The Pangasinan Star ONLINE

A CITY LANDMARK CLOSES. The old and famous Dagupena restaurant in downtown Dagupan owned and operated by Atty. & Mrs. Alex and Emma Castro has finally closed down and moved to its new location along the national highway in barangay San Miguel, Calasiao today, November 27. Started by Mrs. Castro’s mother back in 1928, the landmark food establishment has been a favorite restaurant of Dagupenos from all walks of life for its tasty and sanitary cuisine, its walls adorned practically by a gallery of Dagupan’s early wartime history. (PStar Photo b y Butch F. Uka)

By DANNY O. SAGUN
Associate Editor, The Pangasinan Star

THE pay parking ordinance passed recently by the Dagupan city council appeared defective after all as the process in enacting such penalty-imposing measure was not strictly followed, it was gathered Wednesday.

The sangguniang panlungsod reportedly lacked the required quorum when it passed the ordinance (No.1853-2005) last November 14. City Legal Officer Geraldine Baniqued indicated so in a radio interview.

It was gathered that only seven members including Vice-Mayor Alvin Fernandez were around when the ordinance was approved. Six were absent to include Councilor Alex de Venecia who was then abroad. The city council has 10 regular councilors and two ex-officio members representing the barangay councils and the youth.

The public, particularly the affected sectors like motorists, were not thoroughly consulted on the matter as concerned committees reportedly did not call or conduct public hearings.

The media particularly was not aware of any such public hearings. Roland Hidalgo DWPR commentator, who heads the Pangasinan Tri-Media Association (Patrima) chided the council in his morning radio program for seemingly hiding the issue from the public by not calling any public hearing.

The ordinance was authored by Councilor “Chito” Samson, Jr., who chairs the peace and order committee. Councilor Jose Netu Tamayo was erroneously reported last week in the Pangasinan Star as the committee chair which news item he subsequently corrected in an email to this newspaper.

The city government however appears bent on pursuing the regulation of traffic at the city’s major thoroughfares that will include charging of parking fees.

Baniqued said studies have been made for this purpose and that consultations and public hearings will be held to gauge the public’s true sentiments.

She said that the city has legal basis for it, citing a precedent in Baguio City which got a favorable action from the courts including the Supreme Court for the city’s controversial pay parking measure.

The road shoulders, she noted, have today been practically appropriated upon by business establishment owners themselves who park their vehicles throughout the day in front of their stores without paying any centavo to the government coffers.

The pay parking measure seeks to correct such situation, she explained.

Based on Ordinance No.1853-2005, the city however will get a measly 20 percent of the gross collection with the bulk or 80% going to the private parking operator, a sharing scheme that observers and critics have tagged as anomalous. The operator, they claimed, may just be a dummy of some sectors who will only divide the money among themselves.

URDANETA CITY – The League of Cities of the Philippines (LCP) is opposed to the conversion of first-class municipalities into new cities as this will reduce the Internal Revenue Allotments (IRA) of the present cities.

City Mayor Amadeo Perez, Jr. said LCP already passed a resolution calling on Congress to block a move to convert municipalities into new cities that could greatly disadvantage all existing cities whose IRA would be reduced as a result of such move.

Perez said the league is moving for a status quo on the classification of existing cities since any city upgraded to the next higher rank will also result in the reduction of IRA share of the other cities by at least P3 million.

He said it is good for existing cities to help new cities but considering the present economic crisis besetting the nation, a P3 million deduction from one’s IRA share means so much.

“It is not advisable that the IRA share be reduced as that would greatly affect each existing city’s delivery of basic services to the people,” Perez argued.

“It is true that the cityhood is a prestige but that is meaningless if the new city could not maintain its financial status,” he said.

CALASIAO--A barangay captain was shot and killed along the highway in
barangay Macabito here at 1:50 a.m. yesterday while going home aboard his own
motorcycle with a back-riding companion.

The fatality was identified as Jaime Bautista, 49, a widower, barangay captain of Balingueo in adjacent

Sta. Barbara town who sustained two gunshot wounds, one in the left part of his neck with the bullet exiting in his right face, and right thigh.

Bautista's companion Daniel Bacani, who was sitting behind the victim, saved himself by jumping from the motorcycle upon hearing the gunshots but was still injured in his left eyebrow and suffered bruises in different parts of his body.

Chief Inspector Policarpio Cayabyab, chief of police of Calasiao, said Bautista was fired upon by one of two men riding in another motorcycle who zoomed alongside their motorcycle before shooting Bautista at close range.

Bautista’s motorcycle zigzagged and plunged into a ricefield on the left side of the road.
The gunman used a Caliber .45 pistol based on an empty shell found by responding policemen at the crime scene.

Investigation showed Bautista and Bacani were proceeding to barangay Macabito proper where the latter was to be dropped, enroute to barangay Balingueo, when the incident happened. Both had come from the Pangasinan Cockpit Arena in Calasiao town where they attended a three-cock derby. Bacani had asked to ride with Bautista going home

The police theorized the gunmen may have trailed Bautista from the cockpit.

Cayabyab said Bautista's cadaver was brought to the Carmona Funeral Home in barangay San Miguel where autopsy was conducted. (PNA)

A FORMER resident of Bonuan and school principal of the Doña Victoria Elementary School in Arellano-Bani in Dagupan City was declared the first Mrs. Dagupan International following the final canvassing of votes of the first-ever overseas search of its kind last November 19 at the Hilton Hotel in Newark, San Francisco Bay Area.

Mrs. Virginia Nonan, a registered nurse in Napa Hospital in Vallejo, California, gathered the highest number of votes during the event.

Mrs. Pauline Perez of San Francisco bagged second place while Mrs. Elvira Mitchell of San Diego and Mrs. Nancy Beltran of New York garnered third and fourth places, respectively.

Perez is a former resident of Caranglaan while Mitchell hails from Pogo Grande and Beltran from Burgos Street, all in Dagupan.

The board of canvassers was composed of Francis Baraan, Dr. Halili, Mercedes Balmonte, Vicky Brooks, Aida Pasaoa and Marcing Samson even as supporters and relatives of the four nominees witnessed the canvassing.

Councilor Alex de Venecia, hermano mayor of the 2005 Dagupan City Fiesta, was present during the final canvassing enroute to visiting key cities in the United States for a 10-day non-stop solicitation campaign.

The councilor also extended the invitation of City Mayor Benjamin S. Lim and Vice Mayor Alvin Fernandez to Mayor Jose Esteves of Milpitas, California to be one of the crowning guests of the Mrs. Dagupan International on December 26 at the Dagupan City Plaza.

Newly-elected Pangasinan Brotherhood Association President Engineer Ads Diaz and newly-crowned Mrs. Dagupeño Charitable Foundation Queen of San Francisco Estrellita de Venecia were likewise invited to be part of the coronation entourage.

TAYUG – A hot verbal tussle ensued during the preliminary investigation into the September killing of Pasig City Judge Estrellita Paas between the late judge’s lawyer-kin representing the complainants and the judge of the Regional Trial Court Branch 51 here who was hearing the case.

Judge Paas was brutally killed inside their home in Poblacion, Natividad while her husband, Reinerio Paas, a retired Ombudsman, was away. Her bizarre murder was regarded as one of the high profile crimes in the province.

Lawyer Arnold Paas, son of the murdered judge, representing his family, accused RTC Judge Ulysses Raciles Butuyan of bias and prejudice when the latter refused to issue warrants of arrests for the suspects Elmer Cabiles and Donald Vargas.

Both suspects were arrested separately by the police and agents of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group days after the brutal slaying of the lady judge.

The Natividad police said complaints for robbery with homicide have been filed against both suspects but up to now, no warrants of arrest have been issued against them. The police learned that the Paas family is seeking to upgrade the case to murder.

During the preliminary investigation at 9 a.m. last Monday at Butuyan’s sala, both suspects were not around as Cabiles was detained for another crime of murder at the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology in Urdaneta City while Vargas is out on bail for illegal possession of firearms before the municipal trial court in Balungao.

Butuyan said he cannot issue the warrant of arrest against the suspects because the Court has yet to satisfy itself whether there is probable cause for the issuance of such. He cited the fact that in any case, there is always a presumption of innocence.

He stressed that he is not going to issue any warrant of arrest unless he first interviews the suspects and satisfies himself whether they are telling the truth or not.

Butuyan asked the counsel if he is going to present his witnesses but the latter answered he was not because he felt that the judge has already prejudged the case.

Paas said he will move that Butuyan inhibit himself from hearing the case, saying he felt the judge was “biased and prejudiced”.

“ I am not going to present my witness, Aida Cabiles (wife of Elmer). I will present her only if the case is re-raffled and transferred to another sala,” he told the judge.

When Butuyan asked Paas if he had tried looking for the suspects, Paas was irked and warned: “This will reach the attention of the Court Administrator of the Supreme Court”.

Butuyan retorted: “That is your privilege Atty. Paas. Right then and there, I will approve your motion that I will inhibit myself from hearing the case.” (PNA)

A LEGAL battle looms between the city government here and the Department of Public Works and Highways over a newly passed city ordinance declaring portions of most national roads here as pay parking areas.

The city’s pay parking ordinance for 2005 has yet to be signed into law by Mayor Benjamin Lim but the DPWH, through District Engineer Rodolfo Dion, already expressed a move to contest its legality in any court of justice.

This further sours the relationship between the city government and the DPWH weeks after the former threatened to sue the latter for allegedly not following its request to build a shorter alignment of the Dawel-Pantal-Lucao road that could have meant millions of pesos of savings from that project.

City Legal Officer Geraldine Baniqued defended the action of the city council in passing the pay parking ordinance, saying the same was empowered to regulate traffic in those stretches.

Dion countered however that designation of pay parking on national roads can not be done unilaterally by the city without first securing a memorandum of agreement with the DPWH.

Dion objected to the designation for pay parking of such roads as A.B. Fernandez Avenue, Burgos street, Perez Boulevard, Mayombo road, M.H. del Pilar street, portions of Arellano street and other national roads.

Under the ordinance, owners of light vehicles such as cars, jeeps, jeepneys, min-trucks, sports utility vehicles and pick-ups will be charged P20 for every two hours and P5 more for every additional hour.

Medium vehicles, like delivery vans and trucks below 10-wheelers, will be charged P30 per hour an dP10 for every hour thereafter.

Out of the fees to be collected, 20 percent will go to the city and 80 percent to the parking contractor who will employ parking attendants. Nothing will go to the DPWH.

Baniqued said the ordinance is a product of months of careful study and deliberation by members of the city council and there is no way they could have committed a blunder.

Dion, however, said national roads are under the jurisdiction of the DPWH and the latter is the one spending for the maintenance of the same although these may be located within a city or town.

He said that he can not remember having been invited to attend any city council public hearing on the measure, saying that if he were invited, he could have told the city officials that they first obtain a MOA from the DPWH before converting national roads for pay parking. (PNA)

PANGASINENSES will have a chance on December 2 to express their views on the proposed revision of the Constitution.

At least nine members of the Consultative Commission created by President Arroyo including lawyer Raul Lambino who will lead the team in Pangasinan, will meet with a cross-section of society from the province at the Regency Hotel for a day’s consultation and workshop.

A press conference was scheduled 8 a.m. at the hotel before the start of the consultation at 9 a.m.

An overview of Executive Order 453 which created the 50-man consultative commission (Con-com) to do nationwide consultations will be presented to the participants that will include local political, business and other leaders from Pangasinan.

The activity will include a workshop among the participants at 10 a.m. and presentation of the workshop output after lunch break, an open forum and an optional press briefing after the consultation.

The group will proceed later in the afternoon to San Fernando City in La Union for a similar activity the next day.

Similar consultations have been scheduled in other parts of Luzon starting November 29. The commission first went to Visayas and Mindanao last October for such dialogues.

Dagupan City Vice-Mayor Alvin Fernandez was also named member of the Con-com representing the vice-mayors’ league. He will be joining the visiting commissioners.

Fernandez, in an interaction last week with agencies preparing for the December 2 event, said he was amenable to the proposed shift of government system from the present unitary-presidential to parliamentary-federal.

He noted however that several issues have to be addressed first concerning the proposed type of government. (DOS/PIA)

LINGAYEN – This capital town, Alaminos City and Sto Tomas led the awardees during the Annual Pangasinan Anti-Drug Abuse Council (PADAC0 awards held last Monday at the Pangasinan Police Provincial Office Grandstand here.

The municipal / city anti-drug abuse council of the three local government units were cited for their sustained campaign to rid their communities of the drug menace. The highlight of the ceremony was the awarding of well-deserving towns and cities in Pangasinan.

The award for Best Municipal Anti-Drug Abuse Council (MADAC) went to Lingayen town, the Best City Anti-Drug Abuse Council (CADAC) to the city of Alaminos and the Best Municipal Anti-Drug Abuse Council (Class C) to Sto. Tomas.

Other awardees for Best in Supply Reduction among towns & cities were Dagupan City, Mangaldan (Category A), Tayug (Category B) and San Quintin (Category C). For best in Demand Reduction Town & City, the winners were Urdaneta City, Bayambang (Class A), Pozorrubio (Class B) and Sual (Class C).

Leading the ceremony were the affair’s guest speakers, Vice-Governor Oscar Lambino, and Provincial Police Director Alan La Madrid Purisima.

The Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operations Task Group (PAIDSOTG) was also given a special award. (PIA-Pangasinan News Service / EMB)

THE Region 1 Medical Center here will hold a first ever seminar-workshop on bird flu on Dec. 5 that seeks to design a provincewide alert system against the dreaded disease that is now threatening to go pandemic. Dr. Jesus Canto, R1MC chief, said the participants are expected to draw up an action plan that will tasks responsibilities to each concerned government agencies and sectors for them to contribute their share in preventing bird flu.

Although saying that the Philippine remains among only three Asian countries that are still bird flu-free, Canto stressed it is necessary that everybody must contribute his or her share so that bird flu will have no chance to set in. The two other countries still spared from bird flu are Singapore and Brunei.

Canto has invited Dr. Luningning Bella, chief epidemiologist of the Department of Health and Dr. Ramiro Olvida, chief of the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine as main speaker during the day-long seminar-workshop.

He said the two officials will brief participants on the current national bird flu protection program which can be adopted locally and help ensure the continuous bird flu-free status for the Philippines.

Other speakers are from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the Department of Agriculture whose personnel are members of the bird flu protection task force now monitoring bird sanctuaries in Pagudpod, Ilocos Norte and Bani, Pangasinan.

Corollary to this, DA Regional Director Nestor Domenden said the bird flu task force had likewise installed footbaths just outside the doors and gateways of Poro Point seaport in La Union, Salomague Port in Ilocos Norte and Laoag International Airport where foreign visitors would step in when they enter the country.

Invited to the seminar-workshop are hospital and public health personnel, officials of the Department of Education and local government units, particularly members of the bird flu prevention task force in province and cities, including members of the media.

Canto said the seminar-workshop will also analyze if the province of Pangasinan is still safe from bird flu amid reports that migratory birds, such as herons and egrets, are seen more often in flocks in various shallow fishponds in the coastal areas of the province these days.

Egrets, according to the magazine “Awake”, can travel on flocks from one continent to another.

However, Canto considers as God’s blessings on why the Philippines is still bird-flu free despite the country’s proximity with China, Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia that have already registered several cases of bird flu. (PNA)

ALAMINOS CITY – An investigation is now going on to determine the veracity of the allegation of a ranking official of the Department of Health regional office that some of the personnel of a government hospital in Pangasinan are using prohibited and or regulated drugs even while on duty.

Provincial Administrator Virgilio Solis has ordered an investigaton of all personnel of the provincial government-run Western Pangasinan District Hospital in this city, some of whom were reported to be using prohibited and or regulated drugs.

The allegation came from Dr. Reynaldo Jacinto, chief of the standards and regulatory division of the Department of Health regional office and also chief of the Bureau of Food and Drugs in the region, who said some of these personnel are even administering these prohibited and illegal drugs to themselves.

Jacinto however has not substantiated his allegation, including his earlier disturbing claim that some doctors of government hospitals in Pangasinan were prescribing and dispensing counterfeit or fake medicines to their patients.

Nevertheless, Solis ordered WPDH officer-in-charge Susan Meriño to conduct the investigation on the matter while he (Solis) conducts his own discreet investigation.

Meriño said he already met some of her personnel last Friday who even agreed to voluntarily submit themselves to drug test in order to disprove Jacinto’s “very sweeping” allegation.

Solis said Jacinto should be man enough to substantiate his allegation by naming names of WPDH personnel concerned because unless he does this, every doctor and nurse in that hospital are suspects.

A lawyer, Solis said he cannot prevent the employees from filing cases for damages against Jacinto if the result of the drug test will show they are negative of prohibited and or regulated drugs because the latter’s allegation has ridiculed and scandalized their lives. (PNA)

A member of the Consultative Commission on Charter Change has expressed the need to amend the national patrimony provision in the 1987 constitution to make the Philippines more investment-friendly just like the rest of developing nations in Asia and the world.

Saying that the national patrimony provision is as important as the change in form, system and structure of government, Dagupan City Vice Mayor and ConCom member Alvin Fernandez Jr. said the Philippines can become more competitive if it will remove economic restrictions on foreigners investing their money into the country.

Fernandez invited the people of Pangasinan to attend a consultation to be conducted by the body on December 2 and let their choices of amendments on the 1987 Constitution be known and heard. The consultation with various sectors of the society in Pangasinan will be held at the Regency Hotel in Calasiao with up to eight ConCom members coming, he said.

Fernandez expressed confidence that an amendment to the national patrimony provision could be the key to the growth of the economy as it would attract more investors who will open jobs for the unemployed and underemployed citizens.

More foreign investments in the Philippines could reverse the trend that made the government the number one employer of the people in this country, Fernandez said.

Saying the restrictions of land ownership by 40 per cent to foreigners imposed by the 1987 charter had discouraged investments, Fernandez expressed confidence that the Philippines can still catch up with the developing economies if the national patrimony provision in the 1987 charter is amended.

Fernandez cited the case of mining which failed to take off because of the provision limiting foreigners from owning more than 40 per cent of share of business in the Philippines.

Only few years after it was ravaged by war, Vietnam has now overtaken the Philippines because the constitution of the former is more investment-friendly, the ConCom member added.

This, he added, was the same strategy that propelled the growth of China, Thailand, Indonesia and other countries of the world.

Maintaining that the economic restrictions to foreigners put the Philippines behind its neighbors in all aspects of development, Fernandez cited the case of Thailand that received an investment of eight billion dollars last year, as compared to only 800 million dollar investment for the Philippines.

ACTIVE participation of the community has brought very positive results to the school/community nursery program of City Mayor Benjamin S. Lim that seeks to improve food security in the barangays..

Most barangay councils and parent-teacher community associations (PTCA) in the four school districts of Dagupan have pooled their efforts for the construction of fish tanks for aquaculture development.

These include the Don Federico Elementary School and the Pogo-Lasip Elementary School.

Fish tanks substituted for the absence of fishponds in these schools while the East Central Elementary School PTCA simply helped improve a fishpond dike.

“The school/community nursery serves as a show window of the city government’s service delivery and assistance to the community,” City Agriculture Officer Emma Molina said.

The National Integrated Fisheries Technology Development Center of the local Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources in coordination with the barangay council donated the aquaculture products raised in the school nursery like bangus, hito and tilapia.

According to Agricultural Technologist and Project Coordinator Alberto de Vera, Jr., the program which serves as a technical support to the aquaculture, livestock, poultry and crop production of Dagupan, is also profitable even on a small-scale basis.

Bangus was recently harvested in the nursery of the Lucao Elementary School led by Barangay Captain Marcelino Fernandez and School Principal Marilou Llamas.

The bangus was sold to the community and the income augmented the school fund.

Fernandez expressed support to the program which he believes should be sustained because it forms part of the 10-point agenda of the Lim administration while Llamas stressed the nursery generates additional fund for the school and highlights the transfer of technology to students.

Apart from aquaculture, agriculture, poultry and livestock are raised in the school/community nursery of the nine pilot schools and the rest of public elementary schools.

Most of the teachers from the schools finance the procurement of poultry and livestock while the City Agriculture Office donates vegetable and fruit seeds.

The products are also sold to the community to generate additional school fund.

De Vera also commended the initiative of the schools in converting vacant school areas to form part of the nursery.

These areas used to be grassy and were possible breeding grounds of mosquitoes but were cleared and tapped for planting vegetables and fruits.

Pilot schools that have successfully launched the nursery are the West Central Elementary School I and Lucao Elementary School in District I; East Central Elementary School and the Pogo-Lasip Elementary School in District II; Bonuan Boquig Elementary School; Federico N. Ceralde Elementary School and the Leon-Francisco Maramba Elementary School in District III; and the Carael Elementary School and Juan P. Guadiz Elementary School in District IV. – (Sheila H. Aquino)

Giant sea turtle saved from butchering returned to ‘home’
A GIANT sea turtle cared for in one of the research tanks of the Integrated Technology Development Center (NIFTDC) in Dagupan City soon after it was saved from being butchered in Lingayen town was returned to the sea late last week.

Reggie Regpala, Aquaculturist 1 of the center, said the aquatic animal was brought in by residents of barangay Maniboc in Lingayen led by their barangay captain Elizardo Laureta who seized the same from a fisherman who had tied it and was preparing to bring it home for butchering.

The fisherman, whose name was not immediately known, said he caught the turtle with his net while fishing along the coastal waters of the Lingayen Gulf last Nov. 17 in the morning.

Knowing that the fisherman’s catch was a sea turtle belonging to an endangered specie that must be protected, other fishermen went to report the matter to Laureta.

Laureta lost no time in going to the seashore to look for the fisherman. Once he saw him, he asked for the sea turtle which the fisherman readily brought out and gave to him.

Regpala said the turtle had to be treated first of injuries in the body which it suffered after being tied, before it was put into the tank filled with about four feet deep of sea water.

It was not clear by whose authority the turtle was released.

Regpala could not say how old the sea turtle was but judging from the circumference of its oblong-shaped shell, it could now be more than 10 to 15 years old or even older.

The sea turtle was kept in the tank temporarily along with three other sea turtles that are already there, to await final disposition from proper higher officials.

The turtle, along with other turtles there, appeared friendly, oftentimes surfacing from the water to let people touch its shell and head.

THE United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is putting up a multi-million peso modern pathological and infectious waste disposal system at the Region 1 Medical Center here, soon to be the pilot all over the country.

This was disclosed by Dr. Jesus Canto, R1MC chief, after Jorge Emmanuel, lead international technical consultant of the UNDP Global Environment Facility called on him last Tuesday to announce the project.

R1MC is one of only three hospitals in the country to have the facility, Canto said, adding that the other one is the Pangasinan Provincial Hospital located in San Carlos City.

The third beneficiary of the project is a big government hospital in Metro Manila.

Canto said R1MC will provide the location including the needed infrastructures, as its counterpart to the project.

Saying the project is a big boon for the management and control of hazardous and infectious wastes, Canto stressed that the project will innovate on the present system R1MC has adopted in this area for the last two years.

The system of depositing the treated wastes in vault is working well but this will last only for three more years, Canto admitted.

R1MC and the privately-owned Villaflor Memorial Doctors Hospital were the only two hospitals in Pangasinan found by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to be taking care of their infectious and hazardous wastes.

The others have yet to put up their respective facilities with which to treat and store their hazardous wastes.

Canto said the UNDP project will provide the proper mechanism and treatment to prevent the release of hazardous dioxine and mercury into the soil, water and air, thus making the community safer.

At least one million dollars will be spent for the projects in the few pilot hospitals in the Philippines, Canto said, pointing out that the province of Pangasinan will get a lion’s share of the fund.

A JAPANESE lady scholar has impressed no end Dagupeños and Pangasinenses when she arrived here in October this year to gather materials for her dissertation for a doctorate degree at Kobe University in her country.

Thirty-year old Masako Inagaki is here alone to prepare a treatise on the topic “Politicians and their relationship with the people of Dagupan City” in order to complete her requirements for a doctorate degree.

Wonder of wonders, Ms. Inagaki, despite her fair complexion and Japanese features, could easily be mistaken for an ordinary Filipina because she speaks fluent Tagalog.

Try talking in English to this petite and bespectacled Japanese lady from the industrial and port city of Kobe in southern Japan, and you would be awed to hear her answering you in Tagalog.

Well-versed in international politics, Ms. Inagaki confessed she cultivated her Tagalog tongue when she was taking a masteral degree in cultural studies in Kobe University where she also earned a degree in political science.

The scholarly Ms. Inagaki had three professors who were fluent in Tagalog as they stayed in the Philippines and mingled with Filipinos for three or more years in the past.
These professors taught her the Tagalog language, Philippine culture and Philippine literature.

She could even be more familiar with the Philippine language, culture and literature than most Filipinos, past and present.

Her routine in gathering her material about politics in Dagupan includes a daily visit to a local newspaper office on A.B. Fernandez Avenue, where she pores over newspaper files include articles on Dagupan politics.

WOWOWEE IN DAGUPAN. The newest rave of noontime television shows in the Philippines, Wowowee, over ABS-CBN took Dagupan by storm last Friday and Saturday with its cast led by colorful male host Willie Revillame doing personal appearances and the grand show yesterday at the CSI The City Mall. Revillame and his three female co-hosts in the show also came for a press conference at the Star Plaza Hotel. (PStar Photo by Butch F. Uka)

MR. GABRIEL CARDINOZA
Executive Editor
The Pangasinan Star

Dear Sir,

Greetings.

This is in connection with the Headline of your newspaper Pangasinan Star “Truth at its most brilliant” dated November 20, 2005 Vol. XX No. 14, entitled, SP PASSES PARKING FEE ORDINANCE.

One of your distinguished associate editors, Mr. Daniel ‘Danny’ O. Sagun singled out this councilor and MADE IT APPEAR that I am the chairman of Peace and Order that is primarily charged to conduct a public hearing PURSUANT TO YOUR REPORT in connection with the ordinance in question.

With all due respect to the good editor who knows the facts, from the official records let it be made clear that Councilor Joey Tamayo is NOT Chairman on Peace and Order. The current Order Committee chair is distinguished Councilor Hon. Luis ‘Chito’ Samson, Jr., author of the Pay Parking Ordinance.

Contrary to the news item published, the Pay Parking Ordinance was never committed to the Committees on Tourism and on Human Rights which I currently hold as Chairman thereof. Be that as it may, please check the Sangguniang Panglungsod records.

In the light of these facts, it is requested that you please rectify your report considering that the Committees on Tourism and Human Rights, to which I am assigned, were not charged, much less directed by the Committee of the whole to conduct public hearing.

It is the Committee on Peace and Order that has prime jurisdiction over the Pay Parking Ordinance reported.

With full faith that your good newspaper stands for “Truth at its most brilliant”, it is hoped that said report be rectified to give justice and CREDIT that is due to the current chairman of the Peace and Order Committee, Councilor Luis Samson, Jr..

Very truly yours,

Jose Netu ‘Joey’ M. Tamayo
Chairman, Committees on Tourism; Human Rights
Sangguniang Panglungsod
Dagupan City

SAYAN INDIO
Mario Karateka


DIA’D sayan kolum ko, labay kon itda’y pankanawnawan mangusar na espayok si kaaron Sonny Villafania ya akapansulat lamet ed ‘online’ ya ‘blogspot’ na dyaryo tayon Pangasinan Star. Labay kon sikatola so mangikongkong na pankaukulay pundo parad samay tinogyop nen Gobernador Viktor a Provincial Council for Culture and Arts.

No manaya makapantotongtong iran dua met ed telepono nen Gob, di lukas sirin so komunikasyon – parad ibulaslas tan isekder na irararo tayon salitan Pangasinan, panamegley na masimoon a imano tan tulong na Anak nen Aguedo.

Nia pay sulat nen Sonny sirin:

“Ay naimano yo manaya iman so in-post kon komento.

Dia’d say tua, abayag ko lan akabatan so pangitogiop na Pangasinan Arts and Culture Council. No ag ak nalilingo abitla to la’ya nen datin DTI Director Jaime Lucas ed siak nen 2003 ni.

Kapigan labat impalapag na opisina nen Gobernador so impangipaoay to’y Executive Order No. 058-2005 (Reconstituting the Provincial Council for the Culture and the Arts in the Province of Pangasinan). Akala ak na kopia na sayan Executive Order nanlapu mismo ed opisina na Gobernador via email.

Say nibagak labat ed sayan impangitalindeg nen Gov. Agbayani ed kulturan Pangasinan, MARAKEP tan itdan to komun na tagano tan pundo iyan proyikto ta aya so baleg a pankaukulan naani na apili to ‘ran kabiangan na Provincial Council for the Culture and Arts.

Marakep a kurang so pansukisok da’y peteg a petsa’y impangiletneg ed luyag tayon Pangasinan. Anggapo’y arum a pakalmoan anganko ed saya no ag ta dia ed saray daan ya aoaran ya isusulat da’ra’y praylin Kastila.

Manaya, kaluyagan a Mario Karateka, tuan lurey ko labat so inkuan kon “Say amtak ag makatalus na Pangasinan so Gobernador tayo.” Amtak ya makatalus na salita tayo si Gov. Agbayani ta tinaoagan to ak la aminsan dia ed Manila. Akapan tongtong kamin agano ed telepono usar so salitan Pangasinan :)

No manpapasaring ak bilang ed sikato, ed panamegley na anlong tan komento, aya et pililiknak labat bilang kabiangan na Ulupan na Pansiansia’y Salitan Pangasinan tan sakey met ed saray totoon pilalek dan ombulaslas so kulturan Pangasinan.”

AFTER ALL
Behn Fer. Hortaleza, Jr.


MAYBE it was just her fraternal or maternal instincts getting the better of her but surely we can empathize with woman colleague Eva Visperas’ little “outburst” at the palpable absence of many media practitioners and “leaders” of the Pangasinan press from the wake and funerals of three mediamen who passed away recently – Napoleon Donato, Maximo Mendiguarin and Dominic Villafuerte.

To be sure, her own clique in the local media (from the Patrima particularly) were very much in the wakes and funerals of our three departed colleagues; that’s one thing you can’t take away from them, and they’ve proven they are sincere condolers. The Pangasinan media is that much richer for their display of oneness and sympathy for fallen comrades.

Eva may have been however a little unfair, to say the least, to imply hardness of heart of other colleagues whom she may not have physically seen in those times when she was present at the wake or at the funeral. For one, at Nap’s funeral – rather, cremation – many other media “leaders” were there, we can vouch for that, who need not be mentioned in this space anymore since that would be unseemly -- trotting out a list of who’s who in a morbid scene. And who could have guessed how many others went to the wakes or funerals in the other days, or hours, when Big Sister wasn’t there?

We do believe that, like praying, attendance at a wake or funeral should not be made a big thing of since it is a personal devotion between the dead and the living, and nobody else. It is not something one does to publicly profess deep colleagiality or kinship or worship of someone or something because that would be akin to the ways of the Pharisees, they who are wont to be seen and heard paying obeisance to their deities.

One last word to the wise, and just for the record, at Nap’s pre-cremation rites -- not that it matters anyway because distant cousin Nap in his coffin wouldn’t’ even have known, but just to set the record straight (we hate even doing this at all, naming names that is!) -- Patrima prexy Roland Hidalgo was there, and so was the other club’s chief Raul Tamayo during the final night of wake at Eternal Gardens.

Personally, of the three dead mediaguys, the only one we missed saying farewell to, (physically, we might stress, for Ms. Eva’s info) was Dong Villafuerte. That’s as sincere as we can get about this funeral attendance thing. Enough said. Makapabegas la.

* * * *

GRADE 1 and pre-elementary pupils of the towns of Basista, Labrador and Burgos here don’t to go absent or truant from their classes anymore for the “sacrificial” reason of working to help augment their family’s income in order to buy a ganta or two of rice for the dining table.

Government, thru the Department of Education and the National Food Authority, among other agencies, will be giving them their day’s daily rice needs – actually a kilo of rice each to the pupils in the target areas -- for each day of school attendance as a form of incentive.

The Food for-School Program is a food subsidy package for young learners pre-identified as belonging to poor families by the Technical Working Group (TWG)composed of the National Nutrition Council , NFA, Department of Interior and Local Government, DepEd and National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) .

A memorandum of agreement has been signed between DepEd and NFA for the delivery of the rice to school principals in identified schools of 5th and 6th class municipalities. Distribution will be based on a validated masterlist to be submitted by DepEd to NFA. This was an agreement forged during an orientation meeting among the agencies concerned at Teachers’ Camp in Baguio City last November 12.

Hitting two birds --- school truancy and malnutrition among pupils -- the program, to be very effective, must keep away those politicians who are quick to “ride”on such community-based programs and yes, school administrators too who might have other ideas with the commodity to be delivered under their care.

And if we sound too suspicious about these, it’s just because there is available and more than ample evidence of good programs going bad precisely because of such obnoxious ulterior motives among vultures in official clothes.

* * * *

SAID AND DONE: We’re saving our appreciating peso’s worth of comment on that ‘novel’ money-making, er, revenue-earning scheme, the pay parking ordinance, of the sangguniang panlungsod of Dagupan for next week. Having given our neighbor columnist below, DOS, the chance at first bat, we don’t want to fall guilty of doing an issue “overkill.” Just a small shot for now: There are intentions and there are motives. . . . We hope our good friend Councilor Joey Tamayo is not raising an issue on his having been misidentified by this paper as chair of the committee on peace and order of the Dagupan SP last week because he confuses The Pangasinan Star with the Sun-Star.Pangasinan.The latter, which folded up early this year, is identified with Mayor BSL…. Joey, we’re a purely independent (and proud) community newspaper, surviving by dint of hard-earned advertising and indelible newsman’s blood. We lick no asses to survive.

THE PEN SPEAKS
Danny O. Sagun


DAGUPENOS indeed are not aware that an ordinance was passed last November 14 making motorists pay when they park their vehicles on the city’s main road shoulders.

Some sanggunian secretariat staff, in fact, did not even know of such a measure being passed in that session. And how could beat reporters of newspapers and radio stations, those ubiquitous and nosey fieldmen, have failed to report the same in their public affairs or news programs that afternoon or even the next day? We usually listen to morning newscasts and commentaries but we heard nothing about the passage of that ordinance. Ah, maybe the beat reporters were already tired of the antics and grandstanding of some SP members, not to mention the late start of sessions because the honorables come either too late or not at all, that sometimes they chose not to cover the council sessions anymore?

Our suspicion is that the measure was passed when nobody, including the media, was looking or listening. For if our city legislators really wanted the public to know of their intention, they would have called for public consultations or hearings as they did some two years ago when the city increased its real property taxes. Roland H of DWPR swore in his morning program that no consultation of any kind was held.

We heard last Wednesday morning City Legal Officer Geraldine Baniqued over Super Radyo discussing the possible charging of parking fees along the city’s main thoroughfares and side streets. Yes, she was talking in the future tense. So we sent a text message to anchor Orly N. about the passage of ordinance No. 1853-2005 by the sanggunian last November 14. Dindin said she it was her understanding that the pay parking ordinance was adopted without the required quorum. In short it was null and void.

Null and void? Yes.

And Mayor Benjie Lim, for sure, will not dare affix his signature on a defective ordinance, given the observation of CLO Baniqued. We ourself saw the draft of the ordinance when we visited the sanggunian secretariat last week with Boss Behn for a meeting with the PMS and DILG on the coming December 2 Charter Change consultation of the Consultative Commission members at the Regency Hotel in Calasiao. (Vice Mayor Alvin Fernandez is at the helm of the event being a Con-Com member himself representing the vice mayors league.)

While the ordinance was adopted unanimously by the members present, six councilors were absent on that day. Perhaps, that measure would be valid when and if no one questions the quorum. But knowing some intrepid personalities here, we believe that many this early are already raring to question the validity of that ordinance before the courts, especially when or if Mayor BSL signs it notwithstanding.

That ordinance being defective or not, Baniqued though sounded agreeable to the charging of parking fees, citing the legal precedent in Baguio City where the High Court ruled in favor of the city in its own controversial pay parking ordinance.

So, motorists, brace up for the coming days when a parking attendant approaches you as you park your vehicle anywhere in the city proper and issues a ticket based on Ordinance 1853-2005. P20 is charged for the first hour and P5 for every hour afterwards.

We reserve our comment on the need to charge parking fees in the meantime though being a motorist ourself.

We must note here the reaction of Councilor Joey Tamayo via e-mail last Monday. He clarified that he is not the chair of the peace and order committee of the city council as we erroneously reported in this paper last week. Sorry for the slip, we stand corrected. Our only point in the story was Tamayo’s having been bypassed (so we thought, forgetting that he was no longer the committee chair) by his colleagues when they rushed to enact the ordinance without calling for public hearings.

We meant to cast no aspersion or anything by our citing the good councilor’s name, knowing full well that he was the only one during an earlier deliberation in the session who had noted the lopsided sharing arrangement of the parking proceeds – 20 for the city and 80 % for the parking operator – and had boldly queried whether a much fairer 60-40 sharing was possible.

You guessed it, his idea was promptly shot down pronto! How generous of the city to give almost everything to the lucky operators – the plural form here used deliberately.

WINDOWS
Gabriel L. Cardinoza


ON Friday, December 2, it will be Pangasinan’s turn to be consulted by the Constitutional Commission (ConCom) on what provisions of the 1987 Constitution Pangasinenses would want revised or amended.

From what we heard from ConCom Commissioner and Vice Mayor Alvin Fernandez, there will be at least 300 participants representing various sectors in the province in that consultation.

More than the shift in the form of government (from presidential to parliamentary) and the change of its structure (from unitary to federal), it would be interesting to know how Pangasinenses will view the national patrimony and economic reforms issues of the proposed Charter change, which have been the subject of animated discussions in the Visayas and Mindanao consultations.

For instance, under the present Constitution, the development and utilization of natural resources and operation of public utilities, among others, are limited only to Filipino citizens or to corporations owned at least 60 percent by Filipinos.

This is the same restriction imposed on ownership of private agricultural lands, although through a Supreme Court decision, the restriction has been interpreted to also cover lands for residential, commercial and industrial uses.

Commissioner Fernandez said that he finds it ironic that while developing countries, including China and Vietnam, have been aggressively inviting foreign investors to help develop their economies, our Constitution continues to restrict foreign investments, which would have brought in needed capital to improve our infrastructure and establish new industries.

“With this capital would have came technology, management and access to markets abroad, creating needed jobs for our youth and attracting back our OFW’s presently employed as technicians and supervisors abroad,” Commissioner Fernandez said.

“These are some reasons why most members of the Commission believe it is now time to allow more foreign investments in the Philippine economy,” he added.

In fact, the Commissioner said, there is now a growing consensus among his colleagues to favor the proposal that would allow 100 percent foreign ownership in public utilities, which include passenger ships, rail transits, airlines, telecommunications, water distribution and distribution of electricity, to inject the capital needed to improve services of public utilities, and make those services more widely available.

Many Commissioners, he added, also think that large scale development of the country’s natural resources (such as mining) could be hastened and could provide more benefits to the economy if allowed to be done (under strict state supervision) by foreign companies with 100 percent ownership. Small-scale developments will be restricted to fully Filipino owned companies.

And on the ownership of commercial and industrial lands, many Commissioners have suggested that this be allowed to foreign companies, under conditions to be specified by Congress or Parliament, including the establishment of the proposed industrial or commercial project in the property within a specified time period.

We can only surmise that if the Commissioners are favoring these proposals, it is because they reflect the people’s true sentiments.

But Commissioner Fernandez hastened to add that the proposals are not yet final and these will still have to be thoroughly discussed by the Commission. Once finalized, he said, ConCom’s recommendations will be submitted to the President, who shall in turn endorse it to Congress. These recommendations will then be discussed in Congress and will pass through the proper Constitutional process (Constitutional Assembly, Constitutional Convention, etc.).

Finally, the proposed amendments will then be returned to the people, who will have the final say via plebiscite.

SIX LESS SHOPLIFTERS. A gang of shoplifters operating in western Pangasinan, including Alaminos City, who were arrested by the police show varied body languages at the presentation held in Alaminos City hall last week. Clothes and other materials spread in foreground are the items confiscated from the six members of the salisi gang.

WITHOUT much fanfare and to the surprise of many Dagupenos, the sangguniang panlungsod last Monday passed an ordinance regulating parking and imposing fees and penalties at the two major thoroughfares and busy streets in Dagupan city.

With only seven members present including Vice-Mayor Alvin Fernandez, the measure was approved unanimously. Curiously, six sanggunian members were absent to include Councilor Jose Netu Tamayo whose public order committee was supposed to take a pivotal role in the discussion of the measure.

Reports said that the legislative body thru Tamayo’s committee and other concerned committees did not hold any committee or public hearing for the purpose, thus eliciting negative reactions from the public particularly the media.

City Ordinance No. 1853-2005 as approved seeks to define parking areas and impose fees and penalties.

Light vehicles that include mini trucks and pick-ups are to be charged P20 for the first two hours and P5 for every hour thereafter, and for medium vehicles like delivery vans and trucks below 10-wheelers, the fee is P30 for the first hour and P10 for every hour beyond.

Vehicle owners may opt to apply for a monthly prepaid season parking ticket or pass which is good for 30 days. Light vehicles are to be charged P1,000 and for medium vehicles, P1,500.

A draft ordinance amendment, authored by Councilor Luis Samson, Jr. who also authored the parking measure, a copy of which was obtained by the Pangasinan Star sought to raise the parking ticket/pass to P1,500 for light vehicles, and P3,500 for medium vehicles.

The city government will get 20 percent of the gross collections or a flat rate of P30,000 per month, whichever is higher. The draft ordinance raised the amount to P50,000 per month. It was not clear if the amendment was likewise passed as sanggunian staff appeared not aware of subsequent legislative action on the matter.

Violators for illegal parking or non-payment of parking fees will be slapped a fine of P500.

The present parking system was practically adopted by the ordinance: south side of A.B. Fernandez Avenue; Perez Boulevard, north side, Arellano street, west side; Rizal street, east side; M.H. del Pilar, west side; and Mayombo, west side. Parking was also regulated in other city roads and streets.

Sections 17, 18 and 458 of the local government code were cited as basis of authority in enacting the ordinance, which repealed city Ordinance No. 1424 passed in 1992.

Exempted from the regulation fees are ambulances, firetrucks, police and military vehicles and service vehicles of utilities doing public works, electrical and water services.

It was not immediately known if the Department of Public Works and Highways which maintains the national roads was consulted. Except for the side streets, all major roads running thru the city are categorized national highways.

Critics maintained that the 80-20 sharing scheme was very disadvantageous to the city.

Under the ordinance, Mayor Benjamin S. Lim was authorized to enter into a memorandum of agreement with a private parking operator. (DOS)

ALAMINOS – The number of foreigners visiting the Hundred Islands National Park (HINP) here has increased only a month since the tourist spot was formally turned over by the Philippine Tourism Authority (PTA) to the Alaminos City government where it really belongs.

City Mayor Hernani Braganza said the latest figure in the month of October showed that there were 4,707 tourists who visited the Hundred Islands, at least 10 percent of these, or 387, being foreigners.

“Despite the rainy season in October, we enjoyed the regularity of arrivals of tourists coming from different places,” Braganza told newsmen.

Topping the list of foreigners who visited the HINP last October were the Koreans numbering 116, followed by Americans, 111; British, 30; Japanese, 25; Australians, 17; Swiss, 12; Danish, 10; East Timorese, 9; Chinese and Dutch, seven each; Canadians, Sri Lankans and Vietnamese, five each; Bangledeshi and French, three each; Indonesians, Italians and Irish, two each; and Croatian, Lebanese, New Zealander and Swedish, one each.

The list of foreign tourists was based on the registry list being kept by the city government at its office in Lucap wharf, the jump-off point to the Hundred Islands.

Braganza said the month of October brought in ticket sales of P170,000 which accrued to the city government and which will be used to further improve the Hundred Islands.

He said since the city took over Pangasinan’s number one tourist destination, it has energized three main islands in the Hundred Islands group, namely the Quezon, Children’s and Governor Islands.

This enabled tourists to hang around these three islands even at night to do night swimming, which was never done under the administration of the PTA that lasted for three decades.

Lack of funds however hamper the city government’s plan to build floating houses which it seeks to offer to tourists who may want to stay overnight in the Hundred Islands for them to commune longer with nature.

Bernabe Dy, Jr. is group’s new prexy


PANDA Fire Brigade, a volunteer Filipino-Chinese firefighting group based in Dagupan City marked a well-deserved milestone yesterday with a celebration at the Grand Ballroom of the Star Plaza Hotel in Dagupan City attended by city officials and a grateful community.

Leading the Dagupan Chinese-Filipino Community Association-Panda Volunteer Fire Brigade’s 25th anniversary celebration was the newly-inducted president Bernabe A. Dy, Jr. whose family has been part of the Panda history since inception.

Panda Volunteer Fire Brigade started with a one-truck fire crew to and grew into a formidable four-truck fire group today, equipped with modern firefighting apparati and well-trained firefighters whose skills have been tested and earned praise in big fires in the city and environs the past two decades.

It also inaugurated last Nov. 12 its new fire station along A.B. Fernandez Avenue East at the groundfloor of the new, imposing J.F Bernabe Dy building. The original fire station located along Arellano St.., will be retained as a sub-station, Dy. said.

Sworn in as new officers of the association, aside from Dy, were: Ronie Albarillo, vice president; Allan Bernabe, executive secretary, Danny Cuna, sub-secretary; Rolly B. Chua, treasurer; Kerwin Bruce Lee, sub-treasurer ; William Chan, auditor; Johnson Lim, press relations office; John Tan, fire marshal with deputies William Tan, Jojo Lim, Danny Caras and Ferdinand Tinquico; and Peter Fernandez, Jesus Uy, Joseph Hufano and Aurelio Lee as directors.

Outgoing president Guanson Lo is ex-officio director.

The new officers and fire marshal and deputies took their oath of office before President Gerie T. Chua, president of the Association of Philippine Volunteer Fire Brigade.

The dinner induction ceremonies held at the Panda’ fire brigade’s new station had Gen. Rogelio F. Asignado, Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) chief as guest of honor and speaker.

Asignado, in his speech, congratulated the new officers and the volunteer spirit behind their organization. He described the new Panda headquarters as “the most beautiful volunteer firefighter station in the whole country.”

The Dagupan Filipino-Chinese Community Association (DFCCA) Panda Volunteer Fire Brigade today has 186 active members. Its trained fire crews work by shifts and are almost always arriving ahead of regular firemen in local fire scenes.

A PUBLIC forum on the expanded value added tax (EVAT) will be held on Tuesday, November 29 from 1 to 5 p.m. at the Leisure Coast Resort in Bonuan Binloc, Dagupan City.

Assistant Regional Director Romeo Y. Buan of the Bureau of Internal Revenue said top officials of the bureau and partner agencies – departments of finance, trade and industry, agriculture, and energy – will conduct the tax forum for the benefit of the general taxpaying public and the small and medium enterprises in Region 1.

Registration for the forum is free.

Discussions will revolve on salient features of the VAT reform law (Republic Act 9337), its impact on the government’s macroeconomic and fiscal objectives, and its specific effects on basic needs like food, energy and other commodities.

A VAT clinic will also be conducted by the BIR to answer queries on compliance requirements, he said.

EVAT aims to expand the tax base, generate substantial incremental revenues, help reduce the fiscal deficit and ensure debt sustainability in the medium term, Buan explained.

The VAT reform law mandates that a portion of the incremental VAT revenues be earmarked for education, health, environment, and agricultural modernization. It also seeks to minimize the impact of the law on the poor by exempting basic commodities and socially sensitive products from VAT, and by mandating the implementation of mitigating measures, he added. – (DOS/PIA)

Alaminos City--A family of notorious drug pushers and members of a “salisi” gang were caught by the local police recently and now detained at the provincial jail.

Twenty-nine heat-sealed sachets of shabu weighing some 20.8 grams and other paraphernalia, 24 pairs of assorted pants, six pairs of short pants and seven pieces assorted bread were confiscated from the gang of shoplifters.

The three suspected drug pushers – one of them a “big timer” in the trade identified as Rolando “Iking” Bautista, from Pandayan St, Poblacion this city -- and six members of a gang of shoplifters from barangay Bulosan, San Carlos City were presented to the media during a press conference called by Alaminos City Mayor Hernani Braganza at the city hall last Tuesday.

Rolando is the husband of Nena Bautista, once tagged as “shabu queen” of Alaminos and the region’s number 10 most wanted person, who is now confined at the provincial jail.

The two other drug pushing suspects caught were Noli Bautista, a brother of Rolando, and Lorna Bautista.

The alleged shoplifters were identified in the police report as Belinda Sampaga, 26; Edna Toledo, 21; Doris Ballesteros, 37; Rowena de Vera, 40, married; Agnes Bacani, 35, widow, all residents of Brgy. Bulosan, San Carlos City and Samuel Gonzales, 31, married, a resident of Brgy. Caingal, San Carlos City.

The two sets of suspects were charged for violation of R.A.9165 at the Prosecutor’s Office in criminal complaints number 4926-A and 4927-A respectively.

Braganza said police estimate the number of users and pushers here at more than 90. Fifty percent of shabu supplies in this town come from the Bautista group, long considered a “big time” group of pushers operating in western Pangasinan..

Braganza said drug users caught in the city government’s intensified anti-drugs campaign will be put under rehabilitation.

The late Alan de Guzman who was killed in barangay Seselangen, Sual town “was a victim of his own fame” the mayor said, in response to a question about the sensational highway shooting incident sometime ago. De Guzman is believed to have a romantic link with Nena Bautista

Confirming reports of an on-going “drugs war” in Pangasinan, Braganza said a deadly rivalry among drug dealers in their areas of operation -- of which the Bautistas were very much a part – and double cross among financiers and couriers, may have something to do with de Guzman’s death.

The mayor reiterated his call that regional trial courts should set up “special courts” to handle drug-related cases in order to speed up justice for the guilty and exoneration of the innocent.

He called the successful anti-crime operations a victory of the city, administration, PNP, 106th mobile group and POSO and barangay officials. (PIA/EMB)

By NORMAN C. CAGUIOA

SAN CARLOS CITY – The entire community of the Virgen Milagrosa University Foundation (VMUF) here is now rejoicing after one of its graduates topped the list of passers in the 2005 Midwife Licensure Examination given in Manila last November 8 and 9.

The Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) identified the No. 1 topnotcher as Catherine B. De Guzman-Torio of Calasiao town in Pangasinan with an average rating of 89.10 percent.

“I took the board exam simply aiming to pass it without this glorious expectation,” the 33-year-old board topnotcher said.

“I dedicate this ‘gift’ to my dear father who is now with His Creator,” Torio said.

The new record holder in the 2005 midwife licensure examination graduated from the VMUF with the degree of Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) in 1993 and consequently passed the nurse licensure examination.

In spite of her hectic schedule, she manages to divide her time raising her three children -- Pauline Laurice, 10; Patricia Mae, 8; and Lester Paul, 2 years old, and pursuing her graduate studies program including her professional career as medical health specialist.

Torio rose from the ranks, initially as faculty member in the college of nursing in 1994. She was promoted as Program Coordinator of the college of midwifery and nursing aide in 2000. She was also designated as program coordinator to pioneer and spearhead the caregiver course and later the medical transcription training program.

Torio is the eldest of four children of the late Saturnino De Guzman and the former Conchita Baguno. She is a full-fledged Master in Public Health (MPH) holder and currently pursuing her next higher level studies in Master of Arts in Nursing (MAN) degree. She said that she once dreamed to become a successful lawyer but time has changed her destiny.

Torio will join her fellow professionals during the oath-taking ceremonies before the board on December 9 at the Centennial Hall of the Manila Hotel. She will be joined by her fellow Virginians and VMUF’s new midwives identified as Arlyn A. Dela Cruz; Jacqueline M. De Guzman; Janice B. De Guzman; Lysa DG. Delos Santos; Catherine R. Gonzales and Jobelle M. Salazar.

The VMUF passing average is 78 percent higher than the national passing average of only 51 percent in this year’s midwife licensure examination. The VMUF pioneered the midwifery school north of Manila in the early 1960’s.

Meantime, in the latest Veterinarian Licensure Examination, VMUF graduate Ronald Ruel M. Joves of Urdaneta City landed 18th among the 207 successful examinees, out of the 550 takers, with an average rating of 80.25 percent.

Dr. Leo B. Solis, dean of the college of veterinary medicine said that the school bagged a grand slam record for three consecutive years starting in 2001 with 6th placer Dr. Gerardo Q. Ibuan, a San Carleñan who scored a rating of 80.38 percent; Dr. Jhonabeth R. Bogaoan-Pajarillaga, 20th placer of Basista, Pangasinan obtaining 76.88 percent; Dr. Jefferson C. Canilang, 9th in the 2002 board exam and Dr. Percival Vinluan Hidalgo of San Quintin, Pangasinan who was 10th in the 2003 board exam with an average rating of 76.88 percent.

The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) listed the school’s college of veterinary medicine as one of the top 10 performing veterinary schools in the country with excellent programs obtaining 80.89 percent compliance rating. It has produced a top caliber veterinarian, Dr. Jonathan S. Luna of Balungao, Pangasinan who placed 9th in the 1995 licensure examinations.
The VMUF’s new veterinarians are Drs. Jayson B. Baradi; Shirley D. Fabian; Alfredo Mark U. Guarin; Antonio C. Perez, Jr.; and Lawrence C. Petilla.

The VMUF administration headed by president and board of trustees chairman, Dr. Ma. Lilia P. Juan, congratulated all the new board passers in midwifery and veterinary medicine. She commended them for giving another feather to the VMUF cap and for keeping the university globally competitive.

BILINGUALISM has had a grave adverse effect on the Filipino mastery and usage of the English language, thus endangering the Philippines once premier standing among English-speaking countries of the world.

This was disclosed by Sr. Remy Angela Junio, president of the St. Paul University in Tuguegarao, Cagayan, who tagged the adoption of “Tag-lish” as the main reason Filipino students now have a lot of things to catch up on with their counterparts in other countries.

Speaking to newsmen shortly after the inauguration of the first-ever call center in the Ilocos region owned by FarmOut Central, Sr. Junio noted that the call centers are the ones bringing so much money to the Philippines recently.

Also chancellor of the St. Paul University System, Sr. Junio said that the British Council itself found out that the Filipinos were the last among students of various nationalities based on the result of English proficiency examination it had given.

She admitted that in some high schools, students are being allowed to speak both English and Tagalog or the vernaculars in their classrooms or inside campuses, possibly spawning a language called “Tag-lish”.

The call center needs agents who can meet the rigid standard set by a company, especially in the command of the English language since they (agents) talk and deal with overseas callers.

Statistics from the Pangasinan Employment Service Office (PESO) however showed only three or five of 100 applicants for call center agents are being hired because of the high standard imposed by companies, among them their mastery of the English language.

Junio stressed that while there should be more call centers in the country, the problem is that only few graduates can qualify to become call center agents because they fare poorly in spoken and written English.

She lauded a policy given two years ago by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to make English as a medium of instruction in schools in order to make the country’s workers competitive with their counterparts abroad.

A CITY councilor of Dagupan has proposed an ordinance banning the use of plastics and styrofoam as packaging materials by food establishments but failed to present an alternative material to be used by such establishments.

The city council thus deferred discussion on the proposed ordinance until Councilor Nicanor Aquino, the proponent, has presented an alternative to the materials he sought to be banned.

Aquino, chair of the committee on environment and natural resources, contended that plastics and styrofoams are considered non-biodegradable and their composition compounds make these difficult for disposal in dumpsites.

The proposed edict sought that, within six months after its passage, all food establishments, hotels and other similar establishments in the city reduce the use of plastics and other styrofoam packaging materials by at least 75 percent.

If this cannot be avoided, said Aquino, food caterers should exert efforts to impart to their customers the need to recycle the plastic utensils that go with the styrofoam food containers.

Compliance of establishments to the proposed ordinance will be strictly monitored by the city’s waste management division and violators will be fined.

In convincing his colleagues to support the proposed ordinance, Aquino presented video footages taken at the city’s dumpsite which showed that most of the wastes being collected there are plastics and styrofoam.

He said the garbage crisis in Dagupan is being compounded by heaps of plastics and styrofoam being discharged daily into the dumpsite.

Councilor Marie Farah Decano however moved to defer the passage of the proposed ordinance till after Aquino is able to propose an alternative to plastics and styrofoam as food packaging.

She said this is necessary so that existing food establishments and similar establishments will have alternative materials to use in their daily operations. (PNA)

WITHOUT fanfare, the first call center in Pangasinan and the entire Ilocos region opened here last Sunday to add to the growing number of call centers now in business throughout the country.

Owned by the new company FarmOut Central formed by local investors led by Wilson L. Chua, president of the Dagupan-based Bitstops, Inc., which is into Internet and computers, the call center was put up with an initial 20 seats in its first module and 60 seats in its second module.

The investors are confident the call center will bring in new money to the province, enhance the local economy, open up new jobs and ancillary businesses, and boost money in circulation.

Board of Investment Governor Consuelo S. Perez, aided by Sister Remy Angela Junio of the St. Paul University in Tuguegarao City, one of the many clients of Bitstops, and Dr. and Mrs. Vivencio Villaflor did the honor in inaugurating the call center.

They were aided by Chua and Mark August Viegelmann, the men behind FarmOut, a new company registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) whose vision is to open new jobs and bring in additional investments into Pangasinan.

Perez said this is only among many investments approved by BOI from January 2000 to June 2005, thus confirming the growing confidence of local as well as foreign investors in the economy.

Now processing from 1,200 to 1,500 calls nightly, the call center is initially manned by 20 agents who successfully passed the rigid standard set by the company, especially in the delivery of the English language.

Chua, president of FarmOut, admitted this is the first call center in the region comprising the provinces of Pangasinan, La Union, Ilocos Sur and Ilocos Norte although there was already one that opened ahead in Baguio.

He said the future of the local call center here however looks brighter because it is using the advanced fiber optics technology made available by the Philippine Long Distance Telephone that guarantees clearer, better signal than the ordinary copper wire.

Besides, he said, Pangasinan is the largest and most populous province in the Ilocos region. Its population of 2.2 million is more than the combined population of La Union, Ilocos Sur and Ilocos Norte combined.

Saying they have eight fiber optic courses, only one of which is being utilized yet, Chua said the technology will allow them to expand up to 1,000 seats and to also expand to other locations.

Chua, a certified public accountant, said at 1,000 seats per call center, the estimated money to be in circulation is P30 million, granting that each call center agent is paid from P10,000 to P15,000 a month.

The call center started its initial operations in February with only three agents right after the company’s incorporation by providing free service to a Catholic church in a small community in the United States.

By FREDDIE G. LAZARO

VIGAN CITY – The people of Ilocos Sur commemorated last Wednesday the 115th birth anniversary of the late President Elpidio Quirino in a short program at the provincial capitol here.

Vice Gov. Deogracias Victor Savellano and Cory Quirino, granddaughter of the late President, led city and local officials, heads of different agencies and students from different schools in floral offerings at the late President’s bust.

The late President Quirino was born on Nov. 16, 1890 at the provincial jail in Vigan, Ilocos Sur to his parents Mariano Quirino of Ilocos Sur and Gregoria Rivera of Agoo, La Union.

Provincial Board Member Jeremias Singson, who represented Gov. Luis Chavit Singson, extolled the late President Quirino as an illustrious son of Ilocos Sur, a teacher, a lawyer, legislator, economist, diplomat, statesman and an exemplary public official.

He said Quirino was a legendary leader in the 20th century, a man of patriotism, and a man who alleviated the plight of the “common tao.”

For her part, Mrs. Cory Quirino thanked local officials for their initiative in the yearly commemoration of the birth anniversary of her grandfather.

The celebration also saw the awarding by descendants of the Quirino family of the President Elpidio Quirino medals to 22 Ilocos Sur residents who excelled in their respective fields. Former Ilocos Sur Gov. Carmeling Crisologo led the medalists this year.

In her message, Ms. Quirino cited humility as the stepping stones of his grandfather, Elpidio, in reaching his greatness as the second president of the Philippine Republic and the first Ilocano president.

There is a need to practice the spirit of humility for the sake of the country and people in the light of the present political crisis being experienced by the country today, she said.

In 1934, Qurino was a member of the Philippine Independent mission to Washington D.C. headed by Manuel Quezon that secured the passage in the United States Congress of the Tydings-Mac Duffie Act that set the date for Philippine independence in 1945.

After the war, he served as secretary of state and vice president to Manuel Roxas, the first president of the independence Republic of the Philippines. When Roxas died on April 15, 1948, Quirino assumed the presidency and subsequently won his election as president for four years. He died on Feb. 20 1956.

AFTER lying at a hospital morgue unclaimed by any relative after his death, a non-Pangasinense former newspaper editor was finally buried by media colleagues here who tapped resources to give him a decent final farewell.

Dominic “Dong” Villafuerte, 60, former editor of the tabloid newspaper “Headline Balita” published by Victor Corpuz, a namesake of retired Army General Victor Corpuz, was already clinically dead when he was brought to the R1MC at 11 p.m. Wednesday after suffering an apparent heart attack.

Villafuerte, a native of Camarines Sur but migrated to the province of Pangasinan since the 80s, was the third journalist from Pangasinan who died due to natural causes in a span of only seven days.

The others were Professor Napoleon “Nap” Donato, 58, of Dagupan City; and Maximo “Max” Mendiguarin, 82, of Binmaley town, both columnists of the local newsweekly “Sunday Punch”.

Drs. Mayeen Fernandez and Rochelle Taaca, attending physicians, said Villafuerte was already clinically dead when brought to the hospital by a male person who did not introduce his relations with the deceased.

They said although Villafuerte was already cyanotic or ashen-colored when he was brought in, they still did everything to revive him but to no avail.

Villafuerte, who once worked with the government-owned Philippine Broadcasting System from the 70s up to the 80s, has no relatives in Pangasinan. Hospital records showed his address was Guilig street in barangay Pogo Chico in Dagupan City where he rented a space alone.

Months after leaving “Headline Balita”, he was arrested and jailed in Dagupan aftr he failed to post the bailbond of P9,000 for a case of libel filed against him.

Hearing about Villafuerte’s predicament Bayambang Mayor Leocadio de Vera posted the bailbond for the latter.

THERE’S something the Chinese-Filipinos – “Tsinoys” -- in Dagupan City have done here that the natural-born Dagupeno would never have the conscience to dispute or deny – that they have helped protect the city from fires.

This the Dagupan Filipino-Chinese Community Association (DFCCA) has successfully achieved thru its organization of the Panda Volunteer Fire Brigade that has seen action in many a big fire in the city. If verbal efforts to promote amity between the native Dagupenos and the Tsinoys have somehow been spotty, the deeds of the Panda firemen has bridge any gap there is or may have been in the area of brotherhood.

All on their own, pooling their own resources and manpower together, the Dagupan Tsinoys have formed what is now a formidable, dependable and most of all, volunteer fire unit comparable to the best volunteer fire brigades in the region and nationwide – if there are any such brigades around to date.

DFCCA-Panda Fire Brigade observed its 25th year yesterday, the torch of responsibility for managing the association and the fire brigade’s day to-day- operations passing from Guanson Lo to Bernabe F. Dy, Jr. As always, Panda has kept pretty much to itself, keeping its feats and achievements in stock without letting the rest of the city know about it. Only when the fire alarms are sounded and its apple-green firetrucks zoom to the fire scene, its young crew of firefighters responding to their self-imposed duty with grit and skill, will we native Dagupenos remember and again feel that their fairer complexions notwithstanding, these Tsinoys really our bloodbrothers.

They have cast their lot with us, in fair times or foul, and the least we Dagupenos can do is to give them a pat on the back for a job well done – and a goodwill extended beyond words.

AFTER ALL
Behn Fer. Hortaleza, Jr.


A QUICK browse of the website of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) would easily reveal that despite the much-ballyhooed government e-procurement system already being in effect, local government units still appear hesitant to use it to post their supply and services requirements in.

Hesitant -- or defiant, that is.
Only about four or five local government units (LGUs) in Pangasinan, we noticed in our scan, were posting their invitations to bid or supply needs at bid prices of from P50,000 to P250,000 on the DBM e-procurement site to include Sual and Santo Tomas and three others we could not now recall.

If this implies anything, it is that all or most of the rest would be still using the old system of sending out notices for bidding or worse, not sending notices out at all. A few others probably still take out paid newspaper advertising space that quite often, is manipulated with some corrupt publishers so that these don’t get circulated at all in the newsstands (quite obviously, to prevent open bidding) and copies are just given to the advertiser-LGU for paper compliance to auditing and accounting requirements. Do we see our friend, the unyielding Lydia Colobong Arilla of Agno nodding in full agreement?

We got into a little chat with Santo Tomas’ super-efficient lady treasurer Julieta Alvarado some weeks back and, according to her, LGUs who have used the e-procurement swear they were able to buy their supplies or services from the DBM at almost half the usual commercial price!

That alone, if not the sheer convenience of shopping right in the comfort of one’s office with just the click of a mouse, should be enough reason for cash-strapped towns or cities to go the e-procurement way. But many of them still don’t; neither do they post their bidding notices on the Net.

We recall some district engineers of the DPWH too citing the government e-procurement policy as the reason for the absence now of their once familiar invitation to bid notices in local newspapers. They are now supposedly posting their big-budgeted projects for bidding in the DBM website. Which, as far as that agency is concerned, should somehow minimize collusion and hanky-panky in the awarding of winning bidders – or, has it?

It is time, government, i.e. local government units, show they indeed are into belt-tightening as a way of safeguarding the people’s money given in their care. And they can do this by doing away with frivolous spending and really implementing the enshrined policy of accepting only those bids that “are most advantageous to government”-- not to the approving or signing officers.

* * * * *

You should hear Dagupan’s young Vice Mayor Alvin Fernandez mouthing his piece on the current debates at the Consultative Commission to which he is now a member. He was appointed by President Arroyo last October 25. He admits to being a bit awed – at first – by the likes of the, Espinas, Abuevas, Garcias dissecting issues on the Constitution on the discussion floor but eventually getting the hang of it and once I n a while now putting in a word edgewise among the debate giants.

The Con-Com commissioners (to include Alvin, of course) – or at least five or six of them -- are coming to town on December 2 for the Pangasinan leg of their mandated consultations with the people. The consultation-workshop will be at the Regency Hotel grand ballroom in Calasiao, simultaneous with one to be held in Vigan, where another set of commissioners will “commune” with the people. The following day, Dec. 3, the two groups will converge in La Union for a public dialogue.

But back to VM Alvin, the young executive is now so full of ideas on just what an ideal structure and form of government should be that, chances are you’d go away from a conversation with him infected by all the political thoughts he spews. Trust us, we did.

At least now we know that a federal system of government, for a change, would be good overall … if not for one thing: the national (federal) guys would still be the ones doing the revenue collection with the provinces (states) still awaiting the release of their share from them.

But don’t take it from us, ask Commissioner Alvin. He has a mouthful to say on that.

WINDOWS
Gabriel L. Cardinoza


Until last Sunday, I did not know what a call center looks like and I had no idea what it does.

Thanks to Bitstop Computers’ Wilson Chua. Along with other media colleagues, Wilson invited us to the inauguration of the FarmOut Central Intouch (Foci) Inc., a business process outsourcing company (read: call center), located in Bonuan.

More than the hi-tech equipment in a speech laboratory-like set up, what amazed us was that Foci is the first and the only call center in the Ilocos Region. It is also a local company, with its few investors consisting mostly of prominent Dagupeños and Pangasinenses, who, like Wilson, risked to “tread on the path few dared take.”

“A lot of the experts have said that we can't do it in Pangasinan. We don't have enough talents. We don't have a US office. We don't have the technology. We don't have millions needed to set up a call center. We are here to prove the experts wrong,” Wilson said during the press briefing.

And prove them wrong they did. From an original four agents when Foci conducted its “dry run” early this year, the company now has 26 agents and the number will soon double with Foci’s winning of more accounts from companies based mostly in the US and UK.

In fact during that inauguration, Wilson was quite frantic in inviting us, having been told earlier that morning that no less than President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will be there to formally open Foci. PGMA, of course, never came. But her non-appearance did not dampen our interest to cover the call center inauguration because to us, it was a story.

Foci’s success may also be attributed to its belief that “no job is too small.” Wilson says that while other call centers require a minimum of 50 to 100 seats, FOCI makes no such demand.

“This is to enable smaller companies to compete head on with larger companies and become more focused in relationships with their valued clients. We can start with a single seat. We grow when their business grows,” Wilson added.

Board of Investments Governor Connie Perez, who cut the ceremonial ribbon, was ecstatic about the fast growth that Foci has achieved. She was telling us that the first time she visited the call center, it was just a one-room affair “and now, it has an additional room.”

But what Mark August Viegelman, Foci director, is proud of is the fact that their call center agents are all from Pangasinan and they receive salaries comparable to those received by their counterparts in Makati. And as such, they are in a better position because they will be able to save more by no longer paying for apartment rentals. They are also with their families.

Wilson swore that if we close our eyes as we listen to Foci agents handle their clients we would think that we are hearing an American or a British national. This proves, he said, that we have a local pool of talents.

But what impressed me most was Wilson’s vision and enterprising spirit, as articulated in Bitstop Computers’ profile. It said: “So where will Bitstop be five years hence? Bitstop aspires to be globally competitive and hopes to provide new product and service offerings on a global scale. These products will of course still be branded with the unique Bitstop trademarks of high level of expertise, commitment, dedication and drive.”

I’m sure this also applies to Foci.

QUICKQUOTE: Everyone can be great, because everyone can serve. -- Martin Luther King

TONDALIGAN DEMOLITION. Their children up front bearing placards and linking tiny hands, Muslim informal settlers in Tondaligan form a human barricade to prevent the city government’s demolition of their houses last Wednesday morning. After a dialogue and with their leader Datu Michael Bagul intervening however, city crews were able to start demolishing (lower photo) the illegal structures to pave the way for a Tondaligan area improvement program. (PStar Photo by Butch F. Uka)

Low collection of stall rentals from new mart is main culprit

THE city government here has registered a collection shortfall of P14 million as of Oct. 31 this year, owing mainly to the low collection of stall rentals from the three-storey public market here.

City Treasurer Romelita Alcantara confirmed the shortfall but clarified that this cannot be considered deficit because the city is spending only what it has collected.

Councilor Michael Fernandez first noted the shortfall in his talk to department heads during the hearing of the proposed P350 million city budget for 2006.

He said he has verified that it is not only from the new public market that registered low collections but also from the implementation of the city’s fishery ordinance covering rivers that were converted as aquaculture areas.

A report said several stallholders, especially those from the second floor of the new market edifice, pulled out from the new public market because they were losing much since only a few buyers are coming in and buying from them.

Other stalls have to be closed down by the city for failure of stallholders to settle their rental delinquencies for several months.

Alcantara said the city avoided a deficit because it adopted belt-tightening measures that saved on cash.

“We have targeted certain amount (as collection) for 2005 but as of this time, we are seeing that we will not be able to realize the whole targeted collection,” she said.

By SUNSHINE D. ROBLES

“THE city is financially stable and we have a lot of cash in the banks.”

With this statement, City Administrator Rafael Baraan sought to dispel speculations that the city is in the grip of a budget deficit, a month a half before the end of the year..

“These speculations are products of ignorance, because they (critics) don’t understand the intricacies of city government operations,” Baraan declared.

Baraan said that the P350 million budget for 2005 was a “very optimistic, not conservative projection.”

He noted that a projection may or may not be realized, depending on internal and external factors, such as the world economy, political crisis and especially the successive oil price hikes that may favorably or adversely influence what actually happens to the city’s financial operations.

“We have a shortfall in projected revenues, but not a budget deficit,” Baraan added.
Baraan noted that the speculations may have been triggered by a drastic move of the city to limit its expense to the most important and basic activities and operational needs.

“We imposed certain measures such as limiting the purchase of office supplies to the most essential, so that we don’t spend more than what we earn,” Baraan said.

A budget official explained that a deficit will only happen when a corporation spends beyond its total revenues by yearend.

The city administrator explained further that under the circumstances, the city has no choice but to impose corrective and remedial measures in order to prevent the city from incurring a budget deficit.

He emphasized that it’s not wrong to experience a shortfall especially when there are strong external factors affecting the life and economy of the city.

What is wrong, he said, is if we realize that our projection are not going to happen, and still fail to act properly. “Then, we would face the unwanted prospect of a budget deficit,” Baraan added.

The city administrator also clarified that the emergency workers of Dagupan have been receiving their salaries. Since the EWs were not included in the budget however, they are paid out of the savings from personal services realized from unfilled positions of the city government.

He said that the number of plantilla positions will be trimmed down, and efficient emergency workers who perform better than permanent employees will have the chance to occupy permanent positions, under the city’s reorganization program.

The sangguniang panlungsod, he said, also passed a resolution to include the legislative body’s staff in the city’s reorganization program. This is intended to professionalize the ranks of the SP, and to minimize the old practice of political accommodations.