The Pangasinan Star ONLINE

COMMISSIONERS IN PANGASINAN. Commissioner Rita Linda V. Jimeno of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines answers mediamen’s queries during the press conference coordinated by the Philippine Information Agency and Presidential Management Staff at the Regency Hotel before the commissioners proceeded to consult with various Pangasinan sectors on the Charter Change last Friday. Jimeno was with the team of commissioners assigned to meet with Pangasinan and La Union sectors that included San Fernando City (Pampanga) mayor Oscar S. Rodriguez, Dagupan City Vice Mayor Alvin Fernandez, lawyer Raul Lambino, Gary Teves, Sister Luz Emmanuel Soriano and businessman Liberato Laus. (PStar Photo by Butch F. Uka).

By DANNY O. SAGUN

CALASIAO – While members of the Consultative Commission may have their personal views on Constitutional changes, it is the actual pulse and sentiments of the people that will be held paramount and respected in coming out with the commission’s final report for submission to President Macapagal-Arroyo.

The seven commissioners attending last Friday’s Charter change consultation-dialogue at the Regency Hotel here thus assured their Pangasinense audience as they belied beliefs and allegations that the consultation activities were just a “formality” and that a final draft of proposed changes in the 1987 Constitution has already been prepared ahead.

Led by lawyer Raul Lambino and Dagupan City Vice-Mayor Alvin Fernandez, the Con-com members said that results of the consultations from all parts of the country that kicked off in October will all be collated to come out with a final report to be submitted to the President and later to Congress for final action.

The group first met the local media in a press conference and then held the consultations and workshop with different sectors of society to include local officials, educators, businessmen and many others.

Proposed changes in the 1987 charter include the shift of government system and structure from the present unitary-bicameral to federal-parliamentary as well as economic reforms and national patrimony.

Lambino said that he and his colleagues will not waste their time and efforts and even their resources if there was already a final draft ready for submission. He also noted that discussions over proposed changes are very lively and extensive leading to revisions or adjustments in the drafts prepared personally by the commissioners themselves.

He and Fernandez said that the draft prepared by Con-com chair Jose Abueva was treated just as “talking points” and has undergone several amendments so far as proposed by the other members.

Fernandez also bared that the process involved now is very much different from what happened in the past when the 1935, 1973 and 1987 Constitutions were pre-drafted. Now, he pointed out, people are consulted and their sentiments given due consideration.

While the Charter change could not solve the country’s problems overnight, they said that in a way such changes would bring about reforms and economic progress. They also pointed out that election of national leaders in a parliamentary government does not entail so much expense and thus prevent corruption. Under the present presidential system, a presidential candidate has to spend P4 to P5 billion to win, an expensive exercise that breeds corruption, the commissioners said.

Joining the two Pangasinense commissioners were lawyer Rita Linda Jimeno, Rey Teves, former Congressman Oscar Rodriguez, Luz Soriano, and Liberato Laus. (PIA/DOS).

NOVELTY PAINTING. Alaminos City mayor Hernani Braganza shows to visitors a color painting of the Hundred Islands that liberally used bangus scales (kaliskis) to compose it. The city government has been on an intensified promotions program for Pangasinan’s tourist spot the past several months and the results in terms of tourist arrivals at the Islands, according to Braganza, has been very encouraging. (Pangasinan Star photo)

MANY of the 300 emergency workers of the city government face a bleak Christmas after the city government trimmed down their number due to shortage of funds.

As a result, only a few of the EWs assigned in various offices have remained, grossly affecting the capacity of these offices to deliver the services expected of them by the public.

A report said only those carrying out vital functions, such as street and park cleaners, garbage collectors, traffic enforcers and a few others were retained. All the others were terminated effective Nov. 15.

The EWs were the first casualties of an apparent serious financial crisis besetting the city since October this year.

City Administrator Rafael Baraan earlier said that before the city government hired the EWs,l they were informed that their salaries were dependent on the availability of cash in the city coffer.

Baraan earlier said that they did not fill up vacant positions in the city government, anticipating that salaries for these positions can be reappropriated for wages of EWs.

To date, the city government is pressed for cash as shortfall in expected collection of revenues totaled P14 million as of October 31. This may go higher before the end of the year.

Baraan said the city government missed its revenue projections because of uncertain times, and on account of the fluctuating prices of oil.

The laid-off workers rued their termination only few more weeks before Christmas, foreseeing they will surely end up with no food on their dining table midnight of Dec. 24.

They said it is disheartening that they were the first to go when in fact there were consultants who are receiving fat monthly salaries in the hire of the city who were not touched. (PNA)

THERE is no pay parking ordinance passed by the city council yet. That’s according to Dagupan City Vice-Mayor Alvin Fernandez, presiding officer of the sangguniang panlungsod.

Fernandez, reacting to the banner story of Pangasinan Star last week, called up to clarify that what the sangguniang panlungsod passed last November 14 was “just an ordinance designating the parking areas.” He claimed that the body has yet to prescribe the fees and penalties in the use of such parking areas by motorists which, he inferred, could be subject of another ordinance.

This paper reported last week that the pay parking measure was deemed defective due to lack of quorum when it was passed which factor was also noted by the city legal officer in a radio interview. Another major factor that effectively deemed the measure void was the absence of thorough consultation thru public hearings before the measure was passed.

The vice-mayor maintained however that there was quorum during that session. Based on sanggunian records, seven members answered the roll call including the vice-mayor while six were absent including Alex de Venecia who was in the United States. There are 10 regular councilors and two ex-officio members.

De Venecia, being out of the country, was ruled out in the determination of quorum as per the rules, the vice-mayor explained.

Since the ordinance did not involve any appropriation or imposition of fees and penalties, a simple majority was required, he added.

A close scrutiny of Ordinance No. 1853-2005 authored by Councilor Luis Samson, Jr. showed otherwise. Prescribed in it was a parking fee of P20 for the first hour and P5 for every hour afterwards for light vehicles, and P30 for medium vehicles for the first hour and P5 afterwards. A prepaid monthly season parking fee or pass was also set as an option for vehicle owners – P1,000 for light vehicles, and P1,500 for medium vehicles. A fine of P500 was also prescribed as penalty for violators.

Apparently, the vice-mayor failed to notice such provisions in the ordinance.

Samson, it was learned, actually prepared a draft amendment to the ordinance a few days later which sought to raise the monthly season pass to P1,500 for light vehicles, and P3,500 for medium vehicles.

Fernandez, who admitted he was out when the measure was being discussed in the previous sessions being a member of the Consultative Commission for the proposed Charter Change, said that there was no pay parking ordinance to talk about yet. “Pag-uusapan pa yang mga fees and penalties,” he told the Pangasinan Star in a cell phone interview.

The sanggunian thru the concerned committees are expected to call public hearings for the purpose, he said.

The sanggunian was roundly criticized for not fully disclosing the matter to the public, considering that it carried fees and penalties.

TAYUG--The lawyer son of murdered Pasig City Judge Estrellita Paas has deplored the trial court judge’s action dismissing the cases filed against the two persons accused of killing his mother.

In a resolution issued last Nov. 30, Regional Trial Court Judge Ulysses Raciles Butuyan of Branch 51 dismissed the cases for murder and theft filed against accused Jornald Vargas and Elmer Cabilles.

Lawyer Ronald Paas, private prosecutor said the resolution of Butuyan is unfair to the prosecutors and the family because this was issued haphazardly, noting that "it took him (Butuyan) only nine days to throw away the case."

Judge Paas was brutally killed inside their home in Natividad sometime in the afternoon of September this year. At that time, her husband, Renerio, a retired Ombudsman, was attending a school activity.

Vargas and Cabiles were arrested by joint elements of the Natividad Police in Balungao town and Lupao, Nueva Ecija. Vargas is now out on bail for a separate case of illegal possession of firearm while Cabilles is detained at the Bureau of Management and Penology district jail in Urdaneta for another crime of murder.

Admitting he has not yet received the resolution of Judge Butuyan dismissing the cases against the accused, lawyer Paas said he might go up to the Supreme Court and file a case against Butuyan whom he accused of “biasness” and partiality during the preliminary investigation of these cases last Nov. 21 after the judge declined to issue warrants of arrest for the accused.

In that preliminary investigation, Paas filed an oral motion asking Butuyan to inhibit himself from hearing the cases but he only filed a formal motion to that effect on Dec. 2 or two days after Butuyan had already dismissed the same.

Butuyan said he waited in his sala till the afternoon of Nov. 30 for such motion but it never came, thus he had to dismiss the cases on the ground of lack of probable cause against the accused, or else he would be accused of being lazy and slow in his job.

When the motion did come at 9:30 a.m. of December 2, Butuyan issued an order stating that the Court finds no compelling reason to address the issues raised by Paas but nevertheless noted it.

In his resolution dismissing the cases against Vargas and Cabiles, Judge Butuyan stated the
inability of the prosecution to present their witnesses, including the accused themselves, and even the complainant, Reneiro Paas, husband of the victim and father of lawyer Paas.

Paas said although the accused through their counsel did not file a motion to dismiss Butuyan conducted the hearing and dismissed the cases despite being questioned on his partiality and biasness.

He maintained that the police as well as the office of the Provincial Prosecutor conducted a thorough investigation on the matter but that Butuyan ignored their findings.

"He should have deferred from doing anything on the case as there was an earlier motion to inhibit that was orally manifested," Paas fumed (PNA)

By DANNY O. SAGUN

THE public has so far accepted the expanded value-added tax (EVAT) as a necessary measure for government to generate more revenues and stay away from the old practice of borrowing funds from international creditors, the commissioner of Bureau of Internal Revenue observed Tuesday.

Lawyer Jose Mario C. Bunag also noted that taxation is no longer viewed by the people as a burden. Instead, it is one way for them to contribute to the government for the latter to deliver basic goods and services, he pointed out.

After the initial protests by militant sectors against the tax measure, the public, he said, appeared to have accepted it. “Wala namang gulo o pag-aalsa na nangyayari, di ba?” he told mediamen later.

Bunag graced the Expanded VAT roadshow at the Leisure Coast Resort in Bonuan Binloc last Tuesday where he addressed some 2,000 participants that included lawyers, certified public accountants, mediamen, students and many others from various sectors who gathered to learn more about the tax measure.

In his brief message, the former bar topnotcher expressed hope that by the end of the year taxpayers would have filed and paid their respective taxes. “Sa dami ng taong naririto ngayon, inaasahan din natin na ganito rin karami ang magbabayad ng kanilang buwis,” he said.

Facing the local media after his speech, Bunag said the bureau expects to meet its targeted collections including some P82 billion from EVAT thru efficient collection efforts.

EVAT seeks to bring in more funds for government to deliver basic services in education, health insurance, environmental conservation and agricultural modernization by earmarking 20 percent of the incremental VAT collection.

In more concrete terms, 521 single-story buildings with five classrooms will be built in 2006, health insurance premiums will benefit 3.1 million indigents, 9,190 hectares will be reforested, and 1,012 kilometers of farm-to-market roads will be laid out.

The VAT law has been in effect since 1988 but the EVAT law (RA 9337) expanded the coverage to petroleum products, power and electric cooperatives, services of doctors and lawyers, non-food agricultural products, works of art, literary and musical compositions, and domestic carriage of passengers by air and sea.

The VAT rate of 10 percent is set to increase to 12 percent in 2006.

Representatives of the departments of finance, agriculture, trade and industry, energy, and BIR took turns explaining the law to the audience.

Meanwhile, the regional BIR office headed by officer-in-charge Romeo P. Buan reported to the BIR chief that it has exceeded by 102 million its collection target as of October 25. Revenue District Office no. 4 based in Calasiao under Joseph M. Catapia also surpassed its target by P11 million for the same period.

THE P315 M plus Dawel-Pantal-Lucao Diversion Road here is now 75 percent complete. The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) regional office is optimistic it will be completed on time next year.

Engr. Fidel Ginez, DPWH regional director said that everything is running on schedule in the construction of the 4.897-kilometer long highway. The road network including two small bridges spans 30.68 meters and 12.7 meters wide through barangays Pantal, Poblacion Oeste, Tapuac and Lucao here.

A budget of P254 million has been released for the project which started on Nov. 15,2002. The fund came from the Office of the President through the initiative of House Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. whose congressional district includes this city.

The remaining P61 million is yet to be released which includes payment of road right of way (RROW) solely shouldered by the DPWH.

Under the P254 million available fund, Ginez said they could furnish the work on or before the third quarter next year. This involves civil works like reinforced concrete box culvert, slope protection, river bank protection, earthworks, reinforced concrete pipe culvert cross drains, Portland cement concrete pavement and miscellaneous like traffic signs, curb and gutter guardrail, project market, construction of access roads as well as facilities for engineers.

Ginez clarified that allocations for road projects varies based on the condition of the project like this one. He added that in the Dawel-Lucao road project case, theconstruction traverses fishponds and project implementors had to first remove unsuitable materials before they could do backfilling.

Ginez added that they now have very minimal problem as far as acquisition of road right-of-way is concerned as only one lot owner who is staying abroad, remains to be settled.

Meanwhile, Ginez said de Venecia has instructed DPWH to look into the feasibility of the city government’s proposal that the road network be connected directly to de Venecia Highway.

Ginez quoted de Venecia as saying that if the alternate route suggested by Mayor Benjamin Lim is feasible, the speaker will look for funds to finance it but the present design must first be completed.

The DPWH director said he has sent to his Central Office two plans recommended by the city government. Representatives from the Bureau of Designs in Manila have inspected the proposed site together with representatives from the mayor’s office some weeks ago.

Ginez added they are now waiting for the recommendation of the inspectors .

IF the United States wants to learn how to react quickly to a lethal outbreak of avian influenza among humans, it should look to China.

This was how a North Dakota newspaper editorial advised its home government on proper action to take to ward off avian flu outbreak or to contain one, if it happens.

“Last week, there was one person in China who died as a confirmed victim of the savage H5N1 virus, another who recovered and one more, a 12-year-old girl, who died and is suspected to have had the disease,: the Bismarck Tribune editorial started out.

“Since its first outbreaks, China has imposed quarantines in areas, is monitoring people’s travel in entire regions, has banned the sale of live poultry and – astoundingly – will vaccinate all poultry in China. China also has its own manufacturer of a human vaccine for avian flu.

“Well, Americans may say, it can happen over there,” the editorial read further, “because China has an authoritarian government. True in part, but is should be kept in mind that China is being forthright about telling the world what is being done there and the problems they have in containing this particular flu virus. China learned the necessity of openness when it tried to keep the outbreak of SARS quiet and almost caused an epidemic.

“The (U.S.)president and Congress are to be commended for getting a start on preparations to combat this viral foe. In this time of pressure to cut programs from the federal budget, President Bush is willing to put up $7.1 billion, and Congress a bit more, to prepare for an outbreak.

“The intent is good. The program developed so far is not as good on several levels, particularly in not providing for a rapid response.

“We thought the federal government and state bodies were prepared to respond quickly to critical events – but that was before Hurricane Katrina, when we learned how molasses-slow a response can be.

“According to the New York Times, “The (federal) plan sets lofty goals but largely passes the buck on practical problems. The real responsibilities wind up on the shoulders of state and local health agencies and individual hospitals, none of which were provided with adequate resources to do the job.”

“It’s good that there will be a meeting today of officials from several federal and North Dakota agencies in Bismarck. One federal official, explaining the need for the meeting, said, “We just want to establish roles and responsibilities, recognize that we all have different levels of expertise and coordination on any of these types of response plans.”
“That’s an encouraging attitude, that government recognizes that it’s time to get very serious about the threat of a pandemic,” the Bismarck Tribune concluded.

THE Office of the Muslim Affairs (OMA) has appealed to the city government to consider the plight of 37 Muslim families whose houses, located near the seashore, were demolished by authorities three weeks ago.

OMA Director Amoran Andoga was in Dagupan Wednesday to talk to city officials in behalf of Muslims whose homes were torn down by demolition teams from the city government.

Bringing along separate letters from President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and Vice President Noli de Castro, Andoga clarified that he came to Dagupan not to oppose the policies of the city government but to help bring its programs closer to the Muslim people.

Datu Michael Bagul, president of the Dagupan Muslim Association, hailed Andoga’s arrival, saying that this was an indication the national government, especially the OMA, has not abandoned them.

In an interview, Bagul said Mayor Benjamin Lim reneged on his promise to provide the affected Muslim families with a relocation site. Officials under Lim, however, said the mayor did not make such a promise but only gave them (Muslims) enough time of three years to relocate themselves.

The Muslims were among several who settled in Dagupan a few years ago in order to escape the ongoing war in Mindanao, Andoga explained, as he appealed for understanding on the plight of his Muslim brothers here.

City Administrator Rafael Baraan who led officials in the dialogue clarified there was no discrimination or injustice committed by the city government when it ordered the demolition of the Muslim houses after accommodating them for many years.

He explained that these had to be demolished after due notices as the Muslim houses were located inside the 72-hectare Tondaligan national park and also for being within a danger zone in the city along the beach area.

Finally softening on his stand over the issue however, Baraan said the city government will start looking for a place where the displaced families, either Muslims or Christians, could be accommodated.

There are at least 6,000 “informal settlers” in the city, according to City Legal Officer Geraldine Baniqued.

AT least one person in Pangasinan is being victimized every week in so-called text scams, according to the Department of Trade and Industry provincial office.

As a result, the DTI has warned the public anew to ignore any text message they received informing them that they won millions of pesos in alleged sweepstakes draws.

DTI Provincial Director Daria Mingaracal said it is possible there is a syndicate based in Luzon using names of certain companies and networks to perpetrate the scam.

She revealed that a man from Manaoag town came to her office recently to admit having been deceived by people who sent him a text message informing him that he won P8 million in a lottery.

Instead of ignoring the text message, the man texted back and inquired how he could get his prize. The result was he was gypped of P6,000 which he used in buying 20 cell phone cards at P300 each as an alleged pre-requisite before the supposed lottery officials hand him the pot money.

After sending all the numbers of the cell cards, he was asked to deposit P20,000 to a certain bank account allegedly to cover a supposed processing fee. At this point, he decided to check with the DTI provincial office whether there was really such a lottery. He was told that he was victimized by persons involved in a text scam.

Mingaracal said her office had long alerted the people of Pangasinan, warning them that if they were offered money and that the offer is too good to be true, they should ignore it right away.

BINMALEY – The municipal government is seeking from its townsfolk a one-year moratorium in the operations of fish pens in order to restore the degraded ecosystems of various rivers and waterways and help maintain its reputation as aquaculture capital of Pangasinan.

Municipal Mayor Simplicio Rosario said the moratorium is expected to improve the quality of water which benefit all river stakeholders, including owners of over 3,200 hectares of fishponds.

“We are seeking our townmates cooperation to agree to this moratorium because this is the only way we can save our rivers from complete degradation,” Rosario said.

He said the poor quality of water in Binmaley, also regarded as the prawn capital of the province of Pangasinan, has spawned repeated fishkills every year, the most recent being in May this year when P16 million worth of fish were destroyed.

The river in Binmaley is connected to Dagupan City which gets its water through the river mouth separating the Dagupan City barangays of Pugaro and Bonuan Gueset.

“If we will remove our fish pens and the fishkill would still persist, we can only blame the pen owners in Dagupan City. Thus, we can file a class suit in order to stop their operations,” Rosario said.

He said that clean water must flow into fishponds which, he added, are no longer earning enough despite the fact that their owners are paying huge land taxes, compared to pen owners who are not paying any tax to the government.

Rosario acknowledged that there are today 2,431 fishpond operators in his town.

ARCHBISHOP Oscar Cruz of the Lingayen-Dagupan archdiocese favors the ban on homosexuals entering priesthood but clarified that gender orientation in no way diminishes the dignity of humans.

Cruz was reacting to the move of the Catholic Church to keep away homosexuals from the priesthood, which he believes “is not degrading nor a discriminating observance” but only a “simple reality”.

The former president of the influential Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines and also anti-jueteng crusader, maintained that it would be rather difficult for a homosexual to be pushed to a heterosexual mileu, as this is neither logical nor fair.

He maintained however that heterosexuals unduly inclined to women are also neither meant for the priesthood. He clarified that this too is not discrimination but admission of truth.

“It would be unrealistic to impose on them celibacy. Such would be something extraordinary which is also unfair and unreasonable,” Cruz said.

In the same way, he said, women are not meant to become priests. This, he added, “are dissonant composites—not discriminatory realities”.

Maintaining that every human person must be good for something though not for everything, Cruz said that while majority of the people get married, there are those who simply do not for one reason or another.

These people do not feel that marriage is for them so they remain single for life. This is something connatural for them that does not make them more or less of a person, he said.

Cruz said there are homosexuals who succeed and how fail in temporal matters and so are heterosexuals who shine and fade in earthly pursuits. What makes them rise and fall is not their sexual identity but rather their talents as persons and their opportunities as individuals, he rationalized.

CHAMPIONING freedom of speech, expression, and of the press, the Supreme Court acquitted the editor-publisher of the Sunday Post, a weekly publication circulated in the Visayas and Mindanao, of libel chargeas.

The Court said it was “clear that there was nothing untruthful” in the one-page paid advertisement in the October 13, 1991 issue of the Sunday Post enumerating the records of criminal cases and photographs of a Cebu-based broadcaster being arrested.

The Court’s Second Division, through Justice Dante O. Tinga, reversed and set aside the portion of the Cebu City Regional Trial Court’s May 17, 1994 decision convicting Sunday Post editor-publisher Ciriaco “Boy” Guingguing of libel.

The Court also reversed and set aside the July 29,1996 decision and October 3, 1996 resolution of the Court of Appeals upholding the RTC ruling.

Since only Guingguing filed the petition, the verdict against his co-accused Segundo Lim, who paid for the subject one-page ad, had become final and executory.

“The publication of the subject advertisement by petitioner and Lim cannot be deemed by this Court to have been done with actual malice. Aside from the fact that the information contained in said publication was true, the intention to let the public know the character of their radio commentator can at best be subsumed under the mantle of having been done with good motives and for justifiable ends.

The advertisement in question falls squarely within the bounds of constitutionally protected expression under Sec. 4, Art. III, and thus, acquittal is mandated,” the Court said. (Guingguing v. CA and People, GR No. 128959, September 30, 2005)

Istorya toniay editor min BFH, akabanda kono ditan ed say Star of David Hotel ta walay nila tod Manaoag. Et agustoan to kono so inkialagey na sakey ya otel ed satan a dadayoen a baley ta singa mas lalon nalukasan iray potensiyal na Manaoag. Sakey so Manaoag ed saray baley ya paspasyaren nen BFH sanen ogaw niya ta ditay panaayaman na saray babai, lalaki tan kakapinsan tora.

Nen say onlanirad Binalonan o Urdaneta o Dagupan iray walan bisita o debotos na Birhen na Manaoag, nitanlan walad olsoran da so sakey a marakerakep ya panayaman tan panliliketan a pasen.

Kayarian nen oga-ogaw nin Janette Patacsil Yaari ya asaway sakey ya Israelita, say Star of David (ningaran ed bitewen a simbolo nasyonal na saman a bansan Israel) so walaan na function room ya makakargay 150 a totoo, videoke rooms, internet café tan komportable ran kuarton paabang tan “lounge area”.

Sali yopay onsamar ditan sakey agew no makabanda kayod Manaoag.

WHATEVER administration detractors, angry militants and other cynics may say, it cannot be denied that the economy has never been this vibrant since about four, five months back and especially as December now trots in.

Word is that dollar remittances of Overseas Filipino Workers who have long been coming to the aid (albeit, coincidentally, according to critics) of their motherland’s financial distress is about to hit $12 billion and the Philippine peso has thus grown that much stronger.

The rosy signs are there: Higher demands for RP bonds, robust trading at the stock market and President Arroyo’s now buoyed up spirit seriously considering more non-wage benefits for workers to tide them over hard times even without the cash equivalent yet.

The figures of course are hard to dispute because these are official and the more sober-minded oppositionists, while acknowledging these grudgingly and making some dire warnings of these developments being at best temporary or artificial, seem to give things now the benefit of the doubt. This is as good a bargain as any for the once-beleaguered administration – to have a breathing spell from the myriad of stink bombs thrown at its direction every which way in the past months. Now, if it can only sustain the momentum, this country will be in business once again.

This section realizes there are national issues that have yet to see a firm and final closure. But it shares the belief of some in the center that it would be unfortunate if in the quest for political resolutions, the economy is summarily sacrificed or left to rise on its own. We are after all talking about national survival in these globally perilous times and without unity – even only temporarily – we have but two bitter choices on our fate as a nation: to hang separately or to hang together.

Your choice, fellow Pinoys, fellow Pangasinenses!

AFTER ALL
Behn Fer.Hortaleza, Jr.


WE do not know if there is a precedent case in jurisprudence of the courtroom drama that unfolded in the sala of Judge Ulysses Raciles Butuyan the past two weeks climaxing in the sensational dismissal of the cases against the suspects in the killing of Pasig City lady Judge Estrellita Paas last Nov. 30. We’re quite sure though that what happened further enriches the study of law in these parts.

The best way to describe the court “clash” between Butuyan (who was our jolly, articulate neighbor-tenant here at Vicar Hotel, and a star columnist of this paper too, before he left his law office to become Tayug regional trial court judge) and private prosecutor Ronald Paas, son of the slain lady judge, is that it was a scintillating collision between an irresistible force and an immovable object..Who’s what between them we leave that for the reader to discern.

Our layman’s perception of the whole thing is that the judge -- who may or may not have been piqued by the arguments and style of young lawyer Paas in insisting that he (Butuyan) issue a warrant of arrest for the two suspected killers of his mother – was not satisfied about the police solution of the celebrated case. Otherwise, he could have easily given in to the Paas request and be done with it.

In plain words, Butuyan must have thought the accused were “fall guys” or that at best, Elmer Cabilles’ having supposedly “confessed” to the crime to his wife, take note, not directly to the police, had serious flaws, legally speaking.

On the other hand, lawyer Paas must have had reasons to suspect Butuyan of “biasness” for having already noted earlier on that the prosecution’s witness(es) testimonies were based largely on hearsay. That, plus the judge’s refusal to issue a warrant of arrest until after he has questioned the witnesses to establish “probable cause” for the issuance of an arrest warrant, may have engendered the young Paas’ suspicion – correctly or wrongly – that the judge was playing partial.

Legal minds we’ve talked to on the case, based on the news reports, say what should be interesting is how the higher courts will rule on the matter of whether or not Butuyan was right in proceeding to hear and summarily decide on dismissing the case even while a motion – though formally filed rather late – was precisely seeking his inhibition from hearing the case.

The Pen Speaks
Danny O. Sagun


A TOWN councilor, very much married, is accused of having an affair with a young lass and the accuser is the girl’s father himself. Another alderman is charged of raping a woman, while the family of a legislator from another town was surprised to see the supposed girlfriend suddenly showing up at their house. A doctor of education-pretender is stripped of her doctorate degree for falsifying her records but still clings to her position as principal of a high school in the fourth district. Two mediapersons engaged in a fistfight over manna from a board member after an interview because the group (more than 10?) have difficulty dividing the money among themselves. A mediaman (again, kuno) shows his plain ignorance by shooting the wrong question in a presscon with the BIR chief on Tuesday.

Such news reports landed in local broadcasts this week as local radio anchors delightfully feasted on the controversies. Indeed, what is happening to our society, or to rephrase it, what is happening to those people supposed to be our guiding lights and leaders? Take as example that educator who herself could not pass the honesty test since, as reliable reports went, she had falsified her records? If she still has the face to mingle with her colleagues and the students despite such serious charges, I really don’t know what’s happening in our midst.

Regarding the three municipal aldermen, well, politicos have long been there. We mean the electorate seems to look the other way as regards moral qualifications of a candidate during elections. We have mayors, and presidents even, who maintain mistresses, okay, girlfriends left and right and yet they are politically ensconced in their turf.

Lest we be misunderstood, we do not want immoral persons to rule us (serve may be the proper word). Public servants are supposed to be exemplars of good morals. We are only talking of the realities prevailing now in our society, however.

As to our colleagues in the profession, it pains us to note that some mediapersons are no longer looking for news during coverages, presscons, interviews, and the like but, to put it bluntly, for money or envelop. We cannot entirely fault them, because politicians, lobbyists, propagandists have turned them that way – in quest of dole-outs, not news. They have become accustomed to it so that without the padulas they could not write or broadcast news anymore. Some even go to the extent of attacking the news source. There are many mediamen committed to their profession though. With or without any ‘blessing’ they just do their job.

Mediapersons are looked up to as knowledgeable and skilled in the art of questioning. But what happened in that presscon with BIR Commissioner Bunag at the EVAT roadshow betrayed the ignorance of some self-styled newsmen about the nature and qualifications for the job, prompting a senior newsman to shake his head in disgust and anguish as he watched that fellow (we do not know who he was and which media outlet he was connected with, if at all) shoot his off-tangent question. “Agyo ipapaway so inkaignorante yo ... kababaing,” the senior member was overheard saying.

Smorgasbord
Liway C. Manantan-Yparraguirre


(First and foremost, I would like to thank the publisher for giving me the privilege to write a column in this weekly paper that reaches and touches the world. I choose Smorgasbord as title because I intend to impart bits and pieces of information on what’s going on around us, leaving the reader the choice what to nibble at and what to munch on. )
* * * * *

WINDOWS
Gabriel L. Cardinoza


IT looks like Pangasinenses strongly favor a shift from the existing presidential form of government to parliamentary. Based on last Friday’s consultation conducted by the Consultative Commission at the Pangasinan Regency Hotel, Pangasinenses also want the present unitary structure of government changed to federal.

There were several issues and concerns raised during the separate workshops. For instance, Vice Gov. Oscar Lambino, who was there the whole day, was concerned about checks and balances in a parliamentary system. “How can we ensure checks and balances in a parliamentary system?” he asked.

Regional Development Council chair Dr. Ado Duque, who was in the same workshop group, asked if the abolition of the position of Speaker under a parliamentary system will be good for the country.

Dagupan City Councilor Vlad Mata, for his part, wondered if a parliamentary form of government will survive in an ethnically-divided country like ours. “A parliamentary system also requires a strong bureaucracy and a strong party system, which the Philippines does not have,” he added.

Good points. But as more and more issues were raised during the discussions, our very own Commissioner Raul Lambino, who, incidentally, was the ConCom Commissioners’ team leader, all the more convinced the participants on the need for a parliamentary shift through his answers.

To my mind, the participants were almost unanimous in voting for a parliamentary shift because they were able to get a clearer glimpse on how a parliamentary system works based on the commissioners’ explanations. With Raul in his workshop group were Commissioners Oscar Rodriguez, a former congressman and now San Fernando City mayor, and Sr. Luz Emmanuel Soriano, Commissioner, EDSA People Power Commission; UNESCO National Commission of the Philippines.
Another interesting result of last Friday’s consultation is that most Pangasinenses want foreigners to do business in the Philippines. This means that they want the Constitutionally-mandated 60-percent Filipino ownership in businesses doing business in the Philippines changed.

Mayor Benjamin Lim, who was in the workshop, batted for an open-door policy that would allow foreign-owned companies to set up businesses in the country. The mayor sadly noted that the world’s top 1,000 corporations had instead set up in the People’s Republic of China because of, despite its being Communist, that country’s liberal foreign investment policy.

The participants also agreed to allow foreigners to own commercial and industrial lands where they will set up their businesses as well as ownership of residential lands. They, however, opposed foreign ownership of private agricultural lands.

Vice Mayor Alvin Fernandez, who presided over the workshop with businessman Levy Laus, explained after the voting that allowing foreigners to own residential lands in the country would attract them to retire here. In the process, he added, more opportunities for caregivers, nurses, physical therapists and other medical workers will be opened.

The workshop participants also agreed to allow foreign-owned corporations to go into large-scale development projects of the country’s natural resources, such as mining. And this makes sense, because doing so will make them accountable and responsible in everything that they do in the development projects.

QUICKQUOTE: How can you govern a country which has 246 varieties of cheese? -- Charles De Gaulle

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

By DANNY O. SAGUN
Associate Editor, The Pangasinan Star

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

MR. GABRIEL CARDINOZA
Executive Editor
The Pangasinan Star

Dear Sir,

Greetings.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Very truly yours,

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

SAYAN INDIO
Mario Karateka


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

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

Nia pay sulat nen Sonny sirin:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

AFTER ALL
Behn Fer. Hortaleza, Jr.


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

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

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

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

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

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

* * * *

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

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

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

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

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

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

* * * *

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

THE PEN SPEAKS
Danny O. Sagun


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

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

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

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

Null and void? Yes.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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