RUBBER BOATS TO NORTE'S 19 TOWNS

It was a cloudy morning here in Laoag City--typhoon Butsoy is passing through Amianan on its way to Japan. At the provincial capitol, 19 rubber boats were turned over to Ilocos Norte's 19 towns by the Office of Civil Defense- National Disaster Risk and Rescue Management Council through Undersecretary Benito Ramos ( a native of Tumauini, Isabela).The secretary in all his dark Ibanag hue was wearing a blue chaleco with his office acronym a cross the back was talking to his staffers at the steps of the capitol. Ilocos Norte Gov. Imee Marcos, in black tights and the Ilokano sablay over her white silk polo (?) was there. We had gone to the Assessor's Office to consult Atty. Ermy Labayog in connection with a complaint we were filing against some members of the Laoag City Police Station.Ermy, son of my nephew Ernesto and Herdy La. Yumul's cousin, was personally picked by Imee Marcos to head the AO. He has wonderful, wonderful years ahead of him as a lawyer and government functionary. It was almost 10:00 AM and Ermy was not yet in the vicinity so we decided to leave the place with an intention to see him at his law office at Paco Roman street. That we failed to do because of the weather. It was raining after lunch. No accomplishment within that span of time but we took it in stride./> Photo caption: the much improved Ilocos Norte provincial capitol and grounds, a portion of which is a park planted with indigenous bonzai plants (left) "Silence is the real crime against humanity."-Nadyezhdan Mandelshtam