30 November 2005
PHOTO: A city landmark closes
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)
Pay parking edict defective
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.
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.
League of Cities bucks creation of more cities
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.
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.
Sta. Barbara village chief shot dead
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)
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)
Educator-nurse is Mrs. Dagupan fiesta queen
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.
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.
Paas lawyer bristles at judge’s moves
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)
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)
’No MOA, no way’, DPWH declares’ ; threatens to sue
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)
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)
Con-Com team consults Pangasinenses Dec. 2
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)
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)
Towns with most active drug councils awarded
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 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)
Bird flu seminar set here Dec. 5
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)
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)
Drug test for WPDH staff up to check doc’s claim
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)
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)
National patrimony amendment in charter sought for RP's growth
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.
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.
School-community fish tanks now harvesting
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)
Back to the sea, it went
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.
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.
UNDP picks two gov’t hospitals for multimillion peso waste project
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.
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.
FEATURE: ‘Filipiniponggo’ : This lady Japanese scholar speaks it
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.
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.
PHOTO: Wowowee in Dagupan
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)STARMAIL: Tagging the wrong tree
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
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
OPINYON: Atensyon lamet, Gob. Victor!
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.”
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.”
OPINION: Food-for-School: a novel ‘bribery’ for a good cause
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.
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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.
OPINION: Pay parking ordinance, what gives?
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.
OPINION: Getting the people’s pulse
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.
