27 December 2005
Christmas lanterns
THE JOYS A CHRISTMAS LANTERN BRINGS to people, especially the young ones, is captured in this shot bythe Pangasinan Star camera of children gazing in great admiration and joy at the lantern entries in the Dagupan City Fiesta Lantern Parade last week. (Photo by Butch F. Uka)
Hit BM Ancheta’s lawyering for holdup suspects
SAN JACINTO – A board member from the fourth district is under fire for reportedly acting as counsel for the accused in an aborted hold-up incident here last week.
A son of Board Member Manuel Ancheta however denied the allegation saying his father saw the suspects by chance when he visited the municipal hall a day after the robbery-shooting incident. He claimed his father who is a lawyer was not the counsel of the suspects – Federico Patricio, his sons Ruben and John Ray, and grandson Melvin Soriano.
Efforts by the local media to contact the board member proved futile.
The elder Patricio, in an interview, admitted to having Ancheta as one of his lawyers. The other is former municipal trial court Judge Aniceto Madronio. He said that the two lawyers are his counsels in his other cases, one of which, he said, is an estafa case.
Reports said that the sanggunian panlalawigan member even tried to intimidate the local police when he went to the station. He was quoted as telling the police investigators he would just see them in court.
The Patricios, police report said, tried to stop two employees of delivery firm LBC while on their way on a motorcycle Wednesday last week to a client in barangay Bolo. The driver sped away but the suspects fired at them causing them to lose control of the motorbike.
The town police was quickly alerted of the incident. The responding police team caught the suspects who tried to hide in the area.
Victims of earlier robbery incidents in the municipality and nearby towns who were invited to identify the suspects claimed they were the perpetrators. The accused are also facing cases of illegal possession of firearms and cattle rustling, it was gathered.
Local broadcasters lambasted the board member for acting as lawyer of supposed enemies of the state when he was supposed to defend the government being a government official himself, they pointed out.
His situation is similar to two fellow local legislators who were strongly criticized for serving as counsels for suspected criminals in the past. Former Dagupan City Councilor Aquilino Bolinas, supposedly a human rights lawyer, earned the ire of city policemen in his time at the council when he lawyered for young criminals from the city facing legal suits.
Mangaldan Councilor Danilo Macasieb was also highly criticized last year for his role in the dismissal of drug-related cases in that town.
Both lawyer-officials anchored their actions on the time-honored legal truism that a man is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Vice-Gov. Oscar B. Lambino observed that while local lawyer-legislators are not prohibited from practicing their profession, he believed they should refrain from handling criminal cases that will compromise the interest of the state.
A son of Board Member Manuel Ancheta however denied the allegation saying his father saw the suspects by chance when he visited the municipal hall a day after the robbery-shooting incident. He claimed his father who is a lawyer was not the counsel of the suspects – Federico Patricio, his sons Ruben and John Ray, and grandson Melvin Soriano.
Efforts by the local media to contact the board member proved futile.
The elder Patricio, in an interview, admitted to having Ancheta as one of his lawyers. The other is former municipal trial court Judge Aniceto Madronio. He said that the two lawyers are his counsels in his other cases, one of which, he said, is an estafa case.
Reports said that the sanggunian panlalawigan member even tried to intimidate the local police when he went to the station. He was quoted as telling the police investigators he would just see them in court.
The Patricios, police report said, tried to stop two employees of delivery firm LBC while on their way on a motorcycle Wednesday last week to a client in barangay Bolo. The driver sped away but the suspects fired at them causing them to lose control of the motorbike.
The town police was quickly alerted of the incident. The responding police team caught the suspects who tried to hide in the area.
Victims of earlier robbery incidents in the municipality and nearby towns who were invited to identify the suspects claimed they were the perpetrators. The accused are also facing cases of illegal possession of firearms and cattle rustling, it was gathered.
Local broadcasters lambasted the board member for acting as lawyer of supposed enemies of the state when he was supposed to defend the government being a government official himself, they pointed out.
His situation is similar to two fellow local legislators who were strongly criticized for serving as counsels for suspected criminals in the past. Former Dagupan City Councilor Aquilino Bolinas, supposedly a human rights lawyer, earned the ire of city policemen in his time at the council when he lawyered for young criminals from the city facing legal suits.
Mangaldan Councilor Danilo Macasieb was also highly criticized last year for his role in the dismissal of drug-related cases in that town.
Both lawyer-officials anchored their actions on the time-honored legal truism that a man is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Vice-Gov. Oscar B. Lambino observed that while local lawyer-legislators are not prohibited from practicing their profession, he believed they should refrain from handling criminal cases that will compromise the interest of the state.
Confession time: ‘We over-estimated income targets
AN official of the city government admitted that the projected income of the city this year at P350 million was over-estimated, spawning some P10 to P14 million shortfall in collection at the end of the year.
City Treasurer Romelita Alcantara told the city council there was no inefficiency in collection of taxes but they had simply over-projected the income of the city, particularly from stall rentals in the new three-storey Malimgas Public Market.
She said the bulk of the collection shortfall was registered at the public market when occupants of the second floor, reserved for dry goods, surrendered their stalls because of poor sales so the city lost incomes from rentals due them.
“We presumed that all things will go fine in the public market and that all stalls would be occupied. But it was not.” Alcantara said. Stallholders said they surrendered their stalls to prevent their continuous losses because the second floor of the public market, although fully air-conditioned, is hardly drawing in buyers.
Part of the reason may be because the new public market, reputed to be the most modern of its kind in the Philippines today, is surrounded by commercial malls that offer much lower prices for a wide range of products to choose from.
The third floor of the public market, reserved for car parking, has not been earning either.
The city council invited Alcantara to its session to shed light on the state of finances of the city government amid suspicion the city might now be incurring budge deficit as revenue collection targets were not met.
Alcantara denied any budget deficit because the city did not spend more than it could earn. She insisted that the only problem is the shortfall in collection. She added that because the city government no longer allows ambulant vending, it lost from P4 to P5 million in income from cash tickets.
The city also over-projected its income from the enforcement of fishery code when it targeted a revenue of P14.5 million, when, by the end of November, only P3 million has so far been collected.
City Treasurer Romelita Alcantara told the city council there was no inefficiency in collection of taxes but they had simply over-projected the income of the city, particularly from stall rentals in the new three-storey Malimgas Public Market.
She said the bulk of the collection shortfall was registered at the public market when occupants of the second floor, reserved for dry goods, surrendered their stalls because of poor sales so the city lost incomes from rentals due them.
“We presumed that all things will go fine in the public market and that all stalls would be occupied. But it was not.” Alcantara said. Stallholders said they surrendered their stalls to prevent their continuous losses because the second floor of the public market, although fully air-conditioned, is hardly drawing in buyers.
Part of the reason may be because the new public market, reputed to be the most modern of its kind in the Philippines today, is surrounded by commercial malls that offer much lower prices for a wide range of products to choose from.
The third floor of the public market, reserved for car parking, has not been earning either.
The city council invited Alcantara to its session to shed light on the state of finances of the city government amid suspicion the city might now be incurring budge deficit as revenue collection targets were not met.
Alcantara denied any budget deficit because the city did not spend more than it could earn. She insisted that the only problem is the shortfall in collection. She added that because the city government no longer allows ambulant vending, it lost from P4 to P5 million in income from cash tickets.
The city also over-projected its income from the enforcement of fishery code when it targeted a revenue of P14.5 million, when, by the end of November, only P3 million has so far been collected.
Rich Panelco III consumers tagged for electricity theft
TAYUG – Several affluent and influential families in eastern Pangasinan have been slapped with penalties and surcharges and now face criminal prosecution for stealing electricity from the Pangasinan Electric Cooperative III.
Huberto Te, area manager of Panelco III in eastern Pangasinan, said the suspects were found by roving linemen of the electric cooperative to have installed jumpers and other “tilting devices” in their electric meters which is punishable by Republic Act No. 7832.
Te said the cheating consumers criminally contributed to a huge systems loss of the cooperative, estimated at P8 million monthly, which amount is being passed on in the billings of individual consumers.
Te still withheld the names of the cheating electric consumers who, he said, agreed as a compromise to pay all their backbillings, including penalties and surcharges.
The cooperative is still mulling over whether nor not to pursue prosecution of the cases since theirs was a crime committed against all other electric consumers who had to painfully absorb the consequences of their illegal acts, it said.
Te said the cheating consumers belong to well known families in civic, professional and business circles, who because of their station in life, would not be likely suspected committing wrongdoing.
One is an owner of a resort, another a restaurant and another a big piggery owner, all of which consume huge amount of electricity. They are however paying suspiciously reduced electric costs.
Aside from installing jumpers, some of these consumers had electric meters without a base and calibration seals, the pointers of which are misaligned.
Others have tilted kilowatt-hour in their meters, while still others were found to have cut-off neutral wire, with self-grounding and flying connections, and having incorrect polarity in their meters and with self grounding.
Huberto Te, area manager of Panelco III in eastern Pangasinan, said the suspects were found by roving linemen of the electric cooperative to have installed jumpers and other “tilting devices” in their electric meters which is punishable by Republic Act No. 7832.
Te said the cheating consumers criminally contributed to a huge systems loss of the cooperative, estimated at P8 million monthly, which amount is being passed on in the billings of individual consumers.
Te still withheld the names of the cheating electric consumers who, he said, agreed as a compromise to pay all their backbillings, including penalties and surcharges.
The cooperative is still mulling over whether nor not to pursue prosecution of the cases since theirs was a crime committed against all other electric consumers who had to painfully absorb the consequences of their illegal acts, it said.
Te said the cheating consumers belong to well known families in civic, professional and business circles, who because of their station in life, would not be likely suspected committing wrongdoing.
One is an owner of a resort, another a restaurant and another a big piggery owner, all of which consume huge amount of electricity. They are however paying suspiciously reduced electric costs.
Aside from installing jumpers, some of these consumers had electric meters without a base and calibration seals, the pointers of which are misaligned.
Others have tilted kilowatt-hour in their meters, while still others were found to have cut-off neutral wire, with self-grounding and flying connections, and having incorrect polarity in their meters and with self grounding.
Sandbags
SANDBAGGING. Storm surges in beach areas along the Ilocos coastthe past week has forced many beachside structures and shanties to put up rows of sandbags for protection against massive wave onslaughts. The coastal phenomenon, according to many elders, is quite natural this time of the year till January, although they concede the bigger waves now are quite unlike those in past years. Tondaligan park administrator Dino Zabala watches as park beachside cottage owners put up defenses. (PStar Photo by Butch Uka)PNP's Purisima finally roars
‘Hataw’, ‘ameneng’ gambling games must go
By DANNY O. SAGUN
FINALLY, the provincial director of the Philippine National Police broke his silence and allowed media to interview him more than two weeks after Gov. Victor E. Agbayani issued a memorandum directing him to intensify the campaign against crime and illegal gambling activities.
Sr. Supt. Alan Purisima told a live phone interview over Bombo Radyo Dagupan Thursday morning that he had already directed his men in the field to act on the concerns raised by the governor in his memorandum.
He said that before the end of the month, his police chiefs and other fieldmen would have already accomplished their tasks. “Konting follow-up na lang,” he said referring to the campaign against illegal gambling activities using video machines like hataw and ameneng.
He said he would audit all police stations on their accomplishments, warning them to do their job. “Malalagot sila sa akin,” he said in reaction to persistent reports that hataw and ameneng machines are still operating in several towns.
Purisima now appears ready to be reached. He even gave his cell number, 09189265157, and urged the public to report to him directly any illegal activity and criminal incidents.
The provincial police chief apparently realized the importance of being more open and transparent to the public and to the media as well, as advised earlier by Provincial Administrator Virgilio Solis.
On the dropping of his name by some unscrupulous person and a report that a brother of his was tagged as behind the operation of video machines, Purisima said that his brothers are located in Ilocos, Mindanao and the United States, “Wala akong kapatid na nai-involve sa iligal, ” he clarified.
He said he had ordered his men to confiscate all such machines no matter who the owner is. A report said that some machines are color-coded or with stickers purportedly to indicate the owner or operator.
Former Dagupan police chief Supt. Noli Taliño was named overall supervisor of the campaign against illegal vide machines, he said. (DOS)
By DANNY O. SAGUN
FINALLY, the provincial director of the Philippine National Police broke his silence and allowed media to interview him more than two weeks after Gov. Victor E. Agbayani issued a memorandum directing him to intensify the campaign against crime and illegal gambling activities.
Sr. Supt. Alan Purisima told a live phone interview over Bombo Radyo Dagupan Thursday morning that he had already directed his men in the field to act on the concerns raised by the governor in his memorandum.
He said that before the end of the month, his police chiefs and other fieldmen would have already accomplished their tasks. “Konting follow-up na lang,” he said referring to the campaign against illegal gambling activities using video machines like hataw and ameneng.
He said he would audit all police stations on their accomplishments, warning them to do their job. “Malalagot sila sa akin,” he said in reaction to persistent reports that hataw and ameneng machines are still operating in several towns.
Purisima now appears ready to be reached. He even gave his cell number, 09189265157, and urged the public to report to him directly any illegal activity and criminal incidents.
The provincial police chief apparently realized the importance of being more open and transparent to the public and to the media as well, as advised earlier by Provincial Administrator Virgilio Solis.
On the dropping of his name by some unscrupulous person and a report that a brother of his was tagged as behind the operation of video machines, Purisima said that his brothers are located in Ilocos, Mindanao and the United States, “Wala akong kapatid na nai-involve sa iligal, ” he clarified.
He said he had ordered his men to confiscate all such machines no matter who the owner is. A report said that some machines are color-coded or with stickers purportedly to indicate the owner or operator.
Former Dagupan police chief Supt. Noli Taliño was named overall supervisor of the campaign against illegal vide machines, he said. (DOS)
Uneasy rests San Jacinto school principal’s post
SAN JACINTO – The national high school here seems forever in search of a good administrator.
Dr. Alfredo S. Calugay, who was reassigned here only about eight months ago, was the subject of a complaint filed by some 20 teachers and employees with Department of Education Region 1 Director Vilma Labrador.
At least six charges were lodged against him to include demand for money from teacher-applicants, oppression, dishonesty, and pursuit or private business in school.
The complainants alleged that Calugay asked money from four qualified teacher-applicants for three permanent and one substitute vacant items. His reasons for solicitation were reportedly to donate a refrigerator to the division office, to pay five division personnel who will process the papers, to defray his travel expenses to Manila, and for school projects. There was neither a refrigerator given to the division office nor money given to the division personnel, they claimed in their complaint.
The principal also allowed vendors to sell inside the campus for a fee of P150 daily for electric consumption and rental but the money collected had no clear accounting, they claimed.
Calugay on several instances, humiliated teachers in front of the students, they said. While he comes late and is, most of the time, absent, he however indicated in his daily time record that he was coming on time and present, they also alleged. He also reportedly uses a casual clerk to drive for him during office hours.
For his private business, the complaining teachers said they had witnesses to prove that a refrigerator in his office was stocked with frozen foods for sale to teachers utilizing the janitress to sell and collect payments during payday.
They also claimed that he had a garage built for his personal car and an aircondition unit installed in his office. But he directed two teachers to see to it that only one electric fan in installed of the usual two per classroom which has an average of 60 students.
Calugay, they said, refused to accept responsibility in special school activities like the Science Camp and Leaders Congress hosted recently by the school. He reportedly asked the head teachers to sign a waiver that will not hold him liable in case of accidents among the student and faculty participants.
Short of seeking his transfer, they asked Labrador “to do what is deemed necessary” against him.
His predecessor, Marlene Bautista, was also forced to get out of the school early this year with several complaints raised against her for alleged anomalies.
Calugay faced similar complaints in his earlier stations in Balungao and Pozorrubio high schools, it was learned.
Dr. Alfredo S. Calugay, who was reassigned here only about eight months ago, was the subject of a complaint filed by some 20 teachers and employees with Department of Education Region 1 Director Vilma Labrador.
At least six charges were lodged against him to include demand for money from teacher-applicants, oppression, dishonesty, and pursuit or private business in school.
The complainants alleged that Calugay asked money from four qualified teacher-applicants for three permanent and one substitute vacant items. His reasons for solicitation were reportedly to donate a refrigerator to the division office, to pay five division personnel who will process the papers, to defray his travel expenses to Manila, and for school projects. There was neither a refrigerator given to the division office nor money given to the division personnel, they claimed in their complaint.
The principal also allowed vendors to sell inside the campus for a fee of P150 daily for electric consumption and rental but the money collected had no clear accounting, they claimed.
Calugay on several instances, humiliated teachers in front of the students, they said. While he comes late and is, most of the time, absent, he however indicated in his daily time record that he was coming on time and present, they also alleged. He also reportedly uses a casual clerk to drive for him during office hours.
For his private business, the complaining teachers said they had witnesses to prove that a refrigerator in his office was stocked with frozen foods for sale to teachers utilizing the janitress to sell and collect payments during payday.
They also claimed that he had a garage built for his personal car and an aircondition unit installed in his office. But he directed two teachers to see to it that only one electric fan in installed of the usual two per classroom which has an average of 60 students.
Calugay, they said, refused to accept responsibility in special school activities like the Science Camp and Leaders Congress hosted recently by the school. He reportedly asked the head teachers to sign a waiver that will not hold him liable in case of accidents among the student and faculty participants.
Short of seeking his transfer, they asked Labrador “to do what is deemed necessary” against him.
His predecessor, Marlene Bautista, was also forced to get out of the school early this year with several complaints raised against her for alleged anomalies.
Calugay faced similar complaints in his earlier stations in Balungao and Pozorrubio high schools, it was learned.
2 drown in Dagupan beach due to high waves
TWO persons drowned one after the other in two days while swimming in Bonuan Binloc Blue Beach within Tondaligan Park here due to deadly high waves, spawned by a wind surge in the Lingayen Gulf.
This was disclosed by Tondaligan Park Administrator Dino Zabala who said the high waves that reached over eight feet, are also threatening to destroy some 100 for-rent picnic sheds, doubling as videoke bars along the shoreline, also within the park area here.
The wind surge was reportedly felt in adjacent provinces of La Union and Ilocos Sur and as far west as Bolinao, Pangasinan.
Zabala said the body of a 22-year old student from barangay Doyong, Calasiao who drowned Saturday has not yet been found by rescue teams. An unconfirmed report said a body drifted in the shoreline of the island barangay of Pugaro in Dagupan City at presstime.
Another victim of drowning was Jeffrey Cariño of Baguio City who drowned Sunday when he and companions dropped by the Tondaligan to swim after attending a wedding of their relative in Malasiqui town and on their way back home.
Zabala said Cariño was pulled under by strong undercurrent while swimming. He said the victim was rescued after two minutes and given artificial respiration but was nevertheless declared dead on arrival at the Region 1 Medical Center.
Cariño rented a floating life saver but due to the big waves, he lost his grip on the device and was lost in the water momentarily. When he was finally rescued, there was difficulty reviving him.
Zabala explained that the wind surge that spawned high waves and threatens to wash away some 100 makeshift picnic sheds are just a normal occurrence during the months of December and January in the Lingayen Gulf.
The same high waves destroyed five houses made of light materials in sitio Bagong Barrio in barangay Bonuan Gueset, near Tondaligan Park last Saturday night. Their occupants were evacuated to the village’s multi-purpose gymnasium.
He said some of these picnic sheds were vacated by their owners after these were swamped by the waves, damaging their videoke sound systems, television sets, chinawares, utensils and other properties.
Some of these are now putting sand bags as high as five feet to block the big waves from hitting their establishments, Zabala said.
This was disclosed by Tondaligan Park Administrator Dino Zabala who said the high waves that reached over eight feet, are also threatening to destroy some 100 for-rent picnic sheds, doubling as videoke bars along the shoreline, also within the park area here.
The wind surge was reportedly felt in adjacent provinces of La Union and Ilocos Sur and as far west as Bolinao, Pangasinan.
Zabala said the body of a 22-year old student from barangay Doyong, Calasiao who drowned Saturday has not yet been found by rescue teams. An unconfirmed report said a body drifted in the shoreline of the island barangay of Pugaro in Dagupan City at presstime.
Another victim of drowning was Jeffrey Cariño of Baguio City who drowned Sunday when he and companions dropped by the Tondaligan to swim after attending a wedding of their relative in Malasiqui town and on their way back home.
Zabala said Cariño was pulled under by strong undercurrent while swimming. He said the victim was rescued after two minutes and given artificial respiration but was nevertheless declared dead on arrival at the Region 1 Medical Center.
Cariño rented a floating life saver but due to the big waves, he lost his grip on the device and was lost in the water momentarily. When he was finally rescued, there was difficulty reviving him.
Zabala explained that the wind surge that spawned high waves and threatens to wash away some 100 makeshift picnic sheds are just a normal occurrence during the months of December and January in the Lingayen Gulf.
The same high waves destroyed five houses made of light materials in sitio Bagong Barrio in barangay Bonuan Gueset, near Tondaligan Park last Saturday night. Their occupants were evacuated to the village’s multi-purpose gymnasium.
He said some of these picnic sheds were vacated by their owners after these were swamped by the waves, damaging their videoke sound systems, television sets, chinawares, utensils and other properties.
Some of these are now putting sand bags as high as five feet to block the big waves from hitting their establishments, Zabala said.
Jueteng making fast comeback—Archbishop
THE illegal numbers game called jueteng is making a fast comeback throughout the country, according to Archbishop Oscar Cruz of the Lingayen-Dagupan archdiocese.
Cruz, the number one anti-jueteng crusader in the country and former president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, said the jueteng comeback was expected.
This disclosure confirmed a previous statement made by Palawan City Mayor and anti-jueteng czar Edward Hagedorn that jueteng already staged a comeback in some parts of the country, particularly Southern Tagalog.
In fact, Cruz, chairman and founder of the Kilos ng Bayan Laban sa Jueteng, said it is not only jueteng that has returned but also other illegal numbers games, such as the EZ2, ‘lotteng’, letreng’, the video-karera and the fruit games.
“They are back in the same way jueteng was gone for a while, went into hiding for sometime but is now making a comeback slowly but surely.
He said unless the illegal numbers game is stopped, very happy days will be here again for their financiers and supporters.
As may be expected, PNP chief Director General Arturo Lomibao has ordered all police regional directors to check the reported resurgence of jueteng.
Among the areas mentioned by Lomibao to be placed under watch is the Pangasinan-Ilocos area.
Pangasinan Police Provincial Director Alan Purisima revealed there is no jueteng anymore in his area of jurisdiction and vowed to do anything to stop its resurgence.
He said aside from this, the police in Pangasinan are also running after other forms of gambling, like slot machines, video karera and fruit games, also called “ameneng”.
Cruz, the number one anti-jueteng crusader in the country and former president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, said the jueteng comeback was expected.
This disclosure confirmed a previous statement made by Palawan City Mayor and anti-jueteng czar Edward Hagedorn that jueteng already staged a comeback in some parts of the country, particularly Southern Tagalog.
In fact, Cruz, chairman and founder of the Kilos ng Bayan Laban sa Jueteng, said it is not only jueteng that has returned but also other illegal numbers games, such as the EZ2, ‘lotteng’, letreng’, the video-karera and the fruit games.
“They are back in the same way jueteng was gone for a while, went into hiding for sometime but is now making a comeback slowly but surely.
He said unless the illegal numbers game is stopped, very happy days will be here again for their financiers and supporters.
As may be expected, PNP chief Director General Arturo Lomibao has ordered all police regional directors to check the reported resurgence of jueteng.
Among the areas mentioned by Lomibao to be placed under watch is the Pangasinan-Ilocos area.
Pangasinan Police Provincial Director Alan Purisima revealed there is no jueteng anymore in his area of jurisdiction and vowed to do anything to stop its resurgence.
He said aside from this, the police in Pangasinan are also running after other forms of gambling, like slot machines, video karera and fruit games, also called “ameneng”.
Consumer body to step up info advocacy program
THE Pangasinan Consumer Welfare Council (Consumernet) has set its programs and projects for 2006 as approved in the council’s technical meeting last Tuesday.
The yearlong activities include information advocacy thru the use of print and broadcast media, quarterly information caravans, establishment of consumer welfare desks (CWDs) in the local government units and business establishments and installing Timbangan ng Bayan (public weighing scales) in all public markets.
The council, headed by Gov. Victor E. Agbayani with the Department of Trade and Industry as co-chair, tapped the Philippine Information Agency Pangasinan office and government stations DZMQ Radyo ng Bayan-Dagupan and DWRS Radyo ng Bayan-Tayug to disseminate information on consumer welfare. The private radio station in Alaminos City, DZWM, was also requested to air such government programs to benefit the western towns.
The council, composed of some 35 government agencies and non-government organizations, thru core groups is set to meet with the heads of the local media associations in the province – Pangasinan Tri-Media Association (Patrima), Pangasinan Press and Radio Club (PPRC), Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster sa Pilipinas (KBP), and the Pangasinan Association of Government Information Officers (PAGIO)—to enlist their help in the info drive.
The council will also write letters to the LGUs to remind them of the compulsory establishment of Timbangan ng Bayan in the public markets.
By October next year, part of the Consumer Welfare Month celebration will be the awarding of the best partners in consumerism, from the LGUs and the private sector. DTI Officer-in-Charge Daria Mingaracal said the Department of Energy and the Intellectual Property Rights Office will be invited to grace the next meeting to enlighten members on matters involving such offices.
The yearlong activities include information advocacy thru the use of print and broadcast media, quarterly information caravans, establishment of consumer welfare desks (CWDs) in the local government units and business establishments and installing Timbangan ng Bayan (public weighing scales) in all public markets.
The council, headed by Gov. Victor E. Agbayani with the Department of Trade and Industry as co-chair, tapped the Philippine Information Agency Pangasinan office and government stations DZMQ Radyo ng Bayan-Dagupan and DWRS Radyo ng Bayan-Tayug to disseminate information on consumer welfare. The private radio station in Alaminos City, DZWM, was also requested to air such government programs to benefit the western towns.
The council, composed of some 35 government agencies and non-government organizations, thru core groups is set to meet with the heads of the local media associations in the province – Pangasinan Tri-Media Association (Patrima), Pangasinan Press and Radio Club (PPRC), Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster sa Pilipinas (KBP), and the Pangasinan Association of Government Information Officers (PAGIO)—to enlist their help in the info drive.
The council will also write letters to the LGUs to remind them of the compulsory establishment of Timbangan ng Bayan in the public markets.
By October next year, part of the Consumer Welfare Month celebration will be the awarding of the best partners in consumerism, from the LGUs and the private sector. DTI Officer-in-Charge Daria Mingaracal said the Department of Energy and the Intellectual Property Rights Office will be invited to grace the next meeting to enlighten members on matters involving such offices.
Hataw machines
FOR SHOCK, FOR SHOW OR FOR REAL? A crackdown on illegal video game units (the so-called “hataw” or ‘ameneng’) has been launched by the Philippine National Police under Provincial Police Supt. Alan LM Purisima whose command has been stung by mounting public complaints for inaction on parents’ and school officials’ concerns about proliferation of the gambling gadgets for kids and adults. (PStar Photo by Butch F. Uka)32 slot machines near school seized in Pangasinan
BINALONAN – The provincewide campaign against slot machines, video karera and fruit game machines yielded positive result when 31 such machines belonging to 11 different owners were seized here last week.
It was the biggest operation against the banned machines which were reported to have recently proliferated in all nooks and crannies of the province as though replacing illegal jueteng that has grounded to a halt in the middle part of this year.
The campaign was pursuant to a directive of Police Provincial Director Sr. Supt. Alan Purisima addressed to all police chiefs in Pangasinan to finally eradicate all these illegal gambling and betting machines in the province.
Purisima acted following a memorandum of Gov. Victor Agbayani who noted the proliferation of slot machines, video karera and fruit game machines near schools and the widespread complaints of worried parents against the vices that lure their children.
SPO1 Cipriano Culliao, investigator of the Binalonan Police, said all the banned gadgets were seized in establishments near the Don Juan Macaraeg National High School in police operations led by Police Chief Sr. Inspector Napoleon Viray.
Agbayani also directed the Pangasinan police to take aggressive measures against highway robbers who have already victimized many people, especially those withdrawing money from banks.
Culiao said the owners of the seized banned machines are facing criminal complaints for violation of a municipal ordinance of Binalonan before the Provincial Prosecutors Office in Urdaneta City.
The slot machines, video karera and fruit game machines were reported to have been manufactured locally but their mechanical parts may have originated form either Taiwan or China.
It was the biggest operation against the banned machines which were reported to have recently proliferated in all nooks and crannies of the province as though replacing illegal jueteng that has grounded to a halt in the middle part of this year.
The campaign was pursuant to a directive of Police Provincial Director Sr. Supt. Alan Purisima addressed to all police chiefs in Pangasinan to finally eradicate all these illegal gambling and betting machines in the province.
Purisima acted following a memorandum of Gov. Victor Agbayani who noted the proliferation of slot machines, video karera and fruit game machines near schools and the widespread complaints of worried parents against the vices that lure their children.
SPO1 Cipriano Culliao, investigator of the Binalonan Police, said all the banned gadgets were seized in establishments near the Don Juan Macaraeg National High School in police operations led by Police Chief Sr. Inspector Napoleon Viray.
Agbayani also directed the Pangasinan police to take aggressive measures against highway robbers who have already victimized many people, especially those withdrawing money from banks.
Culiao said the owners of the seized banned machines are facing criminal complaints for violation of a municipal ordinance of Binalonan before the Provincial Prosecutors Office in Urdaneta City.
The slot machines, video karera and fruit game machines were reported to have been manufactured locally but their mechanical parts may have originated form either Taiwan or China.
Epidemiologist says bird flu virus can’t quite link up yet
AN epidemiologist of the Department of Health said based on current statistics of deaths from the dreaded avian influenza worldwide, the virus seems to be having difficulty transmitting to humans.
This piece of seemingly good news on the global fight against bird flu was among the bright spots reported by Dr. Jesus Fantone, DOH epidemiologist during the recent day-long workshop on the prevention of avian flu organized by the Region 1 Medical Center here as part of the province’s measures to prevent or control the disease, if it should ever break out here.
The Philippines, according to Fantone, remains as among only three bird flu-free countries in Asia today, to include Singapore and Brunei.
He said that some countries, instead of being transparent about the status of the disease in their areas in fact withheld releasing true statistics about local outbreaks from the World Health Organization.
Fantone said in the event the disease reaches our shores and communities, mass culling of poultry should be resorted to just as Hongkong did in 1997 to stop the H5NI epidemic there. Culling means the killing of infected chicken or fowl in an affected area so that the virus would have no chance of spreading or transferring to healthy fowls.
Among the measures suggested to and taken up by the Philippine government, he said, to prevent entry of the virus is a ban on the import of poultry, including foreign birds, and tight border guarding in the southern corridor of the country to prevent entry of humans who may be carrying the bird flu virus from their country of origin.
Local government units, Fantone added, may reinforce these measures by passing laws prohibiting people from going near or disturbing migratory birds that are believed to be carriers of the virus now frequenting various bird sanctuaries and forage areas in the country. The birds flew in to escape winter in their traditional sanctuaries across the globe.
The epidemiologist admitted that aside from its cost being prohibitive, Tamiflu, the anti-viral drug produced by Roche, still has limited supply worldwide despite mass production undertaken by Roche and its deputized or licensed pharmaceutical companies.
This piece of seemingly good news on the global fight against bird flu was among the bright spots reported by Dr. Jesus Fantone, DOH epidemiologist during the recent day-long workshop on the prevention of avian flu organized by the Region 1 Medical Center here as part of the province’s measures to prevent or control the disease, if it should ever break out here.
The Philippines, according to Fantone, remains as among only three bird flu-free countries in Asia today, to include Singapore and Brunei.
He said that some countries, instead of being transparent about the status of the disease in their areas in fact withheld releasing true statistics about local outbreaks from the World Health Organization.
Fantone said in the event the disease reaches our shores and communities, mass culling of poultry should be resorted to just as Hongkong did in 1997 to stop the H5NI epidemic there. Culling means the killing of infected chicken or fowl in an affected area so that the virus would have no chance of spreading or transferring to healthy fowls.
Among the measures suggested to and taken up by the Philippine government, he said, to prevent entry of the virus is a ban on the import of poultry, including foreign birds, and tight border guarding in the southern corridor of the country to prevent entry of humans who may be carrying the bird flu virus from their country of origin.
Local government units, Fantone added, may reinforce these measures by passing laws prohibiting people from going near or disturbing migratory birds that are believed to be carriers of the virus now frequenting various bird sanctuaries and forage areas in the country. The birds flew in to escape winter in their traditional sanctuaries across the globe.
The epidemiologist admitted that aside from its cost being prohibitive, Tamiflu, the anti-viral drug produced by Roche, still has limited supply worldwide despite mass production undertaken by Roche and its deputized or licensed pharmaceutical companies.
OPINYON: Wan handred Piso 4 X’mas
SAYAN INDIO
Mario F. Karateka
E, ANTOEY, asabila lamet so Krismas o Piyesta’y Inkianak, onong ed say abangonan tayon relihiyon.
Kumusta’y media noche yo ey? Kompleto tay pamilya? Akapasyar kayod baley ya binmantay ed say piyesta’y Dagupan? Agkayota mantayegteg ed betel no labi tan palbangon?
No “on” odino “olrayt, OK” so ebat yod saratan a tepet, sakey kayod mapalar iran pinalsa’y Ama ta apalabas tan alikna yo so ispirito na Krismas a, no manbilang et medyo makisir so panangan ed lamisaan, et masayaksak metni lamlamang ta walan manbibilaynid tapew na sayan mundo so inkasaysikayo.
Diad imbebeneg iran kolum na Sayan Indio, asaglawik layan topiko – ya ambetebetel, amagamaga so singa pamalabas tayo na Krismas na 2005. Amtak dakel so miayon ed satan ya obserbasyon ko ta sankalikas met.
Pakanengnengan? Lakadtan ed “mall”, no iner say duduplogen na totoon managsaliw et samay Wan Handred Piso (100 Peso) ya puesto no iner say sanlibo da et kamayamay lay nasaliw to. Sakey nin pakanengnengan? Masakbay lan onsesempet kalamor iray dakel ya dawntawn dyipni ta antoey, amta bisperas na Krismas natan (sabado so pangagawak ed sayan kolum) et sansakey labat so onlulugan aliwan singa imbebeneg iran bisperas ya karakel na lumulugan.
Labay yo ni sakey pruweba? Nimay lansones tan ubas ya nen imbebeneg et nasimot antis o bisperas na Pasko, natan akagaton o akasabit ya sansakey so makapangitepel a mangaliw ta kibili-bili met lanti, P150 anggad P180 kada kilo so patawal da. Di maong lan isaliw day pigaran order na pansit tekepay Coke litro naksel niy intiron pamilya, awa, Bret Bert?
Mario F. Karateka
E, ANTOEY, asabila lamet so Krismas o Piyesta’y Inkianak, onong ed say abangonan tayon relihiyon.
Kumusta’y media noche yo ey? Kompleto tay pamilya? Akapasyar kayod baley ya binmantay ed say piyesta’y Dagupan? Agkayota mantayegteg ed betel no labi tan palbangon?
No “on” odino “olrayt, OK” so ebat yod saratan a tepet, sakey kayod mapalar iran pinalsa’y Ama ta apalabas tan alikna yo so ispirito na Krismas a, no manbilang et medyo makisir so panangan ed lamisaan, et masayaksak metni lamlamang ta walan manbibilaynid tapew na sayan mundo so inkasaysikayo.
Diad imbebeneg iran kolum na Sayan Indio, asaglawik layan topiko – ya ambetebetel, amagamaga so singa pamalabas tayo na Krismas na 2005. Amtak dakel so miayon ed satan ya obserbasyon ko ta sankalikas met.
Pakanengnengan? Lakadtan ed “mall”, no iner say duduplogen na totoon managsaliw et samay Wan Handred Piso (100 Peso) ya puesto no iner say sanlibo da et kamayamay lay nasaliw to. Sakey nin pakanengnengan? Masakbay lan onsesempet kalamor iray dakel ya dawntawn dyipni ta antoey, amta bisperas na Krismas natan (sabado so pangagawak ed sayan kolum) et sansakey labat so onlulugan aliwan singa imbebeneg iran bisperas ya karakel na lumulugan.
Labay yo ni sakey pruweba? Nimay lansones tan ubas ya nen imbebeneg et nasimot antis o bisperas na Pasko, natan akagaton o akasabit ya sansakey so makapangitepel a mangaliw ta kibili-bili met lanti, P150 anggad P180 kada kilo so patawal da. Di maong lan isaliw day pigaran order na pansit tekepay Coke litro naksel niy intiron pamilya, awa, Bret Bert?
EDITORIAL: How celebrate Christmas?
THE merriest of seasons just doesn’t seem to be so anymore. Most people equate this sordid situation to the absence of money in their pockets and a depleted or zero balance in their bank accounts. Things have gotten so money-centered and money-driven in the world that happiness – or contentment –can’t be had with just a few pesos on hand; it has to be by the thousands to bring on a smile and buy bagfuls of Christmas goodies from the supermarket.
Outside of dying, the next most tragic thing that can happen at Christmas is to be sick and confined in a hospital while the rest of the world outside sing carols, eat and drink and make merry to celebrate what the Catholic world regards as the birthdate of jesus Christ.
To be caught in such condition and location on Christmas is so dreadful that we know of some who would bear the pain, fight the medical symptoms and postpone going to the hospital till after Christmas. In any case, the moment they finally go into post-Christmas treatment or consultation, the luckier ones get attended to on time yet; the less luckier ones only manage to delay the inevitable – a surgery, an extended medical confinement or the morgue.
Such morbid thoughts at Yuletide, you say?
But that precisely is what runs in the minds of our less fortunate brethren out there who cannot observe, much less, enjoy Christ’s birth with al the varied problems and economic difficulties besetting them and their families. Christmas is for the poor as much as it is for the children, they say. For the children who have their whole future ahead of them, spending an austere Christmas one year wouldn’t matter much – the next year is always a source of hope. For the poor who are at the very end of their economic rope that’s burning from both ends, it would always be one miserable Christmas after another. How long they can bear the deprivation and depression before they totally snap, only God in His Infinite Wisdom knows.
On this most celebrated event of the year in all of Humankind, let us pause and ask ourselves – What have we really done for them, our less fortunate brethren, to ease their burden and wipe away their tears? There lies the true meaning of this special day, one that exalts not riches or fame but the dignity of every man He created on Earth.
Outside of dying, the next most tragic thing that can happen at Christmas is to be sick and confined in a hospital while the rest of the world outside sing carols, eat and drink and make merry to celebrate what the Catholic world regards as the birthdate of jesus Christ.
To be caught in such condition and location on Christmas is so dreadful that we know of some who would bear the pain, fight the medical symptoms and postpone going to the hospital till after Christmas. In any case, the moment they finally go into post-Christmas treatment or consultation, the luckier ones get attended to on time yet; the less luckier ones only manage to delay the inevitable – a surgery, an extended medical confinement or the morgue.
Such morbid thoughts at Yuletide, you say?
But that precisely is what runs in the minds of our less fortunate brethren out there who cannot observe, much less, enjoy Christ’s birth with al the varied problems and economic difficulties besetting them and their families. Christmas is for the poor as much as it is for the children, they say. For the children who have their whole future ahead of them, spending an austere Christmas one year wouldn’t matter much – the next year is always a source of hope. For the poor who are at the very end of their economic rope that’s burning from both ends, it would always be one miserable Christmas after another. How long they can bear the deprivation and depression before they totally snap, only God in His Infinite Wisdom knows.
On this most celebrated event of the year in all of Humankind, let us pause and ask ourselves – What have we really done for them, our less fortunate brethren, to ease their burden and wipe away their tears? There lies the true meaning of this special day, one that exalts not riches or fame but the dignity of every man He created on Earth.
OPINION: Lighted bridges, No-El issue and JDV’s Macbeth
AFTER ALL
Behn Fer. Hortaleza Jr.
WE SPOKE too soon and now we may have to eat crow. But we don’t mind – if it’s for the good of the city we all love, Dagupan.
We are referring to the sudden installation of rows of beautiful lights on both sides of the Magsaysay (okay, De Venecia it is) Bridge along Perez Blvd. Just as soon as The Pangasinan Star hit the streets last week, we noticed as we pass by the bridge on our way home in the evening that the lights were ablaze, rivaling those earlier put up at the Quintos bridge obviously in time for the city fiesta celebration.
In this corner last week, you see, we had lamented -- okay now, deplored -- what we felt was the unfair deal given the Perez bridge which was dimly lit, if at all, while Quintos bridge on A.B. Fernandez Avenue had those rather elegant lamp posts delighting and thrilling motorists and pedestrians passing thru. It now appears that lighting of Perez bridge was part of the overall plan after all.
Our kudos to whoever it was at City Hall who decided that if we can’t have sophisticated fiesta celeb activities this year, at least we should have lights on our bridges for nocturnal attraction. Why, not even the ballyhooed Lantern Parade, which we and Vicar Hotel tenants had eagerly rushed out by the hotel’s balcony for to watch while the city was in full blackout mode didn’t even light up a spark among many Dagupeno parade watchers.
It just seems to many frustrated city dwellers now that about the only area where a whiff of fiesta air can be had are at the malls, hardly at the City Hall and environs and much less even at the Pogo Grande house of the hermano mayor himself, Alex de Venecia. For all the lights bedecking the good councilor-fund-raiser’s newly-rented house (try checking this out passing by Pogo Grande at night), “not a soul stirs” ( to borrow a line from the immortal poem T’was the Night Before Christmas – read neighbor columnist Ging Cardinoza’s piece) there most nights, like Santa had left for the North Pole with all his reindeersin tow.
Young tots doing the caroling rounds and trying the house of HM (Hermano Mayor, not His Majesty) swear they only tire their vocal chords out with nary a Santa peering out from there, at least on most night, to dole out presents..
* * * *
Many people seem to forget – or are deliberately ignoring –the fact that what the Consultative Commission (Con-Com) had come up with and submitted to the President were plain and simple recommendations as borne out from their nationwide consultations with the people. Now, if some of our leaders in and out of politics, think that’s the final thing, it’s their indigestion.
The fact is, the whole package, including the transitory provisions drawn up by the Con-Com one of which calls for a no-election scenario by 2007 and extension of terms of present officials to 2010, will still be deliberated in and by Congress. And you know how interminably long and contentious that would be. The chance of the package being approved en toto is like that of a Mayor BSL giving up on the “original design” of the circumferential diversion road in Lucao and just letting the DPWH extend the construction of the road on through Belen Fernandez’s CSI The City Mall “queendom.”
What keeps many pundits wondering is what our very own Speaker Joe de Venecia’s position on the No-El issue really is when the matter is finally thrown into Congress’lap.
As for El Tabako FVR, he’s minced no word about where he stands, to GMA’s utter discomfort. Can – and will – JDV again come up with a “rainbow compromise?”
Behn Fer. Hortaleza Jr.
WE SPOKE too soon and now we may have to eat crow. But we don’t mind – if it’s for the good of the city we all love, Dagupan.
We are referring to the sudden installation of rows of beautiful lights on both sides of the Magsaysay (okay, De Venecia it is) Bridge along Perez Blvd. Just as soon as The Pangasinan Star hit the streets last week, we noticed as we pass by the bridge on our way home in the evening that the lights were ablaze, rivaling those earlier put up at the Quintos bridge obviously in time for the city fiesta celebration.
In this corner last week, you see, we had lamented -- okay now, deplored -- what we felt was the unfair deal given the Perez bridge which was dimly lit, if at all, while Quintos bridge on A.B. Fernandez Avenue had those rather elegant lamp posts delighting and thrilling motorists and pedestrians passing thru. It now appears that lighting of Perez bridge was part of the overall plan after all.
Our kudos to whoever it was at City Hall who decided that if we can’t have sophisticated fiesta celeb activities this year, at least we should have lights on our bridges for nocturnal attraction. Why, not even the ballyhooed Lantern Parade, which we and Vicar Hotel tenants had eagerly rushed out by the hotel’s balcony for to watch while the city was in full blackout mode didn’t even light up a spark among many Dagupeno parade watchers.
It just seems to many frustrated city dwellers now that about the only area where a whiff of fiesta air can be had are at the malls, hardly at the City Hall and environs and much less even at the Pogo Grande house of the hermano mayor himself, Alex de Venecia. For all the lights bedecking the good councilor-fund-raiser’s newly-rented house (try checking this out passing by Pogo Grande at night), “not a soul stirs” ( to borrow a line from the immortal poem T’was the Night Before Christmas – read neighbor columnist Ging Cardinoza’s piece) there most nights, like Santa had left for the North Pole with all his reindeersin tow.
Young tots doing the caroling rounds and trying the house of HM (Hermano Mayor, not His Majesty) swear they only tire their vocal chords out with nary a Santa peering out from there, at least on most night, to dole out presents..
* * * *
Many people seem to forget – or are deliberately ignoring –the fact that what the Consultative Commission (Con-Com) had come up with and submitted to the President were plain and simple recommendations as borne out from their nationwide consultations with the people. Now, if some of our leaders in and out of politics, think that’s the final thing, it’s their indigestion.
The fact is, the whole package, including the transitory provisions drawn up by the Con-Com one of which calls for a no-election scenario by 2007 and extension of terms of present officials to 2010, will still be deliberated in and by Congress. And you know how interminably long and contentious that would be. The chance of the package being approved en toto is like that of a Mayor BSL giving up on the “original design” of the circumferential diversion road in Lucao and just letting the DPWH extend the construction of the road on through Belen Fernandez’s CSI The City Mall “queendom.”
What keeps many pundits wondering is what our very own Speaker Joe de Venecia’s position on the No-El issue really is when the matter is finally thrown into Congress’lap.
As for El Tabako FVR, he’s minced no word about where he stands, to GMA’s utter discomfort. Can – and will – JDV again come up with a “rainbow compromise?”
OPINION: Mangaldan’s ‘peryahan’ mess
THE PEN SPEAKS
Danny O. Sagun
WE ARE amused by that report quoting Mangaldan Councilor Jessie de Guzman as saying he has received P5,000 from one “Engineer Flores” purportedly to facilitate the passage of an ordinance that will allow the use of the public plaza for peryahan starting this month up to March for the town fiesta. Vice-Mayor Bernardo Abalos, who was acting mayor at that time, vehemently denied De Guzman’s claim saying testily that the matter won’t stand unless the money was marked.
We now recall the frank admission of San Fabian Liga ng mga Barangay head Roland Villegas of having been offered not just a few thousand pesos for the speedy passage of a measure authorizing one entity to set up a water district in that town. If we recall right, Villegas’ brother Riby, the vice-mayor, strongly belied the claim of his younger brother. At least there are still public officials in our midst who are ready to spill the beans, if need be, although they would surely be subjected to scorn and ridicule by their colleagues, peers and friends for squealing.
Their motives are suspect too as the public knows who they are, as in the case of De Guzman and Villegas. De Guzman, it is recalled, has figured in some controversial spiteful actions in the town, while Villegas was tagged as a jueteng lord before although nothing substantial on this ever came out. Personal backgrounds notwithstanding, we commend them for their courage in exposing alleged irregularities.
*****
Mangaldan Mayor Hermie Romero, fresh from Singapore, heaped praises on that city-state for its cleanliness and orderliness. Shall we expect the mayor then (and the other fourth district mayors who joined that observation tour sponsored by House Speaker Joe de Venecia) to copy and implement in his turf even just a little of what he had seen in Singapore?
And yet, we hear of this controversial ordinance passed by the sangguniang bayan authorizing him to enter into an agreement with a peryahan operator that will just negate the plans and projects for the improvement and beautification of the public plaza, the window and attraction of any town.
The plaza, during the time of the late Mayor Bening Gubatan, was already teeming with trees and ornamental plants. Peryahan activities were located elsewhere. When former mayor Tito Sarzaba came to power, we were aghast to see the felling of the trees. Those activities usually seen during town fiestas to include shows and gambling sprees were back with a vengeance at the plaza. Many cried foul.
Romero refused to comment on De Guzman’s claim about bribery saying he has yet to get the facts. He also clarified he has yet to act on the ordinance as he wanted to consult the sanggunian first.
The mayor appears to be caught in the middle considering the court complaint field by three lawyers from the town who reminded the town officials about an agreement forged earlier for the proper use of the public plaza. We think the mayor should spare the plaza from further damages as a result of accommodating that peryahan operator. He can do a Benjie Lim or a Ferdie Calimlim of Dagupan and Mapandan, respectively. Look at the plazas of these two mayors’ localities, they are the pride of their city and town.
Danny O. Sagun
WE ARE amused by that report quoting Mangaldan Councilor Jessie de Guzman as saying he has received P5,000 from one “Engineer Flores” purportedly to facilitate the passage of an ordinance that will allow the use of the public plaza for peryahan starting this month up to March for the town fiesta. Vice-Mayor Bernardo Abalos, who was acting mayor at that time, vehemently denied De Guzman’s claim saying testily that the matter won’t stand unless the money was marked.
We now recall the frank admission of San Fabian Liga ng mga Barangay head Roland Villegas of having been offered not just a few thousand pesos for the speedy passage of a measure authorizing one entity to set up a water district in that town. If we recall right, Villegas’ brother Riby, the vice-mayor, strongly belied the claim of his younger brother. At least there are still public officials in our midst who are ready to spill the beans, if need be, although they would surely be subjected to scorn and ridicule by their colleagues, peers and friends for squealing.
Their motives are suspect too as the public knows who they are, as in the case of De Guzman and Villegas. De Guzman, it is recalled, has figured in some controversial spiteful actions in the town, while Villegas was tagged as a jueteng lord before although nothing substantial on this ever came out. Personal backgrounds notwithstanding, we commend them for their courage in exposing alleged irregularities.
*****
Mangaldan Mayor Hermie Romero, fresh from Singapore, heaped praises on that city-state for its cleanliness and orderliness. Shall we expect the mayor then (and the other fourth district mayors who joined that observation tour sponsored by House Speaker Joe de Venecia) to copy and implement in his turf even just a little of what he had seen in Singapore?
And yet, we hear of this controversial ordinance passed by the sangguniang bayan authorizing him to enter into an agreement with a peryahan operator that will just negate the plans and projects for the improvement and beautification of the public plaza, the window and attraction of any town.
The plaza, during the time of the late Mayor Bening Gubatan, was already teeming with trees and ornamental plants. Peryahan activities were located elsewhere. When former mayor Tito Sarzaba came to power, we were aghast to see the felling of the trees. Those activities usually seen during town fiestas to include shows and gambling sprees were back with a vengeance at the plaza. Many cried foul.
Romero refused to comment on De Guzman’s claim about bribery saying he has yet to get the facts. He also clarified he has yet to act on the ordinance as he wanted to consult the sanggunian first.
The mayor appears to be caught in the middle considering the court complaint field by three lawyers from the town who reminded the town officials about an agreement forged earlier for the proper use of the public plaza. We think the mayor should spare the plaza from further damages as a result of accommodating that peryahan operator. He can do a Benjie Lim or a Ferdie Calimlim of Dagupan and Mapandan, respectively. Look at the plazas of these two mayors’ localities, they are the pride of their city and town.
OPINION: Water meters and X’mas parties
Smorgasboard
*****
Doctors and personnel of the 14 hospitals run by the provincial government had three Christmas parties. And it was a welcome respite for the health care personnel.
There is the yearly provincewide Christmas party hosted by Board Member Dionisio ‘Saffe’ Villar, chairman of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan Committee on Health.
I understand this became a tradition since BM Saffe assumed as chairman of the committee. This year’s party was held at the board member’s own barangay – Salvacion – in Sto. Tomas with his wife Barangay Captain Victa Villar as the gracious hostess. Gov. Victor E. Agbayani graced the party.
Leading the bunch of health care providers was Dr. Jackson Soriano, Pangasinan Provincial Hospital chief and Provincial Health Officer. Mind you, Dr. Soriano is a graceful dancer, gamely dancing with everybody to the beat of the walang kamatayan Pinoy Big Brother theme “Pinoy Ako.”
Personnel from the Provincial Health Office ruled the dance contest, runners-up were the group from the Lingayen and Tayug district hospitals, respectively. One lucky fellow was Romeo Rosario who won a refrigerator in the raffle draw.
The second Christmas party they attended at the Urduja House compound on December 16, birthday of Gov. Agbayani which was also the Christmas party of provincial employees. Prizes were also raffled off that day.
Of course, they had their respective Christmas parties at their hospitals.
After those parties and food, they would be back at their posts, hoping and praying there will be lesser number of blasted fingers and injured kabaleyans this New Year.
Liway C. Manantan-Yparraguirre
BEWARE! Water meter thieves are out there waiting to snap out your water meters from the water line. We’re one of the latest victims here in Dagupan City.
Our water meter at Y’s Place canteen located at PNR Road (fronting GSIS) was stolen last week. This was first discovered by our neighbor, Balong, after his aunt (whose room is situated beside the water meter) was roused from sleep by the water dripping from her low ceiling. The water line became an instant fountain.
My sister reported the incident to the Mayombo Police Precinct for record purposes. Then I contacted Ms. Remy Sapiera of the Dagupan City water District and asked her what we should do next. She suggested we go personally to the Dagupan City Water District Office and relate the incident to General Manager Ramon Reyna.
We learned from GM Reyna that water meter theft in Dagupan City had become rampant of late. This writer learned that theft of water meters started February this year and became rampant starting September. To date, the Dagupan City Water District had received more than 100 complaints. Reyna said even he was victimized twice at his residence in Tapuac.
Most of the incidents reported were in the central district, A. B. Fernandez Avenue, Mayombo, Perez, M.H. del Pilar Street, Arellano.
According to him, other water districts in the country are experiencing the same problem. He said this is no longer a simple case of theft by magbabakal (junkshops) but a handiwork of a syndicate Reyna said they’ve checked out junk shops in the city but found nothing. Also, consumers cannot just install stolen water meters or those sold to them cheaply by anybody (not even those bought at hardware stores).
Reyna said as per Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA) regulation, they are not allowed to buy water meters direct from identified manufacturers or suppliers only.
He said they are offering reward for information on the possible identities of suspects or to those who can report an ongoing theft. The hotline is (075) 515-8220. Security guards of DCWD detailed in the evening can take down reports. The consumers’ reports will help DCWD greatly in its conduct of investigation.
In relation with this problem, personnel of the Dagupan City Water District distributed letters to barangay officials and consumers asking everybody’s cooperation to minimize if not stop theft of water meters. He requested the barangays’ security force to intensify their roving operations especially at night.
He also advised everybody to be watchful as based on their records, number of complaints on busted water meters is usually high after the New Year’s Day celebration. “Pinagtitripan ng ibang tao yon ating mga metro, nilalagyan nila ng paputok just to test how powerful or how strong their firecrackers are,” he remarked.
BEWARE! Water meter thieves are out there waiting to snap out your water meters from the water line. We’re one of the latest victims here in Dagupan City.
Our water meter at Y’s Place canteen located at PNR Road (fronting GSIS) was stolen last week. This was first discovered by our neighbor, Balong, after his aunt (whose room is situated beside the water meter) was roused from sleep by the water dripping from her low ceiling. The water line became an instant fountain.
My sister reported the incident to the Mayombo Police Precinct for record purposes. Then I contacted Ms. Remy Sapiera of the Dagupan City water District and asked her what we should do next. She suggested we go personally to the Dagupan City Water District Office and relate the incident to General Manager Ramon Reyna.
We learned from GM Reyna that water meter theft in Dagupan City had become rampant of late. This writer learned that theft of water meters started February this year and became rampant starting September. To date, the Dagupan City Water District had received more than 100 complaints. Reyna said even he was victimized twice at his residence in Tapuac.
Most of the incidents reported were in the central district, A. B. Fernandez Avenue, Mayombo, Perez, M.H. del Pilar Street, Arellano.
According to him, other water districts in the country are experiencing the same problem. He said this is no longer a simple case of theft by magbabakal (junkshops) but a handiwork of a syndicate Reyna said they’ve checked out junk shops in the city but found nothing. Also, consumers cannot just install stolen water meters or those sold to them cheaply by anybody (not even those bought at hardware stores).
Reyna said as per Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA) regulation, they are not allowed to buy water meters direct from identified manufacturers or suppliers only.
He said they are offering reward for information on the possible identities of suspects or to those who can report an ongoing theft. The hotline is (075) 515-8220. Security guards of DCWD detailed in the evening can take down reports. The consumers’ reports will help DCWD greatly in its conduct of investigation.
In relation with this problem, personnel of the Dagupan City Water District distributed letters to barangay officials and consumers asking everybody’s cooperation to minimize if not stop theft of water meters. He requested the barangays’ security force to intensify their roving operations especially at night.
He also advised everybody to be watchful as based on their records, number of complaints on busted water meters is usually high after the New Year’s Day celebration. “Pinagtitripan ng ibang tao yon ating mga metro, nilalagyan nila ng paputok just to test how powerful or how strong their firecrackers are,” he remarked.
*****
Doctors and personnel of the 14 hospitals run by the provincial government had three Christmas parties. And it was a welcome respite for the health care personnel.
There is the yearly provincewide Christmas party hosted by Board Member Dionisio ‘Saffe’ Villar, chairman of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan Committee on Health.
I understand this became a tradition since BM Saffe assumed as chairman of the committee. This year’s party was held at the board member’s own barangay – Salvacion – in Sto. Tomas with his wife Barangay Captain Victa Villar as the gracious hostess. Gov. Victor E. Agbayani graced the party.
Leading the bunch of health care providers was Dr. Jackson Soriano, Pangasinan Provincial Hospital chief and Provincial Health Officer. Mind you, Dr. Soriano is a graceful dancer, gamely dancing with everybody to the beat of the walang kamatayan Pinoy Big Brother theme “Pinoy Ako.”
Personnel from the Provincial Health Office ruled the dance contest, runners-up were the group from the Lingayen and Tayug district hospitals, respectively. One lucky fellow was Romeo Rosario who won a refrigerator in the raffle draw.
The second Christmas party they attended at the Urduja House compound on December 16, birthday of Gov. Agbayani which was also the Christmas party of provincial employees. Prizes were also raffled off that day.
Of course, they had their respective Christmas parties at their hospitals.
After those parties and food, they would be back at their posts, hoping and praying there will be lesser number of blasted fingers and injured kabaleyans this New Year.
OPINION: The night before Christmas
WINDOWS
Gabriel L. Cardinoza
I did not know that the most parodied poem in the English language was Clement Clark Moore’s "The Night Before Christmas" until last night when I was browsing the Internet. I counted 15, but I suspect there may be more that Google did not find.
The poem had a gambler’s version, an OB-GYNE’s (obstetrician-gynecologist’s) version, a race car driver’s version, and other “wittier (and, in some cases, just plain strange) homages,” as one website had described them.
But what caught my fancy were the politically-correct version of the poem and the one supposedly written by a lawyer. In celebration of the holiday season, I’m sharing with you parts of the poems.
The Night Before Christmas
By Clement Clarke Moore
’T WAS the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;
The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads;
And mamma in her ’kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled our brains for a long winter’s nap,
When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.
The Night Before Christmas
(Politically Correct Version)
'Twas the night before Christmas and Santa's a wreck...How to live in a world that's politically correct?His workers no longer would answer to "Elves." "Vertically Challenged" they were calling themselves.And Labour conditions at the North PoleWere alleged by the union to stifle the soul.
Four reindeer had vanished, without much propriety,Released to the wilds by the Humane Society. And equal employment had made it quite clearThat Santa had better not use just reindeer. So Dancer and Donner, Comet and Cupid,Were replaced with four pigs, and you know that looked stupid!
The Night Before Christmas
(Legal Version)
Author Unknown
Whereas, on or about the night prior to Christmas, there did occur at a certain improved piece of real property (hereinafter “the House”) a general lack of stirring by all creatures therein, including, but not limited to a mouse.
A variety of foot apparel, e.g. stocking, socks, etc., had been affixed by and around the chimney in said House in the hope and/or belief that St. Nick a/k/a/ St. Nicholas a/k/a/ Santa Claus (hereinafter “Claus”) would arrive at sometime thereafter.
The minor residents, i.e. the children, of the aforementioned House, were located in their individual beds and were engaged in nocturnal hallucinations, i.e. dreams, wherein vision of confectionery treats, including, but not limited to, candies, nuts and/or sugar plums, did dance, cavort and otherwise appear in said dreams.
Whereupon the party of the first part (sometimes hereinafter referred to as “I”), being the joint-owner in fee simple of the House with the parts of the second part (hereinafter “Mamma”), and said Mamma had retired for a sustained period of sleep. (At such time, the parties were clad in various forms of headgear, e.g. kerchief and cap.)
Merry Christmas!
Gabriel L. Cardinoza
I did not know that the most parodied poem in the English language was Clement Clark Moore’s "The Night Before Christmas" until last night when I was browsing the Internet. I counted 15, but I suspect there may be more that Google did not find.
The poem had a gambler’s version, an OB-GYNE’s (obstetrician-gynecologist’s) version, a race car driver’s version, and other “wittier (and, in some cases, just plain strange) homages,” as one website had described them.
But what caught my fancy were the politically-correct version of the poem and the one supposedly written by a lawyer. In celebration of the holiday season, I’m sharing with you parts of the poems.
The Night Before Christmas
By Clement Clarke Moore
’T WAS the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;
The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads;
And mamma in her ’kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled our brains for a long winter’s nap,
When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.
The Night Before Christmas
(Politically Correct Version)
'Twas the night before Christmas and Santa's a wreck...How to live in a world that's politically correct?His workers no longer would answer to "Elves." "Vertically Challenged" they were calling themselves.And Labour conditions at the North PoleWere alleged by the union to stifle the soul.
Four reindeer had vanished, without much propriety,Released to the wilds by the Humane Society. And equal employment had made it quite clearThat Santa had better not use just reindeer. So Dancer and Donner, Comet and Cupid,Were replaced with four pigs, and you know that looked stupid!
The Night Before Christmas
(Legal Version)
Author Unknown
Whereas, on or about the night prior to Christmas, there did occur at a certain improved piece of real property (hereinafter “the House”) a general lack of stirring by all creatures therein, including, but not limited to a mouse.
A variety of foot apparel, e.g. stocking, socks, etc., had been affixed by and around the chimney in said House in the hope and/or belief that St. Nick a/k/a/ St. Nicholas a/k/a/ Santa Claus (hereinafter “Claus”) would arrive at sometime thereafter.
The minor residents, i.e. the children, of the aforementioned House, were located in their individual beds and were engaged in nocturnal hallucinations, i.e. dreams, wherein vision of confectionery treats, including, but not limited to, candies, nuts and/or sugar plums, did dance, cavort and otherwise appear in said dreams.
Whereupon the party of the first part (sometimes hereinafter referred to as “I”), being the joint-owner in fee simple of the House with the parts of the second part (hereinafter “Mamma”), and said Mamma had retired for a sustained period of sleep. (At such time, the parties were clad in various forms of headgear, e.g. kerchief and cap.)
Merry Christmas!
21 December 2005
PHOTO: Torchbearer
TORCHBEARER. A happy and playful group of City Hall officials and employees get the honor of getting their candles lighted by a torchbearing Mayor Benjamin S. Lim during the opening ceremonies for the Dagupan City Fiesta last Thursday, December 15. Lim and other city officials earlier led the ceremonial switch-on of the lights at the city’s giant Christmas Tree at the city plaza. (PStar Photo by Butch F. Uka)
Governor awaits Purisima’s action
By DANNY O. SAGUN
Associate Editor, The Pangasinan Star
LINGAYEN – The provincial police director has yet to submit his written reply to the memorandum of Gov. Victor E. Agbayani about the alleged proliferation of illegal activities in the province to include rampant operation of gambling machines, it was learned Thursday from Provincial Administrator Virgilio Solis.
Solis said that he has yet to hear from Sr. Supt. Alan Purisima on the progress, if any, of the police campaign against criminal activities two weeks after the issuance of the memorandum directing the police to institute immediate measures against criminality as well as illegal gambling activities.
His statement virtually confirms allegation by the media that Purisima, unlike his predecessors, has been difficult to reach. It was not immediately known if he has communicated to the governor or the provincial administrator by phone.
Apparently irked by Purisima’s silence and his no-show and inaccessibility to media, the administrator advised the PNP provincial director to be transparent and face the people and the media.
Radio reports said that video gambling machines like hataw and ameneng continue to proliferate in almost every corner of the province, indicating that Purisima and his men have not fully complied with the governor’s order.
Solis confirmed that hataw and ameneng operations continue as monitored by his office. “It’s a cat and mouse affair,” he noted, referring to the transfer of operation of the illegal video games from one place to another in case of raids.
On reports that names of some ranking police officials are being dropped by unscrupulous operators to gain leverage, Solis urged the media and the public to give him names and other details. “See me secretly, give particulars, so we can act fast,” he said in a radio interview.
A radio reporter reportedly overheard an operator from Dagupan City complaining that individuals sent to collect payola or protection money keep pestering him. The name of the provincial director even crops up in such remarks.
Solis however observed that dropping names of influential people is a common practice so that he needs specific reports about such allegations. Complaints from concerned parents and teachers have reached the governor prompting him to issue the directive to Purisima, it was learned.
Robbery-holdup incidents are also on the rise. The suspects have become so ruthless they do not think twice of shooting their victims as shown in the recent hold-up incidents in Binalonan and San Jacinto last Wednesday and similar robberies in the recent past.
Associate Editor, The Pangasinan Star
LINGAYEN – The provincial police director has yet to submit his written reply to the memorandum of Gov. Victor E. Agbayani about the alleged proliferation of illegal activities in the province to include rampant operation of gambling machines, it was learned Thursday from Provincial Administrator Virgilio Solis.
Solis said that he has yet to hear from Sr. Supt. Alan Purisima on the progress, if any, of the police campaign against criminal activities two weeks after the issuance of the memorandum directing the police to institute immediate measures against criminality as well as illegal gambling activities.
His statement virtually confirms allegation by the media that Purisima, unlike his predecessors, has been difficult to reach. It was not immediately known if he has communicated to the governor or the provincial administrator by phone.
Apparently irked by Purisima’s silence and his no-show and inaccessibility to media, the administrator advised the PNP provincial director to be transparent and face the people and the media.
Radio reports said that video gambling machines like hataw and ameneng continue to proliferate in almost every corner of the province, indicating that Purisima and his men have not fully complied with the governor’s order.
Solis confirmed that hataw and ameneng operations continue as monitored by his office. “It’s a cat and mouse affair,” he noted, referring to the transfer of operation of the illegal video games from one place to another in case of raids.
On reports that names of some ranking police officials are being dropped by unscrupulous operators to gain leverage, Solis urged the media and the public to give him names and other details. “See me secretly, give particulars, so we can act fast,” he said in a radio interview.
A radio reporter reportedly overheard an operator from Dagupan City complaining that individuals sent to collect payola or protection money keep pestering him. The name of the provincial director even crops up in such remarks.
Solis however observed that dropping names of influential people is a common practice so that he needs specific reports about such allegations. Complaints from concerned parents and teachers have reached the governor prompting him to issue the directive to Purisima, it was learned.
Robbery-holdup incidents are also on the rise. The suspects have become so ruthless they do not think twice of shooting their victims as shown in the recent hold-up incidents in Binalonan and San Jacinto last Wednesday and similar robberies in the recent past.
Driver abducted, killed in Binalonan hijack try
BINALONAN – A driver of a delivery van of Nestle was shot and killed by six persons who failed to hijack his vehicle along the national highway in barangay Bugayong here at 4:30 a.m. last Wednesday.
The driver was identified as Jimmy Nobleza, 41, whose bloodies body was left by the suspects along the road in barangay Pasileng, Asingan less than two hours later.
Chief Inspector Napoleon Viray, chief of police of Binalonan, said Nobleza was taken hostage by the armed men after they failed to hijack the delivery van being drivern by him which had suffered a flat tire. Nobleza and his three crewmen were first held at bay by the occupants of a passing van as they were changing the tires of their vehicle. The fan had one tire blown up just before the men in the van stopped and held them up.
Nobleza’s three companions managed to run away, leaving Nobleza in the hands of the suspects.
Possibly frustrated after failing to open the delivery van in order to cart away its load of Nestle products, the suspects took Nobleza with them in their vehicles.
Probers theorize they shot Nobleza somewhere along the way and subsequently left his body along the roadside in barangay Pasileng.
The van’s crew went to the police station to report the matter. While they were still at the police station, the police received a report that a body with gunshot wounds was found in barangay Pasileng at about 6 a.m. It turned out to be Nobleza. (PNA)
The driver was identified as Jimmy Nobleza, 41, whose bloodies body was left by the suspects along the road in barangay Pasileng, Asingan less than two hours later.
Chief Inspector Napoleon Viray, chief of police of Binalonan, said Nobleza was taken hostage by the armed men after they failed to hijack the delivery van being drivern by him which had suffered a flat tire. Nobleza and his three crewmen were first held at bay by the occupants of a passing van as they were changing the tires of their vehicle. The fan had one tire blown up just before the men in the van stopped and held them up.
Nobleza’s three companions managed to run away, leaving Nobleza in the hands of the suspects.
Possibly frustrated after failing to open the delivery van in order to cart away its load of Nestle products, the suspects took Nobleza with them in their vehicles.
Probers theorize they shot Nobleza somewhere along the way and subsequently left his body along the roadside in barangay Pasileng.
The van’s crew went to the police station to report the matter. While they were still at the police station, the police received a report that a body with gunshot wounds was found in barangay Pasileng at about 6 a.m. It turned out to be Nobleza. (PNA)
DPWH, Dagupan City in showdown over pay parking areas
THE Department of Public works and Highways is likely to oppose an ordinance approved by the Dagupan City council declaring portions of city and national roads here as pay parking areas without any prior consultation with the former.
DPWH Regional Director Fidel Ginez, in an interview Friday, said his office will not be commenting on the pay parking ordinance till after it is signed into law by Mayor Benjamin S. Lim
Offhand, Ginez maintained that national roads, although within Dagupan City, are under the jurisdiction of the DPWH.
“We might as well hand over all these roads to them so that we would no longer spend anything for their maintenance,” Ginez told newsmen with a hint of sarcasm. Public Works and Highways District Engineer Rodolfo Dion admitted that he was not invited when the Dagupan City council supposedly conducted a public hearing on the propose measure, otherwise he could have advised councilors that they must first enter into a memorandum of agreement with the DPWH headed by Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane.
Ginez said his office will act accordingly if someone from the public will complain after the ordinance is finally signed into law and implemented.
Last week, city Administrator Rafael Baraan said the mayor is likely to sign the ordinance into law, except on the aspect of the 20-80 sharing basis in favor of the parking contractor.
Under the scheme, 20 percent will go to the city government and the bulk of 80 percent will go to a private contractor who will enter into a contract with the city government to operate the pay parking areas, issue tickets and collect parking fees.
Baraan, however, stressed that there is a need for the city to sign a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the DPWH on the pay parking rule.
Baraan maintained that there is nothing wrong if Dagupan will charge parking fees because this is now being done in Manila, Baguio and other big cities.
He said he found nothing wrong with the pay parking ordinance as this is one way of regulating the use of roads and streets, some of which have been arrogated upon by owner of motor vehicles and business establishments for their own use.
DPWH Regional Director Fidel Ginez, in an interview Friday, said his office will not be commenting on the pay parking ordinance till after it is signed into law by Mayor Benjamin S. Lim
Offhand, Ginez maintained that national roads, although within Dagupan City, are under the jurisdiction of the DPWH.
“We might as well hand over all these roads to them so that we would no longer spend anything for their maintenance,” Ginez told newsmen with a hint of sarcasm. Public Works and Highways District Engineer Rodolfo Dion admitted that he was not invited when the Dagupan City council supposedly conducted a public hearing on the propose measure, otherwise he could have advised councilors that they must first enter into a memorandum of agreement with the DPWH headed by Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane.
Ginez said his office will act accordingly if someone from the public will complain after the ordinance is finally signed into law and implemented.
Last week, city Administrator Rafael Baraan said the mayor is likely to sign the ordinance into law, except on the aspect of the 20-80 sharing basis in favor of the parking contractor.
Under the scheme, 20 percent will go to the city government and the bulk of 80 percent will go to a private contractor who will enter into a contract with the city government to operate the pay parking areas, issue tickets and collect parking fees.
Baraan, however, stressed that there is a need for the city to sign a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the DPWH on the pay parking rule.
Baraan maintained that there is nothing wrong if Dagupan will charge parking fees because this is now being done in Manila, Baguio and other big cities.
He said he found nothing wrong with the pay parking ordinance as this is one way of regulating the use of roads and streets, some of which have been arrogated upon by owner of motor vehicles and business establishments for their own use.
Migratory birds should not be disturbed in forage areas
ALTHOUGH many migratory birds from the Northern hemisphere are already here in the Philippines, the country remains safe from the onslaught of the dreaded avian flu and will hopefully continue to be so.
This was disclosed by Dr. Jesus Fantone, epidemiologist of the Department of Health who said as long as the migratory birds are not disturbed and mixed with local fowls which intermingling could spawn what he called a bird-to-bird transmission of the virus, the Filipinos are safe from the bird flu.
Speaking Thursday during a day-long orientation workshop on the prevention of avian flu at the Region 1 Medical Center here, Fantone said affliction of local fowls with bird flu is dangerous because from there, the possibility that the virus may transfer to humans increases.
He said this month is the start of migration of birds from China to the Philippines to escape the punishing winter season there but there is nothing to fear as all precautionary measures are in place to meet the threat of bird flu.
Fantone said China was listed by the World Health Organization as among 15 countries in the world where bird flu was detected. The others are South Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Indonesia, Japan, Taiwan, Mongolia, Russia, Kazakhstan, Russia and Romania.
Dr. Jesus Canto, chief of R1MC, said the Philippines must be blessed as a country because despite its proximity to China, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Indonesia, “our country remains bird flu-free till now”.
“But as the say, an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure. The avian flu might not hit us now and tomorrow but it will come, and if it does, we already know what to do,” he said.
Fantone said the people have nothing to fear because a nationwide alert system is now on with the Department of Agriculture put in charge.
More dangerous than the migratory birds, he said, are some rural Chinese nationals peddling their wares in the streets of Laoag and Bulacan, as if they had just entered the country illegally.
The DA is now monitoring several bird sanctuaries in the Philippines, warning people living near these areas not to disturb or hunt down the migratory birds.
Fantone called on the people to report immediately to authorities mass deaths of fowls in their areas. If it is confirmed to have been caused by bird flu, necessary measures, including quarantine of the affected area, can be done.
Mayor Benjamin Lim of Dagupan City lauded the workshop because it afforded participants the chance to know what really is bird flu and the most effective measure that can be done to prevent its spread. (PNA)
This was disclosed by Dr. Jesus Fantone, epidemiologist of the Department of Health who said as long as the migratory birds are not disturbed and mixed with local fowls which intermingling could spawn what he called a bird-to-bird transmission of the virus, the Filipinos are safe from the bird flu.
Speaking Thursday during a day-long orientation workshop on the prevention of avian flu at the Region 1 Medical Center here, Fantone said affliction of local fowls with bird flu is dangerous because from there, the possibility that the virus may transfer to humans increases.
He said this month is the start of migration of birds from China to the Philippines to escape the punishing winter season there but there is nothing to fear as all precautionary measures are in place to meet the threat of bird flu.
Fantone said China was listed by the World Health Organization as among 15 countries in the world where bird flu was detected. The others are South Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Indonesia, Japan, Taiwan, Mongolia, Russia, Kazakhstan, Russia and Romania.
Dr. Jesus Canto, chief of R1MC, said the Philippines must be blessed as a country because despite its proximity to China, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Indonesia, “our country remains bird flu-free till now”.
“But as the say, an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure. The avian flu might not hit us now and tomorrow but it will come, and if it does, we already know what to do,” he said.
Fantone said the people have nothing to fear because a nationwide alert system is now on with the Department of Agriculture put in charge.
More dangerous than the migratory birds, he said, are some rural Chinese nationals peddling their wares in the streets of Laoag and Bulacan, as if they had just entered the country illegally.
The DA is now monitoring several bird sanctuaries in the Philippines, warning people living near these areas not to disturb or hunt down the migratory birds.
Fantone called on the people to report immediately to authorities mass deaths of fowls in their areas. If it is confirmed to have been caused by bird flu, necessary measures, including quarantine of the affected area, can be done.
Mayor Benjamin Lim of Dagupan City lauded the workshop because it afforded participants the chance to know what really is bird flu and the most effective measure that can be done to prevent its spread. (PNA)
City hall workers’ cash gift given, but short of P2T
EVEN while facing a shortfall in revenue collection of P10 million, the city government nevertheless was able to give a P3,000 extra cash gift to its officials and employees.
This was confirmed by Councilor Michael Fernandez, chair of the council’s appropriation committee, who said the additional cash gift was provided although short by P2,000 of the P5,000 given to national government workers.
The amount did not come from savings but from part of the P2,246,000 that was part of the debt servicing account under the non-office appropriation of the 2005 budget.
Councilor Michael Fernandez, chair of the city council’s committee on finance, explained the Ordinance No. 1854 “reverted this amount to the unappropriated balance in the general fund” so that it can be used to pay for the extra bonus of employees and officials. This is in accordance with local government memorandum No. 2005-48 dated December 7, 2005.
The ordinance was approved in last Wednesday’s special session, the last session of the city council for the year.
Fernandez said part of the amount appropriated was also envisioned to serve as additional outlay for the maintenance and other operating expenses under the donations account of the Office of the City Mayor. Emergency workers and casuals in the city government were however not given their extra cash gift unlike those in the national government.
The emergency workers are in a pitiful situation as, instead of getting extra cash gift, they face the consequence of being laid off due to the tightening financial situation of the city government.
This was confirmed by Councilor Michael Fernandez, chair of the council’s appropriation committee, who said the additional cash gift was provided although short by P2,000 of the P5,000 given to national government workers.
The amount did not come from savings but from part of the P2,246,000 that was part of the debt servicing account under the non-office appropriation of the 2005 budget.
Councilor Michael Fernandez, chair of the city council’s committee on finance, explained the Ordinance No. 1854 “reverted this amount to the unappropriated balance in the general fund” so that it can be used to pay for the extra bonus of employees and officials. This is in accordance with local government memorandum No. 2005-48 dated December 7, 2005.
The ordinance was approved in last Wednesday’s special session, the last session of the city council for the year.
Fernandez said part of the amount appropriated was also envisioned to serve as additional outlay for the maintenance and other operating expenses under the donations account of the Office of the City Mayor. Emergency workers and casuals in the city government were however not given their extra cash gift unlike those in the national government.
The emergency workers are in a pitiful situation as, instead of getting extra cash gift, they face the consequence of being laid off due to the tightening financial situation of the city government.
Alcala ushers in new era with Tax Code
ALCALA – Desiring to improve further its delivery of basic services and development planning at the turn of the year, this town finalized its revised Revenue Code of 2005 and has set in place all systems for achieving sound financial financial status in 2006 and beyond.
The Sangguniang Panlalawigan which reviewed the new municipal tax code passed by the Alcala sangguniang bayan led by Vice Mayor Clemente Arboleda, Jr. to attain the visions of the municipal administration headed by Mayor Manuel T. Collado, stamped its approval on the Code with slight corrections last week.
The provincial board’s move paved the way for a full implementation of the Revenue Code starting next year in what Sangguniang Bayan secretary Teresita A. Llarenas called “a vital piece of legislation that spells continuing progress of the town guided by the vision of its leaders.”
In an interview with Mayor Collado by the Pangasinan Star, he said it was about time a change in the municipal taxes and fees was implemented as the last tax code was drawn up over a dozen years ago when the peso was still much stronger than today.
Collado said services to constituents in these times of inflationary rates cannot but suffer unless local leaders summon the will and creativity to devise a better revenue system than what they presently have and one such way, he said, is an updated tax code.
He stressed that due public hearing was held on the proposed revenue code “and more or less, the people knew and understood how important such a measure is to the town’s overall development.”
He said the revenue to be realized from the Code will support major development programs particularly on health and sanitation. He took pride in the town’s having not just one but two municipal physicians, beating other bigger towns, despite Alcala being only a fourth-class town by local government code standards.
Collado added that Alcala now has a medical technician and laboratories to emphasize its seriousness in caring for public health -- a subject his fellow Alcaleneans once experienced the glare of undue and unfair national and international publicity for at the height of the SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) scare.
In 2004, Alcala was found in a Service Mission Attainment Report of the Local Government Performance Management System (LGPMS) to have been “very effective” in Administration specifically in the areas of “development planning, resource allocation and utilization, financial accountability, customer service, human resource management and development and slightly on revenue generation.”
A parallel move to improve the lives of Alcaleneans, most of whom depend on agriculture, has been set in motion likewise by Vice Mayor Arboleda, piloting a novel livelihood start-up capital project in one barangay as part of the town’s economic empowerment of the people.
The project works on a no-collateral loan for groups of residents who want to engage in productive undertakings but who have no money to do it.
The Sangguniang Panlalawigan which reviewed the new municipal tax code passed by the Alcala sangguniang bayan led by Vice Mayor Clemente Arboleda, Jr. to attain the visions of the municipal administration headed by Mayor Manuel T. Collado, stamped its approval on the Code with slight corrections last week.
The provincial board’s move paved the way for a full implementation of the Revenue Code starting next year in what Sangguniang Bayan secretary Teresita A. Llarenas called “a vital piece of legislation that spells continuing progress of the town guided by the vision of its leaders.”
In an interview with Mayor Collado by the Pangasinan Star, he said it was about time a change in the municipal taxes and fees was implemented as the last tax code was drawn up over a dozen years ago when the peso was still much stronger than today.
Collado said services to constituents in these times of inflationary rates cannot but suffer unless local leaders summon the will and creativity to devise a better revenue system than what they presently have and one such way, he said, is an updated tax code.
He stressed that due public hearing was held on the proposed revenue code “and more or less, the people knew and understood how important such a measure is to the town’s overall development.”
He said the revenue to be realized from the Code will support major development programs particularly on health and sanitation. He took pride in the town’s having not just one but two municipal physicians, beating other bigger towns, despite Alcala being only a fourth-class town by local government code standards.
Collado added that Alcala now has a medical technician and laboratories to emphasize its seriousness in caring for public health -- a subject his fellow Alcaleneans once experienced the glare of undue and unfair national and international publicity for at the height of the SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) scare.
In 2004, Alcala was found in a Service Mission Attainment Report of the Local Government Performance Management System (LGPMS) to have been “very effective” in Administration specifically in the areas of “development planning, resource allocation and utilization, financial accountability, customer service, human resource management and development and slightly on revenue generation.”
A parallel move to improve the lives of Alcaleneans, most of whom depend on agriculture, has been set in motion likewise by Vice Mayor Arboleda, piloting a novel livelihood start-up capital project in one barangay as part of the town’s economic empowerment of the people.
The project works on a no-collateral loan for groups of residents who want to engage in productive undertakings but who have no money to do it.
People’s initiative eyed as alternative move
A PARALLEL move will be conducted nationwide in conjunction with the holding of aConstituent Assembly by both the Senate and the House of Representatives for the purpose of amending the 1987 Constitution and pave the way for a historic shift from presidential to parliamentary form of government with a unicameral legislature.
House Speaker Jose de Venecia, Jr. said this is the launching of the “ people’s initiative” by late December or the first or second week of January which is expected to discuss the proposed amendments to the Constitution as proposed by the Constitutional Commission, a work also expected of the yet to be convened constituent assembly.
De Venecia told newsmen Monday before enplaning back to Manila after a three-day speaking engagement in Pangasinan that the people’s initiative is a parallel act by he people themselves, which is the equivalent of the constituent assembly on the part of the Senate and the House.
He said the people’s initiative will be launched by governors, vice governors, board members, mayors, vice mayors and their councilors all over the Philippines with the support of all major political parties while the Constituent Assembly is formed by the Senate and the House .
The draft of the Constitution submitted by the ConCom last Thursday to President Arroyo will be turned over by her to Senate President Franklin Drilon and him ( de Venecia) as Speaker of the House so that the constituent assembly of the Senate and the House can act on the recommendation, he explained.
De Venecia recalled that almost 10 days ago the House already approved a concurrent resolution calling for the convening of the constituent assembly to approve the amendments to 1987 Constitution.
He said that if the Senate does not approve the resolution, the Filipino people themselves will initiate the move to amend the constitution through the people’s initiative.
It is the people’s initiative, he said, where the amendments to the Constitution as proposed by the ConCom would be presented.
At least 12 per cent of all the voters in the Philippines, or at least three per cent in any congressional district, is needed to endorse the amendments in writing, according to him.
The Speaker stressed that even if the Senate will not approve the resolution calling for the holding of Constituent Assembly, “we will handle ourselves repeatedly in order to get the Senators to act on our proposal”.
He added that another “remedy” is to ask the President to call a joint special session of the House and the Senate so that their members can debate on the proposed amendments to the Constitution, the outputs of which will be presented to the people in a nationwide plebiscite in April or May.
He said that two months after the approval of the proposed amendments which is either in January or February, a nationwide plebiscite would be held. Fifty per cent of all the voters is needed to declare the adoption of the first parliamentary government in Philippine history.
House Speaker Jose de Venecia, Jr. said this is the launching of the “ people’s initiative” by late December or the first or second week of January which is expected to discuss the proposed amendments to the Constitution as proposed by the Constitutional Commission, a work also expected of the yet to be convened constituent assembly.
De Venecia told newsmen Monday before enplaning back to Manila after a three-day speaking engagement in Pangasinan that the people’s initiative is a parallel act by he people themselves, which is the equivalent of the constituent assembly on the part of the Senate and the House.
He said the people’s initiative will be launched by governors, vice governors, board members, mayors, vice mayors and their councilors all over the Philippines with the support of all major political parties while the Constituent Assembly is formed by the Senate and the House .
The draft of the Constitution submitted by the ConCom last Thursday to President Arroyo will be turned over by her to Senate President Franklin Drilon and him ( de Venecia) as Speaker of the House so that the constituent assembly of the Senate and the House can act on the recommendation, he explained.
De Venecia recalled that almost 10 days ago the House already approved a concurrent resolution calling for the convening of the constituent assembly to approve the amendments to 1987 Constitution.
He said that if the Senate does not approve the resolution, the Filipino people themselves will initiate the move to amend the constitution through the people’s initiative.
It is the people’s initiative, he said, where the amendments to the Constitution as proposed by the ConCom would be presented.
At least 12 per cent of all the voters in the Philippines, or at least three per cent in any congressional district, is needed to endorse the amendments in writing, according to him.
The Speaker stressed that even if the Senate will not approve the resolution calling for the holding of Constituent Assembly, “we will handle ourselves repeatedly in order to get the Senators to act on our proposal”.
He added that another “remedy” is to ask the President to call a joint special session of the House and the Senate so that their members can debate on the proposed amendments to the Constitution, the outputs of which will be presented to the people in a nationwide plebiscite in April or May.
He said that two months after the approval of the proposed amendments which is either in January or February, a nationwide plebiscite would be held. Fifty per cent of all the voters is needed to declare the adoption of the first parliamentary government in Philippine history.
OVERSEAS STUDIES: Giving poor, bright studes a big break
ROSALES—Poor and brilliant students can still make it abroad to learn new technologies through a bill being pushed in the House of Representatives.
Pangasinan Rep. Conrado Estrella III said under the “Educational Voucher” bill pending in Congress, students from poor families studying in public schools may have a chance to study abroad.
Estrella said under the bill, top three students in public schools would be sent to study abroad to learn new technologies available in those countries so that they can apply the same to improve existing conditions when they return home.
Speaking during the 2005 Biennial Convention of the Association of Public Schools, Colleges and Universities, Estrella expressed hope this would make Filipino students better able to compete with their counterparts in more advanced countries.
Since it is almost impossible for sons and daughters of farmers to get good education abroad, Estrella said the government must adopt this scheme in order to create a new generation of workforce that can stand side by side on even terms with the best workers in the world.
Estrella called on the government to give priority to education, agriculture and job generation which are the keys to the reduction of the national poverty level.
“It is imperative that we help the farmers and their families by developing agriculture. It is a must that they acquire modern and effective agricultural technologies so that they can improve their harvests and income,” he said.
Estrella revealed that there are many institutions and entities throughout the country that are willing to extend free education to students in foreign countries in partnership with the government.
Pangasinan Rep. Conrado Estrella III said under the “Educational Voucher” bill pending in Congress, students from poor families studying in public schools may have a chance to study abroad.
Estrella said under the bill, top three students in public schools would be sent to study abroad to learn new technologies available in those countries so that they can apply the same to improve existing conditions when they return home.
Speaking during the 2005 Biennial Convention of the Association of Public Schools, Colleges and Universities, Estrella expressed hope this would make Filipino students better able to compete with their counterparts in more advanced countries.
Since it is almost impossible for sons and daughters of farmers to get good education abroad, Estrella said the government must adopt this scheme in order to create a new generation of workforce that can stand side by side on even terms with the best workers in the world.
Estrella called on the government to give priority to education, agriculture and job generation which are the keys to the reduction of the national poverty level.
“It is imperative that we help the farmers and their families by developing agriculture. It is a must that they acquire modern and effective agricultural technologies so that they can improve their harvests and income,” he said.
Estrella revealed that there are many institutions and entities throughout the country that are willing to extend free education to students in foreign countries in partnership with the government.
Alaminos, pilot area for anti-TB project
ALAMINOS CITY – The city of Alaminos was chosen pilot area for the country’s first public and private cooperation in the eradication of tuberculosis, still the number one killer disease in the Philippines today.
The project was launched Thursday by Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, represented by Ernesto Beltran, regional vice president of the Philippine Health Corporation (PhilHealth) in Northern Luzon.
The project will be jointly undertaken by and among the Rural Health Unit, the city government of Alaminos headed by Mayor Hernani Braganza, PhilHealth and Philippine Coalition Against Tuberculosis (PCAT), a private group.
Beltran said the city of Alaminos, through its RHU, will determine the TB patients who will undergo two-month continuous therapy under the Directly Observed Treatment Short Course (DOTS) for TB.
Braganza hailed the project that seeks to make Alaminos City TB-free in a short period, making itself as the model throughout the country.
Under the program, the DOH will provide the local RHU with all the medicines needed by the patients under the DOTS program for the TB patients. The RHU will strictly monitor the daily therapy of TB patients to ensure complete success.
On the other hand, PhilHealth will provide the salaries of extra personnel employed by the RHU to monitor patients and defray cost of their laboratory requirements, at P4,000 per patient.
Beltran said TB patients will not pay anything for the medicines given them. If they were to buy these from drug stores, each patient would pay P60,000 for the whole therapy course.
Regular monitoring of patients is needed in order to ensure that they really take their medicines daily for them to avoid relapse in which case, they may be dropped from the program.
The project was launched Thursday by Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, represented by Ernesto Beltran, regional vice president of the Philippine Health Corporation (PhilHealth) in Northern Luzon.
The project will be jointly undertaken by and among the Rural Health Unit, the city government of Alaminos headed by Mayor Hernani Braganza, PhilHealth and Philippine Coalition Against Tuberculosis (PCAT), a private group.
Beltran said the city of Alaminos, through its RHU, will determine the TB patients who will undergo two-month continuous therapy under the Directly Observed Treatment Short Course (DOTS) for TB.
Braganza hailed the project that seeks to make Alaminos City TB-free in a short period, making itself as the model throughout the country.
Under the program, the DOH will provide the local RHU with all the medicines needed by the patients under the DOTS program for the TB patients. The RHU will strictly monitor the daily therapy of TB patients to ensure complete success.
On the other hand, PhilHealth will provide the salaries of extra personnel employed by the RHU to monitor patients and defray cost of their laboratory requirements, at P4,000 per patient.
Beltran said TB patients will not pay anything for the medicines given them. If they were to buy these from drug stores, each patient would pay P60,000 for the whole therapy course.
Regular monitoring of patients is needed in order to ensure that they really take their medicines daily for them to avoid relapse in which case, they may be dropped from the program.
Ilocos, Cordillera set to be declared FMD – Free
LINGAYEN – Pangasinan and the rest of the Ilocos region, including the Cordilleras are all set to be officially declared Foot and Mouth Disease-Free on Dec.16.
This was disclosed by Dr. Benedicto Perez, provincial veterinary officer of Pangasinan, who said the formal declaration that these areas are now FMD-free will be held in Manila by the National FMD Task Force.
Perez said the province of Pangasinan played a significant role in making these places FMD-free after it was designated by the National FMD Task Force as gateway for the control of the dreaded disease for cloven-footed animals.
Traders bringing pigs, cattle and other animals into the Ilocos region and Cordilleras from the south – especially Bulacan which is still an FMD endemic area – pass thru Pangasinan enroute to La Union, Ilocos Sur, Ilocos Norte, including Baguio, Benguet, Abra and Mt.Province.
Perez said six checkpoints were set up in all entry points in Pangasinan to monitor the movements of animals. These are still existing in Carmen and Bakit-bakit, Rosales, Umingan, Bayambang, Mangatarem and San Fabian towns.
The Bureau of Animal Industry under the Department of Agriculture sent 12 personnel to man all these checkpoints. Their salaries are shouldered by the National FMD Task Force that gets assistance from the Australian government through the Australian Aid, Perez said.
He added Pangasinan has had no FMD case or outbreak since September last year.
Perez said he saw to it that blood samples taken from animals at random were submitted regularly to the National FMD Task Force for laboratory analysis in compliance with the needed protocol to be undertaken before a place can be declared FMD-free.
Stressing that the declaration of Region 1 as FMD-free area is very significant, Perez said this is a big boon to animal raisers and meat processors who can now even import their products to other countries.
He pointed out that in the entire country, only Mindanao and the Visayas have so far been declared FMD-free with the exception of Luzon. Ilocos Region and Cordilleras are set to follow Region II which was earlier declared as FMD-free.
This was disclosed by Dr. Benedicto Perez, provincial veterinary officer of Pangasinan, who said the formal declaration that these areas are now FMD-free will be held in Manila by the National FMD Task Force.
Perez said the province of Pangasinan played a significant role in making these places FMD-free after it was designated by the National FMD Task Force as gateway for the control of the dreaded disease for cloven-footed animals.
Traders bringing pigs, cattle and other animals into the Ilocos region and Cordilleras from the south – especially Bulacan which is still an FMD endemic area – pass thru Pangasinan enroute to La Union, Ilocos Sur, Ilocos Norte, including Baguio, Benguet, Abra and Mt.Province.
Perez said six checkpoints were set up in all entry points in Pangasinan to monitor the movements of animals. These are still existing in Carmen and Bakit-bakit, Rosales, Umingan, Bayambang, Mangatarem and San Fabian towns.
The Bureau of Animal Industry under the Department of Agriculture sent 12 personnel to man all these checkpoints. Their salaries are shouldered by the National FMD Task Force that gets assistance from the Australian government through the Australian Aid, Perez said.
He added Pangasinan has had no FMD case or outbreak since September last year.
Perez said he saw to it that blood samples taken from animals at random were submitted regularly to the National FMD Task Force for laboratory analysis in compliance with the needed protocol to be undertaken before a place can be declared FMD-free.
Stressing that the declaration of Region 1 as FMD-free area is very significant, Perez said this is a big boon to animal raisers and meat processors who can now even import their products to other countries.
He pointed out that in the entire country, only Mindanao and the Visayas have so far been declared FMD-free with the exception of Luzon. Ilocos Region and Cordilleras are set to follow Region II which was earlier declared as FMD-free.
13 School Divisions convene in Dagupan for Regional PressCon
By Venus May H. Sarmiento
(PIA-Pangasinan Infocenter)
TWO thousand seventy-eight elementary and high school students representing 13 school divisions in Region I convened in Dagupan City Monday to Wednesday for the 2005 Regional Schools Press Conference at the City Astrodome
Dagupan City National High School played host division for this year’s RSPC heralding the theme ”Responsible and Quality Campus Journalism Gearing up to the Challenges of Schools First Initiative”
Coming from the four provinces of Region I, the 13 participating school divisions are the cities of Alaminos, Dagupan, San Carlos, Urdaneta, Pangasinan I and Pangasinan II for the province of Pangasinan; Candon City, Vigan City and Ilocos Sur; Laoag City and Ilocos Norte; and San Fernando and La Union.
Accompanied by their school division chiefs, superintendents and school organ advisers, the student contestants who have earlier emerged winners in their division level, eagerly joined the various writing contests.
The three-day regional press conference served as an avenue for budding journalists to hone their talents in English and Filipino for the various writing categories—editorial, news, feature, sports and even photojournalism
In last Monday’s opening ceremonies at the Dagupan City Astrodome, DCNHS Principal Teodora Nabor said the school paper is an excellent avenue for the virtues of truth and excellence that form the bedrock of society. She added that the aspiration for winning and the will to excel are “things that endure in man’s existence.”
City Mayor Benjamin S. Lim welcomed the participants whom he called “clear thinkers” following the saying that “writing is clear thinking made visible.” He also thanked the Department of Education for the “traditional and time-honored contest”
Present during the affair were assistant schools division superintendent of the host division Dr. Aurora Domingo, secondary education division chief Dr. Ernesto Florendo and elementary education division chief Dr. Elva Lois Orlanda.
Winners in the regional level will go all the way to Kalibo, Aklan in February for the national contest.
The regional schools press conference is held annually in accordance with regional memorandum. 54 which forms part of Republic Act 7079 also known as the Campus Journalism Act of 1991 (VMHS-PIA-Pangasinan/ Ilocos News Service)
JDV calls for ceasefire to RP’s dirty politics
HOUSE Speaker Jose de Venecia, Jr. called for a ceasefire in “poisonous, dirty, excessive, negative and confrontational politics” in the spirit of Christmas and the coming New Year.
Speaking to newsmen Monday before flying back to Manila after a three-day speaking engagement with his constituents in Pangasinan, de Venecia expressed hope that this season of joy “will mark the beginning of reconciliation and unity among our people”.
De Venecia was guest of honor and speaker Sunday during the “Galikayo” Festival in Manaoag town, a religious activity honoring and professing devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary of Manaoag.
Manaoag is today’s religious capital of Pangasinan if not in the entire northern Luzon.
De Venecia said ceasefire is not only among the rebels and government forces but also among the various political forces across the land.
“At the same time, let’s hope that our family—husbands, wives, sons and daughter, nephews and nieces can be together as part of the great Filipino tradition to observe Christmas,“ he said.
De Venecia called on the people to observe the religious dimensions of Christmas which are very important, like gift-giving, Misa de Gallo, attending mass or service, prayers and solidarity among families.
“These are the high points of Christian life that we must preserve in the Philippines,” he said. (PNA)
Speaking to newsmen Monday before flying back to Manila after a three-day speaking engagement with his constituents in Pangasinan, de Venecia expressed hope that this season of joy “will mark the beginning of reconciliation and unity among our people”.
De Venecia was guest of honor and speaker Sunday during the “Galikayo” Festival in Manaoag town, a religious activity honoring and professing devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary of Manaoag.
Manaoag is today’s religious capital of Pangasinan if not in the entire northern Luzon.
De Venecia said ceasefire is not only among the rebels and government forces but also among the various political forces across the land.
“At the same time, let’s hope that our family—husbands, wives, sons and daughter, nephews and nieces can be together as part of the great Filipino tradition to observe Christmas,“ he said.
De Venecia called on the people to observe the religious dimensions of Christmas which are very important, like gift-giving, Misa de Gallo, attending mass or service, prayers and solidarity among families.
“These are the high points of Christian life that we must preserve in the Philippines,” he said. (PNA)
Fake Mongol products seized from city store
POLICEMEN accompanied by officials of the Department of Trade and Industry seized two big bundles of fake Mongol pencils and products worth thousands of pesos during a raid on a downtown store Dagupan City Thursday.
Arrested in the operation was Jayson Sy, 24, tagged as the owner of SK Enterprise on A.B. Fernandez Avenue in Dagupan City which was fond selling fake Mongol pencils, crayons and Lotus ball pens that resemble the original products.
Sy, claimed he did not know that the products were imitations as these were brought to them by a dealer from Manila whom he did not identify.
The raid was part of a nationwide crackdown launched by Amspec Corporation, lone manufacturer and distributor of Mongol products, against imitation products being sold in the market at much cheaper prices than the genuine ones.
Wency Cao, national sales manager of Amspec, said they sought the assistance of the police and the DTI after they received reports that Sy’s store was selling information Mongol products, a violation of the Intellectual Property Rights. Guillermo Avelino represented the DTI in the raid.
Cao was with their company lawyer, Cesar Lopez Jr. and two of their quality control officer in determining that the fake products seized during the raid were not the genuine Mongol products though their label and appearance were almost the same.
He said the genuine Mongol pencil is “sweet-smeeling” as it is made of Cedar wood imported by their company from California U.S.A. while the imitation is odorless as it is made from Palo-China wood.
Hinting that the fake Mongol products came from China though the Manila ports by alleged misdeclaration, Cao believed a company in Manila is importing and distributing the fake products nationwide at the expense of the genuine Mongol products solely manufactured and distributed by his company.
“Of course, it is affecting sales of our products. Our concern is to provide quality products tot eh people but this is being destroyed by the flooding of fake products in the market, Cao said.
Buyers of Mongol pencils with distinctive taste can easily determine the fake from the genuine by examining their wood. The fake product is white while that of the genuine is reddish.
Lopez said the ferrule (ring that holds the eraser, that is made of tin) of the genuine and fake Mongol pencil are different. The marking of the fake pencil is easy to erase, in contrast with that of the genuine which is difficult to erase.
Also, the eraser of the genuine pencil is colored red orange while the eraser of the fake product is pale red. Genuine Mongol pencil sells at P4.50 each while the fake pencil costs only P1.25.
Arrested in the operation was Jayson Sy, 24, tagged as the owner of SK Enterprise on A.B. Fernandez Avenue in Dagupan City which was fond selling fake Mongol pencils, crayons and Lotus ball pens that resemble the original products.
Sy, claimed he did not know that the products were imitations as these were brought to them by a dealer from Manila whom he did not identify.
The raid was part of a nationwide crackdown launched by Amspec Corporation, lone manufacturer and distributor of Mongol products, against imitation products being sold in the market at much cheaper prices than the genuine ones.
Wency Cao, national sales manager of Amspec, said they sought the assistance of the police and the DTI after they received reports that Sy’s store was selling information Mongol products, a violation of the Intellectual Property Rights. Guillermo Avelino represented the DTI in the raid.
Cao was with their company lawyer, Cesar Lopez Jr. and two of their quality control officer in determining that the fake products seized during the raid were not the genuine Mongol products though their label and appearance were almost the same.
He said the genuine Mongol pencil is “sweet-smeeling” as it is made of Cedar wood imported by their company from California U.S.A. while the imitation is odorless as it is made from Palo-China wood.
Hinting that the fake Mongol products came from China though the Manila ports by alleged misdeclaration, Cao believed a company in Manila is importing and distributing the fake products nationwide at the expense of the genuine Mongol products solely manufactured and distributed by his company.
“Of course, it is affecting sales of our products. Our concern is to provide quality products tot eh people but this is being destroyed by the flooding of fake products in the market, Cao said.
Buyers of Mongol pencils with distinctive taste can easily determine the fake from the genuine by examining their wood. The fake product is white while that of the genuine is reddish.
Lopez said the ferrule (ring that holds the eraser, that is made of tin) of the genuine and fake Mongol pencil are different. The marking of the fake pencil is easy to erase, in contrast with that of the genuine which is difficult to erase.
Also, the eraser of the genuine pencil is colored red orange while the eraser of the fake product is pale red. Genuine Mongol pencil sells at P4.50 each while the fake pencil costs only P1.25.
Lim distancing from JDV – or the other way around?
DID MAYOR Benjamin S. Lim intentionally skip the trip to Singapore widely perceived as a Christmas treat for allies of House Speaker Jose de Venecia among the mayors of the fourth district?
Except for Lim, all the mayors of the district – Mojamito Libunao of San Fabian, Herminio Romero of Mangaldan, Rolando Columbres of San Jacinto, and Napoleon Sales of Manaoag left this week for the prosperous city-state with a sidetrip reportedly to Malaysia.
Lim’s action may be viewed as an indication of a growing chasm between the two political leaders although publicly De Venecia has tried to shrug this off as mere speculation and intrigue.
Lim stumped his Lakas partymates, especially the House Speaker, when he joined the call for President Macapagal-Arroyo to step down from office in the wake of alleged rigging in her favor of the 2004 presidential election results.
Lim, being a Lakas party member, obviously only toed the line during the last elections but many sectors believe he was for the late Fernando Poe, Jr. in the last presidential elections.
At the height of the controversy caused by the “Hello Garci” scandal, the mayor welcomed with open arms Poe’s widow, Susan Roces, when she came to Dagupan City to press her call for the President to resign. That incident widened the gap all the more between him and the administration.
Political observers said it is very possible De Venecia and the mayor could find themselves rivals in the next congressional election if their political differences worsen further.
Except for Lim, all the mayors of the district – Mojamito Libunao of San Fabian, Herminio Romero of Mangaldan, Rolando Columbres of San Jacinto, and Napoleon Sales of Manaoag left this week for the prosperous city-state with a sidetrip reportedly to Malaysia.
Lim’s action may be viewed as an indication of a growing chasm between the two political leaders although publicly De Venecia has tried to shrug this off as mere speculation and intrigue.
Lim stumped his Lakas partymates, especially the House Speaker, when he joined the call for President Macapagal-Arroyo to step down from office in the wake of alleged rigging in her favor of the 2004 presidential election results.
Lim, being a Lakas party member, obviously only toed the line during the last elections but many sectors believe he was for the late Fernando Poe, Jr. in the last presidential elections.
At the height of the controversy caused by the “Hello Garci” scandal, the mayor welcomed with open arms Poe’s widow, Susan Roces, when she came to Dagupan City to press her call for the President to resign. That incident widened the gap all the more between him and the administration.
Political observers said it is very possible De Venecia and the mayor could find themselves rivals in the next congressional election if their political differences worsen further.
Patrima elects Errasquin, Sy new prexy, veep
VETERAN broadcaster Bernie Errasquin handily won the presidency of the Pangasinan Tri-Media Association (Patrima) Inc. in the mediamen group’s simple and orderly elections held last Wednesday at the Dagupan Business Center in the City Astrodome.Errasquin , station manager of DWRS-Radyo ng Bayan-Tayug, is only the third president of Patrima. He will take over from Roland Hidalgo of DWPR who becomes ex-officio director of the club when the new president is formally inducted. Patrima’s first president was Minerva Caburnay of DZRH-Dagupan.
Supervised by the club’s Convenors led by Behn Fer. Hortaleza, Jr., the board election was preceded by a general assembly and meeting as set in the Association’s by-laws where the president and treasurer rendered their reports to the body.
The new board directors and officers came from the Sectoral Representatives earlier elected by club members in the club’s nine media sectors: Publishers/Editors, Station Managers/Program Directors, Announcers /Commentators, Columnists, Reporters, Government Information Officers, Cable TV Managers/Program Directors, Photographers and Reporters.
Completing the new and incoming board officers are Lelia C. Sy (Northern Times), vice president; Venus May H. Sarmiento (PIA/Pangasinan Star), secretary; Liway M. Yparraguirre (Manila Times/Pangasinan Star), treasurer; Joey Ballesteros (DWPR) auditor; and Violeta V. Ferrer (DWPR), business manager.
The rest of the earlier -elected sectoral representatives automatically become board directors.
Patrima, now on its third year, was formed by leading members of the local media to uphold the integrity of the profession and together make a difference in the public’s perception of the media sector.
World-class beach villas coming up in San Fabian
AMONG all the shoreline areas of Pangasinan and Ilocos, the most naturally developed and abundantly attractive is the San Fabian beach and resort area.
Thus did House Speaker Jose C. de Venecia laud the natural attributes of San Fabian beach in his brief remarks last Dec. 4 at the groundbreaking ceremonies for the San Fabian Beach Villas of the International Gateway Realty and Development Inc. chaired by top Manila and Palawan businessman Rolando Asis.
Located just across the PTA Resort in barangays Bolasi and Mabilao, the San Fabian Beach Villas will soon rise as a “world-class subdivision in the tradition of the famed beach villas of France… that can easily become a major destination for international tourists,” de Venecia said.
The Speaker took time to report that Congress is now finalizing a bill to require developers of middle-class housing projects to include provisions for low-cost housing to help answer the acute need for mass settlements in the country.
He announced that such a mass housing project will be put upby government “starting May next year” in the Bolasi area in San Fabian in addition to a low-cost housing venture being planned by Asis and his group.
The San Fabian Beach Villas sits on a 35-hectare property sold by the family of Dona Consuelo Perez, widow of the late Speaker Eugenio Perez and mother –in-law of de Venecia, to the International Gateway group of Asis.
Present at the groundbreaking ceremonies were San Fabian Mayor Mojamito Libunao and sangguniang bayan members led by Vice Mayor Liberato Villegas, former Congressman Joe Bengson, international banker George Go of PCI, DENR regional Director Victor Ancheta, businessman Tito de Venecia, lawyer Vic Castaneda and Eli Opena, marketing director of IGRDI, among other guests.
Once completed, the world-class beach villas project will feature facilities and amenities such as a fully landscaped park and playground, entertainment cabanas with children and adult pool, a commercial area, potable water with overhead tank, telephone system, basketball court, concrete roads, curbs and gutters, barbecue pits and underground drainage.
Thus did House Speaker Jose C. de Venecia laud the natural attributes of San Fabian beach in his brief remarks last Dec. 4 at the groundbreaking ceremonies for the San Fabian Beach Villas of the International Gateway Realty and Development Inc. chaired by top Manila and Palawan businessman Rolando Asis.
Located just across the PTA Resort in barangays Bolasi and Mabilao, the San Fabian Beach Villas will soon rise as a “world-class subdivision in the tradition of the famed beach villas of France… that can easily become a major destination for international tourists,” de Venecia said.
The Speaker took time to report that Congress is now finalizing a bill to require developers of middle-class housing projects to include provisions for low-cost housing to help answer the acute need for mass settlements in the country.
He announced that such a mass housing project will be put upby government “starting May next year” in the Bolasi area in San Fabian in addition to a low-cost housing venture being planned by Asis and his group.
The San Fabian Beach Villas sits on a 35-hectare property sold by the family of Dona Consuelo Perez, widow of the late Speaker Eugenio Perez and mother –in-law of de Venecia, to the International Gateway group of Asis.
Present at the groundbreaking ceremonies were San Fabian Mayor Mojamito Libunao and sangguniang bayan members led by Vice Mayor Liberato Villegas, former Congressman Joe Bengson, international banker George Go of PCI, DENR regional Director Victor Ancheta, businessman Tito de Venecia, lawyer Vic Castaneda and Eli Opena, marketing director of IGRDI, among other guests.
Once completed, the world-class beach villas project will feature facilities and amenities such as a fully landscaped park and playground, entertainment cabanas with children and adult pool, a commercial area, potable water with overhead tank, telephone system, basketball court, concrete roads, curbs and gutters, barbecue pits and underground drainage.
OPINYON: Singa agaak makapanisia, Hen. Senga
SAYAN INDIO
Mario F. Karateka
AGAYMETLATAN ey, Heneral Heneroso Senga, sir, ey?
Walay kuwarenta’y sinko bilyones ya badyet yo ditan ed Armd Porsis op da Pilipins (AFP) et walan ibagam nin anggapon balot so teknolohiya yo ya man-wayrtap – odino pasilib ya mandengel na tongotngay totoo ed silpon (cellphone) —kanian, onong ed sika, imposiblen sikayodtan ed AFP so nalapoan na samay kontrobersiyal ya “Hello, Garci..!” teyps.
Singa metla imbagam, Senga, ya daeg kayoni na saray ogogaw ya amtadan usaren iray kagawaan pian nairikord da so tongtongan ed telepono da. Paelek-elekan kayo labat met ditad AFP no ontan, Heneral!
Siopa ta met so nasyon ya anggapoy ontan ya kapabilidad na Armd Porsis da a? Agko labay ya isipen ya ontan la kabobo iray bibidbiren tayon protektor na nasyon tan bansa.
Mannonot kimet kari na mas napanisiaan ya baraan, plis.
Sikatotay makapataktakot met ed militar tan say Kapolisan no manonaan nin protektaan daray totoo dan mangagaway iligal ya aktibidades (iligal, no agyoni amta, so mandengel tan mangirikord na tongtongan ed telepono diad bansa tayo) nen say italindeg so katua-an. Satan et pikewet ya klasen ‘esprit d’corps’ odino say tradisyonal ya panoolopan ed saray walad serbisyo militar.
Antis kon nalingwanan agagik tan atateng, Meri Krrismas pa lad sikayon amin!Pikasi yo pan onlangalang ni so bitewen na sayan paborito yon diyaryo lokal anggaman mandenden so irap.
Pirdona yo kami met ta iyanunsiyo milad sayan kolum ko so pangitagey na “cover price” na sayan babasaen manlapu no Enero, 2006.
Ontagey la iya na piso kanian P6 kada kopya so pangaliw yod Pangasinan Star. Manoboy daiset met balet iray kakaiba tayon managlakod “newsstand”, siyempre, kanian singa P7 o P7.50 so pangilako da.
Mario F. Karateka
AGAYMETLATAN ey, Heneral Heneroso Senga, sir, ey?
Walay kuwarenta’y sinko bilyones ya badyet yo ditan ed Armd Porsis op da Pilipins (AFP) et walan ibagam nin anggapon balot so teknolohiya yo ya man-wayrtap – odino pasilib ya mandengel na tongotngay totoo ed silpon (cellphone) —kanian, onong ed sika, imposiblen sikayodtan ed AFP so nalapoan na samay kontrobersiyal ya “Hello, Garci..!” teyps.
Singa metla imbagam, Senga, ya daeg kayoni na saray ogogaw ya amtadan usaren iray kagawaan pian nairikord da so tongtongan ed telepono da. Paelek-elekan kayo labat met ditad AFP no ontan, Heneral!
Siopa ta met so nasyon ya anggapoy ontan ya kapabilidad na Armd Porsis da a? Agko labay ya isipen ya ontan la kabobo iray bibidbiren tayon protektor na nasyon tan bansa.
Mannonot kimet kari na mas napanisiaan ya baraan, plis.
Sikatotay makapataktakot met ed militar tan say Kapolisan no manonaan nin protektaan daray totoo dan mangagaway iligal ya aktibidades (iligal, no agyoni amta, so mandengel tan mangirikord na tongtongan ed telepono diad bansa tayo) nen say italindeg so katua-an. Satan et pikewet ya klasen ‘esprit d’corps’ odino say tradisyonal ya panoolopan ed saray walad serbisyo militar.
* * * * *
Salamat, salamat pay baleg ed say masimoon ya tulong nen Konsehal Alex de Venecia , say hermano mayor na piyesta na Dagupan ed samay limabn libon pisos (P5.000.00) ya inter tod Pangasinan Tri-Media Association (Patrima) Inc. ta akatulong iman ed panliliket ya ginawa daray primos tan primas ed Patrima sanen Martes ditan ed Dagupan Business Center (Tenkyu met manaya, Direktor Jimmy Lucas ed impangusar min agano na DBC).
Walan ginawa so dyiniral asimbli tan eleksion na Patrima – sayay primeron olopa’y managpalapag ed luyag – tan apilin balon presidente si brodkaster Bernie Errasquin na Radyo ng Bayan-Tayug a sikato met lanti so peles a bise-presidente na sayan malet ya olopan na Medya natan.
Si Bernie et ilaloan na saray nanamatalek ed pakayari, integridad tan kasil to ya talagan mamabiskeg na Patrima ed ontombok a taon. Saltan to si brodkaster met ya Roland Hidalgo na DWPR. Sakey si Bernie ed saray mareen balet napanmatalkan ya kabiangay Medya ed Pangasinan. Anggapoy akapeket ya kontrobersiya ed sikato ta “low-profile” iyan laki, ag mapasang, aliwan maingal. Tan manonad amin, aliwan ketang.
Marlang so aarapen na Patrima diad onsoblay ya taon
Walan ginawa so dyiniral asimbli tan eleksion na Patrima – sayay primeron olopa’y managpalapag ed luyag – tan apilin balon presidente si brodkaster Bernie Errasquin na Radyo ng Bayan-Tayug a sikato met lanti so peles a bise-presidente na sayan malet ya olopan na Medya natan.
Si Bernie et ilaloan na saray nanamatalek ed pakayari, integridad tan kasil to ya talagan mamabiskeg na Patrima ed ontombok a taon. Saltan to si brodkaster met ya Roland Hidalgo na DWPR. Sakey si Bernie ed saray mareen balet napanmatalkan ya kabiangay Medya ed Pangasinan. Anggapoy akapeket ya kontrobersiya ed sikato ta “low-profile” iyan laki, ag mapasang, aliwan maingal. Tan manonad amin, aliwan ketang.
Marlang so aarapen na Patrima diad onsoblay ya taon
* * * * *
Antis kon nalingwanan agagik tan atateng, Meri Krrismas pa lad sikayon amin!Pikasi yo pan onlangalang ni so bitewen na sayan paborito yon diyaryo lokal anggaman mandenden so irap.
Pirdona yo kami met ta iyanunsiyo milad sayan kolum ko so pangitagey na “cover price” na sayan babasaen manlapu no Enero, 2006.
Ontagey la iya na piso kanian P6 kada kopya so pangaliw yod Pangasinan Star. Manoboy daiset met balet iray kakaiba tayon managlakod “newsstand”, siyempre, kanian singa P7 o P7.50 so pangilako da.
EDITORIAL: No to full foreign ownership of utilities, etc.
WE fully agree that the Consultative Commission members deserve the President’s and the People’s congratulations for doing a good job. Up close during the Pangasinan leg of their nationwide consultations, despite time constraints, the Con-Com commissioners who came from diverse fields and sectors were able to project their sincerity and frankness in “trying to help” the country get out of its present rut. Now, they have submitted their final report to President Arroyo who will shortly endorse it to the Speaker of the House and the Senate President for action or disposition.
In all probability, and at the risk of going ahead of the honorable men and women of Congress, the country’s going to have a parliamentary-federal form and structure of government if not next year, then soon after.
This newspaper fully supports such a course. The presidential system of government has been self-destructing all this time and making elections of officials a big farce because of all the spending. While the parliamentary system might not altogether do away with corruption, it is our fervent hope that it would be minimized even as party accountability to the people is reinforced.
While we endorse a parliamentary-federal government, we do not however quite believe – unlike many of our Pangasinan leaders, most of them the rich and the moneyed and influential -- in opening up wide the avenues for foreign ownership of our national patrimony and resources. This newspaper believes the 60-40 ratio for foreign ownership of major utilities and industries that exists today, more than being just a sense of nationalism, is a sense of reality.
Proponents of the lifting of that provision on national patrimony argue that if 90 or a hundred percent ownership is offered foreigners, more out-of-country investors would be lured to come in and thus start a surge of industries and utilities for the Philippines, one we have never seen before, pump-priming the economy. After all, the proponents add, we still have a “parliament” that can draw up the regulations and control for such foreign-owned utility enterprises on Philippine soil so as to prevent abuse and overexploitation.
That, we all know, is pipe dream. Given our track record as a country in enforcing our own laws and rules, we might as well be allowing the rape of our maids and sister and daughters inside the room while we keep fumbling for the keys to open the door and cursing to high heavens why we ever gave access to the strangers in our house at all.
That’s not imagination; that’s experience.
In all probability, and at the risk of going ahead of the honorable men and women of Congress, the country’s going to have a parliamentary-federal form and structure of government if not next year, then soon after.
This newspaper fully supports such a course. The presidential system of government has been self-destructing all this time and making elections of officials a big farce because of all the spending. While the parliamentary system might not altogether do away with corruption, it is our fervent hope that it would be minimized even as party accountability to the people is reinforced.
While we endorse a parliamentary-federal government, we do not however quite believe – unlike many of our Pangasinan leaders, most of them the rich and the moneyed and influential -- in opening up wide the avenues for foreign ownership of our national patrimony and resources. This newspaper believes the 60-40 ratio for foreign ownership of major utilities and industries that exists today, more than being just a sense of nationalism, is a sense of reality.
Proponents of the lifting of that provision on national patrimony argue that if 90 or a hundred percent ownership is offered foreigners, more out-of-country investors would be lured to come in and thus start a surge of industries and utilities for the Philippines, one we have never seen before, pump-priming the economy. After all, the proponents add, we still have a “parliament” that can draw up the regulations and control for such foreign-owned utility enterprises on Philippine soil so as to prevent abuse and overexploitation.
That, we all know, is pipe dream. Given our track record as a country in enforcing our own laws and rules, we might as well be allowing the rape of our maids and sister and daughters inside the room while we keep fumbling for the keys to open the door and cursing to high heavens why we ever gave access to the strangers in our house at all.
That’s not imagination; that’s experience.
OPINION: Saving at Christmas, again (of all seasons!)
AFTER ALL
Behn Fer. Hortaleza, Jr.
SOMEHOW, they managed to come up with quaint, brightly lit rows of lamp posts on Dagupan’s major bridge, the Quintos bridge downtown. And that’s about all. Evenings when you cruise further down the main thoroughfare, the dull glow of the old streetlights is what illumines the heart of Dagupan’s commercial center as though keeping in spirit with the general downcast feelings of cash-strapped Dagupenos and Pangasinenses in, of all seasons, Christmastime and Fiesta-time.
Whoever decided to light up Perez bridge miserably forgot its twin, the Perez bridge (or de Venecia bridge, whatever you call it) that parallels it along the same Pantal river which is making do with the old, broken “Golden Gate” replica of lights. Some nights, the lights are turned on, some nights they’re not.
The difference is striking – on one side, the downtown area, the spirit of motorists and pedestrians is lifted just passing by the bright lamp posts (wonder how much those lights cost the city again, and we’ don’t just mean the purchase price but the coming electric bill); on the other side along Perez Boulevard, one gets the feeling he’s suddenly passing through the darker side of the moon (at least on some nights when somebody forgets to switch it on, we don’t know).
But no matter how city hall spins it, there’s some problem in city finances on ‘dar hills. It’s saving, it’s scrimping, it’s spending with utmost care – quite uncharacteristically, we might add. And Dagupenos so used to having bongga fiesta seasons are suddenly seeing and feeling the difference between a profligate past and a penurious present, both under the same city administration.
Oh, but you have to hear all the wailings and bayings among City Hall employees now who see the tightening of the once liberal or open coffers as Disaster Signal One – not to mention the most unfortunate cut in GMA’s-mandated P5-T cash gift for government workers to just P3T with all its attendant and frantic last-minute sourcing of fund among sanggunian’s appropriations committee chair Michael F and the city treasury, accounting and budget offices , just so the waiting workers won’t be left hanging at Christmas, again, of all seasons.
The times, they’re hard. And the ghost of the spending binge of the past, aside of course, from the fat salaries of City hall consultants of all sizes and shape (that’s according to some rank-and-file employees commiserating with the laid- off emergency workers who have been doing much of the dirty work) seems to have come back hauntingly to the Lords of the Ring at city hall this Christmas, again , of all seasons.
One thing sure, many contractors would have to wait until next year anew to be paid their services’ and labors’ due. Some imaginative accounting will have to be done yet between now and the closing of the books for audit this year, see?
Now you know why the Pangasinan Star wouldn’t want to add to the financial burden by running that city fiesta ad you see in most local newspapers. It’s not out of pride, it’s out of civic duty. Hello, CIO chief Butch Velasco!
Behn Fer. Hortaleza, Jr.
SOMEHOW, they managed to come up with quaint, brightly lit rows of lamp posts on Dagupan’s major bridge, the Quintos bridge downtown. And that’s about all. Evenings when you cruise further down the main thoroughfare, the dull glow of the old streetlights is what illumines the heart of Dagupan’s commercial center as though keeping in spirit with the general downcast feelings of cash-strapped Dagupenos and Pangasinenses in, of all seasons, Christmastime and Fiesta-time.
Whoever decided to light up Perez bridge miserably forgot its twin, the Perez bridge (or de Venecia bridge, whatever you call it) that parallels it along the same Pantal river which is making do with the old, broken “Golden Gate” replica of lights. Some nights, the lights are turned on, some nights they’re not.
The difference is striking – on one side, the downtown area, the spirit of motorists and pedestrians is lifted just passing by the bright lamp posts (wonder how much those lights cost the city again, and we’ don’t just mean the purchase price but the coming electric bill); on the other side along Perez Boulevard, one gets the feeling he’s suddenly passing through the darker side of the moon (at least on some nights when somebody forgets to switch it on, we don’t know).
But no matter how city hall spins it, there’s some problem in city finances on ‘dar hills. It’s saving, it’s scrimping, it’s spending with utmost care – quite uncharacteristically, we might add. And Dagupenos so used to having bongga fiesta seasons are suddenly seeing and feeling the difference between a profligate past and a penurious present, both under the same city administration.
Oh, but you have to hear all the wailings and bayings among City Hall employees now who see the tightening of the once liberal or open coffers as Disaster Signal One – not to mention the most unfortunate cut in GMA’s-mandated P5-T cash gift for government workers to just P3T with all its attendant and frantic last-minute sourcing of fund among sanggunian’s appropriations committee chair Michael F and the city treasury, accounting and budget offices , just so the waiting workers won’t be left hanging at Christmas, again, of all seasons.
The times, they’re hard. And the ghost of the spending binge of the past, aside of course, from the fat salaries of City hall consultants of all sizes and shape (that’s according to some rank-and-file employees commiserating with the laid- off emergency workers who have been doing much of the dirty work) seems to have come back hauntingly to the Lords of the Ring at city hall this Christmas, again , of all seasons.
One thing sure, many contractors would have to wait until next year anew to be paid their services’ and labors’ due. Some imaginative accounting will have to be done yet between now and the closing of the books for audit this year, see?
Now you know why the Pangasinan Star wouldn’t want to add to the financial burden by running that city fiesta ad you see in most local newspapers. It’s not out of pride, it’s out of civic duty. Hello, CIO chief Butch Velasco!
OPINION: Where’s Purisima? Shadowman stays in the shadows
The PEN SPEAKS
Danny O. Sagun
PERSISTENT is the apparent move to drive a wedge between Mayor Benjie Lim and House Speaker Jose de Venecia and it could eventually force them to clash in the next congressional election. If that happens, the Fernandezes (Vice Mayor Alvin or Immigration Commissioner Alipio) would have no sweat capturing City Hall anew and many are thus speculating that since the Fernandezes would benefit the most from such a JDV-BSL enmity, they could be fanning such intrigues.
But it is also possible that moves to sever the mayor’s ties with the Speaker are coming from Lim himself because unless he comes out of the Speaker’s shadow he cannot take another shot at the post he once held and in which he had endeared himself to the fourth district constituents.
The big question is, does he have a chance against the political giant? He cannot tell unless he tries. Ask former Vice Gov. Gonz Duque, who twice(?) tried to slay the giant but failed. Maybe his effort was not enough, or De Venecia was really that formidable.
It is possible to defeat him though. Why not? Lim once proved the De Venecia magic could be slain when he roundly defeated a De Venecia in Tessie. He did it through the massive votes of Dagupan City which overwhelmed the lead of Tessie deV in the four towns of the fourth district. He could duplicate that feat again.
JDV is different, many would dare compare. The mayor however has proven his electoral prowess too in his last political fights and that record could make the Speaker worry a bit, if not a lot.
A JDV-BSL face-off is far-fetched though at this point. Lim is on his second term yet and he may content himself taking a crack for a third term. This corner believes Vice-Mayor Alvin is willing to wait for another three years; anyway he is still very young.
The Speaker may not also like to see his wards fighting each other or that somebody will be fighting him even and he would do all he can – dance, sing, sales-talk—to avoid having an opponent. Anyway, the present set-up can be maintained without anyone getting hurt or sidelined.
And everybody will be happy. Perhaps only in 2001 when Benjie would be retiring from City Hall and Alvin goes full throttle for the mayorship would we see a battle royale.
The Cha-Cha, if pushed thru, however may change the whole scenario particularly if the provision on term limits is lifted. Abangan.
Danny O. Sagun
PERSISTENT is the apparent move to drive a wedge between Mayor Benjie Lim and House Speaker Jose de Venecia and it could eventually force them to clash in the next congressional election. If that happens, the Fernandezes (Vice Mayor Alvin or Immigration Commissioner Alipio) would have no sweat capturing City Hall anew and many are thus speculating that since the Fernandezes would benefit the most from such a JDV-BSL enmity, they could be fanning such intrigues.
But it is also possible that moves to sever the mayor’s ties with the Speaker are coming from Lim himself because unless he comes out of the Speaker’s shadow he cannot take another shot at the post he once held and in which he had endeared himself to the fourth district constituents.
The big question is, does he have a chance against the political giant? He cannot tell unless he tries. Ask former Vice Gov. Gonz Duque, who twice(?) tried to slay the giant but failed. Maybe his effort was not enough, or De Venecia was really that formidable.
It is possible to defeat him though. Why not? Lim once proved the De Venecia magic could be slain when he roundly defeated a De Venecia in Tessie. He did it through the massive votes of Dagupan City which overwhelmed the lead of Tessie deV in the four towns of the fourth district. He could duplicate that feat again.
JDV is different, many would dare compare. The mayor however has proven his electoral prowess too in his last political fights and that record could make the Speaker worry a bit, if not a lot.
A JDV-BSL face-off is far-fetched though at this point. Lim is on his second term yet and he may content himself taking a crack for a third term. This corner believes Vice-Mayor Alvin is willing to wait for another three years; anyway he is still very young.
The Speaker may not also like to see his wards fighting each other or that somebody will be fighting him even and he would do all he can – dance, sing, sales-talk—to avoid having an opponent. Anyway, the present set-up can be maintained without anyone getting hurt or sidelined.
And everybody will be happy. Perhaps only in 2001 when Benjie would be retiring from City Hall and Alvin goes full throttle for the mayorship would we see a battle royale.
The Cha-Cha, if pushed thru, however may change the whole scenario particularly if the provision on term limits is lifted. Abangan.
* * * * *
We are prompted to compare the present police provincial director to his predecessors in the matter of visibility. While he wants his field men to be physically present in their posts the whole day if possible, he is doing the opposite. The local media complains that Sr. Supt. Alan Purisima is inaccessible for interviews unlike his immediate predecessor, Sr. Supt. Mario Sandiego who finds time to present himself in media interviews particularly on radio. Twice, he graced our Thursday radio program at Radyo ng Bayan-DZMQ together with his community relations officer Supt. Ric Tamayo. He also took time replying to text messages. We could say the same about Sr. Supt. (now general?) Bogie Mendoza.
Purisima, who has been around for only about half a year, is quite difficult to reach even by cell phone. He reportedly has changed his number, apparently to avoid being pestered, by media particularly. We understand he is not used to facing the media every now and then, having worked in the intel community, where silence is golden. But he is now posted in a position that requires his comment, reaction, and action on the happenings in the province related to peace and order -- which situation, by the way, is getting alarming as evidenced by the rise in robbery-hold-up incidents.
Provincial Administrator Boy Solis, who obviously was himself piqued by Purisima’s continued silenced despite a memo from the governor, advised him to be more transparent by facing the people and the media.
That statement could be understood as a warning to the provincial director to change behavior or else face reassignment—or a recommendation to that effect.
Purisima, who has been around for only about half a year, is quite difficult to reach even by cell phone. He reportedly has changed his number, apparently to avoid being pestered, by media particularly. We understand he is not used to facing the media every now and then, having worked in the intel community, where silence is golden. But he is now posted in a position that requires his comment, reaction, and action on the happenings in the province related to peace and order -- which situation, by the way, is getting alarming as evidenced by the rise in robbery-hold-up incidents.
Provincial Administrator Boy Solis, who obviously was himself piqued by Purisima’s continued silenced despite a memo from the governor, advised him to be more transparent by facing the people and the media.
That statement could be understood as a warning to the provincial director to change behavior or else face reassignment—or a recommendation to that effect.
OPINION: Putting a virtual white elephant to good use
WINDOWS
Gabriel L. Cardinoza
I WAS in Manambong, Bayambang last weekend to witness the launching of a backyard animal dispersal project of businessman Cesar T. Quiambao, a dear son of Bayambang, who is also known as the man behind the Skyway project in Metro Manila.
But what caught my attention was the project venue: an imposing well-ventilated two-storey structure towering over the barangay. It was an evacuation center, I would learn later.
There are actually two of them in Manambong, and, according to DPWH regional director Fidel Ginez, there are eight more of these structures in seven other low-lying and flood-prone barangays in Bayambang.
For an evacuation center, the buildings definitely had the amenities that an evacuation center should have -- space, good ventilation, water supply, kitchen and comfort rooms. Its second level is open in the middle, allowing air to circulate within the structure.
Easily, each building can accommodate 3,000 evacuees. And because it was built in an elevated base overlooking a rice field, residents can also evacuate with them their animals, which can be tied in the spacious yard fronting the buildings.
Rep. Gener Tulagan, who was at the project launch, said that barangay officials have agreed to put one of the buildings to good use during dry months. Without floods, the buildings are virtual white elephants. He said that a local entrepreneur who owns ready-to-wear (RTW) factories in the Bataan Export Processing Zone has agreed to open one in Manambong utilizing one of the buildings, to provide a source of additional income to mothers and women in the barangay, who are mostly farmers.
The RTW factory will probably in operation 11 months of the year. And flood waters rise from the nearby Mangabul Lake and submerge the barangay, the factory can suspend its operations to accommodate the evacuees.
For a remote and depressed barangay like Manambong, opening a factory will also open to its people the door to growth and development. Not only will increased people’s income perk up the local economy. More importantly, the need to transport the factory products to the market will require building of its roadline, which in the end will also be beneficial to the farmers.
Mayor Leo de Vera, who was conspicuously missing during the project launch, can only smile in approval with the development. To him, any project that can help alleviate his townspeople’s situation is welcome. After all, improving the people’s lives and liberating them from the bondage of poverty is his reason for being.
Gabriel L. Cardinoza
I WAS in Manambong, Bayambang last weekend to witness the launching of a backyard animal dispersal project of businessman Cesar T. Quiambao, a dear son of Bayambang, who is also known as the man behind the Skyway project in Metro Manila.
But what caught my attention was the project venue: an imposing well-ventilated two-storey structure towering over the barangay. It was an evacuation center, I would learn later.
There are actually two of them in Manambong, and, according to DPWH regional director Fidel Ginez, there are eight more of these structures in seven other low-lying and flood-prone barangays in Bayambang.
For an evacuation center, the buildings definitely had the amenities that an evacuation center should have -- space, good ventilation, water supply, kitchen and comfort rooms. Its second level is open in the middle, allowing air to circulate within the structure.
Easily, each building can accommodate 3,000 evacuees. And because it was built in an elevated base overlooking a rice field, residents can also evacuate with them their animals, which can be tied in the spacious yard fronting the buildings.
Rep. Gener Tulagan, who was at the project launch, said that barangay officials have agreed to put one of the buildings to good use during dry months. Without floods, the buildings are virtual white elephants. He said that a local entrepreneur who owns ready-to-wear (RTW) factories in the Bataan Export Processing Zone has agreed to open one in Manambong utilizing one of the buildings, to provide a source of additional income to mothers and women in the barangay, who are mostly farmers.
The RTW factory will probably in operation 11 months of the year. And flood waters rise from the nearby Mangabul Lake and submerge the barangay, the factory can suspend its operations to accommodate the evacuees.
For a remote and depressed barangay like Manambong, opening a factory will also open to its people the door to growth and development. Not only will increased people’s income perk up the local economy. More importantly, the need to transport the factory products to the market will require building of its roadline, which in the end will also be beneficial to the farmers.
Mayor Leo de Vera, who was conspicuously missing during the project launch, can only smile in approval with the development. To him, any project that can help alleviate his townspeople’s situation is welcome. After all, improving the people’s lives and liberating them from the bondage of poverty is his reason for being.
* * * * *
Congratulations to DWRS-Radyo ng Bayan’s Bernie Errasquin for his election as president of the Pangasinan Tri-Media Association (Patrima) last Wednesday. For three years now, Patrima elections have always been fun, intrigue-free and non-controversial. No protests, no complaints, no vote-buying, but nonetheless, democratic.
I would like also to congratulate out-going president Roland Hidalgo for his successful one-year term. Despite his busy schedule, he somehow managed to organize activities for Patrima and represent it in various official functions.
With Patrima, it is now easier to differentiate the grain from the chaff, so to speak.
I would like also to congratulate out-going president Roland Hidalgo for his successful one-year term. Despite his busy schedule, he somehow managed to organize activities for Patrima and represent it in various official functions.
With Patrima, it is now easier to differentiate the grain from the chaff, so to speak.
