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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.
Ilocos norte capitol 01.jpgIlocos Norte Provincial Capitol

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.

More senior citizens in Laoag gets social pension

LAOAG CITY- More Senior Citizens are now beneficiaries of the Social Pension Program (SPP) of the Department of Social Welfare Development (DSWD) in Laoag City.

A total of 128 indigent senior citizens are now receiving monthly social pension, an additional of 26 beneficiaries from last year’s 102.

According to Adelina Asuncion, focal person of the senior citizens desk of the City Social Welfare Development Office, each pensioner receives 500 pesos monthly stipend.

The stipend is a big help to the poorest senior citizens because they have money to buy food, medicine and for their other personal needs, said Asuncion said.

The SP program of the national government intends to serve indigent senior citizens who are frail, sickly and disabled.

Beneficiaries of the program are senior citizens 77 years old and above, without any regular source of income and/or support from any member of the family, and not receiving other pension benefits from government and private agencies, Asuncion explained.

The beneficiaries came from the list of the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR) of the DSWD, which is the database identifying who and where the poor are.

The social pension program is provided under Republic Act No. 9994, also known as the Expanded Senior Citizens Act (ESCA) of 2010.

Feature: Fire safety always starts with you

LAOAG CITY- Yes, fire safety always starts with you! You must be informed and involved in fire safety and prevention.

This month of March the nation observes Fire Prevention Month during which fire prevention activities are done by the Bureau of Fire Protection, local government units, other agencies and various sectors. March was chosen as the month since it marks the beginning of the hot, dry season during which most fires occur.

The observance began in 1967 under Proclamation No. 115-A issued by President Ferdinand Marcos on November 17, 1966.

The theme for this year’s observance is “Makiisa, Makialam at Makipagtulungan upang Sunog ay Maiwasan.”

All activities of the BFP in observance of Fire Prevention Month are aimed at promoting awareness and knowledge in fire safety and prevention.

Laoag City Fire Marshall Bonifacio Sacatrapos reminds you of some fire prevention measures:

Do not smoke in bed. Or when you are drowsy. Crush your cigarette butts thoroughly before discarding them. Or put water on butts before discarding them. Do not throw lighted cigarettes into waste baskets because there could be other flammable materials such as paper, plastic inside. Also, provide large and deep ashtray for smokers.

Keep lighted candles, oil or gas lamps away from curtains, fabrics and other objects that easily catch fire. And never leave them unattended. Many fires had been caused by unattended lighted candles during brownouts.

Keep matches and lighters away from children’s reach. Teach children that these are not toys to play with.

Do not use open flame decorations in the house.

Be careful when cooking. Never leave cooking unattended. If you must attend to other matters in the house, make sure there are no flammable substances or items near the stove. And be sure, too, to check what you are cooking from time to time.

If a pot catches fire, cover it with a lid to smoother the flames and turn off the stove immediately. After cooking, extinguish all lighted charcoals and embers and turn off the burner.

Kerosene and gas stove should be checked for leakage and regularly cleaned.

Make sure the kitchen is inspected before retiring at night. Check on the stove, sockets, electricity, among others.

Check regularly your electrical installations, and have all frayed wiring, damaged sockets, switches and other defective electrical fixtures changed or repaired by a qualified electrician.

Do not overload your electrical circuits by profusely putting extra lights and appliances.

And if you can afford it, install and maintain smoke alarms to warn you of a fire.

Remember, there is a lot you can do to prevent a fire.

More tourists expected as Ilocos Norte’s tourism brand draws attention

LAOAG CITY- The provincial government is bullish about Ilocos Sur’s tourism industry this summer season following promotion activities at national and global levels.

Governor Imee Marcos said today that last week’s launch of media spots from billboards and television ads generated the attention that the province sought to achieve when tourism planners were still on the drawing board.

“We expect more tourists and balikbayans (overseas Filipino workers) to come in when summer sets in because of the tourism brand that we had launched,” she said during Monday’s traditional flag-raising service.

The campaign brand “Paoay Kumakaway” made its debut in the National Capital Region using billboards that captured Ilocos Norte’s tourism landmarks. The billboards were posted along Light Rail Transit routes and major thoroughfares like Marcos Highway, Aurora Boulevard, Ramon Magsaysay Boulevard, Legarda and Recto Avenue.

Negotiations are under way for the placement of similar ads at the South Luzon Expressway and the Metro Manila Skyway.

Television spot commercials have been aired in national and international audiences such as Cinema One, The Filipino Channel, Star Movies and Solar Sports.

Similar spots are running on four screens of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport’s east and west arrival concourse of Terminal 1 and at the arrival concierge of Terminal 2.

On top of investing on tourism promotions, the provincial government has been setting in place facilities and businesses to complete the requirements that any destination must offer to visitors.

Last year alone, business centers were put up around the capital city of Laoag to catch tourism carry-overs. The Department of Tourism made its share of strengthening tourism services from training and promotions to build the capabilities of locals in opening their doors to tourists.

The tourism brand is initially focused on courting the domestic and OFW market. The province hopes to recapture the Chinese market which thinned out since 2010 as a result of the botched Luneta hostage crisis.

Feature: Sand sport draws more tourists to Laoag

LAOAG CITY- Couple Tina and Reny Tan, co-founders of the Laoag Eco-adventure Development Movement (LEAD movement), wanted this city’s long stretch of coastal desert located in the village of La Paz to be more than a backdrop of movies. From Tom Cruise’s “Born on the fourth of July” to “Ang Panday,” the La Paz sand dunes have had iconic movie exposures in the past.

Known as sports trailblazers, the movement first made the desert a home to off-road driving using four-wheel drive jeeps.

LEAD members, who have their own four-wheel drive jeeps, made off-road driving a regular activity and offered their jeeps for hire to those who would want to go “dune-bashing” (riding across the dunes and conquering steep slopes).

Tina said they thought of developing a sports adventure that would be unique to Laoag since it is home to the only extensive stretch of desert cover in the Philippines.

“We thought of developing sandboarding as a new weekend hobby. It is something new and unique,” she said.

While the sport has been widely popular in other countries like the Middle East and the United States, sandboarding is merely a baby sport in the Philippines and is believed to have started in Laoag.

“There is no other place in the country like Laoag which boasts of this unique sand formation. Sandboarding in the Philippines was born in Laoag,” Tina claimed.

What was a mere weekend adventure among Lead members and their families later became an added attraction to tourists looking for extreme adventure sports.

Tina would write about the sport in her blog and soon enough, sandboarding became viral among netizens and tourists came one after the other curious to try the latest sand adventure.

Tina said the Department of Tourism and tour operators pitched in their support by incorporating the sand sports in their tour packages.

The immense popularity of sandboarding led the group to host the first sandboarding competition on February 11, which became a festival highlight in the month-long Pamulinawen Festival.

“More than an adventure, the sand sport helps boost Laoag’s tourism campaign. The trickle-down effect of the sport can be seen in the growing number of tourists coming in,” Tina said.

“All tourism stakeholders benefit from the new attraction. More tourists come in. They fly, ride the bus, go to a hotel, ride the calesa or tricycle and buy drinks and food,” she said.

LGUs must use calibrated weight, height meters to assess child’s nutritional status

LAOAG CITY- The use of calibrated weight and height meters is being pushed by the National Nutrition Council (NNC) in all local government units (LGUs) in Ilocos Norte, which is being validated by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) in assessing the growth and development of children.

During the Ilocos Norte Nutrition Council meeting at the Provincial Capitol Auditorium, Victoria Manez said only the Health-O Meter and the Height Board that are calibrated or validated by the DOST should be used in monitoring the weight and height of pre-school and school children.

“There should be a uniform measuring and weighing tool to be used by LGUs in their health units. Bathroom scales are a no-no,” Manes said.

Measuring the weights and heights regularly is part of the World Health Organization-Child Growth Standards (WHO-CGS), an essential tool in public health, medicine and by governmental and health organizations for monitoring the well-being of children and for detecting children or populations not growing properly or under- or overweight and may require specific medical or public health responses. The WHO-CGS is being adopted by the Department of Health.

Manezs said measuring the height and weight of a child will assess his or her nutritional status.

“Standard measurement indicators to basic child growth are weight-for-age for 0-71 months old; length-for-age for 0-23 months old or height-for-age for 24-71 months old, and weight-for-length for 0-23 months old or weight-for-height for 24-71 months old. This will determine if the child is ‘severely wasted,’ ‘wasted,’ ‘normal,’ ‘overweight’ or ‘obese;’ or ‘severely stunted,’ ‘stunted,’ ‘normal’ or ‘tall’,” Manez said.

The DOST, according to Manez, calibrates or validates these measuring instruments on a regular basis and conducts training to those who use them.

All city and municipal health offices and nutrition committees conduct growth monitoring for pre-school children.

On the other hand, the growth and development of school children (Grades 1-6) are assessed by measuring their weights and heights twice a year by the Department of Education.

Feature: A taste of tradition in Guling-Guling festival

PAOAY, Ilocos Norte- Expect a taste of tradition as town folks mark the annual Guling-guling festival, a local version of mardi gras.

Mardi gras is French for Fat Tuesday, referring to the practice of the last night of eating richer, fatty foods before the ritual fasting of the Lenten season, which begins on Ash Wednesday.

In this town, Guling-guling, which means smearing the forehead with a cross sign, is a yearly pre-Lent tradition that is one of the town’s main attractions, drawing tourists to the event and in the process, breath life to a centuries-old industry – the “Inabel” or loom-woven fabric.

Loom weaving, which was passed on by town folks’ ancestors, has remained a principal livelihood in this town. Loom weavers have formed cooperatives to sustain the industry.

Guling was derived from an Ilocano word that means to mark, smear or make a sign.

In the past, the chieftain (now mayor) would imprint the sign of the cross on a person’s forehead using wet, white rice flour to signify purity.

Townsfolk believe that through the imprint, a person is cleansed from all his past sins.

The four-day celebration begins with the opening of a trade fair today to showcase the town’s homegrown products from Inabel, chicaron, handcrafted clay products, cash crops from garlic and onions and Ilocanos’ staple food bagnet and longganiza.

Other events lined up include cultural and pageant shows, a competition for the best decorated house embodying the festival concept, parades and a food fair featuring the Ilocano ricecake” dudol.”

The festival’s highlight will be the dance parade on February 21. Garbed in elaborately-tailored Inabel clothes, ordinary folks and the town’s officials led by Mayor Bonifacio Clemente will sway to the beat of folk music and dance their way to the streets leading to the world icon Paoay Church.

To cap the event, a Guling-guling dance showdown will bring out the towns’ best dancing talents.

Laoag disaster council strengthens preparedness plan following Visayas earthquake

LAOAG CITY– The destructive earthquake that hit Negros Oriental on February 6 has served as a wake-up call to local government officials to review their disaster preparedness plans.

Root said officials of the Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council are aware of the city's vulnerability to earthquakes. “We cannot predict earthquakes. But what we can do is to have our buildings prepared to withstand strong ground shaking. This is the reason behind the requirements set before one can put up his building,” Laoag City Engr. Ulderito Root said.

Root said the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology has installed at least eight testing equipment around Laoag to help monitor ground shaking.

He said most tremors in previous months that hit the city and nearby towns registered mild intensities.

“But this is to remind residents that we need to prepare for the big earthquakes,” he said.

As part of the Laoag City’s information campaign, Mayor Michael Fariñas would remind village officials to alert residents on all kinds of calamities from fires, storms, tsunamis and earthquakes.

The City Engineering Office regularly sends inspection teams to monitor the condition of buildings and structures around the city.

Root said most buildings that have been condemned have been demolished.

He said engineers normally look at indicators of weak structures such as cracks in concrete buildings or weak wood support or pest-infested columns for wooden houses or structures.

The most powerful was 1983 tremor that sent dozens of commercial and residential buildings either collapsing or permanently destroyed.

On August 17, 1983 at 8:18 pm, a powerful earthquake with a magnitude of 6.5 struck Laoag causing heavy damages on structures near the Laoag River.

Root said his office has reminded applicants of building permits to follow the standards set under the building code as a matter of safety procedure.

Corona’s bank documents not fake, Ilocos Norte Rep. Farinas insists

Ilocos Norte Representative Rodolfo C. Farinas insisted that there was no falsification when they submitted the allegedly fake bank documents in the name of Chief Justice Renato Corona as basis for the issuance of subpoenas.

“Falsification is when you make it appear that it is true when it is not,” Farinas said.

Farinas said that Oriental Mindoro Representative Reynaldo Umali could not be charged because he made no claims that the document was true.

Umali clearly stated that he only received a photocopy of the bank documents from the Philippine Savings Bank (PS Bank) through a “small lady” and it was also indicated in their request for subpoena that they could not vouch for their authenticity, Farinas said.

PSBank president Pascual Garcia and PSBank Katipunan branch manager Annabelle Tiongson testified that the document did not come from their bank, prompting the senator-judges to question the prosecution how they obtained it.

Farinas said that what they were only saying was there were differences in the appearance of the document, “but if its contents are the same, it would not be important.”

It will be up to the other agencies of government, like the Department of Justice, to investigate if there were violations of the Bank Secrecy law or if there were falsification of documents, Farinas said.

He added that they could have just specified the account numbers in that document if they knew it was spurious, but since they wanted to show “the whole truth”, they attached it in their request for subpoena.

2 endangered green turtle species rescued off Ilocos shorelines

Two endangered green turtle species were separately rescued by local fishermen and authorities at the shorelines in Barangays Aring and Saud in Badoc, Ilocos Norte last Wednesday and Friday.

Arthur Valente of the Bureau of Fishery and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) said this morning that the rescued green turtle in Barangay Aring, Badoc, Ilocos Norte measures 90 centimeters on its caraface’s length and 69 centimeters caraface’s width with an approximate weight of 100 kilograms.

He disclosed that the green turtle (scientific name: Chelonia Mydas) has an age range of 35 to 50 years. It was one of the biggest green turtles rescued in the Ilocos Norte’s shorelines.

“After we put its tag with serial P16084 issued by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), the endangered turtle was immediately released to the sea water few hours after it was rescued,” he said.

On Friday morning, Valente said that another green turtle was rescued by the fishermen along the beach in Barangay Saud, Badoc, Ilocos Norte.

He said that the endangered green turtle with scientific name: olive redley measures 57 centimeters of its caraface length, 62 centimeters on caraface width with approximate weight of 33 kilograms.

Valente said that the olive redley specie was severely threatened.

“After we put a tag with serial number: P16085, we immediately released the turtle to sea water at around 8:50 p.m.,” he said.

According to Valente, the green turtles are often seen this time at the beaches of the Ilocos region because its their nesting period.

He advised local fishermen to report to authorities same incidents for proper documentation, preservation and disposition.

“Anyone, who are caught slaughtering the endangered green turtle specie and are collecting its eggs for selling and eating are charged in court with a maximum penalty of 12 to 20 years of imprisonment,” he said.

Job Fairs Slated In Ilocos

This year, more job fairs will be staged by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) in the Ilocos Region to strengthen job search assistance services to the public.

DOLE Region 1 Information Officer Arly Valdez said job fairs will start in February while the events in Pangasinan will start in the month of March scheduled tentatively on the following dates: March 8 at the Urdaneta City University (local employment) and March 23 at the Narciso Ramos Gymnasium in Lingayen town.

There are also job fairs slated April16 at the Provincial Employment Services Office (PESO), Municipality of Manaoag (local and overseas) and April 26 (tentative) at the PESO Office, Municipal Hall of Infanta town (local and overseas).

Feature: Ilocandia's red gold brings fortune to dragon fruit farmer

BURGOS, Ilocos Norte– While her neighbors were planting the usual Ilocano cash crops, Edita Dacuycuy was quietly cultivating an odd-looking, round-shaped fruit covered with red overlapping scales in her backyard.

In this town where the fruit became a testament of wealth, Ilocandia’s “red gold” is set on cactus-like trees plotted on farm beds that sit beside common Ilocano crops like corn, rice and garlic.

The farm plots leading to Ilocos Region’s first dragon fruit plantation are owned by locals who have started their own fruit farm following the success of this town’s most outstanding farmer, by far.

“I didn’t want my neighbors to know what I was doing until I was sure I could grow the dragon fruit,” Dacuycuy, popularly known in the community as the “Dragon Lady,” said.

She was introduced to the fruit by a friend who knew of Dacuycuy’s difficulty in finding ways to relieve her daughter Kate’s constipation problems, a condition that is common to patients with cerebral palsy. Dacuycuy found the fruit effective on her daughter and decided to cultivate it herself in 2005 upon learning how much it cost.

“The fruit looked so unfamiliar. I saw it once from a store in Manila and found that it costs P450 per kilo. That’s the equivalent of a sack of rice,” she said.

“But when I learned of the fruit’s health benefits, I just took the leap,” Dacuycuy, who used to be a division manager of an insurance firm, added.

She found more information about the fruit by surfing the internet, a task she assigned to her other daughter Mildred.

Dacuycuy took a step further sensing its business potential. She sent Mildred to Thailand where the fruit is common to learn how the family could propagate more.

From backyard planting, Dacuycuy could no longer stop growing more. She developed a fruit farm on her property and later ventured to business.

“We didn’t notice we were already expanding. The business came spontaneously,” she said.

From a small farm plot, the fruit farm now stands on a 10-hectare property which Dacuycuy personally supervises. She and her husband built a house on the property and developed other dragon fruit-based recipes and products from pastries, jam, wine and soap.

The family’s steady market include traders from neighboring provinces and Manila, Dole Philippines, which orders the fruit by tons, and local hotels in the province.

The farm, named as Rare Eagles Forest Marine and Agricultural Development or REFMAD, has become an agri-tourism site offering research and livelihood training to locals.

Defense lauds Farinas’ ‘spontaneous, honest disclosure’

Ilocos Norte Representative Rodolfo Farinas’ statement that the impeachment complaint filed by the prosecution against Chief Justice Renato Corona was “poorly crafted” was a good observation on the inadequacy of the evidence against Corona, a spokesman for the defense said Tuesday.

Lawyer Tranquil Salvador III said that the “spontaneous disclosure” proved Farinas’ honesty, adding “he could have just said that everything was in order but he was candid and honest enough [to say otherwise].”

Farinas was quick to clarify, however, that he did not mean that the verified complaint was defective when he said that it was “hindi ganoon kaganda (poorly crafted).”

But lawyer Karen Jimeno, another spokesperson for the defense, pointed out that if one representative did not have enough time to read the complaint, it was questionable whether other representatives had the same predicament.

Speaking on the defense panel’s filing of a motion to quash the subpoenas on the chief magistrate’s bank accounts, Salvador said that this was their next step and remedy to the alleged illegal acquisition of Corona’s PS Bank records that violated the Bank Secrecy law.

Ilocandia’s fruit farm is also an agri-tourism site

BURGOS, Ilocos Norte– The first dragon fruit plantation in the Ilocos Region is now a sight to behold and it has turned the plantation into an agri-tourism site offering homestay facilities and walk-in tour of the 10-hectare farm.

The farm, named as Rare Eagles Forest Marine and Agricultural Development or REFMAD, also offers research and livelihood training to locals who wish to start their own dragon fruit farm.

Owned by this town’s outstanding farmer Edita Dacuycuy, the sprawling property includes a resort and accommodation facilities with the dragon fruit as its main attraction.

The family decided to build homestay facilities for visitors who wish to watch how the dragon trees bloom at night.

“The flowers almost glow in the dark and they produce aromatic scent that spreads throughtout the farm,” Dacuycuy's daughter Mildred, who helps in running the family business, said.

Dacuycuy organized a group of dragon fruit growers in the province known as the Kailukuan Saniata Cooperative as part of her community work providing tree saplings for their farms including lectures and demos on fruit growing.

“I even give saplings for free for neighbors who wish to grow fruits for their household consumption,” she said.

A separate plot of Dacuycuy’s farm has been reserved for the dragon tree plantation of the Ilocos Agriculture and Resources Research and Development Consortium for its research work.

“I share everything to my community from employment to livelihood. For as long as you have delivered the mission, the commission will follow… this is my advocacy,” she said.

For her community work and growing business venture, Dacuycuy was first recognized as Magsasaka Siyentista in the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development’s Science and Technology-based farm project in 2008. She was also a National Gawad Saka awardee in 2010 and outstanding farmer-innovator by government and non-government institutions.

The latest addition to her trophy collection was an award she received as Female Innovator in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperative (APEC) summit in San Francisco, California in the United States in September last year as the Philippine’s sole representative.

Thousands of jobs available at Ilocos Norte Jobs Fair 2012

LAOAG CITY- Over two thousand jobs await qualified applicants in the first job fair for the year in Ilocos Norte.

According to Ingracio Baylon of the Provincial Department of Labor and Employment, the positions available are for local and overseas employment. There are jobs for baccalaureate degree holders as well as for vocational, technical and high school graduates.

There are five overseas employment recruitment agencies and they have 1,053 job orders from abroad like Hong Kong, Taiwan and New Zealand, Baylon said. Many of the job orders for abroad are for household services and hospital staff.

For local employment, Baylon said, there are 1,676 job vacancies offered by 15 local firms. Most of the vacancies are for employment in Ilocos Norte.

Some of the jobs available are for call center agents, sales agents, IT professionals, accounting personnel and many others.

The job fair is a joint undertaking of the Provincial Government of Ilocos Norte under Governor Imee Marcos and Northwestern University in celebration of their foundation anniversaries. Ilocos Norte is celebrating its 193rd anniversary while NWU, 80th anniversary.

Ronnelyne Tarampi of the Public Employment Service Office of NWU said their university wants to give back to the public the blessings they received all these years.

“Instead of having the NWU Night at the ongoing Pamulinawen Festival, our University President Liza Nicolas decided to conduct a jobs fair to share the blessings. We also would want to help graduates, like those from our school. Furthermore, we want to prove that Ilocos Norte offers good opportunities for employment,” Tarampi said.

Aside from DOLE, other participating government agencies at the Jobs Fair are the Professional Regulatory Commission, Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, Technical Education and Skills Development Authority.

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