The Pangasinan Star ONLINE

Rep. Satur C. Ocampo (Bayan Muna) exchanges activist notes with Dagupan Vice Mayor Alvin Fernandez during his visit to the city last Friday to induct officers of the student council of Dagupan City National High School. Fernandez, as acting city mayor, represented Mayor Benjamin S. Lim to the occasion. (PStar Photo by Butch F Uka)

By Behn Fer. Hortaleza, Jr.
PIA-Pangasinan

LINGAYEN – Pangasinan police led by Sr. Supt Alan LM Purisima, provincial police director, are reviewing anti-crime measures against gang robberies in the wake of at least two recent incidents in Urdaneta City that pointed to one and the same armed group behind it.

“We’re almost sure it’s one and the same gang” a senior police officer at the Provincial Police Office told the Pangasinan Star Thursday.

Supt. Ricardo Tamayo, police community relations officer, said last week’s failed holdup attempt on a cargo truck crew that had parked their trucks and rested by the roadside of the highway and last Wednesday’s noontime P500,000 holdup of an elderly couple in barangay Cabuloan, Urdaneta City, are strongly suspected to have been the work oof just one group of criminals.

The latest incident and previous attacks by armed holdupmen victimizing mostly bank clients who have just withdrawn huge sums of money and were probably tailed before being waylaid and held up has prompted the police to step up its community vigilance campaign among various sectors in order to secure quick and more accurate information on suspect descriptions and their possible escape routes from a more alert public.

In the truck crew’s failed holdup attempt where a truck helper was shot dead after he and his companions put up a fight, responding policemen did a hot pursuit of the fleeing culprits that took them all the way to Tarlac and Pampanga.

“It turned out to be a wild goose chase,” according to Tamayo, as the police only later learned the armed men had turned right towards barangay Lareg-laregin Malasiqui and did not escape towards Tarlac.

Tricycle drivers and other pedestrians belatedly told authorities that the fast-driving would-be robbers turned right off the main road just a few distance from where they assaulted the truck crew.

Last Wednesday’s holdup of old couple Francis Echalas, 78, a carpenter and his wife Lenila Asinit, 70, of barangay Cabuloan, Urdaneta, left Echalas wounded on the left arm after three men on a Honda TMX 155 motorcylce stopped them and fired at the vehicle when the occupants refused to open the door of their Expedition vehicle.

Frightened, the couple, together with their niece identified as Eva Mesalucha, opened the vehicle door and the men quickly grabbed the shoulder bag of Mrs. Echalas containing the money and sped off westward.

Police set up checkpoints immediately after the alarm was flashed to all possible routes of the holdupmen but the suspects eluded arrest.

OLD tricycle-for-hire franchise holders and new applicants can now transact with the City Legal Office (CLO) for the renewal and issuance of their Provisional Authority to Operate.

The CLO has released the application procedure for tricycle franchise applicants pursuant to City Ordinance No. 1849-2005 known as the Revised Tricycle Franchise of 2005.

Old franchise holders with pending application at the CLO should secure the following requirements: barangay clearance, fiscal’s clearance, insurance, professional driver’s license of authorized driver, police clearance, voter’s certification, latest mayor’s permit (for renewal only), court clearance and official receipt/certificate of registration of unit.

New applicants are also advised to prepare the said requirements.

“They must also coordinate with the accredited United Tricycle Operators and Drivers Association (UTODA) to ensure proper compliance with all the requisites,” City Legal Officer Geraldine Baniqued said.

The sangguniang panlungsod passed Ordinance No. 1849-2005 to provide an effective measure for a systematic, balanced and disciplined transport system.

The new ordinance amended Ordinance No. 1411-92 entitled: “Prescribing the Rules, Regulations and Procedures Governing the Grant of Franchises for the Operation of Tricycles-for-Hire within the Territorial Jurisdiction of the City of Dagupan.”

The revised ordinance strictly implements the one-unit-per-operator policy in the issuance of new franchise or renewal of the same, even as the available slots, within the 3,800 units, shall be granted to applicants on first-come-first-served basis.

URDANETA – Farmers in Pangasinan have incurred some P100 million in unsettled irrigation fees, it was gathered Thursday.

The figures are even a staggering P6 billion nationwide, according to Adoracion Soriano of the National Irrigation Administration regional office based in this city.She said the unsettled fees have accumulated since 1975.

Many farmers, she said, do not religiously pay their dues, always claiming poor harvest.
A farmer with a hectare of irrigated riceland is bound to pay NIA three cavans of palay or its equivalent price for the dry cropping and two cavans during the wet cropping., she said.

On behalf of her office, she asked the Philippine National Police to help NIA collect the dues during a courtesy call she and other members of the Pangasinan Association of Government Information Officers (PAGIO) made on Provincial Police Director Alan Purisima last Thursday.

Purisima however noted that such a move requires a court action before the police can directly intercede. But he said the police may escort NIA personnel in areas or circumstances considered risky.

Soriano bared that some farmers get angry when NIA personnel try to collect their unsettled fees. “Hinahabol nga sila ng itak,” she related. (PIA/DOS)

By DANNY O. SAGUN
PIA-Pangasinan

LINGAYEN – After telephone cable wire and manhole cover, thieves have switched their target to transmission tower parts.

Apparently unable to fully guard transmission towers from thieves, the National Transmission Corporation has enlisted the help of the concerned barangays and the Philippine National Police

Transco officer Jessie Arenas and Alejandro Quitoles relayed their request to Sr. Supt. Alan Purisima, PNP provincial director Thursday during a break in the board meeting of the Pangasinan Association of Government Information Officer (PAGIO) at the PNP provincial office.

The agency will need the assistance of the PNP in their information dissemination sorties in barangays being traversed by the transmission towers.

Purisima said he will instruct the police chiefs in the concerned municipalities to coordinate with Transco once a request reaches his office.

Thieves reportedly use acetylene torches to cut the imported and highly priced galvanized steel.

The latest incident was the cutting of vital tower plants in barangay Hacienda, Bugallon, Arenas said.

The imported steel is resistant to rust. It is a very good material for making wheel mugs or vehicle chassis, he disclosed.

The Transco officials said when support frames are stolen, the tower is weakened and could collapse, resulting in power trip offs if not immediately checked.

Transco towers in Pangasinan run thru several towns starting from San Manuel in eastern Pangasinan up to Sual in the first district.

Purisima revealed that junkshops are now constantly monitored to discourage sale of stolen steel or iron bars like those used for manhole covers.

A junkshop based in Calasiao had already closed shop and the owner transferred his business somewhere after was caught doing fencing activities in the past involving cut railroad tracks, it was gathered.

The provincial police director however noted the difficulty in pinning down those caught violating the anti-fencing law which he described as “the weakest law” so far enacted in the country.

He asked the public works and highways department to put markings in the manhole cover for easier identification of stolen materials and prosecution of suspects.

By SHEILA H. AQUINO

THE advent of modern technology has greatly influenced the local legislative work in the city government of Dagupan.

The Sangguniang Panlungsod recently adopted Resolution No. 5109-2005 to allow its presiding officer, Vice Mayor Alvin Fernandez, to preside over its sessions via cyberspace.

Fernandez, now acting city mayor in the absence of Mayor Benjamin S.; Lim who is abroad, bared this development during the weekly meeting of department heads. He announced that the controversial measure is probably a first in the Philippines.

“This means that I can preside over SP sessions even if I am not physically present at the session hall so long as I am in the Philippines,” he explained, adding that if he were outside Philippine territory, he will not be part of the quorum.

The acting mayor said he can call the sanggunian via its IP address and connect to the SP information technology system. Using Microsoft’s Netmeeting software, he can then see and hear all discussions in the SP session.

The city councilors, in turn, could see the vice mayor via an LCD projector screen and hear him preside clearly through its surround sound system as though he were there.

“There will only be a second’s delay in the transmission on both ends. This is why the SP will apply for a higher bandwidth to offset the delay and minimize it the best way possible,” Fernandez said.

The resolution, however, gives a condition that SP members be informed of the vice mayor’s presiding via cyberspace at least three days before the actual session date and there must be a minimum of eight councilors present to allow such a session to proceed.

Fernandez said Dagupan City is now leading the way in cyberspace Philippine local legislation, earning the distinction in the same way that Olongapo highlights its cleanliness program and San Fernando City, its waste management program.

He noted that in the September 2 visit of British Ambassador Peter Beckingham to dagupan City, the diplomat was impressed by the conduct of the SP session with the councilors using laptops, making the meeting virtually paperless.

LINGAYEN – Local government units in the entire country are now seeking the go-signal to mobilize their forces in order to neutralize the street protests of the opposition, civil society and militant groups calling for the resignation of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

This was disclosed by Binalonan Mayor Ramon Guico, Jr., president of the League of Municipalities of the Philippines, who said if the opposition can gather throngs of people in their anti-Arroyo rallies, the LGUs can gather much bigger crowds in support of the President.

Unfazed by reports that former President Corazon C. Aquino and actress Susan Roces are spearheading the rallies for the resignation of Mrs. Arroyo, Guico believed these moves will not succeed because the people are now tired of people power.

“These rallies will only (compound) the economic problems of the country, fan chaos and confrontations which will not do good to the country and the people,” Guico said.

He said the opposition men must respect the decision of Congress that junked the complaint of impeachment against President Arroyo which they themselves participated in but failed to muster the magic number of 79 to send the complaint directly to the Senate for trial.

Unfortunately, they did not have the numbers, so the impeachment complaint failed to reach the senate, Guico said, adding that it would have been the other way around had the opposition succeeded in convincing some more endorsers, he said.

Guico is a second cousin of Mrs. Arroyo.

A SUSPECTED bomb placed in an ice box made of styrofoam and left at the city plaza here momentarily spawned a bomb scare in the area.

This happened at about the same time congressmen were holding a nominal voting on the report of the justice committee at the Batasang Pambansa in Quezon City on the impeachment complaint against President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Not leaving anything to chance, members of the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team of the Dagupan Police blew up the ice box, after making sure it was wedged in with old car tires before 4 p.m. Tuesday. The SWAT used a C-4 bomb attached to a fuse and battery charger to blow up the suspect package.

The ice box however turned out to contain nothing but rubbish that may have been left hours before by park habitués and even picnickers.

Members of the SWAT, in full battle gear, arrived in the area after the police received a call from a plaza security guard who discovered the ice box near the left side portion of the plaza stage.

This was where a big number of school pupils and students, and members of a band were crowding at that time.

Approximately three kilos in weight, the ice box was lifted by SWAT men with the use of a long cord tied to the trunk of a tree and placed in the middle of the plaza where it was detonated at about 3:45 p.m.

At that time, no city official was aware of the unfolding event in the city plaza as they were too busy watching on television the impeachment proceedings against Mrs. Arroyo in the House of Representatives. (PNA)

THE Dagupan City Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) bagged once again the Best Fire Station of the Year award, besting all participants from the different class A cities throughout Region 1.

City Fire Marshall Jesus Orpilla received the plaque of recognition from BFP Regional Director, Senior Superintendent Rodrigo Abrazaldo, during the 14th BFP Anniversary recently at the Sea and Sky Hotel and Restaurant in San Fernando City, La Union.

The BFP Program on Awards and Incentives for Service Excellence (PRAISE) chaired by Regional BFP Senior Inspector Aurelio Giron was guided by the following criteria that best favored Dagupan City for the Best Fire Station of 2005 award. These include effective fire protection activities, cleanliness and orderliness, maintenance of fire fighting equipment and observance of norms of conduct to BFP personnel.

The Dagupan City BFP under Orpilla has always maintained its high standard of service and operational effectiveness to the public. Orpilla himself was named outstanding city fire marshall of 2002 and arson investigator of the year 2004.

“We work hard in maintaining our status by regularly lecturing on fire prevention, conducting fire drills and checking on our personnel’s courtesy to the public,” Orpilla said.

The Dagupan City BFP was a consistent Best Fire Station in Region 1 from 1996, 1997, 1998, 2002 and 2005. Listed as its other achievements and distinctions are: highest fire code fees collection 1996, cleanest fire station 1996 and best maintained fire truck 2004. (CIO/ Leziel T. Cayabyab)

LINGAYEN – The family planning program in Pangasinan will continue despite the announced pull out of commodity assistance from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in two to three years.

Gov. Victor Agbayani however clarified that due to the shortage of funds, the provincial government can only provide the need for contraceptives of poor couples in the province. Pangasinan is second to Cebu in terms of population.

He told the Regional Development Council last Tuesday that the province will try to fill the gap to be left by the USAID which has been providing commodity assistance to the country’s family planning program since 1972.

USAID has announced that it is completely phasing out all its commodity donation to the country’s family planning program either in year 2007 or 2008.

The governor warned that if the local government units will not act fast, the pullout of commodity assistance of the USAID might leave the country’s population program in disarray, adding that for three long decades, the agency was supporting the Philippines in its family planning program.

He noted that the national government is not doing anything to rescue the country’s family planning program because its hands are tied, not only for lack of funds but also because of the strong opposition to the program by the Catholic church.

Statistics from the Provincial Population Office showed that over half of those who accessed family planning contraceptives from government health and family planning clinics were couples who can actually afford to buy these.

LINGAYEN – The president of the Pangasinan State University has apologized for the arrogance and misbehavior of his security personnel towards some media men who were covering an affair inside his school sometime last July.

Dr. Rodolfo Asanion, president of the PSU, e-mailed his apology to a staff member of another newspaper, more than one month after the incident where representatives of various media organizations were refused entry into the university.

It was learned that media men were invited to the university by House Speaker Jose de Venecia, Jr. who was to deliver a speech and inaugurate a new two-storey information technology building which he helped build for the university.

The offended media men issued a strongly worded manifesto sent to Asanion and various media groups and organizations to which they were affiliated denouncing the brusque treatment of the university against them and threatened to boycott any activity of the university henceforth.

Asanion said he had the chief of the Blue Eagle Security investigated for his misconduct but disowned any involvement in the incident, saying that it was no longer his (Asanion’s) immediate responsibility to oversee the security service at that time.

“It is very unfortunate and unfair to note that the alleged incompetence and arrogance of the security officer is attributed to me in relation to the controversial issues, which my detractors have been using in their concerted efforts to destroy my credibility and integrity,” the PSU president said.

“I just wish to be given a fair shake, a process which is most common among officers and gentlemen, he requested.

LINGAYEN – Health authorities reiterated their call to the public to be on guard against the deadly dengue fever as 56 more cases were noted in the province in the last two weeks, bringing the number of recorded cases since January this year to 310.

Dr. Edwin Murillo, provincial health officer, said that although cases of dengue fever have tapered off – with only four fatalities recorded so far – the danger of contracting the disease remains.

Murillo urged Pangasinenses to heed the call of Gov. Victor E. Agbayani for them to keep their surroundings free of stagnant water, the favorite breeding ground of the day-biting mosquito that transmits the virus.

“The threat is always there as long as there is stagnant water where the Aedes aegypti mosquito could lay eggs,” he said.

Citing the full support that the governor has been extending to the fogging and larvicidal activities of the PHO, Murillo also noted the increased level of public awareness and cooperation in the effort to eradicate the disease, especially among municipal and barangay officials. (Donna F. Domagas/PIO)

ARCHBISHOP Oscar V. Cruz of the Lingayen-Dagupan archdiocese expressed his vigorous opposition to the revival of small town lottery (STL) which was proposed by city and municipal mayors as a substitute for the illegal numbers game called “jueteng”.

Meeting in Palawan for an anti-jueteng summit, the mayors spearheaded by Palawan City Mayor and national anti-jueteng czar Edward Hagedorn proposed the revival of the STL as a substitute for jueteng.

Cruz, the country’s number one critic of jueteng, however describes STL as the same as the “corrupt and corrupting numbers game called jueteng”, saying this was already tried before and proved to be a big failure.

The STL was introduced in various parts of the country during the administration of former President Corazon C. Aquino but it did not succeed in dislodging jueteng which was already popular in many parts of the country. Noting reports that there is now an effort to perfect STL, Cruz said those who thought of this underestimate the vicious ingenuity of seasoned gambling moguls and their cohorts.

In opposing the introduction of STL as a substitute for jueteng, the prelate recalled a statement of Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye thus: “There is enough gambling in the country”.

He said Bunye must have noted the corruption and wickedness brought about by gambling and must have also felt that gambling strongly cultivates indolence and dishonesty.

Agreeing with that statement, Cruz cited the casinos being administered by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor) designed for the wealthy and influential people and lotto and bingo for the middle class with money to throw away and the time to lose.

He said there are also jueteng , masiao and other illegal number games for the poor and destitute.

MEMBERS of a syndicate involved in the distribution and sale of counterfeit and fake medicines are now on the run following the arrest of a drug store owner from Alaminos City September 2 during a raid conducted by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency and the Bureau of Food and Drugs of the Department of Health.

Julie Galang de Guzman, 34, a native of barangay Lasip, Calasiao, owner-proprietor of the Cristia Med Drug Store in Alaminos City, was the first store owner and the fifth suspect so far arrested by lawmen in their campaign against counterfeit and fake medicines.

Two other women were arrested by the Calasiao police in early August, and an Indian national and his driver were nabbed two weeks later by the National Bureau of Investigation in Dagupan City.

All the suspects were also charged with violation of the anti-drugs law because among the counterfeit medicines found in their possession were several tablets of the regulated drug valium, a sedative.

Dr. Reynaldo Jacinto, chief of the standard and regulations division of the BFAD regional office based in San Fernando City, La Union, said more drugstores in Region 1 that may be keeping the counterfeit medicines in their shelves are now under surveillance by a roving team from his office.

Pangasinan was tagged earlier by Department of Health Regional Director Eduardo Janairo as the favorite dumping ground of counterfeit and fake medicines believed originating from Region III and Metro Manila.

Jacinto said over a local radio station Sunday that his office has fielded over 200 trusted informants all over the province who are conducting test-buys in various drugstores suspected of selling counterfeit and or fake medicines.

Stressing that he had long warned the drug store owners not to patronize peddlers of counterfeit and fake medicines, Jacinto said the drive against these products will continue whoever will be hurt.

He said in this campaign, pharmacists employed by drug stores should help detect counterfeit and or fake drugs and not be in cahoots with those who make a profit from these commodities. They should advise their employers to desist from selling these products or they will be prosecuted too, along with their employer, he stressed.

ANDA – Mayor Nestor B. Pulido is fast earning the ire of barangayfolk here engaged in catching the expensive Red Lapulapu fish with compressors and cyanide, in violation of a provincial ordinance banning the use of such in catching fish.

Most of the affected and incensed fisherfolk are from barangay Batiarao, some 10 kilometers from the town proper, who have been caught by the Bantay Dagat crews and some people’s organizations while violating the provincial ordinance.

Batiarao, which faces barangay Lucap (gateway to the Hundred Islands in Alaminos City), has waters reportedly teeming with Red Lapulapu.

The fish specie, according to Pulido, is a delicacy well-liked by wealthy Chinese in Manila or even in Hongkong and China, who allegedly pay as much as P2,000 per kilo of the fish.

“What can I do? It is the law. I cannot just stand there and see the law violated right in my town!” Pulido said of the fishermen’s protests over his strict policy.

He explained that the use of cyanide in catching the costly fish will in turn destroy the marine corals in Anda’s navigational waters and fishing grounds. Corals, according to Pulido, are the specific areas where fish lay eggs and where fish grow after hatching.

“Fishermen who go after the Red Lapu – that’s how we call that fish here – use compressors when diving underwater in pursuit of the fish. It is there where they use cyanide on the Red Lapu once spotted. The cyanide merely stuns the Red Lapu and does not kill it, as there is a need to capture the Red Lapu alive,” Pulido said.

Chinese buyers will only pay the high price if the Red Lapulapu is caught fresh and alive, “They will not buy a dead one,” he explained.

Pulido said this has become the livelihood of many Batiarao fishers because of the good price it commands, especially when their Chinese buyers from Manila export the fish to Hongkong and the Chinese mainland.

According to the mayor, Batiarao folk argue that banning them from catching the Red Lapulapu virtually denies them their right to live.

“I can fully understand their predicament; but there is a law to be followed and numerous corals to protect so that other folks can earn legitimately and legally from these,” Pulido declared.

Anda has a fish sanctuary where fishing is banned within its 20 to 40 hectares of coverage. The town has four or five such sanctuaries which the mayor said must be preserved and kept from harm.

LINGAYEN – The low-cost housing and resettlement programs of the provincial government got a much-needed boost after the sangguniang panlalawigan approved an ordinance creating the Pangasinan Housing Trust Fund.

Authored by Board Member Emmanuel Caracho, the trust fund is expected to generate initially some P8 million which will ensure continuous funding for socialized housing projects of the provincial government.

One of the top priority programs of Gov. Victor E. Agbayani is to provide low-cost shelters to employees, market vendors, drivers, policemen, and those belonging to marginalized sectors of the community.

The governor has also expanded its resettlement program to facilitate the relocation of squatters occupying public lands, especially along the Lingayen Gulf coast.

Last August 18, Vice President Noli de Castro, who heads the National Housing and Urban Development Council, distributed certificates of lot entitlement to the beneficiaries of the third phase of the governor’s Lingayen Gulf Resettlement Project in barangay Pangapisan here.

Engr. Alvin Bigay, head of the Pangasinan Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Office, said the trust fund will be sourced from the proceeds of the sale of underdeveloped land in barangay Maniboc here, including proceeds from the resettlement project. (Donna F. Domagas/PIO)

URBIZTONDO – A government lawyer from this town is under fire for being arrogant during a pre-litigation conference at his residence last August 27, it was gathered Monday.

Officers of the EJS Multi-Purpose Cooperative led by board chairman Alberto Salomon initially sought the help of public attorney Dante B. Untalan Sr. to help effect a settlement of unpaid loans of some 23 members and non-members of the cooperative, for which the lawyer set a conference at his house.

During the meeting however, instead of hearing both sides to arrive at a solution to the problem, Untalan supposedly openly berated three officers of the board in front of the debtors, accusing the latter of charging exorbitant interest on borrowers and bleeding them dry.

The officers present were vice-chair Elsa Sabangan, coop manager Porferio Garcia and bookkeeper Vidal Vedana.

Sabangan said Untalan even belittled the educational qualifications of the officers to lead the cooperative. “Tepetan takayo pa no walay inaral yo?” (Let me just ask you if you are educationally qualified)” he reportedly told the coop officers.

She said her group did not have the chance to present their side, “Inabet to kami tami” (He scolded us), she said.

The cooperative had a total collectible of some P300,000 from the delinquent borrowers, Salomon, who failed to attend the conference because of other pressing matters, said.

One borrower-member incurred a total P37,525 in unsettled account with the coop as shown in a list prepared by the officers.

A subsequent verification made on the borrowers showed, according to Salomon, that some of them were either related to Untalan, or were his kumadres or godchildren.

Salomon said the coop in an emergency board meeting decided to terminate the legal service of the government lawyer and instead seek assistance from another lawyer.

“Imbes di tulongan to kami, ininsulto to kami laingen,” he lamented.

He said that had Untalan not acted the way he did and became a good mediator, the cooperative was ready to offer at least three options for the borrowers to settle their obligations – condonation of interest or penalties, restructuring, and re-scheduling of payments. (DOS)

Pangasinan Gov. Victor E. Agbayani leads the signing of a memorandum of agreement with the Pangasinan State University (PSU) and Tanggol Kalikasan for the creation of the Institute of Environmental Governance. The IEG will provide training for barangay officials in the province on coastal environmental management, protection, conservation and law enforcement. Signing the agreement are, from left, (seated) Provincial Agriculturist Jose Almendares, PSU President Rodolfo Asanion, Agbayani, Tanggol Kalikasan President Roberto Bersola, and Dean Rolando Cerezo of the PSU College of Fisheries. (CIO Photo/Bob Sison)

THE Task Force on Comprehensive Survey, Recovery and Management of Public Lands (TFCSRMPL) and Task Force on Housing and Squatter Relocation (TFHSR) of the Dagupan City government met recently with the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist (OPAg) in Lingayen to explore the possibility of reacquiring the Inarangan lake that straddles barangays Malued and Lasip Chico.

City Mayor Benjamin S. Lim wants to restore the area into an eco-park and explore its vast tourism potential and environmental significance.

The estimated 12-hectare facility which is under the management of the provincial government of Pangasinan through the OPAg, has been converted into a fish farm.

Based on the report of the two city task forces however, the over-all physical facilities of the farm now require immediate restoration and further improvement of its operations to truly function as a demo farm.

Problems on informal settlement, encroachment and titling have been observed in the area.

The guard houses are no longer functioning even as power and electric installation need urgent upgrading. Sserious improvement on rearing nursery and hatchery ponds are also required.

More dismayingly, the farm or office is flood prone and consequently, all records pertaining to the farm operations have been ruined by the flood.

In a letter to Governor Victor Agbayani, Vice Mayor Alvin Fernandez said the city is concerned over the proliferation of informal settlers in the area which is within the territorial jurisdiction of Dagupan City.

“We want to explore the possibility of a mutual undertaking and management of the facility or possible turnover of the administration of the area under the provisions of Republic Act 7160 on devolution,” according to Fernandez.

City Agriculture Officer Emma Molina said documents collated from the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) show the Inarangan Lake was leased from the city government in 1963 for 25 years.

“If that is the case, the lease should have ended in 1988 and it is probably the proper time for the city to reacquire the lake,” TFHSR vice chairman, Engr. Rodolfo Fernandez said.
TFCSRMPL Chair Atty. Teofilo Gallang said if the present area is not productive, it will be best if it is turned over to the city to augment the limited space within which it is trying to cramp its numerous programs.

SAYAN INDIO
Mario F. Karateka


SIKATOLATAY kuanko et, no angawat kay kuartad makilot ya nanlapoan, walan-walay panaon ompawil itan pian guloen toka. Sayay nagagawad bansa tayo natan no iner agmola amtay panisiaan mod biek tan biek, no siopay mangibabagay katua-an tan no siopay mamapalikdo, asabilan pati saray obispo tan papari na simbaan et napipilanlanor lad gutgotan.

Angawat kono na kuartan parad mamairap manlalapud Pilipin Amyusmint en Geyming Korporesyon (Pagcor) so pigaran atagey betang ya Obispo manonaan lay Monsinyor Fernando Capalla na Davao, Monsinyor Ricardo Cardinal Vidal na Cebu tan Monsinyor Paciano Aniceto na Pampanga. Sanlasus libo (P100,000) anggad limanlasus libo (P500.000) so inter ya aginaldod Krismas kono ed saray opisyales na Simbaan Katoliko
Nanonotan ya sarayan obispos et singa maasingger so liknaan dad si Presidente Arroyo tan ingen singa tinestigoan dan mardeen tan malinis so agawan eleksiyon nen 2004 ed luga-lugar da.

Singa nayarin ilaloan tayo, say Arsobispo na Lingayen-Dagupan a si Monsinyor Oscar Cruz et ag apilanlanor ed satan. Sikatoy sankasibegan ya kalaban na sugal laotlay jueteng kanian siguro no diad salitan bulgar, sikato et ag asingger ed patogan o arawid kusina. Si Cruz natan so sarag ton manetel ed saray kakaiba ton papari ed ontan lan abulgar ya pangaawat day kuarta na Pagcor.

“Dirty money is not laundered clean by its mere application for religious and/or charitable purposes,” (Say marutak a kuarta et ag nayarin naipesak tan nalinisan panamegley na panusar ed saya parad simbaan tan parad saray payabol), kuanen Arsobispo Cruz -- a tutukuyen to so panooras-lima na saray kapara ton arsobispo ya mangibabagan inusar met kono so palabon inter na Pagcor parad proyektoy simbaan ed saray mamairap-bilay.

Mikasakeyak ed ontan a posisyon nen arsobispo tan manisia ak ed pananalindegan to.

Agmet kulang na utek irayan opisyales na Simbaan pian agda amta o natebek ya say sugal et marutak, akin minonong o minabang irad saya? Anggapoy dinmiwit ed kawali ya ag naoringan, ontan so naynay ya ipupurek daray mangagaway korapsiyon ed antokaman a opisina o ahensiya, singa pandyastipay dad pakakadiwit odino pangaawat na pasuksok ed saray kliyentes da.

Malas labat na saray akinonong ed Pagcor ta singara natan nabablakmil na saray totoo na administrasyon. Agak mankelaw no onsoblay iran agew et mangipaway lay Katolik Bisyaps Komperens op da Pilipins na balo tan mas marandanet a sirkular pian paleksaben lay GMA. Ta siyempre, apabaingan met ira lanti.

Ontan natan so Pilipinas tayon Inararo! Ketket moak ta ibaknot takamet.

WE laud the efforts of the food and drug authorities and the police as they continue their campaign to catch drugstores suspected of violating the laws on the selling of regulated drugs and counterfeit medicine. Finally, after earlier reports on this illegal activity (as far back as last year, Health Regional Director Eduardo Janairo had already accused some drugstores in the Ilocos of selling counterfeit and fake drugs), we are seeing some action.

Apparently, the successful raid on a drugstore in Alaminos City last September 2 was a follow-up operation on the earlier arrest of two women couriers of the counterfeit medicine gang and an Indian national a few days later. The “blue book” or list captured from the two women couriers was obviously an A-1 lead for authorities to go by in breaking the back of the counterfeit drug syndicate. In that list, based on reports so far, the names of at least 12 doctors, several of them quite prominent, stood out, and possibly, too, the “client-drugstores.”

Now, might we ask: If BFAD and the NBI and the cops are really that dead earnest, how is it they’ve netted just one drugstore owner yet? How about the rest of those in the list –doctors, drugstore owners and yes, pharmacists – so far incriminated by the “blue book?” It’s not as if only 24 hours have passed since the arrest of the first suspects to allow the lead hunters of BFAD and NBI more generous time yet to do follow-up operation. It’s been weeks, for God’s sake!

Any lead, any trail that there might have been before would have gone cold by now. Even last week’s announcement by a BFAD official about sending out some 200 poseur-buyers to check if suspect drugstores are really selling the illegal products is so sickeningly funny. Telegraphing one’s moves is surely one way of forewarning the guilty.

Why not simply apply for a warrant and go check their inventories pronto, using the confiscated “blue book” as basis? If the cops can do this in search of suspected drug supplies, with nothing much but their tipsters’ word to justify the application, why not the BFAD in this quest to protect the health of an unwary population from unscrupulous merchants and mercenaries in the medical world? Or is some shielding going on now between hunter and quarry?

Windows
Gabriel L. Cardinoza


Last year, the city hall announced that it was ready to implement the recommendations of the University of the Philippines Center for Local and Regional Governance (UP-CLRG) for a top-to-bottom revamp of the city government to make it more efficient and effective in the delivery of services to the people of Dagupan City.

Four years ago, the UP-CLRG found in a management evaluation that the city government was totally disorganized and inadequate in responding to the needs of the people and to the demands of public service. It suggested the adoption of a lean and mean organizational structure that would clearly define each office’s functions and responsibilities and save the city from wasting millions of pesos of the people’s money every year for the salaries of employees who just sit in their offices all day and wait for the sunset.

Why the reorganization plan has not been implemented yet more than one year now after the city hall announcement is not clear to me. And no one has bothered to ask why.

While many Dagupeños welcomed the city government revamp, there were those who questioned the necessity and sincerity of the revamp. Some even saw it as mere witch-hunting – a desperate ploy to purge the city government of employees who did not support Mayor Benjamin Lim in the last two elections-- more than a desire to rid the city’s bureaucracy of deadwood and non-performers.

This perception was bolstered by a city official’s pronouncement that in the implementation of the UP recommendations, all city government positions will be declared vacant, in obvious defiance of the Civil Service rule on the security of tenure.

But there were others who believed that Lim was doing the right thing -- only at the wrong time. As a consequence of the revamp, almost 300 emergency workers will be the first to go. These include street sweepers, garbage collectors and traffic aides. The work that they will be leaving will be offered on a take-it-or-leave-it basis to excess permanent employees from the different city government offices.

And in the face of the economic crisis gripping the country now, this is not the right time for anyone to lose a job.

But whatever Lim’s motives may be – political self-preservation or a sincere desire to serve – the city hall reorganization is long overdue. It certainly took him a lot of courage and political will to arrive at this decision.

Implemented properly, the revamp should be the first step in the installation of a truly professional bureaucracy in Dagupan City, where employees no longer have a false sense of security and the public is fully satisfied with the services they get.

ENDNOTES: Ryan Ravanzo, Vice Gov. Oscar Lambino’s executive assistant, left for Missouri, USA last Saturday as member of the Rotary Club’s Group Study Exchange delegation. Ryan, an active member of the Dagupan Jaycees Inc., was nominated by Vice Mayor Alvin Fernandez, Rotary Club of Dagupan president. He will be touring various US cities for one month... Last Friday, Bayan Muna partylist Rep. Satur Ocampo was in town. He inducted the new set of Supreme Student Government officers of the Dagupan City High School. Before coming to Dagupan, he dropped by Bayambang for a breakfast with Mayor Leo de Vera, then he proceeded to San Carlos City to inaugurate a P1.2-million school-building that Bayan Muna funded at the Speaker Eugenio Perez Agricultural School.

QUICK QUOTE: Look at a day when you are supremely satisfied at the end. It's not a day when you lounge around doing nothing; it's when you've had everything to do and you've done it. --Margaret Thatcher

(You can reach Gabriel L. Cardinoza at windows@digitelone.com)