The Ilocos Times

ni Rodel P. Moreno Jr. Nakusbo, naidalutaytay, Nailupeklupekak. Rigat ken tuok, Nagibturak; Iti lamiis ti lam-ek, Kimsialak; Kusilap ti init, kinessetnak; Ti nadawel a pug-aw ti bagyo, Inwaraiwina ti namnamak; Ket, iti baet dagitoy, Napukaw kaniak ti garakgak, Napukaw ti ayat- Kaarigna, napukaw ti biag. Ngem, Timmangadak: "Saan," kinunak. "Awan aniamanna kaniak!" Ta kalpasan dagitoy a naglasatak, Kas iti kawayan a nakusbo Iti napigsa a pug-aw ti allawig, Bimmangonak a nakired, Nabilbileg, ken napigpigsa Ti pammatik iti pannakabalin Ti Apo a Namarsua.

Isang maalab na pagbati sa lahat ng mga kasapi ng Iglesia ni Cristo. Wow , ‘sandaang taon na kayo. Lumaki akong ayaw sa Iglesia ni Cristo. Noong bata pa ako—nasa grade school ako noon—tumatawag ako sa radio upang makipagtalo tungkol sa relihiyon at ipagtanggol ang Katolisismo laban sa Iglesia. “Best in religion” ako lagi noon at champion sa mga bible quiz . May isa akong tito, si Uncle Erning, na umanib sa Iglesia nang maging nobya niya si Auntie Meding. Tuwing family reunion at magluluto nang tinola si Lola, nagtatalo ang mga tito ko kung ano ang gagawin sa dugo ng manok. Ibaon sa lupa, sabi ni ni Uncle Erning, sapagka’t iyon daw ang nakasaad sa banal na kasulatan samantalang ang iba pang mga tito ko ay gustong ihalo ang malinamnam na dugo sa tinola, dahil ‘yun ang nasusulat sa cookbook . Hindi naman seryosong pagtatalo ‘yon, kantiyawan lang. Hindi ko na maalala kung sino ang nasunod, pero naaalala ko na masarap ang native na tinola, may dugo man o wala, basta’t pinagsa

HANDS ON. Laoag Mayor Chevylle V. Fariñas demonstrates how to process meat during an Agserbi 27/4 program. (Doms dela Cruz) By Dominic B. dela Cruz Staff reporter Laoag City— After renaming its community outreach program to “Laoag Agserbi 24/7”, Laoag Mayor Chevylle V. Fariñas vowed to visit all the 80 barangays here before the end of 2014. Formerly known as “Rang-ay ti Barangay,” the retooled outreach program is better, according to Ms. Fariñas as they now moving 24 hours a day and seven days a week to deliver all the requests of the city’s barangays. Ms. Fariñas also stressed that the rumors saying the program is not going well is not true. But these rumors, she added, only made them work harder to bring the needed services to the people. The new outreach program’s process also changed. This time, city government officials go to an area well in advance of the scheduled visit to gather all their requests. These requests are then delivered when “Agserbi 24/7” goe

File photo of Mango King Carding Tolentino showing the Ilocos mangoes. By Leilanie G. Adriano Staff reporter MARCOS , Ilocos Norte—The local chief executive of this town plans to revive a mango processing plant here as he tries to encourage more investors to take advantage of the favorable economic activity in this northern part of Luzon. Marcos Mayor Arsenio Agustin said they had already sought the help of the national government and the Ilocos Norte Electric Cooperative (INEC) to assess the facility and to estimate amount needed to revive the mango processing plant here located at the Marcos Agro-industrial school. In 2007, then Ilocos Norte governor now Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr. led the inauguration of the said building under the watch of the Technical Education Skills and Development Authority (TESDA).   According to Mr. Agustin, they plan to expand mango plantations in Marcos town by encouraging more farmers to plant mango seedlings and make

Based from the data of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) Regional Office I, most of the graduates in public and private higher education institutions (HEIs) in Region I finished medical and allied courses since School Year (SY) 2004-2005 until SY 2012-2013. In SY 2003-2004, most (24.2 percent) of the graduates finished education courses. However, the education discipline group was overtaken by the medical and allied group in SY 2004-2005 with the 152.2 percent increase in the number of graduates, thereby increasing the share of the latter from 9.3 percent in SY 2003-2004 to 20.4 percent in SY 2004-2005. The percentage share of graduates of medical and allied courses continued to expand in the succeeding years as the number of graduates continuously increased until SY 2008-2009 when it posted the highest share of 39.7 percent. In the succeeding SYs, the medical and allied discipline group still cornered most of the graduates but its share continued to decline. In SY 2012

AS priest, I, of course, get consulted many times about marital issues. Husbands and wives come to ask about how to resolve certain challenges, difficulties and trials they are undergoing with their respective spouses. I consider it a great privilege to be able to journey with couples in their marital and family life, and I just hope that I still can have time to continue enjoying this privilege. Through the years, this experience has given me a deeper appreciation of the mystery of marriage where God’s abundant grace of marriage has to contend with the freedom of men and women that can go every which way. And through the years, my conviction has also grown stronger and deeper that the most crucial thing to do to make marriage work as it should is to make the spouses become more human, more Christian, more in love with a love that is authentic and not fake, a love that can only come from God who is in fact the only source of love. All the practical pieces of advice,

SONA RALLY IN Laoag CITY. Church and civil society group leaders led by Bayan Muna groups based in Laoag City and Ilocos Norte air their protest against Pres. Noynoy Aquino at the Aurora Freedom Park in time for this State of the Nation Address on June 28. (Doms dela Cruz)