC) meeting held at the Ilocos Norte provincial capitol recently.

Based on their record, shabu is still the most used illegal drugs in the region, followed by marijuana.

On his report, Agent Carame enumerates the provinces that are identified to have engaged into drug activities to include buying and selling of illegal drugs.

Out of 558 barangays, Pangasinan tops the list in region 1 with 114 affected barangays engaging into drug activities. Next is Ilocos Norte with 51 barangays, La Union with 44 barangays and 42 in Ilocos Sur.

Carame emphasizes that the identified rank of provinces engaging into drug activities is based on the operations and confiscations they have conducted.

“Prices of illegal drugs in provinces follow the law of demand and supply. When the supply is low, the demand is high,” he also added.

Apparently, Ilocos Norte has the highest demand for illegal drugs, followed by Ilocos Sur and Pangasinan, with La Union as the least.

PDEA, on their continuous campaign asks the force of police officers in the local government for faster eradication of illegal drugs in the region.

They even recommended that the local police officers shall conduct a regular barangay clearing operations in every barangay, especially those identified hotspot in the provinces.

With this, pushers as well users can be apprehended and submitted to the proper authorities for possible legal sanctions.

DOST mosquito trap in demand in Laoag City

With the rising number of dengue cases in Laoag City, the mosquito trap of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) is in very high demand.

In Laoag City, there are already 395 dengue cases with 9 deaths since the start of the year. Residents have been asking the DOST to provide them with the mosquito trap to protect them from the dengue outbreak.

The device, the ovicidal-larvicial mosquito trap, or OL trap was launched in Batac City last May by provincial director Engr Felander Madriaga and Mayor Jeffrey Jubal Nalupta.

Director Madriaga said they are working on the release of more OL traps since what is available now are intended for pre-identified beneficiaries.

“We initially have 4,000 OL trap kits that would benefit 1,000 households. The local government unit (LGU) will be in charge of distributing these to households in different barangays,” he said

Aside from Laoag City, Batac City, San Nicolas and Dingras are the pilot areas to receive OL traps for free.

According to Engr Madriaga, the Department of Health identified these LGUs as having the most number of dengue cases in the province.

The mosquito trap, developed by the Industrial Technology Development Institute of the DOST, is composed of an ordinary black or dark-colored container or tumbler, a piece of wood or lawanit that resembles an ice cream bar stick and pellets.

“The pellets are mixed with about 250ml of water. The stick, drenched with the solution, is placed upright in the container with one end deep in the solution to continuously sip it. The pellets, containing an attractant, attract the Aedes aegypti mosquito to lay its eggs into the rough part of the solution-saturated strip. The solution then kills the eggs and larvae. The public may wipe away the eggs and larvae from the strip and use again the strip,” Engr Madriaga explained on how the trap works.

Experiments made by the DOST showed a high efficiency of the OL trap solution with a 70 percent attraction rate and 100 percent mortality rate. A female mosquito can lay as many as 400 eggs four times in its life, 80 percent of which will turn out to be female. But through the OL trap, the next generation of mosquitoes in an area will be wiped out, so with the deadly dengue virus.

The solution may last for a week.

Director Madriaga said their office cannot provide more kits but only the pellets. He advised the public to make their own plastic containers and just purchase the pellets.

The pellets will be available commercially once manufactured by a private company. The entire kit costs P50 and a sachet of pellet, P2.

Suspected abortionist falls in Ilocos Norte

Police have arrested a suspected abortionist in an entrapment operation in Laoag City, Ilocos Norte.

The suspect was identified as Gloria Ragonjan, 54, a resident of Barangay 8, Laoag City, who was arrested inside a boarding house where she was about to perform an abortion on a female police asset.

Recovered by the police were abortion paraphernalia including syringes, surgical gloves and marked money amounting to P1,000.

The police asset reported that the suspect demanded P4,000 as payment for aborting her pregnancy. The suspect is now under police custody but denied she is conducting abortion activities.

Lawmen disclosed, however, that the suspect was already under surveillance for a long time due to numerous complaints from local residents that she is performing abortion activities.

Police said that appropriate charges are now being prepared against the suspect.

Tagalog news: ‘Business Service Guides’ pabibilisin ang transaksyon sa Laoag City

LAOAG CITY- Mas pinabilis ang business transactions sa Laoag City Hall sa pagkakaroon ng ‘Service Guide’ na pinaskel para sa publiko upang turuan sila kung ng tamang pamamaraan sa kanilang mga transaksyon, paliwanag ni Diomedes Gayban, Assistant City Treasurer for Operations.

“Dati-rati, hindi alam ng mga tao kung ano ang gagawin at kung saan-saan na lamang sila pumupunta at nagtatanong. Hindi din nila alam kung saan opisina o ‘window’ magbabayad, kung kaya’t natatagalan sila” sabi ni Gayban.

Laman ng mga ‘Service Guide’ sa Land Tax Division at Business and Licensing Division kung saan opisina pupunta, ano ang kakailanganin na papeles, sino ang taong kakausapin at gaano katagal matatapos ang bawat transaksyon.

Halimbawa, hindi lalagpas sa 15 minuto ang pagbabayad ng Real Property Taxes kung susundin ng publiko ang step-by-step guide. Sa ganitong paraan din ay maeenganyo na magbayad at makipag-transact sa opisina ang publiko dahil hindi na mahirap kagaya ng dati.

Subalit ipinaliwanag ni Gayban, ang itatagal ng transaksyon ay depende pa din sa dami ng transaksyon ng publiko. Ayon pa sa kanya, binawasan nila ang dami ng pumipirma sa mga papeles upang mapabilis ang transaksyon.

“We eliminated some signatories to trim down the process to make it easier for the public.”

“Ito ay bahagi ng mas mahusay at mabilis na serbisyo ng Laoag City Government sa pamumuno ni Mayor Michael Farinas,” dagdag pa ni Gayban.

DOLE-IN grants livelihood to TESDA graduates in Badoc

LAOAG CITY- The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE)-Ilocos Norte recently awarded livelihood grants to unemployed graduates of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) in Badoc.

Leonavella Dadiz, DOLE-Ilocos Norte information officer said P100,000 was given to 18 tech-voc graduates to start a business on welding, vulcanizing and repair of tricycles.

“The grant comes from the Kabuhayan Program of the DOLE to provide livelihood to those with acquired skills yet remain unemployed,” Dadiz said.

DOLE regional director Henry John Jalbuena said the intervention is aligned with the department’s goal of inclusive growth through decent and gainful employment.

Dadiz explained that the municipality of Badoc will provide counterpart funding of not lower than twenty-percent.

The recipients can apply their skills to earn through the fabrication and repair of tricycles, which are primary means of transportation in the town of Badoc.

In return, the recipients vowed to properly manage the project.

Laurels at all cost

Come Sept. 21, it will be 39 years since Ferdinand Marcos clamped on rule-by-bayonets. Martial law would save the Republic from collapse, he perorated without blinking. A 14-year dictatorship followed.

Filipinos will get a voice in shaping policies, asserted Presidential Decree 557 of 1974. How? Barrios were renamed barangays. Filipinos should mark every Sept. 21 thereafter as “National Thanksgiving Day.”

People Power shredded this “thanksgiving” charade in February 1986. But Imelda, and cronies, insist, for over four decades now, that we fall on our knees for “the most democratic period in our history.”

Marcoses and allies badger President Beningo Aquino III to authorize the burial of Marcos’ corpse in Libingan ng mga Bayani. S ub-rosa work on a Libingan masoleum had been aborted. Protests erupted that it fractured a pledge, given to then President Fidel Ramos, that Marcos remains would be buried, days after arrival of the coffin from Hawaii.

The resistance of families, many with kin in Libingan graves, hasn’t subsided. The Marcoses now accept the “Jejomar” formula, for an Ilocos Norte tomb, Vice President Binay told media in an August visit to Laoag City.

What Binay calls, without blushing, his “Solomonic” formula stipulates laurels at all cost. Whether in Libingan or Ilocos, there must be military honors. Bogus war medals, extrajudicial murders and massive human rights infractions to governance rot will be smudged over.

Marcos’ children “want to foist their father on us as a hero,” Inquirer’s Conrad de Quiros groused. “It is not a matter of geography, it is a matter of principle…. Ilocos Norte has not yet become a ‘sub-state’ of the Republic, free to make its own rules, its own laws, its own interpretation of history.”

There is, however, the more pernicious “sub-state” of the subservient mind-set. It would not recognize truth anywhere. Under Marcos what was theft in Manila morphed into a financial bonanza in Batac. Suppression of dissent, on college campuses, was seen, by folk in Sarat, as trouncing communists. “The will is deaf and hears no heedful friends,” Shakespeare rued.

Today’s squabble for preburial laurels is best summarized in these two concise paragraphs: “There may be some who… consider it necessary that we should praise to one another the dead… (We see ) the kind of posthumous deification, sometimes accorded to those who die in the possession of public power….

“This is the tawdry privilege of the despot, to be given at burial, as a pure formality, with tongue in cheek, ‘the honors of a god.’ It cannot bring anything but shame… to (those) devoted to the democratic way of life.”

These lines were, in fact, written 41 years before Marcos’ demise in 1989. These paragraphs come from the April 24, 1948, homily, delivered by Filipino historian Horacio de la Costa, SJ, in Washington DC. .Fr. De La Costa concelebrated a requiem Mass at St. Matthew’s Cathedral, for the late President Manuel Roxas.

Unplanned, Fr. De La Costa’s discourse provides criteria for today’s Ilocos controversy. “He stands now, this man to whom a sovereign people entrusted the high exercise of sovereignty,” he wrote then. “He stands alone. No one avails to speak for him or against him. He is beyond our praise or blame. He is alone with God.

“(His ) record stands for every citizen to scrutinize, to weigh, and as he deems it good, to approve or to condemn. Let it stand, then, without embellishment or diminution. Let it stand as he had left it, the record of a man who had served them well or ill.

“There let us leave him, bathed in the serene and shadowless light of Truth. The final reckoning of what he was and did belongs to keener eyes than ours; far keener eyes, yet also beyond measure kindlier, for they are the eyes of Him in whom justice and mercy are not only inseparable, but one.”

Will the principles that De La Costa sketched, in broad strokes, be equally relevant for future interments? Like all of us, Joseph Estrada and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will one day return to the dust from which we all came. Open Libingan’s gates, from heroes to include, without exception, former presidents, suggests former Rene Saguisag. That’d head off future quarrels.

F.r De La Costa died in 1977. He didn’t see how Corazon Aquino would ensure peaceful transfer of power. His 1948 homily provides an apt preview.

“Civil authority is not personal but public. It belongs to no one, either by right of birth, or in virtue of some real or imagined excellence, over other men, whether it be wealth, intelligence or power .

“It belongs to the people, who may entrust it to whomsoever they freely choose. Neither does it endow the man, to whom it is entrusted, with any special gift of impeccability or infallibility. He may not claim thereby ‘the divinity that doth hedge a king.’

“His is a burden, not a privilege. He must spend himself in the public interests as though they were his own. Yet he may not derive any personal profit from his position. He is held accountable always for the authority he holds in trust.

“When his mandate is revoked, he must be willing to relinquish that authority and return, a private citizen, to the ranks from which he came. Let him not expect any reward but the consciousness of having done his duty and served his people and his God.

“Often he will get no reward but this. Nay, he may find in the end his name vilified, his motive misrepresented, his deeds misjudged. Austere are the laurels of the republic.”

Healthy, yummy meals for Laoag day care kids

LAOAG CITY- More than 2,000 pupils from the 89 day care centers in Laoag City will soon be served with super nutritious yet yummy meals from the Department of Social Welfare and Development.

According to City Social Welfare and Development Officer Aurora Corpuz, this is through the Healthy Start Supplementary Feeding Program in Day Care Center which is the agency’s contribution to the realization of the Early Childhood Care and Development and the Millenium Development Goal of combating malnutrition.

“The Feeding Program aims to improve the nutritional status of the pupils to make them more healthy, active and perform better in school,” Corpuz said.

The food supplementation will be in the form of hot, nutritious and delicious meals to be served during break time in the morning and afternoon sessions for five days a week. This will continue for six months.

Samples of the meals include squash-sitaw guisado with ground pork, chicken noodles with eggs, fresh vegetables with lumpia, sweet corn, fish bola-bola, misua with egg, adobong kangkong with boiled eggs, among others.

The menu was prepared by nutritionists to suit the nutritional and palate requirements of the 3-4 year old kids.

Corpuz explained day care parents will manage the feeding program as they will do the preparation, cooking and feeding from the funds provided by the agency. “This is in consonance with the thrust of the Aquino administration to strengthen and maximize Public-Private Partnership,” she said, “in developing and implementing measures to abate the problem of malnutrition.“

This is the first time day care center pupils in Laoag City will benefit from this program after the DSWD has widen its coverage to ensure the full development of young children. The children will be weighed at the start of the program, and monthly thereafter to determine if there is an improvement in the child’s nutritional status.

The program will begin on September 19, 2011.

Tagalog news: Mga balik-mag-aaral, patuloy ang pagdagsa sa Ilocos Norte

LAOAG CITY- Daan-daang mga mag-aaral ang muling nagbabalik sa lalawigan ng Ilocos Norte upang pag-aralan ang mayaman na kultura at magagandang tanawin nito.

Sinabi ni Department of Tourism Ilocos Norte Officer Milagros Gonzales na matapos mahinto ang pagpunta ng mga mag-aaral ng ilang buwan dahil sa paguulan at takot sa dengue, ay muling nagbalik ang mga mag-aaral simula ng huling linggo ng Agosto.

“Hundreds of students of Hotel & Restaurant Management, Architecture, Tourism come in as part of their curriculum to study the culture, heritage, architecture, physical landscape and sites of Ilocos Norte,” sabi ni Gonzales.

Malaking tulong ito, ani Gonzales, sa turismo ng lalawigan dahil kadalasan ay tatlong araw at dalawang gabi ang pagtira ng mga magaaral sa mga hotels at pagiikot sa lalawigan.

Bukod pa dito ay nakakatulong ng malaki sa pag-promote ng turismo dahil sa “word of mouth” ng mga bata sa kanilang mga pamilya, kaibigan, at iba pa na kakilala o pagsusulat sa mga blogs at social networking sites.

Sa tuwing dumarating ang mga mag-aaral ay naiimbitahan si Gonzales na magtalumpati at sumagot sa iba’t-ibang isyu tungkol sa turismo sa lalawigan.

Tourism zone authority holds roadshow on tourism enterprise incentives

LAOAG CITY- The Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA), formerly known as the Philippine Tourism Authority, will hold a roadshow on the ‘Guidelines for the Designation and Supervision of Tourism Enterprise Zones and the Administration of Incentives under Republic Act 9593 or the Tourism Act” in Ilocos Norte.

The Tourism Act specifically mandates the TIEZA to be the development and investment arm of the Department of Tourism (DOT).

TIEZA General Manager Mark Lapid will be the guest speaker.

According to Milagros Gonzales, DOT provincial officer Ilocos Norte, as one of the top tourist destinations, is a haven for tourists and investors alike and is being promoted as a Tourism Enterprise Zone.

“Tourism is an engine of investment, employment, growth and development for Ilocos Norte. This TIEZA Roadshow will provide possible investors and entrepreneurs the knowledge on what, where and how to invest and what incentives to get,” Ms Gonzales said.

The provincial government has been building facilities to service local and foreign tourists such as food and retail outlets and improving existing tourism facilities like the Plaza del Norte and Malacanang of the North. A tourism master plan is now in the works at the world heritage Paoay Church.

Tourism stakeholders are expected to attend the event at the Fort Ilocandia Resort Hotel on September 9, 2011.

New Ombudsman Morales holds testimonial bash in Ilocos

LAOAG CITY- Newly appointed Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales held yesterday her Testimonial party at the Ilocos Norte Convention Center here.

Morales, dressed in Filipiniana, arrived at the Convention Center with her family and greeted her co-Ilocanos with a smile and a thankful gesture.

Conchita Carpio Morales who comes from a family of lawyers, her father was a former judge, hails from the historic town of Paoay in Ilocos Norte.

She spent her childhood and grade school in Paoay Elementary School. She finished her Bachelor of Science in Economics and bachelor of Laws at the University of the Philippines.

In her testimony, Morales reiterated President Aquino campaign on eliminating corruption in the government.

Morales said she will uphold the dignity of good governance and eliminate corruption in the country.

Morales is previously an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines in 2002 under the administration of former President and now Pampanga representative Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

Traditionally, it is the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines who administers the oath of office to the incoming President and the Vice President.

However, President Aquino formally requested Associate Justice Carpio-Morales to swear him into office together with VP Binay.

Present during the testimonial party are municipal officials of Paoay, Provincial Administrator Windell Chua and Sangguniang Panlalawigan members of Ilocos Norte.

Conchita Carpio Morales was born on June 19, 1941 in Paoay, Ilocos Norte. She is the daughter of Lucas D. Carpio, a judge, and Maria Claudio Carpio.

Damages in Ilocos Norte due to Mina reaches P312.9 million

Damages caused by typhoon Mina have climbed to P312.9 million including lost crops and destroyed roads, bridges and public buildings, the Provincial Disaster Risk and Reduction Management Council said on Wednesday.

As of Wednesday, agricultural crops such as rice, corn, high value commercial crops and fishery amounted to more than P40.2 million. Damages to infrastructure consisting of roads, bridges, irrigation facilities and school buildings have reached more than P270.2 million.

Ilocos Norte Gov. Imee Marcos presented the latest damage assessment during a press briefing this afternoon. Also present during the briefing were Congressman Rodolfo Fariñas, Laoag Mayor Michael Fariñas, Batac Mayor Jeffrey Nalupta and other provincial officials.

Marcos said the provincial government continues to deliver relief goods to affected families and works on rehabilitating damaged public facilities using the province’s calamity funds.

The province has been under a state of calamity since Sunday due to widespread flooding and several are areas still submerged due to heavy and continuous rains caused by typhoon Mina.

Marcos said the effect of storm Mina should serve as a wake up call to the public. “We have to admit that the environment has been overly burdened and abused by our acts. We need to rebuild not just damaged materials but rehabilitate the environment as well,” she said.

In Laoag, Mayor Farinas said damaged crops reached more than P10 million while roads and bridges including school buildings were pegged at more than P61.3 million.

He said flooding in villages near the Laoag river was aggravated by the absence of irrigation canal which should have slowed down rain waters that overflowed from the Sabo Dam.

For his part, Mayor Nalupta said Batac suffered minimal flooding in downtown Batac but damages to crops amounted to P10.7 million while public roads and bridges incurred some P5.6 million in damages.

Congressman Fariñas said he would work on the immediate release of rehabilitation funds for Ilocos Norte, on top of soliciting support from his colleagues in the House of Representatives.

20,000 families in Ilocos affected by 'Mina'

Around 20,000 families in Ilocos Norte were affected due to raging floods caused by Typhoon “Mina”.

Several parts of the province are still submerged in floods, particularly Solona and Dingras.

A river overflowed in Barangay San Francisco in Dingras, leading to the devastation of crops.

A bridge was also destroyed as logs were swept by raging floodwaters.

Authorities suspect that the logs came from illegal logging operations in the province.

Dingras has been placed under a state of calamity.

Damages in the entire province is estimated to cost P211 million.

Damages to infrastructure alone cost P176 million while damages to agriculture are estimated to cost P34 million.

Relief operations are being conducted to assist the affected families.

Mina leaves P155 million in damaged crops, infra in Ilocos Norte

LAOAG CITY- Storm Mina has left damages amounting to P155.6 million in damaged agriculture and infrastructure in Ilocos Norte, the Provincial Disaster Risk and Reduction Management Council said as of Monday morning.

Damaged crops from rice to high value commercial crops reached more than P45 million while damaged roads, bridges and irrigation facilities reached more than P110 million.

Governor Imee Marcos motored to Batac City and Paoay town on Monday morning to assess damages that were caused by separate whirlwinds on Friday.

In Brgy. Masintoc in Paoay, at least 13 houses were partially damaged when whirlwinds swept through the village around 10 a.m. Sunday. Five (5) houses in Brgy. Rayuray in Batac City were also damaged due to the whirlwinds.

“We are puzzled with the number of mini-tornados that struck the province as a result of typhoon Mina. We need to know what caused them so that our people would know how to prepare when another typhoon comes,” Marcos said.

On Saturday, separate tornados struck in Sarrat, destroying 19 houses and in Laoag uprooting trees along the way in Laoag.

Marcos said residents were caught unprepared with Mina after the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Administration (PAGASA) initially reported that it will not cross Ilocos Norte.

“But it was not entirely PAGASA’s fault because Mina was sucked in by the southwest monsoon and compounded by monsoon rains and high tide that brought so much amount of rains,” she said.

Widespread flooding in the province has affected 292,374 persons in 16 towns including Laoag and Batac cities.

“We really need the support of the national government to rehabilitate the province,” she said. Meanwhile, the body of Cherilyn Tolentino, 14, from Caoayan, Ilocos Sur was found along the shores of Badoc town on Monday morning.

Police Insp. Laurel Gayya, Badoc Philippine National Police chief, reported that Tolentino had been reported missing since Tuesday after she and friends went to the beach in Caoayan for a picnic.

The PDRRMC said only 84 year-old Andres Calaro of Sarrat town was reported to have died from Mina after he drowned in a creek in Sarrat on Saturday night.

Whirlwinds destroy houses in Ilocos Norte village

Ilocos Norte Governor Imee Marcos visited families in Sarrat town after a pre-dawn whirlwind destroyed houses and displaced families there.

A separate whirlwind in this city also uprooted trees and blocked a road in the village of Cataban around 10 am today.

The provincial Disaster Risk and Reduction Management Council reported that the pre-dawn whirlwind damaged at least 19 houses, seven (7) of which were totally destroyed in Barangay 18 in Sarrat town . No injuries on residents were reported.

The Laoag City Engineering Office immediately conducted clearing operations in Barangay Cataban.

Marcos visited Sarrat town and brought relief provisions to affected families. She also motored to Piddig town to visit families that were flooded due to heavy rains beginning dawn. “We advise residents to stay in-doors and be alert for floods,” she said.

Pagasa has placed Ilocos Norte under storm signal No. 2 with 60 to 100 kph winds in its 11 a.m. weather advisory.

Saturday flights of the Cebu Pacific from Manila to Laoag and vice versa were cancelled due to bad weather.

Maintenance crew of the Ilocos Norte Electric Cooperative (INEC) was also dispatched to various villages in this city after strong winds snapped several power lines.

William Marders, INEC’s information officer, warned residents to stay away from broken power lines and wait for the crew to fix them.

'Mina' slams North Luzon, Tornado hits Ilocos Norte

Power and communication lines were knocked down while roads and bridges were rendered impassable as super typhoon “Mina” battered the northern part of Luzon with heavy rains and strong winds after making landfall Saturday.

As “Mina” was pounding Cagayan and the rest of Northern Luzon, a tornado hit a residential area in Sarrat, Ilocos Norte, destroying 18 houses.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said the eye of “Mina” (international name: Nanmadol) directly hit the landmass of Naglocsadon Point in Gonzaga, a town located at the northern tip of Cagayan at 7:55 a.m. Saturday, defying earlier forecast it won’t make landfall.

So far, the weather disturbance has already left at least two people dead while hundreds of others were forced to flee their homes, officials said.

National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) Executive Director Benito Ramos identified the fatalities as Reajen Bautista, 6; and John Rey Bautista, 5.

Chief Superintendent Agrimero Cruz Jr., spokesman of the Philippine National Police (PNP), said two children were the reported killed when they were buried alive after a landslide flattened their house in Barangay Rabon in San Fabian, Pangasinan at 5:45 a.m. Saturday.

“The house is owned by a certain Rolly Bautista, the report we received is that his two children were the ones who were buried in mud,” said Cruz.

Cruz said the house is located in a hillside portion of the barangay.

Ramos said landslides were also reported at Kennon Road (Camp 1 section), Gurel-Bokod-Kabayan Road (Bugaw section), Baguio-Bontoc Road (Ambasador Tublay Section and Topdac, Atok km 279-700, and Cotcot section), Mountain Province-Nueva Vizcaya (Sukit section), and Baguio-Bontoc Road (Balitian Section). All affected roads were closed as clearing operations were being conducted as of press time.

There were no reported casualties in any part of the country affected by “Mina,” but two people were reported missing in La Union and Catanduanes.

Ramos said reports reaching his office also showed “Mina” has already affected 2,888 families or 11,720 people in 27 barangays in four provinces in Northern Luzon, Bicol region and Western Visayas.

Power and communication lines were knocked down in most part of Cagayan where the weather disturbance made a landfall, said Chief Supt. Francisco Villaroman, director of the Cagayan Valley (Region 2) regional police.

“At least six bridges were also not passable in Cagayan,” said Villaroman.

They are the Tawi Bridge in Peñablanca town, Abusag and Bagunot Bridges in Baggao, and the Capatan Bridge in Tuguegarao City, all in Cagayan; and Dimaluadi, Dinapigue, Cabagan-Sto-Tomas Bridges and Sta. Maria, Cabagan Alicaocao Bridge in Cauayan, Isabela.

A total of 67 families or 264 persons were evacuated in Cagayan Valley region – 13 families or 55 persons in Maconacon, Isabela; 49 families or 209 persons in Gonzaga, Cagayan; and five families in Tuao, Cagayan.

Chief Supt. Villamor Bumanglag, director of the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) police office, said four major roads in the region were rendered impassable – the Halsema Road, Kennon Road, Baguio-Vizcaya Road, and Kapangan-Kibungan Road.

“We have not received any report of landslide or untoward incident that resulted in casualties at this time, but we are on alert,” said Bumanglag in an interview at noon Saturday.

“Search and rescue teams and even evacuation teams were already prepositioned in flood and landslide-prone areas in the region,” he added.

Aside from Cagayan, Chief Supt. Leonardo Espina, director of the Highway Patrol Group, said the report they received from his men in the field was that there was a total power shutdown in Abra.

“All roads in Ilocos region are passable, except in Barangay Bolasi in San Fabian, Pangasinan which is not passable to light vehicles, we are assisting in terms of traffic management,” said Espina.

In the tornado that hit Ilocos Norte at 5:45 a.m. Saturday, no casualty was reported, said Senior Supt. Marlou Chan, director of the Ilocos Norte Police.

Aside from destroying 18 houses, the tornado uprooted a lot of trees, causing traffic jam in the area.

Chan said Gov. Imee Marcos immediately proceeded to the area to see for herself the extent of the damage wrought by the tornado.

The official said clearing operations were immediately conducted in the affected roads while Marcos led the distribution of relief goods to the affected families.

With “Mina’s” strong winds, at least 15 flights were cancelled.

As of 1 p.m. Saturday, the Media Affairs Division (MAD) of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport had recorded flight cancellations on seven turn-around flights between Manila and Batanes, Busuanga, Laoag, Masbate. and Tuguegarao

Air Philippines cancelled a Manila-Tuguegarao-Manila flight and a Masbate-Manila flight because of the weather disturbance.

Cebu Pacific also cancelled turn-around flights between Manila and Busuanga, Manila and Laoag, Manila and Masbate and Manila and Tuguegarao.

South East Asian Air cancelled a turn-around flight between Manila and Basco in Batanes while Zest Air cancelled a scheduled flight between Manila and Masbate.

As of 5 p.m. Saturday, storm Signal No. 4 was lowered as “Mina” weakened.

However, Signal No. 3 was hoisted over Cagayan, Babuyan Group of Island, Calayan Group of Island, Apayao, and Batanes.

Areas placed under Signal No. 2 are Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, Abra, Kalinga, Mountain Province, Ifugao, and Isabela.

Signal No. 2 was raised over La Union, Benguet, Pangasinan, and Nueva Ecija.

“Mina” now packs maximum sustained winds of 165 kilometers per hour (kph) near the eye and gustines of up to 200 kph.

PAGASA weather forecaster Gener Quitlong said “Mina” continues to move slowly at 7 kph.

The weather disturbance is moving northwest or toward Taiwan.

Quitlong pointed out that “Mina” may maintain its strength or further intensify as it moves towards the coastal waters.

If it maintains its speed and direction, Quitlong said “Mina” would be out of the Philippine area of responsibility (PAR) by Wednesday afternoon or evening.

“Improving weather condition can be expected by Tuesday or Wednesday,” he said.

Meanwhile, Quitlong warned residents in Metro Manila, and western sections of Central and Southern Luzon, and Visayas of light to moderate rains due to the enhanced southwest monsoon or hanging habagat in the next two days.

As of 4 p.m. Saturday, the weather disturbance was located 50 kilometers (km) northeast of Aparri, Cagayan.

The typhoon is expected to be 230 km north northwest of Aparri, Cagayan by Sunday morning and 490 km north of Aparri, Cagayan or 280 km north northwest of Basco, Batanes by Monday morning.

By Tuesday morning, it will be 500 km northeast of Basco, Batanes.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has prepositioned P21.16 million worth of standby funds and relief supplies in areas affected by “Mina.”

“DSWD allocated P2 million standby funds and relief supplies worth P19.16 million in Regions I, II, III and CAR ready for augmentation if needed by the affected local government units,” DSWD Secretary Corazon Soliman said.

She said DSWD Field Office in Region 1 has prepositioned 500 family packs in Ilocos Norte.

DSWD-Region 1 has also prepositioned 500 family packs in Ilocos Norte and has identified evacuation centers and community kitchens in areas hit by the typhoon.

Meanwhile, DSWD-Region 2 has sent food and non-food to the 65 evacuation centers, ready to be augmented by the local government units.

DOLE goes “green” in the workplace

LAOAG CITY- The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) regional office will start incorporating green strategies in its work place to boost productivity.

Through the “Greening our DOLE Program or GODP,” the department will integrate sustainable environmental protection in work processes by re-tooling employees of knowledge, skills and attitudes towards eco-friendly practices and passing the skills on to the grassroots level.

An initiative of Labor Chief Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz, the GODP action program outlines the initial steps which employees must undertake namely establishment of paperless transactions, reduction of utility expenses and carbon footprints, disposal of inactive records and unserviceable properties.

The program also adopts waste segregation, assessment of occupational safety and health, implementation of sustainable 5S and 3Rs, participation in the National Greening Program and advocacy among the agency’s social partners.

Regional Director Henry John Jalbuena said green productivity will result in clients served with higher performance and better value by using fewer resources, less energy and reduced wastes.

“The idea is to mainstream 5S, 3Rs, energy conservation, pollution/air emission control, and waste management in the workplace to achieve better service delivery and protect the environment,” Jalbuena said.

Elderly couple shot dead

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya ,Philippines – An elderly couple was shot dead allegedly by their former house boy while having their siesta in front of their house in Solsona town, Ilocos Norte Friday night, police said.

Senior Superintendent Marlou Chan, Ilocos Norte police director, identified the victims as Patricio Esteban, 78, and his wife, Leonila, 79, both reportedly pensioners, of Barangay Manalpac, Solsona town.

“They were sitting in their yard just after taking their dinner when the gunman fired at them five times,” he said.

Reports said both sustained gunshot wounds in the head, causing their instant death.

Chan said a suspect, identified as Cristobal Pablo, 36, is now under their custody while double murder charges are now being readied against him.

The suspect, the couple’s former household help, was arrested in a videoke bar hours after the killing, reports said.

Laoag now under dengue calamity

LAOAG CITY, Ilocos Norte, Philippines — Local officials officially declared this city as under a state of calamity due to the spread of the dengue virus. The Sangguniang Panlungsod (City Council) passed and approved a resolution declaring the city under state of calamity due to dengue upon the request of Mayor Michael Fariñas.

Association of Barangay Captains (ABC) President Chevylle Fariñas said the declaration allows the use of the calamity fund for a massive campaign to battle dengue. The City Health Office reported that 250 residents have been downed by dengue with eight of them succumbing to the disease.

DAR completes P16M farm-to-market road for Ilocos Norte town

CURRIMAO, Ilocos Norte- The Department of Agrarian Reform will turn over a P16.3 million farm-to-market road, jointly funded by the governments of the Philippines and Japan, to the agrarian reform communities of barangays Pias Norte, Anggapang Norte and Sur on August 25.

The project was also a collaborative work of DAR and the Japan International Cooperation Agency with the Department of Public Works and Highways as implementing agency.

Christianne Suguitan, provincial agrarian reform officer, said the road concreting was under the phase III of the Agrarian Reform Infrastructure Support Project (ARISP) of the department.

The formal turn over will be held in Currimao town to be attended by Governor Imee Marcos, Representative Imelda Marcos and other project proponents led by Ma. Celerina Afable, national project manager of ARISP, Engr. Veniedo Reyes, DPWH regional director, Homer Tobias, DAR regional director and their provincial counterparts.

Laoag eyes by-pass roads to ease traffic woes

LAOAG CITY- The Laoag city government is eyeing to establish by-pass roads to ease traffic flow in the city’s business district.

According to Laoag Mayor Michael Fariñas, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has already approved the road project amounting to P100 million which is set for construction in 2012.

Before the project starts, the city government will have to conduct a study to determine the areas where the road will traverse.

Initially, the by-pass road will cover Bacarra road, Vintar road and the Laoag City public market area, which are all considered main arteries to downtown Laoag.

The DPWH will then submit a report to Department of Budget and Management for the release of the fund.

Farinas said the bypass road will ease traffic woes and ensure the residents’ safety and security. “On top of fixing traffic woes, the bypass road will also minimize road accidents,” he said. Traffic in the city’ business district has become tight due to growing business activities in the area.

In Barangay Nangalisan leading to Robinsons Mall, for example, traffic has become heavier even during off peak rush hours due to the volume of vehicles that enter and exit the mall compound.

The city government also expects the same scenario once the SM Savemore supermart begins its business operation in the city’s central downtown area.

The SM mall will reportedly break ground before the year ends.

Imelda Marcos slips before song number in Cebu

CEBU CITY, Philippines—Former first lady and now Ilocos Norte Representative Imelda Marcos scared her audience when she lost her balance and fell on the floor while she was about to sing at the Capitol Social Hall about 3 p.m. Saturday.

Her children—Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos and Ilocos Norte Governor Imee Marcos—as well as Gov. Gwen Garcia rushed to the 82-year-old widow of the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos to check on how she was.

Her two security aides also helped her up.

But the former first lady said she was not hurt and and went ahead and sang the famous Cebuano ballad “Matod Nila” with Rep. Pablo Garcia of Cebu’s 2nd district, the Cebu governor’s father.

The Marcos family was in Cebu upon the invitation of Governor Garcia as part of the month-long celebration of the 442nd founding anniversary of Cebu province.

Imelda and Imee graced the opening of the Cebu Performing Arts Center inside the campus of the University of the Philippines Cebu College in Barangay Lahug, Cebu City on Friday night.

On Saturday afternoon, Imelda and her two children witnessed the signing of the sisterhood agreement between Cebu and South Cotabato as well as the distribution of P5 million in financial assistance to the flood victims in Albay at the Capitol Social Hall.

Imelda then spoke to thank Garcia for inviting her family to Cebu. She recalled her various visits to Cebu when her husband, Ferdinand Marcos, was President.

When she was about to sing and moved around the stage, she apparently forgot that she was on a platform. When she stepped on the edge of the platform, she lost her balance and fell on her left side.

A loud thud was heard and the audience was shocked.

After the event at the Capitol Social Hall, she and her children joined the provincial officials at the Cebu International Convention Center in Mandaue City for the Pasigarbo sa Sugbo festival.

Magnitude 5.4 quake shakes Cagayan, Ilocos provinces

LAOAG CITY- A strong temblor measuring 5.4 struck at 10:56 am today 23 kilometers southeast of Calayan in Cagayan Valley but caused no damages on property or injury to residents.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said the earthquake was felt at intensity 4 in Calayan and Intensity 3 in Sanchez Mira both of Cagayan province.

The temblor was also felt at intensity two (2 ) in Pasuquin in Ilocos Norte and Laoag City.

It was the first strong earthquake that struck the Cagayan province this month.

According to Phivolcs’ earthquake intensity scale, an intensity 5 temblor is generally felt by most people indoors and outdoors while people asleep could be awakened by the shaking.

The shaking also causes hanging objects to swing violently while dining utensils clatter and clink. It also causes small, light and unstable objects to fall or overturn. Vehicles on idle may also rock noticeably.

Binay unveils 1st housing project for indigenous peoples

LAOAG CITY- Vice President Jejomar Binay said the Aquino administration will start providing housing units exclusively for the Aeta communities in Central Luzon.

Binay said the National Housing Authority has approved the P14 million housing project, which will generate 350 housing units for the indigenous peoples in Pampanga.

Considered the first housing project for Indigenous People (IPs), the program will benefit the Tribung Ayta ng Nabuklod from Floridablanca town in Pampanga.

“The ‘pabahay’ program has long been focused on informal settlers and the poorest sector but has not included the IPs who are likewise poor,” he said.

He said talks on providing housing support to IPs cropped up during his earlier consultations around the country.

He said the government will also provide housing units to other IPs around the country like the Lumads, Mangyans and Dumagats.

“We must remember that IPs are also Filipinos and basically poor,” he added.

The vice president also led the ceremonial awarding of 57 transfer certificate of titles to beneficiaries of Pagibig or Home Development Mutual Fund’s FVR-Palaris housing project and NHA’s housing units in Paoay town in Ilocos Norte and Candon City in Ilocos Sur.

Binay, also chairman of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council, was in Laoag on Tuesday for the eight leg of the Pabahay Caravan.

He has gone to the cities of Cebu, Baguio, Tagaytay, Davao, Pampanga, Zamboanga and Tacloban.

VP Binay says Marcoses open to FM’s burial in Ilocos Norte

LAOAG CITY- Vice President Jejomar Binay said the details on the final resting place of the late President Ferdinand Marcos will be announced in the coming days once burial preparations have been finalized.

Binay had already recommended Ilocos Norte as Marcos’ final resting place citing a survey he conducted earlier this year showing that Filipinos favor military honors for Marcos in his home province.

President Benigno Aquino III tasked Binay to study the matter and come up with his recommendations so that the issue of giving Marcos a hero’s burial at the Libingan ng mga Bayani will be given closure.

Binay said the Marcos family has already agreed to the government proposal to have Marcos buried in his home province.

He said the discussions on the burial place have been trimmed down to two points.

“The main issue was (whether or not to have the burial at the Libingan). That became moot and academic because the burial place originated from (the late president) who made a wish to have his body buried at the Libingan,” he said.

“If (the Libingan burial) is not possible then we have to consider the family’s wish. But the Marcos family has already agreed to have the burial in Ilocos Norte,” he added.

Binay was flanked by Ilocos Norte Representative Imelda Marcos when the former issued the statement during a press forum upon his arrival at the Fort Ilocandia Resort Hotel.

Marcos was one of the provincial officials who welcomed the vice president upon his arrival at the Laoag International Airport.

Binay did not say whether he has formally sat down with the Marcoses to discuss on the burial preparations.

“We will issue an official pronouncement on the matter in the coming days once we have ironed out the remaining details of the burial plans,” he added.

Marcos, who was silent during the forum, later told reporters in a chance interview that the family has yet to discuss the final burial plans.

“I leave the decision to God as to where Marcos should be buried,” she said.

Since 1993 when the Marcoses returned from Hawaii where they lived in exile, Marcos’ remains have been temporarily kept inside a glass coffin in an air-conditioned family mausoleum in Batac City.

After meeting local chief executives in the Ilocos Region for the forum on the housing program, Binay proceeded to the provincial capitol as principal guest of the birthday celebrations of the late Ilocos Norte Governor Roque Ablan, Jr.

Vice President Binay to lead housing caravan in the Ilocos Region

LAOAG CITY- Vice President Jejomar Binay will lead the housing caravan for local government units during its launching in the Ilocos Region on Tuesday, August 9.

Binay, also chairman of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council, will also meet regional local chief executives in a forum titled “Strengthening local government units in housing delivery and local development planning.”

The two-day caravan, which begins today, seeks to assist local government units (LGUs) in financing residential plans for government workers.

The national government has earmarked P50 billion for housing loans for 2011. Out of the funds, LGUs can borrow P20 million for each subdivision project and P40 million for a medium-rise condominium project.

Binay had advised local governments to update their comprehensive land use plan and define commercial, industrial, agricultural a reas as suitable sites for housing.

The vice president will also meet heads of key shelter agencies namely the National Housing Authority, Home Guaranty Corp., Housing Land use Regulatory Board, National Home Mortgage Finance Corp., Social Housing Finance Corp., and the Home Development Mutual Fund or Pagibig fund which is hosting the affair.

Ilocos media men pin hope on President Aquino to bring justice to radioman’s slay

LAOAG CITY—Members of media organizations in Ilocos Norte remain hopeful that the seven-year-old murder case of radio commentator Roger Mariano would be given closure under the Aquino administration.

On July 31, officers of the Media Active in Ilocos Norte (Main) visited the site in Barangay Barabar in San Nicolas town where Mariano was slain while he was on his way home on the same day in 2004. They lighted seven candles to symbolize how long the murder has remained unsolved.

Melvin de la Cuesta, former Main president, said the group is pinning its hopes on President Aquino’s promise to resolve extrajudicial killings in the country and put an end to impunity.

“We are confident with [Mr. Aquino’s] commitment to bring justice to the families of slain journalists and put an end to media killings,” he said.

A former policeman and another suspect who were the principal accused in the murder were acquitted in August 2010.

Judge Reynaldo Alhambra of the Manila Regional Trial Court found no evidence directly linking Apolonio Medrano, a former policeman, and Basilio Yadao to the case which dragged for six years until it was terminated with the suspects’ acquittal.

But De la Cuesta said the murder case remains open until the real perpetrators are identified. “Investigators should pursue other angles which could lead into the identification of those who masterminded the murder,” he said.

De la Cuesta has been leading media workers in the province in marking Mariano’s murder since 2004. He initiated the building of a press freedom marker on a lot donated by San Nicolas Mayor Alfredo Valdez Jr., on the same spot where Mariano was gunned down.

Mariano was the first Ilocos Norte radio commentator felled by assassins’ bullets in what authorities believe was a result of his exposés on his radio program.

A list compiled by the the media watchdog Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) showed that 179 Filipino journalists were killed from 1986 to July 2011. It said 121 died “in the line of duty” or whose deaths were considered work-related.

In the year that Mariano was killed, 14 other journalists were murdered in the country. Eight deaths, including Mariano’s, were work-related.

The CMFR list showed that the highest number of work-related deaths of journalists, at 79, was recorded under the nine-year administration of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo from January 2001 to June 2010.

Four journalists had been killed under the administration of President Aquino from July 2010 to July 2011, the CMFR said.

Stranded vessels

CAMP JUAN, Ilocos Norte, Philippines — Two cargo vessels have been stranded in waters between Baccarra and Pasuquin towns in Ilocos Norte due to gale force winds that have made conditions at sea bad for sailing, local authorities reported Saturday.

Senior Inspector Leonardo Tolentino, Pasuquin town’s chief of police, identified the stranded ships as Japan-bound “Eastern Galaxy,” cargo vessel from Manila, and “Mermaid Star,” also a shipping vessel bound for Indonesia.

Eastern Galaxy has 20 Filipino crew members led by Chief Captain Alfredo Querubin while the number of the crew of Mermaid Star vessel was not determined by police as of press time.

Tolentino said the two shipping vessels will temporarily stay along the shorelines between Bacarra and Pasuquin for safety.

“Our policemen are continously guarding these vessels until weather conditions become normal and these vessels may continue to travel,” he said.

Laoag eyes calamity state due to dengue

LAOAG CITY- Mayor Michael Fariñas has recommended the city to be placed under calamity state citing a report that the current number of dengue cases is threatening to breach the mark for an outbreak.

In a special staff meeting on Thursday afternoon, city health officer Renato Mateo reported that the present dengue cases already correspond to an alert level and that it is near the outbreak mark. “We expect to breach the outbreak level but not necessarily a calamity level. In my opinion, we can declare it as an outbreak level,” he said.

Based on the city health office’s monitoring, 186 residents have fallen ill with five deaths due to dengue.

Fariñas said he will ask the city council to immediately declare Laoag under calamity state so that they can utilize the calamity fund to assist victims and buy additional fogging machines.

He said the city government could now make use of its local disaster risk and reduction management fund or 30 percent of the amount as quick response fund for relief and recovery efforts.

Fariñas said the city government may need to buy a stronger dosage of insecticides and more fogging machines to drive away dengue-causing mosquitoes.

PDIC set to pay insurance claims of Banco Filipino depositors in Laoag

LAOAG CITY- Representatives of the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation (PDIC) will be in this city to pay insurance claims of depositors of the shuttered Banco Filipino Savings and Mortgage Bank from August 4 to 18.

The PDIC said the scheduled payment dates would be the last opportunity for depositors based in the province to have their claims settled.

They also requested the Laoag city government to extend assistance to small depositors by providing free notarization of their affidavits.

In case they fail to show up during the scheduled dates, local depositors may still process their insurance claims from the PDIC Makati office starting August 29.

Pursuant to R.A. 3591 (PDIC Charter), as amended, the last day of filing claims for insured deposits is on March 18, 2013. The PDIC shall no longer accept any claim for insured deposits maintained with Banco Filipino after the date.

The bank closed down in March due to financial woes.


Agri-Kapihan is 25 years old

One group that has stood the test of time is the Agri-Kapihan, a forum for farming enthusiasts that is open free to the public. Last Sunday, July 31, the 25th anniversary of this forum was celebrated jointly with the 11th anniversary of the radio program “Kaunlaran sa Agrikultura.”

The event was attended by some 400 farming aficionados who had come all the way from the provinces (as far away as Batac, Ilocos Norte) as well as in Metro Manila. The large attendance is enough proof that it is one activity that is benefiting a lot of farmers, otherwise why would they attend?

The celebration at the courtyard of radio station DWWW was graced by no less than Agriculture Secretary Proceso J. Alcala who gave the audience a clear view of his vision towards staple food sufficiency in the country. Which means that the population should not only depend on rice for their staple food. He cited a program backed by the Institute of Plant Breeding in Los Baños whereby white corn production is being pushed, especially in the Visayas and Mindanao where white corn is a favorite staple

Alcala said that white corn seeds for planting are being produced under a program spearheaded by experts of the IPB. Aside from seeds, the IPB has also developed an efficient corn mill that will process corn grits in the village level. White corn is even a more nutritious food than rice. It has a lower glycemic index so that it is good for diabetics. It is digested more slowly than rice, hence the consumer feels full in the stomach longer. Because it is digested more slowly, the sugar in the cereal is absorbed in smaller quantities in the blood than in the case of rice. Hence, it is better for those suffering from diabetes.

Rootcrops are another substitute or supplement to rice. Camote, for instance, is a healthy food. The roots as well as the leaves are packed with nutrients needed by the body.

How did the Agri-Kapihan start? It all started when we were offered to edit the Agriculture page of the Manila Times when it was revived in 1986 after the EDSA Revolt. We thought that if we were to edit a page that would easily relate to the farming community – especially those who are literate and who read newspapers, we should have a means to meet them. And one way of getting closer to the farmers and getting their stories is to come up with a venue where we could exchange views and experiences with them.

The Agri-Kapihan may be called a non-organization because there are no officers, only volunteers who would make the meetings possible. Since there are no officers, there are no elections. Which means that there are no squabbles about electioneering, vote-buying and the like. There are no fees to pay. So there are no funds to squander by the organizers.

In the earlier many years, there was a caterer who served breakfast which was not free. If the attendee wants to eat, he has to pay for his meal. There are no corporate sponsors for meals.That was adopted as a policy because that could otherwise be abused.

Resource persons consisted of some of the best speakers on agricultural topics, especially those who are actually farming. There is no talent fee for the speakers, but there are many talents who want to share their know-how and experiences without any compensation.

The topics that have been discussed the past 25 years have been wide-ranging. These include crops, farm animals, fisheries, farm management, fertilizers, pest and disease control in plants and livestock, natural farming, urban gardening, vermiculture and so on. You name the topic and most likely it has been discussed at the Agri-Kapihan.

At the Agri-Kapihan, the attendees are able to pick up new ideas and stories that inspire them to undertake their own farm projects.

The sessions used to be held every Saturday morning at the Manila Seedling Bank in Quezon City. The place was offered for free use by the MSB management which was beneficial to the company because the attendees were prospective buyers of the seedlings it has been selling.

There are two special occasions observed at the Agri-Kapihan. One is the anniversary celebration which was originally held on the Saturday nearest to August 2. Today, since Kaunlaran sa Agrikultura radio program has adopted Agri-Kapihan as its own project, the forum is held every last Sunday of the month. The other special occasion is Christmas celebration.

In both occasions, the practice is potluck style. Each attendee brings something to eat which could be shared with the other attendees. But there are those who bring more than others. Like last Sunday, Pio Rodriguez who sells tractors donated a whole cow lechon. Mario Rabang brought a native pig lechon while Sec. Alcala donated three pig lechons. There was an overflow of food.

Up to now attendees report the good news about their projects. Some have become agribusiness entrepreneurs because they have found the idea at the Agri-Kapihan. The AANI or Agri-Aqua Network International is a progeny of the Agri-Kapihan.

The founders of the AANI have observed that people are hungry for farming technologies. So it was organized by people who have become friends through the Agri- Kapihan. AANI has pioneered in conducting agricultural seminars which is continuing up to this day. It was also a pioneer in coming up with weekend markets, first with the Sidcor which used to be held at the the present site of Makro in Cubao, Quezon City.

AANI used to have its weekend market at the Magallanes Center in Makati and at the TESDA in Taguig. Its biggest weekend market is at the FTI with more than 200 stallholders. The latest is at the St. Vincent Seminary in Tandang Sora, Quezon City. All these and many, many more came about because of Agri-Kapihan.

Ilocos Norte media pin hope on P-Noy to resolve broadcaster’s murder

SAN NICOLAS, Ilocos Norte - Members of the Ilocos Norte media remain hopeful that the seven year-old murder case of radio commentator Roger Mariano will be given closure under the Aquino administration. Officers of the Media Active in Ilocos Norte (Main) visited the site in Barangay Barabar in San Nicolas town where Mariano was slain while riding home on July 31 seven years ago.

They lighted seven candles to symbolize how long the murder has remained unsolved. Melvin de la Cuesta, former Main president, said the group is pinning its hopes on President Aquino’s promise to resolve extra-judicial killings in the country and put an end to impunity.

"We are confident with P-Noy's commitment to bring justice to the families of slain journalists and put an end to media killings," he said.

A former policeman and another suspect who were the principal accused in the murder were acquitted in August 2010.

Judge Reynaldo Alhambra of the Manila regional trial court found no evidence directly linking former police officer Apolonio Medrano and Basilio Yadao to the case which dragged for six years until it was terminated with the suspects’ acquittal.

But de la Cuesta said the murder case remains open until the real perpetrators are identified. “Investigators should pursue other angles which could lead in the identification of those who masterminded the murder,” he said.

De la Cuesta has been leading the media group in marking Mariano’s murder since 2004. He initiated the building of a press freedom marker on a lot donated by San Nicolas mayor Alfredo Valdez, Jr. on the same spot where Mariano was gunned down.

Unlike the previous years, Mariano’s widow and her children would show up at the site and join Mariano’s colleagues in marking his death anniversary.

De la Cuesta said Alma Mariano did not reply to his text message informing her of the commemoration last Sunday.

He said he would often visit Alma in her home in Dingras town and advise her of the media event but that he failed to see her personally before the commemoration.

“But residents said they would often see fresh flowers and candles at the marker,” he said. Mariano was the first Ilocos Norte radio commentator felled by assassins’ bullets in what authorities believe as a result of his exposes on his radio program.

Laoag residents on guard for tropical depression ‘Lando’

LAOAG CITY, Residents have been advised to be on guard with the entry of another tropical depression named Lando, which will bring scattered to widespread rains in Luzon and Visayas.

As of 11 am today, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) reported that Lando was estimated to be at 280 km west of Laoag City.

The weather bureau advised the public and the Disaster Risk Reduction Management Councils to take appropriate actions noting that Lando has remained almost stationery over the West Philippine Sea.

PAGASA said Lando is slowly moving north, northeast and is estimated to be 190 km west, northwest of Laoag on Tuesday morning; 160 km north of Laoag on Wednesday morning and 240 km north, northeast of Laoag or 110 km north, northeast of Basco, Batanes on Thursday morning.

It said the country is not directly affected by Lando but it enhances the southwest monsoon bringing scattered to widespread rains over Luzon and Visayas particularly the western section.

Lando is expected to bring an estimated rainfall amount of 5 t 10 mm per hour within the 300 km diameter of the tropical depression.

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