Dagupan and Urdaneta Cities, and Pangasinan Province [Archive] - Page 5

garzland

June 1st, 2008, 10:21 AM

Welcome

to

PANGASINAN

[Thread 2]

Thread 1 can be found here (http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=412658).

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"Asin" and "Bagoong"

PangASINan was one of the early provinces into which the island of Luzon was divided after the arrival of the Spaniards. Pangasinan was then formally created as a province by Governor-General Ronquillo de Penalosa in 1850.

Etymologically, the term Pangasinan means the "place where salt is made", owing to the rich and fine salt beds which were the prime source of livelihood for the province's coastal towns.

Another name for the region, but not as widely known is Caboloan. The word Bolo in the native language refers to a species of bamboo that was abundant in the interior areas, and favored in the practice of weaving light baskets and winnowing plates called bilao. Historians believe that both names may have been used at the same time. Today, salt is still being produced in abundance, creating not a few fortunes for some enterprising families although much of its use is for industry.

A local product that has become synonymous with Pangasinan is bagoong, or fermented fish sauce. Salt of course, is the prime ingredient. Mud-colored with a strong smell, bagoong has captured the national palate. Native cuisine, mostly Ilocano in origin, owes its authenticity to the lowly bagoong. Taking from the spare and starkly humble lifestyle of the Pangasinense with his dependence on the sea and rivers and the land, bagoong lends itself well to the local diet. Mixed with plain fresh vegetables like okra, squash and eggplant in an invigorating broth or as a dip for grilled catfish or Bonuan bangus, bagoong brings out the true flavor of the land's origins.

The Northern Gate

Pangasinan is a crescent-shaped province that occupies 5,368.82 square kilometers of verdant farmlands, hills, forests and rivers. To the east, it is bounded by the mighty Cordillera Mountains, the Zambales ranges to the west, the rice plains of Tarlac to the south and the Lingayen Gulf and the China Sea to the north. Because of this strategic geographical positioning, it has always been described as a gateway of sorts. Most travellers going up North often remember Pangasinan as the place where they had last seen some semblance of civilization, comparing it with the sparsely populated regions of the Ilocos and the Cagayan Valley (with the exception of Baguio and the old Spanish towns of Vigan and Laoag).

Connections

Historian Rosario Mendoza Cortes writes in her book, Pangasinan 1572-1800 that according to Bishop Domingo de Salazar, Pangasinan "was forty leagues distant from Manila either by land or by sea." Roughly translated, travelers of old normally take about thirty-hours to reach Manila via horse and carriage. After the eruption of Mount Pinatubo, travel time was normally 5 to 7 hours as normal route points like Bamban and Mabalacat were closed temporarily. Today, 5 hours is the norm although private vehicles can sometimes negotiate the route under 4 hours. Most major bus companies ply the Manila-Pangasinan route complemented by a host of local bus lines, which can be hired for private purposes and tours. Most bus services operate on a 24-hour basis. Media services are active in Pangasinan. National dailies as well as local publications (several weeklies and one daily) are available. There are 20 radio stations and one regional television station. Cable services have mushroomed even in areas far from the urbanized centers of Dagupan, Urdaneta and Alaminos. At the latest survey, Pangasinan has the highest tele-density in the country outside of Metro Manila with the presence of three major telecommunication companies.

People and Culture

Much has been written and discussed about the Pangasinense, yet no definite image comes to mind. There is a strong perception that the province is basically of Ilocano stock, but aside from the fact that Iloko is more widely spoken than "Pangasinan", the defining characteristics end there. The Pangasinense is hardly frugal in the true sense of the word, nor is he extravagant either. Special occasions such as fiestas, weddings and baptisms are exceptions wherein extravagance is necessary to "save face", but then most other Filipinos in other regions are similar in that respect. History tells us however that the Pangasinense has always been sensitive to issues concerning his welfare. One of the first local revolts during the Spanish colonization was instigated by a Binalatongan native, (now San Carlos) Andres Malong in 1660.

Princess Urduja: fact or fiction?

The heroics of an ancient princess who ruled a kingdom by the Lingayen gulf has never been verified as true by historians, yet the mythical Princess Urduja remains vividly alive and real in the local consciousness.

The Gifts of the Earth and Sea

Pangasinan is rooted to the earth - agriculture based production remains as a major source of income for the majority of the populace. Aqua-culture is also popular in areas where instead of farmlands, variated squares of artificial ponds for fish rearing are found. Through the years, as the demand for particular fish stocks rose and fell, fishpond owners have adapted by sticking to traditionally favored, and stable growing fish species like the bangus or milkfish, the malaga and prawns. With agriculture currently mobilizing more than half of the local labor force, the current administration has seen the need to boost its efforts in this area.

El Niño and La Niña

Like the rest of the country and the world, 1998 was Pangasinan's hottest year with temperatures soaring beyond the 40's. The lingering effects of the El Nino and the La Nina phenomenon continue to affect the local climate. Normally, the dry season begins in November to April and wet during the rest of the year. Typhoons intermittently wreak havoc with some serious flooding in the eastern towns. However, the presence of a long coastline with attractive beaches offsets the hot and humid weather; sun-loving tourists affirm that Pangasinan's current climate is perfect.

The Count

Current census (Year 2000) figures place the population at 2,434,086 distributed in the province's 44 towns, four cities and 1,364 barangays. English and Filipino are widely spoken and are the mediums of instruction in all schools. Ilocano is the major dialect, spoken by a greater portion of the population in the western and eastern areas. There is some fear that the Pangasinan dialect, spoken predominantly in the central areas, is losing its hold on the local tongue. Bolinao, at the northernmost tip of western Pangasinan has a unique language of its own, also called Bolinao.

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Pangasinan today has 44 municipalities and 4 cities (Dagupan, San Carlos, Urdaneta, and Alaminos) and has natural, cultural, historical and religious attractions that merit a purposeful visit and not just a passing through. These areas and their come-ons are described here.

Agno
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Known as an "old seat of civilization", it competes with Hundred Islands in natural beauty. Its umbrella rocks that just out of its clear lake and its long-winding beachline are tourists' musts.

Aguilar
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Once a bastion of the brave, and an anathema to invaders of yore, it is a breathtaking dip in rusticana, what with its green meadows and thick forests.

Alaminos City
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This is Hundred Islands town. The 100 islands, some 123 of them, is the most popular tourist destination in the province.

Alcala
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Its long "Great Wall," actually that of the multi-million Agno River Control dike which sometimes spares the town from the onslaught of floods, is a testament to man's efforts to preserve himself and fend for himself from natural adversities.

Anda
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This lone island town of Pangasinan, which thrives on farming and deep-sea fishing, is unlike other "out-of-way" places for progress has already caught up with it. If a Pangasinense has a surname beginning with the letter C, chances are, he is from this town.

Asingan

The hometown of first Pangasinense President, Fidel Valdez Ramos, is a "Vegetable Country" for any which direction one looks, eggplants, ampalaya and tomatoes, in short, "pinakbet," greet the eyes.

Balungao
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Once visited for its hot springs, it is nevertheless an interesting tourist stopover for an oddity, a Rizal monument built right in the middle of the road.

Bani
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This town thrives on the bounties of sea and farm. It boasts of a new park which is a haven for those who want to lose themselves in the sweet clutch of nature.

Basista
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Once a part of San Carlos City, it is now a big town for its cottage industry and a name in international markets for its handicrafts.

Bautista
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In summer, watermelon abound in this town where Jose L. Palma wrote the lyrics of the Philippine National Anthem. Julian Felipe, for his part, composed the patriotic hymn in a house near the Bautista railroad station which stands up to this day.

Bayambang
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The site of the biggest fishing sanctuary in the province, the Mangabul Fishing and Hunting Park, and the best local school for teachers education, the Pangasinan State University-College of Education (formerly Central Luzon Teachers College once referred to as "Normal School"), it is part of history as the first national anthem was sung here by the revolutionary forces under Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo.

Binalonan
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This town has to its name the titles "Model Urban Community" and "Cleanest Municipality in the Philippines" garnered during the seventies.

Binmaley

A standout for three things: the largest church in the province, its furniture industry centered in Malindong, and its fishponds which gained for itself the title "Bangus Queen of the Philippines."

Bolinao
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This quaint little town boasts of several attractions aside from its rugged coastline and wide expanse of unspoiled seascapes. Its museum, a branch of the national museum, showcases the rich heritage of the people. Santiago Island, Cape Bolinao Beach, and the Church of St. James, almost 400 years old, are its stronger points.

Bugallon
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San Jose Hillside Resort is its main tourist attraction, but historically, its Salasa Church offers more having housed, for instance, the bell that lures tourists to the Agoo Basilica Church.

Burgos
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The "Cowboy Country" or "Marlboro Country" of Pangasinan is not for dudes alone as its Cabungaoan Beach Resort, Klowar Spring, and Sangbay Falls are crowd-drawers.

Calasiao
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Religious devotees flock to this town, thanks to its miraculous Sanctuario del Señor Tesoro, chewy puto, tender Bocayo and coconut pastilles flavored with anise.

Dagupan City
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The commercial, financial, educational and communication center North of Manila, was traditionally called Nandaragupan meaning a "meeting place or rallying point". It used to be part of Binalatongan, now San Carlos City, four centuries ago. The City by the Gulf is where the great Pangasinan chieftain Andres Malong assembled his forces for a last stand against the Spanish troops after which people began calling the place as Nandaragupan. It is famous for its blue beach and Bonuan bangus.

Dasol
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A town gifted with tourist lures: Noah's Island Beach Resort, Tambobong Beach, Salabusoban Falls, and Magunao Resort, all simply marvelous.

Infanta
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Once the rice granary of Western Pangasinan, it now has its beaches to rely on for exposure, the Balqui Island Beach Resort, for one.

Laoac
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The youngest town in Pangasinan has potentials to approximate the greatness of its mother town, Manaoag, but it has yet to find what would make it unique.

Labrador
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This boat building town beckons to tourists through a religious shrine, Lawis Uyong, and two resorts, Tandoc and Stone Quarry Falls.

Lingayen
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An encomienda when Pangasinan was created, it was then designated and remains the provincial capital. Lingayen earned a place in contemporary history when American forces designated it the landing area for the liberation of Northern Luzon from the Japanese. The town is likewise noted for the Limahong Channel which the men of the Chinese pirate dug to elude the pursuing forces of Salcedo. Its "bagoong", also known as maniboc, referring to its place of origin, Barangay Maniboc, is the best in the market, local, national or international.

Mabini
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This rustic town is visited for its Cacupangan Caves, formerly Balincaguing Caves, a lair of 1001 bats, Balincaguing River, basin perfect for skinny dipping, Binmatya Spring and Barlo Mines.

Malasiqui
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Like other Central Pangasinan towns, the Pangasinan dialect it its pure form is spoken here, in lilting tones in fact. Three of its barangays, Canan, Palapar and Lareg-lareg, offer spots ideal for relaxation.

Manaoag

Before Agoo, there was already Manaoag and inspite (or maybe because) of Agoo, pilgrimage to this town has increased over the past few months. The trek to the shrine of Nuestra Señora de Manaoag or "Apo Baket" or the Lady Who Calls which has come to be known as the "Antipolo of the North" has never waned. The Virgin's in the outskirt of the town is another well-visited spot for its curative springs.

Mangaldan
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Mangaldan owns the distinction as the third town in Pangasinan to be founded by the Dominican missionaries. As early as 1591, Mangaldan already existed as a Spanish encomienda. Its foundation as a town is attributed to Blessed Juan Martinez de Santo Domingo, a former missionary of Pangasinan who died a martyr's death in Japan on March 19, 1618.

Mangatarem
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Mangatarem derived its present name from the combination of the Ilocano words "Manga ken Tirem," which in English means "mango and oyster." According to old folk tales, the name "Mangatarem" was attributed to woodcutters who happened to meet each other in a forested area, which is now the present site of the town.

Mapandan

A nationally known spot in Mapandan is Barrio Golden, once selected as a "model barrio" in integrated community development. "Tanggal Ya Bato" or stonewalls is its other tourist bait.

Natividad
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A farming town, Natividad has shed off its once sleepy profile, all because of Pila resort, however underdeveloped, a hilly area frequented by picnickers.

Pozorrubio
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The Buccat Hill and the Sugcong Spring in this town are bywords in local tourism. Its Dilan bamboocraft products are export fares.

Rosales
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Pangasinan ends and begins in Rosales. Its Barangay Carmen in particular is the take-off point to Dagupan City, Baguio City and Nueva Ecija.

San Carlos City
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Became a city through a congressional act authored by the late Congressman Angel B. Fernandez after the late Speaker Eugenio Perez Sr. authored the city charter of Dagupan. The home town of legendary hero Palaris is the seat of exportable handicrafts.

San Fabian
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This town has always known for its beaches, nestled in a cove, so that only the gentlest of waves ripple across the crystalline blue waters. Now it is also byword for its beach resorts, rivaling those of La Union, its pawnpushres (it has the only chess school in the country, in fact) and its amateur pugilists.

San Jacinto
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A tobacco belt and one of the province's earliest municipalities, its people's hospitality makes it ideal for residential purposes.

San Manuel
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This hometown of Juan C. Laya, of Diwang Kayumanggi fame, is one of the best rice producers of Pangasinan. It has a dam site which serves as a favorite picnic ground for vacationists, the Butao Spring and a mountain boy scout campsite.

San Nicolas

It this town lies the historic Red Arrow Movement, otherwise known as WWII Villaverde Trail campsite, and the Agpay reforestation area with its crystal clear brooks.

San Quintin
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Though its "Little Luneta" - its town plaza-has given way for other must-visit places, its Dipalo Watershed is keeping them coming for its unique charm.

Sta. Barbara

Tagged as the agricultural nursery of Pangasinan, it is expected to progress by leaps and bounds with the Agricultural Training Institute (ATI) there, and with the entry of La Tondeña Distillery Plant. Its mango-tree-lined highway offers a breather to motorists.

Sta. Maria
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Grafted from the town of Tayug, Sta. Maria has quite a number of faith healers flocked by those who seek to be eased off their discomforts. This town, with its pristine beauty, provides a sofa for the senses.

Sto. Tomas

With well-trimmed agoho trees, shrubs and bushes lining its streetsides, Sto. Tomas, monickered the "cutest town" in Pangasinan.Looks like a dainty girl on her birthday.

Sison
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Baguio-bound travellers make their entrances and exits and stopovers in this gateway to the City of Pines. Its 'covenant' with cultural minorities, extensive barangay beautification program and industrialization efforts are paving the way for its modernization. Residents of this town get away from it all in Mountain bato, a compsite and Antong Creek, a picnickers' destination.

Sual
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The zigzagging way up Sualsalito and the panoramic view of Sual from up there are reasons enough to visit this boom town in the making. The historic Aguinaldo debarkation point is another count in too the alluring Cabalitian Island beach resort.

Tayug
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The premier town in the northeastern part of the province, it figured prominently in Philippine history, having served as the site of the Colorum uprishing let by Pedro Calosa, an incident immortalized by novelist Kerima Polotan-Tuvera.

Umingan
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A farming town, Umingan came into existence after its natives, harrassed no end by bandits, fought back, putting an end to banditry ("inmingan") and started living a peaceful life.

Urbiztondo

The "corn and cacao basket of Pangasinan", Urbiztondo stands as a symbol of man's will to survive, metamorphosing from a sleepy town to a hive in a matter of years.

Urdaneta City
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The top city in the entire Region 1 in terms of income. Next to Dagupan City, it is most alive business-wise, what with its share of banking institutions, multi-national firms, market complexes, entertainment row and cattle trading center, the largest north of Manila.

Villasis
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Hemmed in between two bustling areas, Urdaneta City and Carmen, Villasis is one of the fastest developing town in the province. Considered as a "Vegetable Basket", it also thrives on its rice, corn and tobacco plantations. Its hilly barangays situated along the Malasiqui boundary is a perfect place for resort developers and agri-businessmen.

The Statistics

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Sources:
2007 Census (http://www.census.gov.ph/data/sectordata/2007/region%201.pdf)
2006 City Audit Reports (http://www.coa.gov.ph/Reports/RFP/2006FP-ProvCities.pdf)
2006 Municipality Audit Reports (http://www.coa.gov.ph/Reports/RFP/2006FP-Municipalities.pdf)
City, Municipal & Provincial Websites

Compiled by Tracymack

garzland

June 1st, 2008, 10:34 AM

Pangasinan Provincial Capitol

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garzland

June 1st, 2008, 10:35 AM

Hundred Islands National Park

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Igsuonnimo

June 1st, 2008, 01:17 PM

Gawad Kalinga, magtatayo ng 100-bahay sa Alaminos

Nagsanib ng pwersa ang Alaminos at Gawad Kalinga upang magtayo ng first-class eco-village para magtayo ng mahigit na 100 tirahan para sa mga mangingisda sa pampang ng Bolo beach sa Barangay Pandan, Alaminos, Pangasinan.

Inanunsyo ni Mayor Hernani Braganza ang pakikipagpareha sa GK Community Development Foundation Inc., sa katatapos na lagdaan ng memorandum of agreement sa pagitan ng GK Founder na si Antonio Meloto.

Ang okasyon ay sinaksihan ni Chairman Bayani Fernando ng Metro Manila Development Authority; Joel Santos, president of Entrepreneurial School of Asia at mga kinatawan ng United Architects of the Philippines-Dagupan City Chapter.

Sinabi pa ni Braganza na ang lungsod at GK ay ibubuhos lahat ang kanilang resources at kapasidad na ipatupad and joint housing and community project para sa mga mangingisda sa Barangay Pandan.

Idinagdag pa ni Branganza na ang GK ay magtatayo ng GK-Kapitbahayan livelihood program sa lugar at tiyakin ang basic services kagaya ng edukasyon, kalusugan.

Tutukuyin din ng pamahalaang lungsod ang walang tirahang mga constituents na naninirahan sa shorelines at pampublikong lupain upang mapasama sa low-cost housing program.

"In partnership with Gawad Kalinga, this ardent dream will soon be realized," giit pa ni Mayor Braganza.

Pinapurihan rin ni Mayor Braganza si Vice Mayor Teofilo Humilde sa kanyang suporta sa proyekto.

Mula sa Abante-Tonite, Mayo 27,2008 pahina 9

tracymack

June 1st, 2008, 03:38 PM

Yahoo! Thread 2 na!!! :banana:

Will post some pics & updates of my hometown, Urdaneta City, later.

Thanks for starting thread 2 Garzland!

garzland

June 1st, 2008, 03:50 PM

^^Welcome, Tracymack! I'm glad you're gonna post pictures. I wish it would be too soon.:)

tracymack

June 1st, 2008, 04:07 PM

^^Hahaha. Medyo busy sa work eh. Intel (Numonyx) is such a slave driver of a company. :lol:

When I share pics, I really take time to edit & organize them in my post complete with captions that is why it takes me a while before I post updates even though I already have the pics.

Thanks for your interest in our province Garzland. Keep visiting our thread for updates & pics. :)

garzland

June 1st, 2008, 04:56 PM

^^Okay, Tracymack I will keep visiting and contributing on this thread. Actually, Hundred Islands gave me the interest to visit this thread. It was few months ago when we planned to visit the place but unfortunately it never happened because of some uncontrollable circumstances. From then on, I have kept on visiting this thread.

tracymack

June 2nd, 2008, 01:59 AM

[stats] 4 Cities & 44 Municipalities of Pangasinan

Kindly refer to the first post for the stats.. :)

allan_dude

June 2nd, 2008, 02:27 AM

Thanks for the initiative garzland!

Ilang araw lang ako hindi nakabalik sa forum, may pangalawang thread na pala! Ang dami ko rin pala na post sa thread na to! :lol:

Pano na yung planned Travel & Leisure thread natin tracymack? Ty? Nabagyo tayo, mukhang wala ata tayo masyado magandang mapapakita. Mauurong grand launch natin. :lol: Wala ng surprise.

Tapos sa thread na to, lalagyan pa ba natin to ng slogan? Pano na yung thread starter natin? General thread uli ito?

pi_malejana

June 2nd, 2008, 04:23 AM

thread 2 na..!!:banana: :cheers:

Nabartek

June 2nd, 2008, 07:45 AM

Someone heard our request, finally. Hehehe

garzland

June 2nd, 2008, 11:39 AM

allan_dude

June 3rd, 2008, 02:12 AM

^^ Dapat may consensus.. sana may participation lahat. pagusapan natin:)

allan_dude

June 3rd, 2008, 02:37 AM

June 2, 2008
RP triathletes dominate Dagupan City triathlon

TWO national triathletes from Pangasinan strutted their wares prominently and lived up to their reputation with much to spare to dominate the First Dagupan Triathlon Championship held May 25.

Asingan native Jefferson Valdez ruled the individual competition that started in San Fabian and finished in Dagupan City to pocket the P5,000 top prize. He clocked the 750-meter swim, 27-kilometer bike event and the five-kilometer foot race in one hour, six minutes and 11:19 seconds.

Antonio Ventura came in second at seven minutes and 40 seconds behind Valdez and received P3,000 while Albert Calvero landed third at 11 minutes off the pace to bag P2,000. The three also received trophy apiece.

In the team category, the trio of RP triathlete Rovino Javier of Villasis, Baler Ravina and Bryan Sumait emerged as the champions clocking the distance in one hour, one minute and 43:28 seconds to win the P8,000 top prize.

The Pitaki Boyz of Jazy Sports Wear composed of 2008 Tour of Pangasinan champion Merculio Ramos Jr., Joe Maramba and Ariel Florescame in second at one minute 10:22 seconds adrift to net P5,000 while the ‘tres amigos’ Benigno Molina, Sherwin Carrera and Bernard Biasura of the Pangasinan squad finished third, 32 minutes and two seconds behind to earn P3,000.

The event, sponsored by Coca-Cola Bottlers Philippines and the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company, was organized by the PNP Provincial Office led by provincial director Attorney/Senior Superintendent Isagani Nerez and the University of Pangasinan Sports Fe-deration under the leadership of Mark Anthony Baliton.— JAGJr

http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/2008/06/02/rp-triathletes-dominate-dagupan-city-triathlon/

allan_dude

June 3rd, 2008, 02:54 AM

Makati mayor brings relief goods for typhoon victims

BINMALEY–Sans any fanfare and politics, Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay arrived here on Friday to distribute P100,000 worth of relief goods to Binmaley and 19 other towns and cities badly hit by super Typhoon Cosme.

Binay, a personal friend of Binmaley Mayor Simplicio Rosario, said he responded to the request for immediate assistance by the mayors of 18 towns and two cities whose constituents badly need help following the damages wrought by the typhoon.

Makati is a sister city of Binmaley per a memorandum of agreement signed two years ago at the Makati City Hall between Mayors Binay and Rosario.

The Makati mayor said Rosario is really close to him and Mayor Mojamito Libunao of San Fabian is his ‘brod’ in the Alpha Phi Omega (APO) fraternity at the University of the Philippines.

Rosario said he is grateful for the prompt response of Binmaley’s sister city and said that his town is sharing its blessings with others towns and cities in Pangasinan hit hard by the calamity.

The relief goods were received by the mayors of Calasiao, Infanta, Dasol, Burgos, Sual, Labrador, Bugallon, Lingayen, San Fabian, Aguilar, Sta. Barbara, Mabini, Agno, Bani, Manaoag, Malasiqui, San Carlos City, Basista, Urbiztondo and Binmaley.

Binay’s help will not be the first and the last as Rosario also vowed to seek the help of big corporations based in Makati to help and send their donations to the beleaguered citizens of Pangasinan.#

RELIEF GOODS POUR IN

LINGAYEN-As the province reels from the immense damage caused by Typhoon Cosme, help in the form of relief goods have been pouring in from various sectors.

Bottled-water from Senate President Manuel Villar was distributed to residents of Barangay Aliwekwek, a southern barangay in the capital town which was one of the areas greatly affected by the natural calamity.

The staff of Villar was joined by barangay officials led by chairman David Lomibao and town officials led by municipal administrator Polly Baltazar in distributing the bottles.

Lomibao thanked Villar for the prompt assistance.

In Dagupan, businessman Joey de Venecia III distributed relief goods on May 25 to residents of seven of the hardest-hit barangays, namely barangays Bonuan Binloc, Bonuan Boquig, Bonuan Gueset, Pantal, Lasip grande, Pogo Grande, and Mayombo.

He also lauded the bayanihan spirit among Dagupeños as entire communities volunteered to help neighbors and others whose homes were wrecked by floods and strong winds.

De Venecia said that he will ask his friends in the Makati and international business communities to donate more relief goods and assist in the rehabilitation of the Cosme-damaged areas.–CRS

http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/2008/06/02/makati-mayor-brings-relief-goods-for-typhoon-victims/

allan_dude

June 3rd, 2008, 02:55 AM

Many barangays in central Pangasinan still unlighted

SAN CARLOS CITY–Still in the dark.

More than two weeks after typhoon Cosme hit the province, about 70 to 80 percent of the affected areas in central and western Pangasinan are still without electricity.

The Central Pangasinan Electric Corporation (Cenpelco), sole distributor of electricity in the central part of the province, said it will take some time to restore electricity in its service areas as 75 to 80 percent of its distribution system was damaged by the typhoon.

The total damages in 14 towns and one city being serviced by Cenpelco is estimated at P60 million with 1,300 electric posts, some 500 of which are serving primary lines, toppled by ‘Cosme’.

The felled posts and cut power lines are now being restored by a task force formed by Cenpelco in partnership with various electric cooperatives deployed in the area bythe National Electrification Administration (NEA).Cenpelco said on Thursday that it managed to restore electricity in poblacion areas of all affected towns, including San Carlos City, after restoring all its backbone lines.

Josefina Mandapat, Cenpelco general manager, said mopping up operations are being conducted in all lateral lines to restore electricity in some 500 affected barangays.

She said the backbone lines located in the poblacion areas will radiate to the lateral lines to light up the barangays.

However, priority is given to the less damaged areas since these are easier to restore.

Mandapat admitted that considering the magnitude of destruction, additional funds would be needed to finance the full restoration program. She said Cenpelco’s board of directors held an emergency meeting and passed a resolution asking NEA to provide subsidy or even a calamity loan to enable the cooperative to finish its restoration works.

Cenpelco is keeping pace with the restoration works being undertaken by the National Transmission Commission (TransCo) in central Pangasinan.

Meanwhile, Dagupan Electric Corporation (Decorp) already restored electricity in most parts of the city, except some parts in the Bonuan district and the island barangays.

Only the poblacion areas and a few barangays have so far been energized in all the service areas of Decorp, like in San Fabian, San Jacinto, Manaoag, Sta. Barbara and Calasiao as of last Friday.—LM

http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/2008/06/02/many-barangays-in-central-pangasinan-still-unlighted/

allan_dude

June 3rd, 2008, 03:15 AM

Gov. Espino tells mayors: ‘Let us be self-reliant’

NATIONAL GOV’T HELP NOT FORTHCOMING

LINGAYEN-Sariling sikap.

Governor Amado Espino Jr. called on local officials to adopt this motto in the difficult rehabilitation task ahead of the province following the massive damage wrought by Typhoon Cosme.

In a meeting with mayors on May 25, Espino told city and municipal leaders that help from the national government is not immediately forthcoming despite the visit of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on May 23 wherein she promised assistance in the form of P500 million worth of roofing materials to be shared by Pangasinan, Zambales and La Union.

“We will fend for ourselves and we have to rely on our own calamity fund,” Espino told the mayors.

Espino called on mayors to spearhead the rehabilitation in their respective areas, using their respective calamity funds to provide the immediate needs of their constituents.

This means that each one will dig deep in their respective reserves to will alleviate the difficult situations that their constituents are in.

Espino himself was instructed by Mrs. Arroyo to use the province’s calamity fund of P65 million first before the national government will come in.

“How I wish we could give you all the P65 million calamity fund of the province but we also have to prioritize many things,” he said.

At the top of his priority list is the reconstruction of damaged school buildings.

Records show there were 605 classrooms totally damaged and 1,726 partially damaged all over the province.

Espino said since the opening of school is already on June 10, the re-building of the partially damaged classrooms will be done first so these can be immediately used.

Espino urged the local executives to adopt the Brigada Eskwela (School Brigade) concept by engaging various sectors in their respective communities to pool their resources and help rehabilitate their schools.

The mayors vowed to take initiatives and work together in rehabilitating their respective areas but fourth class municipalities with only a P2 million yearly calamity fund expressed doubts that they can do much without financial assistance from the national government.

Mayor RupertoMartinez of Infanta reported to the capitol that 95 percent of all standing houses and school buildings in his towns were damaged and rebuilding them will cost millions of pesos.

The same situation was reported in adjacent Dasol.

The governor lamented that the galvanized iron sheets pledged by Arroyo still had not arrived with less than two weeks before the opening of classes on June 10.

The Pangasinan chief executive’s request for postponement of classes in all typhoon-affected areas of Pangasinan, specifically in Districts 1,2,3 and 4, has yet to be acted upon by Malacañang or the Department of Education.

Some of the municipal mayors have already placed their respective towns under a state of calamity and have already released part of their calamity funds for rehabilitating damaged school buildings and are still raising donations from businessmen and affluent residents to be spent for relief goods for affected families. —LM

INFANTA MAYOR APPEALS FOR HELP

INFANTA-With 95 percent of the households and schools almost totally damaged by Typhoon ‘Cosme’, municipal officials believe it would take a miracle to get the town back on its feet soon with a measly P2 million as calamity fund.

This prompted Mayor Ruperto Martinez to send out an SOS to the President and “anyone” to help rebuild the town.

“Madam President, please help our town,” Martinez pleaded even as Governor Amado Espino Jr. has made it clear to local leaders that no help is immediately forthcoming from the national government notwithstanding a promised assistance announced by President Gloria Arroyo when she visited the province last May 23.

“Ako ay nakikiusap, nagmamakaawa, na sana’y tulungan nyo kami na mag-restore. I am appealing for help to anyone,” the mayor added.

This fourth class coastal town with 13 barangays registered four deaths and 19 injuries in the aftermath of the typhoon. Its 24,000 population depend largely on farming and fishing for their livelihood.

Century-old acacia trees were also uprooted and the town hall has also been damaged.

“I really don’t know how (we can reconstruct). It’s as if our town suffered from a war,” Martinez said.

He added that his administration could not spend the entire P2 million calamity appropriated for the whole year considering that about 20 more typhoons are expected to hit the country within the year.

“If you could only see our town, it’s really pathetic,” he said.

http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/2008/06/02/gov-espino-tells-mayors-let-us-be-self-reliant/

tracymack

June 3rd, 2008, 06:56 AM

Welcome, allan! What suggestion pwede nyo mailagay para maedit natin.

^^ Dapat may consensus.. sana may participation lahat. pagusapan natin:)

A provincial profile on the first post would be good. Profiles for the 4 cities would also be nice (I'll take care of Urdaneta :)). As for each municipality, maybe each forumer may post a profile of his/her hometown. 44 municipal profiles is a lot. :D

barrera_marquez

June 3rd, 2008, 09:03 AM

Attention Pangasinense Forumers!

If you love the Philippines, use this as your avatar for the whole month of June or for as long as you want:

http://img123.imageshack.us/img123/3863/3dflagsphl00010002awu7.gif

Message from Kuya Sinjin P.

garzland

June 5th, 2008, 03:37 AM

Only 66.9% of Dagupan energized yet (http://positivenewsmedia.net/am2/publish/Cities_And_Towns_23/Only_66_9_of_Dagupan_energized_yet.shtml)

DAGUPAN CITY, June 5 (PNA) - The Dagupan Electric Corporation (Decorp) has restored electricity to 66.9 percent of its subscribers throughout Dagupan as of 10 a.m. on Tuesday.

Augusto Sarmiento, Decorp's operations manager, said there are now roughly 20,000 homes that are now being served with electricity exactly 16 days after the onslaught of typhoon "Cosme".

Dagupan was plunged in total darkness for several days since after typhoon "Cosme" struck. Decorp has 29,422 subscribers all over Dagupan.

Sarmiento reported the progress of Decorp's restoration work when called on Tuesday by the city council led by Vice Mayor Belen Fernandez.

He said the remaining 33.1 percent of the areas in Dagupan City still without electricity will be lighted up till the next two weeks as mopping up operations are going on in several typhoon-affected areas.

Queried by councilor Jose Netu Tamayo, Sarmiento said Decorp is within schedule in restoring electricity in Dagupan and all its other service areas in Pangasinan.

He added that Decorp is maintaining its promise to bring back electricity in the whole of Dagupan within 30 days after the typhoon lashed out in the city.

Decorp was praised by the SP for the speed by which it is restoring power in Dagupan City after its electric lines and posts were severely damaged by the typhoon.

Sarmiento said since after the typhoon, their linemen and engineers were working a minimum of 14 hours a day just to clear all the damaged facilities and restore power.

He said in restoring the damaged lines and facilities, they received assistance from members of the Philippine Electric Plant Owners Association (PEPOA) from various parts of Luzon.

When they learned that Decorp suffered much from typhoon "Cosme", PEPOA members volunteered to help in order to restore electricity in Decorp's service areas the shortest time possible.

Among those who sent men, trucks and equipment to Dagupan were the Manila Electric Company, and electric companies from Cabanatuan, Clark in Angeles City; San Fernando, Pampanga; and San Fernando, La Union.
The city council vowed to pass a resolution conveying the sincerest thanks of the city to officials and men of these electric companies, as well as the individual linemen and engineers of Decorp for restoring power in Dagupan the shortest time possible. (PNA)

garzland

June 5th, 2008, 03:38 AM

A provincial profile on the first post would be good. Profiles for the 4 cities would also be nice (I'll take care of Urdaneta :)). As for each municipality, maybe each forumer may post a profile of his/her hometown. 44 municipal profiles is a lot. :D

I'll try if i have the time, folks.

tracymack

June 5th, 2008, 03:55 AM

^^Thanks but you don't have to do it yourself, Garzland. Pangasinan forumers can do it and then just send you the stuff that needs to be added to the first post. I know the Bicol threads are & should be your priority. :)

tracymack

June 6th, 2008, 06:46 AM

Attention Garzland,

Kindly quote this post and replace the first post with this one. I'll try to update it as much as I can especially the missing municipal seals.

I tried to send you this via PM but apparently it's too large. :lol:

I'll delete this post once you've updated the intro.

Thanks!

Pangasinan Forumers,

I need your inputs on how we can improve on this. Kindly share copies of the missing municipal seals in case you have them.

Thanks!

**Refer to 1st post of this thread..

capricorn2000

June 6th, 2008, 09:02 AM

That is a good introduction/profile of our province @ tracymack.

However, I would like to make a comment/reaction on your 2nd sentence under the caption "people and culture". To wit "There is a strong perception that the province is basically of Ilocano stock, but aside from the fact that Iloko is more widely spoken than "Pangasinan", the defining characteristics end there."

I want to ask you where did you get this strong perception that the province is of Ilocano stock? If you know the pangasinan language, you would know the great difference with the Ilokano language. Secondly, there are more pangasinan speaking pangasinense than Ilokano speaking pangasinense. You would have to accept the fact that Ilokanos now living in pangasinan migrated from the ilocos provinces. To give you an example is this that according to my nanay who is now 84 years old,, when she was still young, ilocanos specially from vigan came to dagupan to trade by way of the sea using sailboats called paraw until finally most of them settled down in the city,But as to the other ilocanos in your area and in western part, i don't have any hard evidence how they migrated but i assume most probably by land.
Your second sentence I perceive is a misrepresentation so I suggest you qualify it or delete it.
Another thing is, Dagupan was never been a part of San Carlos (Binalatongan then). Before the spanish came, it was true that San Carlos had exersized authority over smaller towns/communities and there was not mention that Dagupan (Bacnotan then) was one of them. Also, Andres Malong was a chieftain from Binalatongan who revolted against the Spanish colonial government due to the latter's imposition of forced labor and mandatory sale of local goods.He sent about 3000 supporters mostly Zambal tribesmen to fight the Spaniards. The people of Bacnotan, many of whom joined the Spanish in repelling the Zambal marauders, rebuilt the town and renamed it Nandaragupan, meaning where once stood the commercial center, indicating its early importance as a trade, commercial and political center in the region. In 1720, Nandaragupan was chartered as a town but its name was simplified to Dagupan.

By the way, the incumbent mayor is Alipio Fernandez Jr. and the vice mayor is Belen Fernandez (no blood relation whatsoever)

garzland

June 6th, 2008, 09:02 AM

^^It looks better if not quoted so I didn't. Anyway, your name is written at the end of it.

tracymack

June 6th, 2008, 02:05 PM

Thank You Garzland!

tracymack

June 6th, 2008, 02:09 PM

capricorn2000

June 6th, 2008, 03:49 PM

^^
thanks for the response. I will contact the pangasinan provincial government regarding this. ciao.

garzland

June 6th, 2008, 04:36 PM

Thank You Garzland!

Welcome, Tracymack!

tracymack

June 10th, 2008, 01:34 AM

MOA for IPPs’ tax payments

LINGAYEN—A memorandum of agreement was signed on Friday by Governor Amado Espino Jr. with representatives of two Independent Power Producers (IPPs) operating in Pangasinan regarding their tax payments due the province.

Espino signed the MOA with officials of the Sual Power Corporation (SPC) and San Roque Power Corporation (SRPC) concerning the tax obligations of the two IPPs for the period January 1, 2008 to December 31, 2008.

The agreement states that SRPC and SPC shall release to the provincial government within 10 days from receipt of a resolution concerning a case they filed before the Central Board of Assessment Appeals (CBAA) the amount of P11, 142,693.20 and P71, 325,116.00, respectively representing conditional payment of Real Property Tax (RPT).

The pending case revolves around the issue on the taxability of the machineries of the SPC and SRPC and the latter’s dam facilities.

The MOA states that conditional payments made by the two IPPs pending resolution of the case before the CBAA shall be credited or set-off in payment of any taxes in the event that the court rules that machineries and facilities of both corporations are non-taxable.

The MOA was signed by SRPC president Ryukichi Kawaguchi, Sual Power Corp. president Federico Puno, SRPC vice pres. Tommy Valdez, Mayor Rodney Arcinue of Sual, Barangay chairman Dionisio Caburao of Pangascasan, Sual and provincial administrator Rafael F. Baraan.- LM

http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/2008/06/09/moa-for-ipps’-tax-payments/

Mayor Al seeks two-year moratorium from LandBank

DUE to the massive destruction of public properties in Dagupan, City Mayor Al Fernandez Jr. has already pleaded to the LandBank of the Philippines for a two-year moratorium on the payment of the city government’s outstanding loan.

Pending receipt of the authorization from the city council, Mayor Alipio Fernandez Jr. said he already relayed the request to LandBank board director Albert Balingit and another top ranking official of the government-owned bank.

“I met with LBP Board Director Balingit who was accompanied by a bank regional director, to discuss the city’s dilemma” Fernandez said.

The city government sets aside P70 million in its annual budget for debt servicing to LandBank to pay off the city’s P365 million loan secured by the Lim administration.

The city government borrowed money twice from the LandBank, the first was for the construction of the Malimgas Public Market, and another for the purchase of a dredging machine.

The amortization of the loan is automatically deducted from the entire Internal Revenue Allotment of Dagupan each year under a system called “IRA intercept”.

He said a two-year moratorium will enable the city government to cover costs for the immediate restoration of facilities that were damaged by the howlers.

Among those damaged, he said, were government offices and buildings, the city’s traffic lights and streetlights.

The city could not proceed to repair the damaged structures and facilities since there is no appropriation provided for these in the 2008 annual budget.

However, he said it is up to the city council, headed by Vice Mayor Belen Fernandez, to decide on whether the city should seek moratorium on the payment of the principal or interest or both for a period of two years.—LM

http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/2008/06/09/mayor-al-seeks-two-year-moratorium-from-landbank/

tracymack

June 10th, 2008, 01:45 AM

Only 50% of Cenpelco customers have electricity

SAN CARLOS CITY—Residents of more than 50 percent of the barangays being served by the Central Pangasinan Electric Cooperative (Cenpelcpo) are still groping in the dark 20 days after Typhoon ‘Cosme’.

Of the 429 barangays whose electric lines were cut off or damaged by the typhoon, only 201 barangays have been energized as of last week, according to the restoration report of Cenpelco.

Damage was reported heavy in all the towns served by Cenpelco, except in Bayambang, Bautista and Basista which were relatively spared by the typhoon and whose powers were quickly restored.

Still to be energized are 58 baranagays of San Carlos City, 12 in Urbiztondo, 8 in Mangaldan, 28 in Lingayen, 2 in Binmaley, 30 in Malasiqui, 7 in Aguilar, 30 in Mangatarem, 1 Labrador and 1 in Sual.

Of the 33 barangays of Lingayen, electricity has been restored only in five barangays.

Cenpelco, the biggest electric cooperative in the country, serves a total of 558 barangays in 14 towns and one city.

Sandra Frias, institutional development manager of Cenpelco, said the cooperative, with the help of a task force from other electric cooperatives in Luzon, was already able to restore its 777 backbone posts that carry primary lines that were toppled down or damaged by the typhoon.

Frias said 669 posts serving lateral lines, all located in the barangays, have been toppled or damaged by the typhoon

She appealed to member consumers for more patience as they seek to restore power in all the barangays with the help of a task force from other electric cooperatives and private contractors.—LM

http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/2008/06/09/only-50-of-cenpelco-customers-have-electricity/

JdV renews vow to pursue his moral revolution

At the right time and at the right place.

This was the latest vow made by former House Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. amidst growing calls and criticisms on his seeming reluctance to testify on the shelved ZTE-NBN deal and corruption in general despite his repeated pronouncements for a moral revolution in government.

“At the proper time and at the proper forum soon, I shall testify willingly on what I know of the ZTE scandal and other instances of corruption in government,” said De Venecia.

The 4th District representative underscored the need to focus his attention at this time on helping the province in its rehabilitation efforts in the aftermath of Typhoon Cosme.

He also cited his health condition for postponing his testimony.

“Give me a few more weeks. I have to be healthy because when I testify in the Senate it would be a protracted conflict, it will be a long drawn out battle,” said De Venecia who was hospitalized in Doha, Qatar following a series of speaking engagements in different countries.

“When I go there, I do not want to appear there for only one hour or two hours. Maybe, I will appear there about 10 hours. Maybe I will appear there for several weeks, bakbakan ito eh,” he said.

Further, De Venecia said he does not wish to add to the problems currently facing the government as well as trigger a political crisis which may prompt the Arroyo administration to declare martial law.

“Already the nation and our people are suffering. Unfortunately, it looks like things will get much worse before they get better,” he said.

De Venecia nonetheless reaffirmed his commitment to the public’s search for truth and that he is ready to face the political consequences of his testimony.

“They will try to hurt me. They will try to destroy me but I am willing to face all these odds because we have to, in our search for truth, to tell the truth to our people”.

http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/2008/06/09/jdv-to-pursue-his-moral-revolution/

Dagupan back on its feet sans Bonuan bangus

FROM all appearances, the city of Dagupan is now back on its feet and business goes on as usual with one exception, there is no trace of Dagupan bangus in the market.

According to City Mayor Alipio Fernandez Jr., business activities are proceeding normally in spite of the reported heavy toll on properties in the aftermath of Typhoon ‘Cosme’.

But the bangus industry, the city’s primary product, will take more time to recover.

“The Dagupan bangus industry s practically decimated due to premature harvesting by all fishpond, fish pen and cage owners at the height of the typhoon, Dagupenos will have to wait for at least four more months more before they get a bite of the tasty Bonuan bangus,” said Fernandez.

The typhoon totally wiped out 900 units of fish pens and while 100 other units were partially damaged, resulting in a total loss of 3.870 tons of milkfish.

“There will not be enough Bonuan bangus even for local consumption till after 120 days,” the mayor said.

The bangus being sold in the city are sourced from the bangus producers in western Pangasinan.

Fortunately for the city, the construction of the proposed P100 million sea foods processing plant to be funded by a grant from the Korean government will only start this month and will proceed as scheduled.

Power supply

Meanwhile, electricity in the city has been restored in more than 80 percent of Dagupan the Dagupan Electric Corporation (Decorp).

Per Decorp’s work plan, electricity in the remaining 20 percent of the city will be restored this week.

Delivery of power in Dagupan started when the power station of the National Transmission Commission (Transco) in Labrador town started delivering power to the Decorp 3 days after ‘Cosme’ left.

He said although life is now getting back to normal after close to two weeks of dark nights, the city government will still have to seek more interventions in order to alleviate the difficult living conditions in many households in the city.

Some 3,349 houses that were totally damaged and 15,034 others partially damaged.

The training acquired by barangay officials under Project PROMISE, a United States Agency for International Development-sponsored project, helped a lot in saving lives and properties, the mayor said. —LM

http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/2008/06/09/dagupan-back-on-its-feet-but-still-no-bonuan-bangus/

Tornado hits Lingayen, affects Dagupan

LINGAYEN–arely recovering from the devastation of Typhoon Cosme on May 17, parts of the province were again hit by a natural disaster on June 4.

The capital town bore the brunt of what is believed to be an “ipo-ipo” tornado that knocked down five electric posts of the National Transmission Corp (TransCo), destroyed six houses and the elementary school in Barangay Quibaol.

The local office of the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services in Dagupan City has yet to confirm whether “ipo-ipo” was indeed a tornado.

“It rained, then suddenly there was strong wind, and the next thing we learned was some houses were destroyed and electric posts uprooted”, said Councilor Gilbert Mangapot.

“Malaking-malaking pagsubok ito sa amin.Grabe,” Mayor Ernesto Castañeda Jr. said in an interview with The PUNCH.

“Ngalngalin agak la manisia,” he added.

Some 15 new G.I. sheets recently installed on the heavily damaged roof of the Quibaol Elementary School destroyed by Typhoon Cosme, were blown away.

No one was reported hurt by the tornado.

Cheryl de Guzman, a teacher from the school, also said textbooks that they managed to salvage from Cosme’s fury had been rained on again.

“Kapapatuyo pa lang namin ng mga natirang libro, nabasa ulit dahil sa ipo-ipo,” De Guzman lamented.

Meanwhile, Engr. Gerry Torres, TransCo branch manager in the Labrador sub-station, told The PUNCH in a separate interview, that power supply was again cut off not just in Lingayen but also in the towns of Binmaley, Urbiztondo, Sta. Barbara, Calasiao and Malasiqui as well as the cities of Dagupan and San Carlos as a result of the toppled electric posts.

“Yong hindi nabuwal ni Cosme, binuwal naman ng tornado,” Torres said.

Power has since been restored in the affected areas.

In another disaster, this time man-made, the Boy Scouts of the Philippines building along Maramba Boulevard in Lingayen was gutted by fire also on Wednesday morning.#

Tornado spawns
Dagupan’s blackout

A 10-hour blackout, triggered by the tornado in Lingayen, hit Dagupan City Wednesday afternoon until dawn the following day, plunging all areas already energized by the Dagupan Electric Corporation in pitch darkness, again.

The tornado also ripped the newly repaired roof of the Quibaol Elementary School and three houses beside the school.

An initial report from the National Transmission Commission (TransCo) said four electric poles in barangay Quibaol were toppled by the twister that swirled in the area for 10 to 15 seconds.

The electric poles toppled by the tornado carried TransCo’s transmission lines from Cadampat, Labrador to the sub-station of Dagupan Electric Corporation (Decorp) in Calasiao. But the incident also affected the lines going to the Central Pangasinan Electric Cooperative.

Electricity in Dagupan’s downtown area was restored an hour later after Decorp was fed power from TransCo’s sub-grid in San Manuel.

A report from Decorp said that since power supply from San Manuel was very limited, it had to resort to load shedding.

This led to scheduling of power outage every two hours in many parts of the city until power supply normalized at 4:30 a.m. of Thursday when the repair of the damaged transmission lines in Quibaol, Lingayen was completed. — LM

http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/2008/06/09/tornado-hits-lingayen-affects-dagupan/

City schools OK for opening

All public schools in Dagupan, save for two, are ready to open and start classes on June 10.

According to Dr. Aurora Domingo, the city’s schools division superintendent, only East Central Elementary School and Pantal Elementary School, which are still undergoing major repairs of the damage suffered from Typhoon ‘Cosme’, will postpone the opening of classes to June 16.

The city has 33 public elementary schools and five public high schools ready to accept 19,000 pupils and more than 9,000 students respectively.

Domingo, in an interview with The PUNCH, said the school gymnasiums in the two heavily damaged schools collapsed and the premises have not been fully cleared of the debris that could cause injury tothe students.

The two schools also perennially experience flooding especially during high tide, so work on elevation is part of the rehabilitation of the schools’ premises.

She said the ‘Brigada Eskwela’ program, collaboration among community folks and teachers to prepare school rooms in time for the school opening, contributed immensely to the immediate repair of classrooms.

Domingo said initial assessment of total damages to the schools reached more than P42 million.

DepEd has so far released P10 million for repairs of damaged structures. Another P10milllion is forthcoming, she added.

Meanwhile, 90 police men and women will be deployed in all schools on June 10 to ensure the safety of school children.

P/Supt. Dionicio Borromeo, the city police chief, said the deployment is part of the Oplan BalikPaaralan/Balik Eskwela 2008.

“The students/pupils, visitors, traders as well as shoppers make easy targets for notorious snatchers riding motorcycles in tandem,” Borromeo said.

The city police, he said, is prepared to handle problems involving the ‘budol-budol’ gang, bullying, frat wars, clearing of side walk vendors and suspected drug peddlers around school premises.

http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/2008/06/09/dagupan-schools-ready-to-open/

GMA delivers promised G.I. sheets for victims

BUGALLON–Chided for not bringing anything when she first came around, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo returned to Pangasinan on Wednesday to fulfill her promise to help rehabilitate and reconstruct the province in the aftermath of Typhoon Cosme.

Accompanied by three of her cabinet members, Arroyo was quick to dispel earlier impressions that she was quick on promises but slow on delivery when Public Works and Highways Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane reported that a big chunk of the P500 million worth of galvanized iron sheets she promised to the typhoon victims were already underway.

Ebdane, to whom the National Disaster Coordinating Council entrusted the P500 million, said the DPWH made an initial purchase of 6,400 G.I sheets and 4,800 of these were already delivered to Pangasinan.

Governor Amado Espino Jr. who earlier rallied mayors to start rehabilitation without having to rely on the promise of the President was visibly happy and relieved. He shared the mayor’s earlier disappointment in the President for failing to promptly deliver on her promise.

Espino reported to the President that at the initiative of the provincial government, P200,000 was given to each of the 24 towns and two cities damaged by the typhoon for their immediate use for reconstruction and rehabilitation work.

The other cabinet secretaries who arrived with the President were Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro, National Disaster Coordination chairman and Health Secretary Francisco Duque III

Arroyo instructed Ebdane to ensure that P50,000 worth of GI sheets will be delivered to Pangasinan each week for 10 weeks until all the G.I. sheets were all delivered even as she directed Espino that more than 29,000 Pangasinenses who lost their homes totally from Typhoon Cosme should be made the first beneficiaries of the free G.I. sheets.

The rest of the G.I. sheets are for damaged schools.

However, the G.I. sheets may have come a bit too late because most of those whose houses were totally damaged by the howlers have now reconstructed their homes to shed them from the rains.

Traders made it harder for the typhoon victims when they increased the prices of G.I sheets and other construction materials soon after the typhoon.

In order to ensure efficient distribution of the free G.I. sheets to qualified beneficiaries, the regional directors of the Department of Social Welfare and Department of Public Works and Highways in coordination with the Regional Disaster Coordinating Council set up new guidelines for the distribution of the GI. sheets to local executives.

The LGUs are expected to provide the other construction materials, like wood, nails and others.

The President is also set to release P11 million from the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office for use in reconstructing nine government hospitals within Pangasinan.

The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation earlier remitted P25 million to the provincial government as additional outlay for the repair of damaged hospitals and the Narciso Ramos Sports and Civic Center.

Feeling abandoned earlier by Malacanang, some Pangasinan officials and mayors reportedly warmly welcomed the arrival of Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay and the staff of Senate President Manny Villar who were quick to send relief goods for distribution to their constituents.

The only mayors who turned up to join the welcome party for the President’s return were Ernesto Castañeda of Lingayen, Simplicio Rosario of Binmaley, Ricardo Orduna of Bugallon, Ernesto Acain of Labrador and Romulo Evangelista of Aguilar.

Board Member Alfonso Bince Jr. also passed a resolution granting Governor Espino the authority to negotiate with Land Bank of the Philippines for a possible loan of P6540 million to be used in the rehabilitation of the province on the premise that the help from the national government would not suffice.

The governor also reported that as of June 4, 50 percent of the typhoon affected areas in Pangasinan were already energized.

The President gave P10,000 each to the kin of four persons from Bugallon who died from the storm.

The Philippine Health Corporation donated P500,000 to the province and paid claims by different hospitals in Pangasinan in advance amounting to millions of pesos while the DOH brought medicines.—LM

Duque appeals
to politicians

Dr. Salvador Duque has appealed to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, former Speaker Jose de Venecia and all the leaders of Pangasinan “to close ranks and pool their efforts to rehabilitate the province of Pangasinan” which are still reeling from the onslaught of Typhoon Cosme that brought P4 billion worth of damages to the province.

“Super Typhoon Cosme has left 39 persons dead and billions worth of damages in infrastructure, private properties and agriculture and marine wealth, and it behooves upon our leaders whether in government or in the private sector to come to the rescue and aid of their provincemates,” said Duque, chancellor of the association of private schools, colleges and universities in Region I and former Regional Development Council chairman.

A staunch ally and supporter of the President and personal friend of De Venecia, Duque thanked the President for personally coming to Pangasinan to assure Pangasinan officials led by Governor Amado Espino Jr. and Mayor Alipio Fernandez that the province will have top priority in the government’s rehabilitation and relief efforts.

http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/2008/06/09/gma-delivers-promised-gi-sheets-for-victims/

tracymack

June 10th, 2008, 01:48 AM

City zoning law set for amendments

THE city council is set to amend the zoning ordinance enacted by the past legislative body but was returned by the regional office of the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB) for revisions.

Vice Mayor Belen Fernandez, chair of the Sangguniang Panlungsod, and Vice councilors, namely Councilors Jose Netu Tamayo, Danilo Torio, Karlos Reyna, Farah Decano and Alfredo Quinto, agreed to introduce amendments to the zoning ordinance to make it more relevant to the present times.

City Planning and Development Coordinator Romeo Rosario said the HLRUB returned the ordinance with the recommendation that it should be revised to bring it in tune with the times.

The amended ordinance will be submitted anew for another review and approval by the HLRUB national office.

Once approved by the national office, the zoning ordinance shall become the official land use plan of the city of Dagupan, and will serve as the basis of all future land use and development.

“Amendment of the zoning law is necessary in view of emerging economic developments spawned recently by the opening of the new Dawel-Pantal-Lucao road,” said Vice Mayor Fernandez.

The new road connecting the new growth centers of Bonuan and Lucao is expected to impact on other growth centers in Caranglaan and Tebeng, she said.

Speaking before the city council on Tuesday, Rosario proposed several amendments that included the continued regulation of fishponds and their conversion into commercial areas to protect the bangus industry, the designation of commercial centers for tourism purposes.

Dagupan currently hosts the biggest number of shopping malls in the Ilocos Region.

Rosario also proposed that new buildings in the city must be required to provide for parking spaces for their customers, a space for tree planting, and recreation among others.

Signages and installation of billboards, according to Rosario, must also be required to conform with the specifications and standards prescribed by the Department of Public Works and Highways.

Tamayo hailed Rosario’s recommendation for the preservation of the city’s heritage sites, citing the loss the city suffered when Dagupeña Restaurant was demolished to give way to another shopping center.

According to the vice mayor, the building that housed the Dagupena Restaurant, built in the 1930s, had great historical value to the city, expressing hope that the other heritage sites will now be preserved.—LM

http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/2008/06/09/city-zoning-law-set-for-amendments/

Old couple gets new home

BUGALLON–Losing most everything they owned to Typhoon Cosme, Rodrigo and Corazon Ayap, both in their late 70s, could only hope for a miracle from God to survive.

And the miracle came. They were chosen as one of the beneficiaries of the government’s rehabilitation program for the ravaged province.

“Impeket ko lad Dios ya katawan ya kumun walay ontulong ed sikami,” said Corazon, 78, from Barangay Portic here.

She narrated to reporters how they had to sleep on a mat laid on sand inside a makeshift structure “not even fit for animals” after their house was totally wrecked by Cosme.

The couple, both jobless, also lost their plates, blankets and other personal belongings.

Corazon’s rib was also injured after she was hit by a tree branch while fleeing to safer ground at the height of the storm.

She said their eight children, all married, could not help them since they, too, live an impoverished life.

It was District Engineer Rodolfo Dion of the Second Pangasinan Engineering District who upon seeing the couple’s plight, immediately put them on the list of beneficiaries for home reconstruction.

Today, work for the Ayap’s new home is underway.

“Salamat. Nakalan ak la lawari na ilalo,” Corazon said.

http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/2008/06/09/old-couple-gets-new-home/

tracymack

June 10th, 2008, 01:52 AM

San Carlos asks DA for mango seedlings

SAN CARLOS CITY–This city, known as the province’s mango capital, has sought the assistance of the Department of Agriculture (DA) in reviving its mango industry following its massive devastation by Typhoon Cosme.

Mayor Julier Resuello said the city government has asked the DA for 50,000 grafted mango seedlings that the city’s producers can immediately replant to maintain the status of San Carlos as having the biggest mango output in Pangasinan.

Cosme’s damage to the province’s mango industry is estimated at P1.63 billion, mostly in this city, according to a report from the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist.

An estimated 2,000 fruit-bearing mango trees, or 98 of every 100, were either uprooted or toppled down by the typhoon.

About 70 of the 86 barangays here are mango producers.

Resuello pointed out it will take time before the producers fully recover as it takes about five years at the very least for mangoes to bear fruits.

Meanwhile, Resuello said the city’s bamboo industry was also gravely affected but he expressed confidence that the city will eventually be able to recover from the losses brought by the natural disaster, the worst to hit the province since 2004.#

http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/2008/06/09/san-carlos-asks-da-for-mango-seedlings/

47 studes gain from DOLE’s summer job program

LINGAYEN-Forty seven students who enlisted for the 20-day summer job with pay under the Special Program for Employment of Students (SPES) went home with pay slips from the provincial government.

All 47 student students were deployed to the different government hospitals in the province for 20 days with a daily wage of P254.

The students worked from April 21 to May 19 under a special program of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) as provided for in Republic Act 7323, received their pay last week.

Under the program, 60 percent of their salaries will come from the province and the remaining 40 percent from DOLE.

Provincial Administrator Rafael Baraan, who distributed the pay slips, urged the students to continue their education in schools to assure them of better jobs in the future and be an asset to society.

“This first-ever summer job program held in Pangasinan served as a great learning experience on the job for the students,” Baraan said.

Provincial Employment Service Officer Alex Ferrer said the qualifications in selecting the summer job workers were based on criteria set by the DOLE.

These include an age limit of 15 to 25, bonafide student either in high school or in college, and must come from a poor family duly certified by the Department of Social Welfare and Development.—LM

http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/2008/06/09/47-studes-gain-from-doles-summer-job-program/

tracymack

June 10th, 2008, 01:55 AM

39 provincial scholars chosen

LINGAYEN-Thirty-nine students have been given access to a brighter future through college scholarship grants from the provincial government.

The new batch of scholars were chosen from the 713 high school graduates in the province who competed for 36 scholarship grants through a qualifying examination held May 14 at the Pangasinan National High School.

Four students tied for the 36th slot, increasing the number of provincial scholars to 39.

The new scholars are Juan Paolo F. Soriano, Francis P. Aboy, Dennis C. Arenas, Samboy R. Pascua, Renz Marlon G. Tucay, Cindy P. Alimorong, Emmanuel T. Balajadia, Jethro Isaac DG. Ferrer, Ralph Vincent C. Cristobal, Donna Princess Joy A. Resoso, Venus M. Tamondong, Vincent P. Villamin, Christine Iñez B. Aquino, Meriebeth C. Mamaradlo, Jayson B. Cansino, Maureen C. Gamboa, Buena Marie Medelle B. Calabroso, Rafael A. Catambay, Kimberly E. Panuncio, Yeyeen Joy F. Dineros, Hazel P. Garin, Liezl E. Macaranas, Vanessa M. Manaoat, Jhester Jim T. Perreras, Judah U. Prado, Ma. Cristine S. Quiros, April Anne S. Ranis, Chenee Dexie T. Urbano, Michael Ian G. Villafania, Aldwin P. Deogracias, Jerome C. Lopez, Virginia Cecilia L. Molina, Cindy M. Navarro, Gerardson R. Nuezca, Karen J. Palma, Rolly E. Rosario, Louis Anthony S. Sanchez, Andrea F. Serran and Ryan D. Tabor.

Four automatic qualifiers, namely Beverly S. Cristobal, Cherrelyne V. Almazan, Joy L. Inasoria and Jeffrey G. De Vera also received scholarships for having graduated valedictorian, salutatorian or first honorable mention of their batch.

The scholars, who can choose any government-recognized school they want to enroll in, will each receive financial assistance amounting to P7,000 from the Provincial Scholarship Fund Board (PSFB) every semester provided they maintain an average of 80% (for a five-year course) and 85% (for a four-year course).

http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/2008/06/09/39-provincial-government-scholars-finally-chosen/

tracymack

June 10th, 2008, 01:59 AM

Pangasinan, No. 3 in rice production — DA
By Venus May H, Sarmiento

ALAMINOS CITY, Pangasinan – This vast agricultural province ranks third nationwide in terms of rice production and has a self-sufficiency rate of 170%, according to a representative of the Department of Agriculture.

Dr. Jeanette Villareal of DA Regional Field Unit I said, Pangasinan comes third after the provinces of Nueva Ecija and Isabela while Region I is number 4 country-wide.

“Pangasinan’s self-sufficiency rate on rice production is 170%, however the land area for hybrid rice production is not maximized, “ Villareal said before a thousand farmers who attended the city’s launching of its hybrid rice seed subsidy program onTuesday.

Villareal said that out of the 180,000 hectares of agricultural land in the province, only 12,000 are used for hybrid rice production.

DA also announced its approval of a grant for two-flat bed dryers worth P170,000 each for the city in barangays Alos Paed and Qubuar. A third request for barangay Cabatuan-Casolming is awaiting approval.

City Mayor Hernani Braganza overjoyed of this new development, said that based on researches and studies he conducted together with City Agriculturist Ernesto De Leon, most of what should have been the farmers’ profit are lost due to lack of post-harvest facilities.

“Do you know that 20% of your expected income is lost due to lack of post-harvest facilities? Just imagine, of your 100 cavans of palay, 20 cavans are lost when you are drying them in the streets or rushing to put them back in the sack when sudden rains come,.” he pointed out

“If I’m not mistaken, 20 cavans of palay is equivalent to 7 cavans of rice. If one cavan of rice is worth P1,000, then you immediately lost P7,000 which should have been for your family” Branganza explained.

Braganza said with the new flat-bed dryers, the farmers can ensure more production and more income for them.

The Mayor added that the city government also purchased heavy equipments like dump trucks, loaders, bulldozer and grader worth P50 million and set aside budget for the repair of water-impounding dams for barangays with no irrigation facilities, all for the benefit of farmers and fisherfolks. (PIA-Pangasinan)

http://pangasinanstar.prepys.com/archives/2008/05/21/pangasinan-no-3-in-rice-production-da/#more-2612

Alaminos farmers get full rice seed subsidy
By VENUS MAY H. SARMIENTO

ALAMINOS CITY – A total of 4,737 farmers received full rice seed subsidy in a joint undertaking of the Department of Agriculture and the city government to give flesh to the city’s vision for better and massive food production to benefit its constituents.

City Agriculturist Ernesto De Leon said the subsidy program is of two kinds – the certified seeds subsidy and the hybrid rice subsidy.

“One bag of certified seed costs P1,200. Under the program, the Department of Agriculture will pay P760 and the farmer will only pay P440. For the hybrid rice seeds subsidy program, DA will shoulder P1,500 while the remaining 50% will be subsidized by the city government,” said De Leon.

A farmer recipient of hybrid seed subsidy will also get an additional three bags of organic fertilizer, 10 kilos of zinc sulfate and four bags of vital aid.

De Leon said that if a farmer uses hybrid rice and the technology system is properly followed, potential yield can reach 10-12 tons per hectare.

Mayor Hernani Braganza is optimistic the city and his constituents will have enough local rice supply well into the so-called lean months. He thanked the DA for introducing new technologies that would boost farm production.

‘Nagpapasalamat tayo sa DA sa pagtuturo sa atin ng mga makabagong teknolohiya upang makatipid ang mga magsasaka. Ang mga certified seeds na binibigay ng DA at city government ay galling sa mga 45 seed growers dito sa Alaminos,.” Braganza said.

Now on its second year, Braganza noted the remarkable increase of the funding for the subsidy program.

“Nagsimula tayo nung 2007 kung saan may 1,400 na magsasaka ang nabenepisyuhan sa programang ito na may budget na humigit-kumulang P1.5 million. Ngayong taon, ang budget para dito ay halos P2.3 million at halos 5,000 na magsasaka ang mabibigyan. Hopefully next year, 100% ng mga farmers natin ang mabibigyan ng libreng butil at fertilizers,” Baraganza added.

Braganza and De Leon were joined by Dr. Jeannette Villareal of DA Regional Field Unit I and Hermogenes Pardon of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources during the subsidy program launching at Don Leopoldo Sison Auditorium this city. (PIA-Pangasinan)

http://pangasinanstar.prepys.com/archives/2008/05/21/alaminos-farmers-get-full-rice-seed-subsidy/#more-2613

Legal drag racing comes to Pangasinan

CALASIAO—Legal drag racing came to Pangasinan with the holding of the first Vice Mayor Ramon Guico III Invitational Open Drag Race recently at the Binalonan Airfield in Binalonan town.

Guico, a licensed pilot and a captain, owns the Binalonan Airfield.
The invitational drag race participated in by some 200 car and motorcycle drivers, was sponsored by the Autolimits Pangasinan Auto Group Inc. headed by Rafael de Vera with Patrick Catama as race director.

De Vera said the drag race is a kind of motor sports that involves the contest on acceleration, held in various parts of the country, especially Cebu, Batangas, Subic and Clark.

The theme of the event is “No to drugs, yes to drag”.

De Vera said they are promoting drag racing in Pangasinan for the first time although in the past, they noted the holding of illegal drag racing which did not have permits at all from concerned government agencies.

The invitational drag race last Saturday was sanctioned by Automotive Association of the Philippines (AAP), the governing body of all motor sports in Philippines.

The participants came from Batangas, Cavite, Manila, Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija, Isabela, La Union, Bagiuo and Tarlac.
They competed in the four-wheel category and the two-wheel (motorbike category).

The four-wheel riders saw action in the Sportsman Pro Class, Hotstreet Class, StreetStock Class and Quick 8 Class.

The motorcycle riders will race in the 110 cc Stock Modified Class, 110 cc Open Class, 125 cc Stock Modified Class, 125 cc Open Class, 150 cc Stock Modified Class (4-valve)

http://pangasinanstar.prepys.com/archives/2008/05/21/legal-drag-racing-comes-to-pangasinan/#more-2602

tracymack

June 10th, 2008, 02:08 AM

Classes open in typhoon-ravaged towns
By Gabriel Cardiñoza, Julie Alipala, Jerry E. Esplanada
Northern Luzon Bureau, Mindanao Bureau

MANILA, Philippines – Even in towns ravaged by tropical typhoon “Cosme,” classes in Pangasinan will definitely open Tuesday, according to an education official.

Dr. Alma Ruby Torio, Pangasinan I schools division superintendent, said that based on reports of public school heads in her division, all schools are ready to open Tuesday.

Pangasinan I covers schools in western and central Pangasinan towns belonging to the first, second and third congressional districts of the province.

At least 173,073 elementary pupils and 87,696 high school students are expected to troop to the schools.
Torio said even the Quibaol Elementary School in Lingayen town, which lost its roof when a tornado hit the village on June 4, would open Tuesday.

“God is good. Nalagyan na po ng good lumber para sa roof. (We have been able to put good lumber on the roof). We are just waiting for the GI sheets to be delivered tomorrow by Mayor (Ernesto) Castaneda,” said Cheryl de Guzman, school principal, in a text message to Torio.

She said she had talked with Mayor Ruperto Martinez of Infanta and the school officials of the town and they agreed to open the classes as scheduled.

“The Brigada Eskwela was a great help [in repairing the damaged classrooms],” Torio said.

She said local officials and all partners of the Department of Education also extended all-out support to the schools. She said repairs were also made possible by Gov. Amado Espino Jr. and Education Secretary Jesli Lapus.

“Some schools will have to resort to double shifting,” Torio said.

Pre-school

In Batangas, members of the Parents, Teachers and Community Association (PTCA) of the Manghinao Elementary School in Bauan town painted walls of the Marcos-type buildings, repaired chairs and tables, installed water pipes and faucets, cleaned up the surroundings, and planted flowering and ornamental plants.

No big deal for the same PTCA that had helped the barangay school bag the top award during the 2005 Brigada Eskwela, or National Schools Maintenance Week.

The Brigada Eskwela gathers parents, students, local governments, non-government groups and other community volunteers in the maintenance and minor repairs of public schools to ensure the orderly conduct of the opening of classes in all public primary and secondary schools nationwide.

But this year, the Manghinao PTCA agreed to share their limited financial resources and shoulder the operational expenses of the school’s kindergarten.

Both Manghinao 1 and Manghinao Proper barangay captains Rommel Basilan and Reynaldo Abraham said local folk had “no alternative. We need to send our kids to school.”

“But we can only afford the public pre-school. Sending our children to private kindergartens (which charge at least over P21,000 per child) in Poblacion or the nearby towns is out of the question,” Basilan pointed out.

In the absence of state-funded teacher items, the PTCA had hired two pre-school teachers with a P13,000 monthly pay. The teachers will handle the kindergarten’s four daily classes (composed of 30 pupils each).
Add to that the kindergarten’s other operational expenses like electricity, water and security.

The Department of Education has allocated only P1,100 for the school’s monthly maintenance, operations and other operating expenses.

New slippers

In Zamboanga del Sur, while most of their urban counterparts have new shoes for the school year, the 124 pupils of New Tuburan village in Tigbao town will have new rubber slippers.

Aside from meeting old friends and classmates at the New Tuburan Primary School here, Limbert Parame, 14, is thrilled with Tuesday’s opening of classes as he will be wearing his new slippers.

Still in Grade 4, Parame was forced to stop schooling several times because of poverty.

The boy has to cross a river, negotiate a rough terrain and walk for almost two kilometers of thick bushes and trees before reaching the center of New Tuburan.

From the village center, Parame still has to walk, uphill, through some 300 meters of mud to the school.

Parame would walk barefoot. “I wear the slippers only when I reach school. I have to take care of my slippers,” he said.

Marciana Laborte, one of the two multi-grade school teachers, said almost all of the 124 pupils wear slippers to school. More than half of the pupils live in hinterland sub-villages.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/regions/view_article.php?article_id=141713

tyronne

June 10th, 2008, 02:26 AM

Wow, may 2nd thread na pala hehe :D

tracymack

June 10th, 2008, 02:38 AM

^^Hehe. Naggapwam karruba? :lol:

tyronne

June 10th, 2008, 02:42 AM

^^Idiay sul-sulenek hehe! Busy lang kaya di masyado nagpopost :) Baka punta ako sa Urdaneta sa Sabado, agpapukis :D

tracymack

June 10th, 2008, 02:52 AM

^^Mukhang busy din si allan_dude eh. Ako din busy na starting this week. Dami projects. :nuts:

Pagpapapukisam? Syak dyay Albee's or AA or any of the barbershops owned by Almario Sanchez. Mayat met. :)

tyronne

June 10th, 2008, 02:59 AM

Don kay Pareng David (David's Salon hehehehe!)

tracymack

June 10th, 2008, 03:25 AM

^^Wow, sosyal! :D I prefer barbershops kasi. :)

tyronne

June 10th, 2008, 03:32 AM

^^Di naman hehe! Nung bata ako barbershop din kaso yung gumugupit sa akin patay na kaya hayun hehe!:D Oi OT na tayo hehe!...

tracymack

June 10th, 2008, 04:22 AM

^^Wahaha! We're talking about barbershops in our hometowns anyway. :lol:

Off to serious topics.. Update naman on whether there are improvements in traffic when you go to Urdaneta. I want to know if the widening of MacArthur Highway serves its purpose especially on a busy day. Kaso nga lang 1/3 pa lang ng entire Urdaneta stretch of MacArthur ang na-widen so baka minimal lang ang improvement. Sobrang bagal kasi ng DPWH Region-1. :hammer:

allan_dude

June 10th, 2008, 06:35 AM

http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/0516&172008/images/life-pic01.jpg
By Tito Genova Valiente titovaliente@yahoo.com (titovaliente@yahoo.com)

A TOTAL of 85,000 drawings in almost 2,000 scenes that represent 8,771 feet of film, and 400 Filipino artists in digital and traditional animation in studios that spanned from Makati to Palawan, were needed to resurrect from the mist of myth and the crags of history the story of Urduja, the warrior princess of Pangasinan of yore. Bernardo Carpio can wait and continue stopping the two massive slabs from crushing against each other. Dyesebel can go on swimming and loving as she likes. And so with Darna, she can soar on the wings of feature films. Komiks characters never had it so good but, for now, at the threshold of history-making, there is another character aiming to stop the world with her appearance. She is going to be animated through a full-length feature film and, with spear and songs, she is going to inhabit the collective consciousness. Urduja, that’s how the early writers remembered her from the legend. And now, she will be remembered as the first figure to receive a tribute from technologies never imagined when she was “alive” and reigning as a warrior-princess.

It is a story as thickly described as those of heroes and heroines whose personal tragedies involve being born in a space and time where there was no one to chronicle to them. No written history can vouch for their existence and no proof is there strong enough to convince us that she indeed lived somewhere in Taliwisi, what is present-day Pangasinan.

http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/0516&172008/images/life-pic02.jpg
MAGNIFI CENT OBSESSION. Antonio “Tony” P. Tuviera, the man behind the longestrunning noontime show Eat Bulaga!, spent 10 years of his life and millions of his fortune into bringing the legend of Urduja to a modern audience via the first-ever full-length animated feature film produced by Filipinos for Filipinos.

There are many versions about her origin. One placed her as a daughter raised by her father to be a warrior. Urduja, it was said, did not mind being treated almost like a man. She loved her father that much, and that was the only way she could survive in the period when their kingdom was always at war with the Batyaw. As with tales of princesses, however masculine their upbringing, they were still women at the center of social exchange, the precious commodity to be utilized so that a kingdom was ensured to go on forever. She had to be married off. In the times of war and danger, love had a central place.

Not “Urduha,” Tito, but Urdujah—jya, as in Cambodia. At the other end was Dr. Juan Francisco, the country’s premier Indologist. He is known for having studied intensively the myth of Urduja. I was talking with him to tell him that I was about to attend the press conference for the highly anticipated animated feature film Urduja, produced by APT Entertainment Inc. From him, I learned other things about this heroine. That the name meant “anyone born in a camp.” There is, according to Dr. Francisco, a story about her coming all the way from Turkey! Now, that could explain perhaps the legend about her beauty. In the land of soft features, the sharp line of Urduja’s nose and, perhaps, her physical strength could well be the source of the awe she inspired in others. This, however, remains a speculation. The debate goes on in the world of historians and academics.

Before Mike Tuviera, the director of Urduja, Reggie Entienza, the animation director, and Mimbi Eloriaga, the chief animator, there was no speculation, only this highly inspired feeling. There was no doubt also as to why they were venturing into animation by way of a legend whose provenance is questioned. The choice is most auspicious and, in terms of marketing, controversial. If there was a debate, it was on how to draw the figures, how to make them come alive.

The point is that people were talking about Urduja, and now they can still talk about her. The discussion need not begin and end with her history. Children and adults alike are going to be surprised by this version, terrifically post-modern as it instigates more question than the “originals” could ever have created. In the animation, Urduja meets up with characters coming from different epochs—imagined, constructed or otherwise—in our history. A man named Lim Hang is an amiable person falling in love with Urduja. Are we seeing here a deconstruction of Limahong, that much feared pirate who pillaged the northern parts of Luzon in the late 1500s. He tried to attack Manila, historians state, but was driven back to what is now Pangasinan. He stayed there supposedly and set up settlements. And yet, the animation does not say Lim Hang is Limahong.

Further teasing a history already on the spot, Lim Hang has a rival in the person of the brave and scheming Simakwel. Is this the Sumakwel of the daring group of Bornean datus celebrated in the lore of the Panay Islands? Brave and just in the discredited Maragtas Code, Simakwel is a jealous, scheming temperamental suitor to the understanding and gentle valor of Lim Hang. Animation braves history and, more than that, uses the compelling energy of animation technologies to retell a story long forgotten. Is there a lesson to be learned from the new episodes in this animation? Only the animation and the audiences can tell.

In the meantime, the animators of Urduja are clear about one thing: they are not rewriting history. The story is fiction and, as the classic caveat goes, whatever resemblances to names and places and events are formed, they are coincidental. With 18 years of animation experience to her credit, Eloriaga simply describes their Urduja experience as “unbelievably fascinating.” The process was not free of problems, but Eloriaga said that for every roadblock, an immediate solution was reached leading them out of the hole into a solution.

For Reggie Entienza, the writer of the Urduja’s original script, the solution to the trap that written history posed came in the decision not to pattern the story of this woman to the life that the real Urduja of Pangasinan led. Besides, Urduja may not have been real at all. In that gap between real and reel, fiction and history lies also the solution called animation and the thousand and one imagination inherent in the process.

For the other director, Mike Tuviera, and Eloriaga, Urduja is a celebration. At the center of the feast is the Filipino animator long celebrated but, contrary to the popular perception, has always occupied the tail-end of the animation process: post production. With Urduja, the Filipino is there at the beginning of the conceptualization. He is right there during the preliminary sketches, in deciding the lines and the contour and the color. He matches the movement and behavior to the actors lending their voice and conviction to the characters.

The cast of voices—speaking and singing—is by itself an animated band, starting from Eddie Garcia giving life to our heroine’s father, Lakanpati, to the two talking animals Kukut, voiced by star comedian Michael V., and Tarsir, fleshed out flamboyantly by the inimitable Allan K. Between them are Cesar Montano as the voice of Lim Hang, Jay Manalo for Simakwel and Johnny Delgado for Wang, a warlord. Mayumi gets life from another old reliable, Ruby Rodriguez, and a Japanese character, Daisuke, is enlivened by Epi Quezon. Stirring interest is the singer-actress, Regine Velasquez, making history as Urduja. Already, her voice singing that plaintive ballad about being “Babae,” a warrior in a woman’s persona, is hitting radio and television, all poised to becoming yet another massive hit song that would be regurgitated in countless karaoke bars and performance clubs headlined by gay female impersonators.

Technology, creativity and more than 10 years are what it has taken for the idea of the first full-length Tagalog animation to jump from the drawing board to the screen. Those years, according to Antonio “Tony” Tuviera, the man who has resolutely and lovingly shepherded Urduja’s journey into modern-pop culture, the same man from the longest-running noontime show Eat Bulaga!, have been necessary for this first-in-Philippine-animation industry. People around Tuviera have described his interest in Urduja, which began actually when he got hold of a story about Limahong, as bordering on obsession. When one ventures into the realm of history and legend and proceed to bring tales from that area into the accessible and pop, you cannot be anything but obsessed.

Interestingly, obsession is what characterizes the Pinoy animation industry. It seems to be the most focused enterprise, with artists noted for doing things for the love of doing things. It is an obsession that has made the industry a major element in the outsourcing universe. It sits with other sectors looked up to by planners in the country, such as software development, medical transcription and the ubiquitous call centers. No other than the Asian Wall Street Journal early in the ’90s declared the Philippines as one of the significant factors in the world’s animation industry. Hollywood lives in this country with subcontracting heavy for companies with field offices in the Philippines: Warner Brothers, Cartoon Network, Hanna-Barbera, Marvel, Dreamworks and Walt Disney. The country’s animators have been drawing for world figures that do not have footprints in the cultural ground from which their skills sprung. X-Men, Nemo, the Addams Family, and Buzz Lightyear are just some of those works finding their way to legendary popularity via the finishing touches in the post-production warehouses in Philippine cities.

Figures show the Philippines contributes some 30 percent of the animation activities in the Asia-Pacific Region. There is nothing mythical here.

It is no myth, therefore, the true meaning of the birth of Urduja through the hands of Filipino animators. Contested as the story may be, Urduja will be once more a part of this nation’s search for identities. When asked why Urduja looks like Mulan and Pocahontas (blogs and online communities are talking about the resemblance, with some raising the issue of originality), the animators talk about the strategy of accessibility. People are used to the Hollywood template. Why not go animé, with the millions of otakus (obsessive animé fans) promising fandom? We can go on with issues but where again one takes into account the fact that for all the praises heaped on the skills of our animation artists, the Philippines has remained largely a huge post-production hub, there is so much to yell about and stomp our feet over the coming of age of animation in the industry via Urduja. Never mind the clouds darkening over the veracity of the characters in this work. Never mind the collapsing of centuries between and among the characters so they could interact in a story occurring on one timeline.

The animators, Eloriaga in particular, are conscious that there is a Master Francisco Coching or a Botong Francisco they can challenge themselves to imitate and draw lines from but, for the moment, they will go Hollywood and listen to a very popular songstress sing the song of Urduja. She lives among animators now who will find in her the inspiration to go back to the past and reconstruct, deconstruct and even manufacture tales that would make people ponder about the histories of the island, wholly told from various perspectives. If we are looking for the route to being called world-class, this is it. And a warrior, a woman, starts the battle for recognition while at the wings wait Juan Osong, Mariang Alimango, the kapre and the tikbalang ready to seduce the next Pinoy animator to make them live again.

During the press conference, the venue was busy with press people coming in and out. It was as if people were visiting a newly born baby. Indeed, it looked like that. The first full-length Filipino animated feature film was born that day. A bit imperfect but you don’t say that of the first-born. You rejoice. There will be others to come. The good news is that there is already one.

Article courtesy of Philippine Business Daily Mirror (http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/0516&172008/life01.html)

tracymack

June 10th, 2008, 07:28 AM

PB allows guv to enter into P650-M credit line
By Liway C. Manantan-Yparraguirre

LINGAYEN -- The Pangasinan Provincial Board (PB) has passed four resolutions to ease the Provincial Government's burden in addressing the devastation left by the past typhoon.

Board Member Alfonso Bince Jr. authored a resolution authorizing Governor Amado Espino Jr. to negotiate for a P650-million credit line with the Land Bank of the Philippines (LandBank).

It was a turnaround from his stand before when LandBank offered the Provincial Government a P950-million credit line.

The LandBank officers explained that seeking a loan from the bank is more tedious than having a standing credit line. It will be easier for the Provincial Government to withdraw funds for its projects.

"I will agree now that it should be a standby authority," Bince stated. He added that it will be easier for the governor to source fund for rehabilitation works in case of another calamity with said credit facility.

Bince laid down the resolution at the PB after President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo only pledged P500 million worth of roofing material for La Union, Pangasinan, and Zambales when she first came here after the typhoon.

On the President's second visit to the province, some government agencies reported to her the financial and material assistance they had sent so far to Pangasinan.

With this latest development, Bince said it is up to the governor now to exercise his judgment on the authority given him.

"This loan or credit line I proposed will be canalized as to purpose. It should be utilized for a specific purpose and that is to rehabilitate the damaged schools and other public buildings, agricultural crops. We also would like to extend financial assistance to those whose houses or roofs were uprooted but we cannot use public funds unless it is in the form of financial assistance," Bince explained.

The Provincial Government's calamity fund is P70 million. However, damages to school buildings and other public buildings might reach P1 billion.

Meanwhile, the PB has also passed three resolutions concerning the standing loans of the Provincial Government at LandBank.

Provincial Resolution (PR) 330-2008 is a request to LandBank to consolidate the existing loan agreements between the bank and the province.

There is the 10-year term P350-million loan, which will mature on December 21, 2011 and the five-year term P300-million loan.

"Single amortization scheme will be more beneficial to the province in terms of personnel convenience and lesser work time involved in handling the accounts," the resolution states.

PR 331-2008 is a request to LandBank for the suspension of payment of the consolidated loan principal and interest amortizations for the period May 2008 to July 2010.

"The Provincial Government has been religiously paying its monthly amortization. After the onslaught of typhoon Cosme, there is a necessity of immediately rehabilitating the province in order to restore all normal governmental and private operations. That rehabilitation would entail millions if not billions of pesos," it said.

On the other hand, PR 332-2008 is a request for an extension of the period of amortization of the existing loans until 2013.

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/pan/2008/06/10/news/pb.allows.guv.to.enter.into.p650.m.credit.line.html

allan_dude

June 12th, 2008, 11:03 AM

BusinessWorld
Vol. XXI, No. 221
Wednesday, June 11, 2008 | MANILA, PHILIPPINES
Motoring
Where is the vision?

So we all look forward to the Tarlac-La Union expressway section from the La Paz end of the SCTEx being built before the PGMA’s reign ends in two years.

Now, for the bad news: former SBMA Chairman F. Payumo recently wrote in another broadsheet that the new extension will only be a two-lane single carriageway. Reason being given is that the proponent did not have the financial muscle to get funding. It would have been tough anyway as the survey of the Tarlac-La Union leg did not improve on the same 30,000 vehicles a day that was the basis of the Subic-Clark-Tarlac stage.

Which is why the original alignment of the Tarlac-La Union segment - La Paz bending northeast to Nueva Ecija with a link to the Cagayan Valley truck route, then west looping to Rosario, with a spur to Baguio via Marcos Highway and the terminal end at Poro point, making the highway link the main ex-US base ports - was far more visionary. Imagine the amount of truck traffic this would have diverted from the DRT highway in eastern Bulacan, pounded incessantly day and night by the nation’s food supply on wheels. Imagine the traffic relief that the towns of Baliuag, Plaridel and Sta. Rita would have experienced.

When the MacArthur Highway or Highway 3 was built, it was meant to be a diversion road from the old Calle Real that linked Manila to the dioceses of Ilocos. Commerce and progress came to the towns on the highway so congestion ensued as development was based of filling up the roadside with establishments. Soon bypasses were built parallel to poblacions from Malabon, the towns of Bulacan, Pampanga, all the way to La Union. But since these bypasses were not limited access, roadside development repeated, causing even the locus of the towns to migrate. The North diversion road succeeded in cutting the cycle of bypass and congestion because it was designed to be a limited access expressway. One can remember the mayhem in the early Cory years when budget problems cut expressway expenses and many roadside residents made their own private on-ramps onto the then toll-free expressway.

The Olongapo-Gapan road being relieved by the SCTEx had low transit average speeds because of poor zoning; town commerce shifted from the old town to roadside developments on the diversion paths, eventually causing severe traffic. This has been true for all Philippine national highways, and the hell that is Highway 3 is a common sight on all roads in these islands.

Because of the congested towns, Highway 3 cannot reach volumes that travel at a reasonable average speed. Traffic thus falls short of the trigger threshold capacity that justifies a dual carriageway limited access expressway like the SCTEx. And it is this low capacity that the proponent of the Tarlac-La Union extension is quoting to justify making the highway just a two-lane single carriageway.

Those in favor of this cut-price highway claim that this is better than the present congestion on Highway 3. They also claim that the NLEx San Fernando-Angeles section stayed single carriageway for several years. Truth be told, that NLEx section was delayed because of a lack of funders. Now that it is dual carriageway, the increased traffic generated by the SCTEx is already showing that it will soon be due for three-lane treatment like the NLEx Tabang-Sta. Rita segment. In the bad old days, summer break traffic on this stretch was bumper to bumper on some weekends, proof that the single carriageway section had already reached full capacity long before its time.

It is no wonder that the project did not attract the kind of P29-billion funding that the Subic-Clark-La Paz section attracted. Presented as just another parallel diversion road to Highway 3, it was lacking in spectacle. If the entire highway had been presented to be a Subic Bay-Poro point expressway, linking Subic port, Clark’s DMIA airport and its industrial zone, the Luisita Industrial Zone, the Fort Magsaysay Agri-Industrial zone in Nueva Ecija, and linking with the Cagayan Valley truck route (bypassing Nueva Ecija and eastern Bulacan’s congested Doña Remedios Trinidad highway), with a spur to the Baguio Export Processing Zone via the Aspiras-Marcos highway and ending at the ex-US base/port of Poro Point in La Union, it could have attracted funding for a full-length full-blown dual carriageway; something the Japanese are aching to finance. This expressway can even link with the abandoned Hopewell expressway that was to link the Sual, Pangasinan power plant to the Infanta, Quezon Pacific Port and the Pagbilao, Quezon power plant, giving commercial traffic a connector highway into the Bicol region, bypassing congested Metro Manila.

The project for the Tarlac-La Union highway panders to the narrow interest parochial politics of the provinces of Tarlac and Pangasinan. If that was the intent besides building a budget highway, then it would have been cheaper to build bypasses on all those congested towns, make them limited access and charge a single toll with a single toll plaza per bypass. Gerona and Paniqui, Tarlac can have a new bypass on its western side, as the older bypass on the east side of town has become congested. Sison, Binalonan, and Pozzorubio in Pangasinan can also have new bypasses on their western flanks as the eastern bypasses are already the de facto center of town. The same can be built for Moncada in Tarlac, and Villasis, Rosales, and Urdaneta, all in Pangasinan. It won’t be a contiguous highway, but the towns can participate and even partake of the toll collections. These bypasses, in order to succeed, should never allow roadside development.

To make traffic flow better and lower costs, giant roundabouts instead of flyovers can be employed. But no way can this ever be an expressway that is as scenic and as forward looking as the SCTEx. No doubt, at P29 billion, the SCTEx is a missionary project. But then the NLEx, the SLEx and the Skyway were once like that. Now they attract generous funding as the fundamentals are right.

Limiting one’s vision to just a half expressway project is myopic. Either go all the way with a massive visionary project, like the NLEx rehab and the SCTEx, or just stick to making outer ring road bypasses to pander to the local politicians.

^^ Ei tracymack, ito yung binabangit ko dati na Pangasinan Expressway, part pala ng Hopewell Expressway, may east-west alignment. Sana buhayin uli ang plano pag may bago na tayong president! :lol:

tracymack

June 12th, 2008, 06:59 PM

^^ Two years na lang allan_dude.. :lol:

allan_dude

June 13th, 2008, 12:58 AM

Friday, June 13, 2008
Pangasinan marks Independence Day

LINGAYEN -- "This is Independence Day! If there is any red letter day... this is it."

Pangasinan Governor Amado Espino Jr. issued the statement during the province's observance of the 110th Philippine Independence Day last Thursday at the Provincial Capitol plaza.

"I want you to know that in 1898, 110 years ago, the office of Emilio Aguinaldo -- the one who declared our freedom -- was here in Bayambang, Pangasinan. And it was in Bautista where Jose Palma wrote our national anthem," Espino remarked adding that Pangasinenses should know these facts.

After quite a long time, the Provincial Government held an Independence Day program.

Highlight of Thursday's event was the distribution of the scholarship grant to college scholars of the Provincial Government. There are 380 scholars this school year, 48 of them are first year students.

Espino said the simple vision and mission for the province is to make Pangasinan the best place for investment, and the best place for people to work, to live and raise a family.

"If we can do that then we can be independent or free from a lot of fears," he said.

"Poverty, ignorance, fear of getting sick (as they cannot afford to pay hospital bills), and fear of the peace and order situation -- these are very small things that we want our province-mates to be free from. Thus, these are the programs the Provincial Government is addressing," the governor said.

He said the essence of the observance of the Independence Day is not important or is not felt by "people whose day to day problem is food for their family."

"We are taking concrete steps to help our province-mates. These include, among others, the universal health insurance for our indigents. We have scholars for our education program, we have agriculture and aquatic programs for our farmers, as well as, the peace and order in the province," he stated.

Espino advised the scholars to study well.

"The best things in life are not those material things. The best things in life are the things inside or are in between the ears or in the brains of everybody," he said.

Espino was a product of public schools from elementary to high school, and later at the Philippine Military Academy (PMA).

He said the four institutions that influenced his life are his family, the community, the schools and the church.

Espino said the scholars are not lucky (to be chosen), but are fortunate. "After graduating from college, I hope you'll remember to help your family, your relatives, and your province-mates," he said.

Of the 380 high graduates from poor families who applied for scholarship, 48 passed the rigid interview and examination.

Francis Aboy, a graduate of the Manaoag National High School and one of the successful scholarship examinees, gave a response in behalf of the new scholars.

He will be taking up engineering course at the Pangasinan State University in Urdaneta City.

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/pan/2008/06/13/news/pangasinan.marks.independence.day.html

allan_dude

June 17th, 2008, 05:24 PM

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2373/2469443755_3401fd29b6_o.jpg
Photo courtesy of Flickr by Allan Barredo (http://www.flickr.com/photos/allanbarredo/2469443755/) / Scanned copy of Manila Bulletin

Regular contributor Allan Barredo once again shares with us his travel photography and new discoveries. He writes: "I recently was able to explore another side of Pangasinan, literally another side. Most folks associate Pangasinan with the Hundred Islands in Alaminos and the fine beaches of Bolinao in the north. The west coast of Pangasinan, along the towns of Infanta, Dasol, and Burgos, is relatively untouched by tourism. Few are probably aware that the beaches there are pristine and with fine powdery sand. And the best thing is that you don’t have to compete with hordes of tourists for prime spots. Most days you have the beach all to yourself."

From Dasol, Allan reveals that "you can have your own island for a day in Colibra Island (also called Snake Island because it is home to a sizable population of tugasi or coral snake), or snorkel in the emerald green waters of Sitio Balinmanok – with a shipwreck to spice up your snorkeling experience. There are rock walls, blow holes, and caves to explore along the northwestern shores. The rock towers of Timapog na Bato in Brgy. Iliw-iliw in Burgos are the favorite of the locals there."

And as dusk falls, "the beach front stirs with communal activity as the locals cast their nets just a few meters from shore. They are even friendly enough to let you help with the pulling of the nets. As evening and as the tide subsides, small boats with bright lights scour the shallow waters for octopus and squid.

Excerpt from Just a click away by Raffy Paredes of mb.com.ph (http://www.mb.com.ph/issues/2008/05/08/PIPE20080508123803.html)

More Western Pangasinan photos at Allan Barredo's photo site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/allanbarredo/sets/72157604548961999/
Tambobong beach, Dasol (parang Boracay's fine white sand) :) by A. Barredo http://www.flickr.com/photos/allanbarredo/sets/72157603654011732/

allan_dude

June 20th, 2008, 01:00 AM

Dagupan celebrates 61st founding year

By Gabriel Cardiñoza
Northern Luzon Bureau
First Posted 14:34:00 06/19/2008

DAGUPAN CITY -- Friday (June 20) will be a non-working special holiday here as this Pangasinan city celebrates its 61st founding anniversary.

Mayor Alipio Fernandez Jr. said President Macapagal-Arroyo issued Proclamation No. 1532 on June 12 declaring the holiday to “enable the people of Dagupan City to mark the day with appropriate ceremonies.”

This city was chartered on June 20, 1947. Fernandez’s father, Alipio Fernandez Sr., was the city’s first mayor.

Fernandez said a thanksgiving Mass and a simple program would be held at the city plaza on Friday.

“The development of Dagupan is continuing and although we have limitations in terms of land area, you see the many [business] establishments,” Fernandez said.

“What is only decreasing is [the city’s] fish pond [areas],” he said.

Fish ponds, which dominate the landscape of this 43-square kilometer coastal city, have been the source of the renowned Bonuan bangus (milkfish).

Several hectares of fish ponds have been converted into residential subdivisions and business establishments, abruptly decreasing bangus production.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/regions/view/20080619-143602/Dagupan-celebrates-61st-founding-year

tracymack

June 22nd, 2008, 12:17 PM

"Urdaneta Park" to be put up
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Sun Star Pangasinan (http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/pan/2008/06/22/news/.urdaneta.park.to.be.put.up..html)

THE 2,000 square meter park fronting the new Urdaneta City Hall in Barangay Anonas will be converted into "Urdaneta Park."

This is in memory of Spanish priest Andres de Urdaneta whom the locality was named after.

Mayor Amadeo Perez Jr. said the National Commission on Culture and Arts (NCCA) has earmarked P4 million for the project. As their counter-part fund, the City Council recently enacted a supplemental budget amounting to P3 million.

The project will be overseen and implemented by four national artists headed by Napoleon Abueva.

"The concept of NCCA director Cecil Alvarez is something where passersby or travelers could drop by and see," the mayor said. The new City Hall is located along the national highway.

The park will be named Urdaneta Park in memory of Father Andres de Urdaneta.

As explained by Perez, Urdaneta was the navigator of Miguel de Legaspi when they conducted expedition from Spain to the Philippines to establish the route taken by Ferdinand Magellan.

In Manila, Legaspi established the first colony of Spain in Intramuros.

Urdaneta later went back to Spain. He became an Agustinian priest at the age of 46.

The town of Urdaneta, Pangasinan was established in 1858 by Father Manzano. He named it after Urdaneta, a native of Ordizia, Spain in recognition of his exploits as a sailor, navigator and scholar.

The mayor said a memorandum of agreement (MOA) between the City Government and NCCA will be signed on June 25 in Manila.

Construction will commence soon after.

On the same day, Perez will meet Mayor Jose Miguel Sta. Maria Ezia of Ordizia City, Spain who is currently in the country.

Perez hoped to discuss with Ezia the scholarship assistance the Spain mayor is planning to extend to Urdaneta City.

"There is no other town or city that was named after father Andres de Urdaneta except our city. That is why in Spain, especially in his birthplace of Ordizia, they find our city a valuable sister city because it was named after a local son. That established our closer ties with Ordizia and Spain itself," Perez said.

Accordingly, Perez was contacted last year by the Philippine ambassador to Spain after the Ordizia City Government inquired about the place in the Philippines named after Andres de Urdaneta. (LCMY/Sunnex)

capricorn2000

June 23rd, 2008, 11:32 PM

http://guxGOvLss1M

http://3ozJ12AEIV4

http://Q-qhUE4R2hk

allan_dude

June 24th, 2008, 02:32 PM

4 ‘butanding’ sighted in Pangasinan village

By Yolanda Sotelo-Fuertes
Northern Luzon Bureau
First Posted 17:49:00 06/24/2008

DAGUPAN CITY, Philippines -- Four whale sharks known as “butanding” have been seen frolicking on the beach near the Tondaligan Park in the village of Boquig here.

Residents said they saw the butanding, also known locally as “supok,” early Tuesday and immediately reported the sighting to the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR).

Westly Rosario, BFAR Research Center chief, said the sharks (Rhincodon typus) could be the same as those that stayed for more than a month at the Lingayen Gulf in 2001.

Rosario said one of the sea creatures has a cut on its fin, similar to that on a whale shark sighted at the gulf seven years ago.

He said residents are guarding the large, slow-moving, filter feeding fish from poachers.

tracymack

June 24th, 2008, 05:49 PM

^^Cool! :)

allan_dude

June 26th, 2008, 09:41 AM

Pangasinan execs say DA subsidy too small

By Gabriel Cardinoza
Northern Luzon Bureau
First Posted 02:30:00 06/26/2008

DAGUPAN CITY – Pangasinan officials are up in arms against the government’s fertilizer subsidy scheme, which is being implemented by the Department of Agriculture.

“I agree with the subsidy. But the scheme that they are trying to do is too small,” said Gov. Amado Espino Jr. during a briefing here Tuesday.

Under the implementing guidelines of the fertilizer subsidy program, DA would subsidize P500 for every two bags of fertilizer, while local governments would subsidize P1,000 for four bags during the wet cropping season from May to October this year.

DA has earmarked P90 million for the subsidy program, which covers 2.58 million hectares of rice lands in the country, according to Cipriano Santiago, DA regional director.

The local governments’ counterpart would be drawn from the internal revenue allotment of provinces, cities and towns from 2001 to 2004.

But Sta. Barbara Mayor Reynaldo Velasco, executive vice president of the local chapter of the League of Municipalities of the Philippines, said mayors have other plans for their IRA differentials.

“We are not objecting [to the subsidy program]. But mayors have their priorities. There are other [ways where] we can support farmers, such as investing in longer term [agricultural] projects,” Velasco said.

Burgos Mayor Domingo Doctor, through his municipal agriculturist, said he would rather use his town’s IRA differential in subsidizing the purchase of seeds, which guarantees a 10-percent increase in yield.

Espino said the subsidy was too small, considering that fertilizer in Pangasinan was priced at P1,850 a bag.

“Besides, our farmers need at least eight bags per hectare. If we give them one bag as subsidy, will they be able to buy the remaining seven [bags]?,” he asked.

He said the provincial government has committed half of its IRA differential, or P27 million, for the fertilizer subsidy program, but this will only cover about 52,000 hectares of the 180,598 hectares of rice lands in the province.

Pangasinan, one of the top rice-producing provinces in the country, supplies 60 percent of rice in the Ilocos region.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/regions/view/20080626-144783/Pangasinan-execs-say-DA-subsidy-too-small

allan_dude

June 26th, 2008, 09:42 AM

Two livestock breeding stations up for development

Sunday Punch (http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/2008/06/22/two-livestock-breeding-stations-up-for-development/#more-9750)

The rehabilitation of the livestock program of the provincial government shifted to high gear with the start of the development of 8.5 hectare breeding station in Dasol and 13 hectares breeding station in Mangatarem.

Some 50 employees from the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist (OPAG) and Office of the Provincial Veterinarian (OPVET) were brought to the sites for clearing operations.

“The active involvement of said the personnel of the two agencies will make them feel as being part of the development,” Provincial Veterinarian Benedicto Perez said.

Clearing operations within the vicinity included the establishment of pasture area, demolition of buildings that are beyond repair among of which were the laborers quarter, administration building and the cattle and goat shade.

The perimeter fencing in the sites will be the next major activity.

Aside from the doing the repairs of roofs and the demolition of old barn house and piggery house, OPVET is likewise set to make a lagoon of 7,400 square meters for tilapia breeding and is also eyeing for the expansion of piggery house.

The province has a total of three breeding stations which includes the Natividad Artificial Breeding Center.

allan_dude

June 26th, 2008, 09:45 AM

Espino: Pangasinan’s full recovery will take 1 year

HELP CONTINUES TO POUR

IT may take at least one year to fully rehabilitate Pangasinan from the devastation it suffered from the fury of Typhoon Cosme on May 17.

Governor Amado Espino Jr. made this assessment as he signaled the start of the massive reconstruction and rehabilitation of the province.

”With the magnitude of the destruction, it may take us a year to fully recover from the calamity,” Espino told newsmen on Thursday after receiving part of the promised P40 million worth of donation in kind from the Cardinal Santos Medical Center in Manila.

Though it will take that long to restore Pangasinan to its status as the fastest growing province in the Ilocos Region, Espino said he was impressed by the initial pace of reconstruction and rehabilitation work in the province through the combined efforts of the government and the private sector.

He cited the rehabilitation of school buildings funded by a P26 million allotment to each of the two Pangasinan school divisions by the Department of Education (DepEd).

The damaged school buildings were repaired in time for the opening of classes last June 10, with the exception of a few whose opening was deferred for another month.

In Binmaley, the reconstruction of the badly damaged Binmaley North Elementary School and Binmaley Central Elementary School was abruptly put on hold after Mayor Simplicio Rosario of Binmaley noted substandard materials were being used by contractors of the DepEd.

Overall, said Espino, reconstruction of damaged school buildings proceeded smoothly and assured the students’ and pupils’ safety and welfare during the rainy season.

Also damaged by the storm were buildings at the provincial capitol compound, the Narciso Ramos Sports and Civic Center (NRSCC), the 14 public hospitals operated by the province, nurseries and demonstration farms.

Reconstruction of damaged buildings of the 14 government hospitals is now ongoing funded initially by the P5 million assistance released by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo through the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office.

An additional P11 million from the PCSO is also forthcoming to boost funding for hospital repairs.

Meanwhile, the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation made available P25 million for the reconstruction of NRSCC whose rooftop was blown off by the typhoon.

Reconstruction of houses in many parts of Pangasinan are ongoing with the poorest of the poor guaranteed to receive galvanized iron sheets from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

Some 38,000 houses in the province were totally destroyed by the typhoon, many of these belonging to poor families with no means to reconstruct their abodes.

“The DSWD is in charge of the distribution of the G.I. sheets,” Espino said as he reported that Dagupan and Bolinao already received their initial allotment of roofing materials pledged by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo when she first came over to the province last May 23.

The governor also reported that the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources is also set to distribute 10 million bangus fry to fish farmers in connection with the latter’s efforts to rehabilitate the badly damaged aquatic industry of Pangasinan.

The first distribution was done in Alaminos On June 13, the second on July 4 in Dagupan City and the third in Sto. Tomas, La Union on July 25.—LM

http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/2008/06/23/espino-pangasinans-full-recovery-will-take-1-year/

allan_dude

June 27th, 2008, 01:54 AM

Provincial workers get mid-year bonus

THE provincial government has released the midyear bonus of some 2,678 regular and casual employees amounting to over P29 million.

Provincial Budget Officer Hilaria J. Claveria said those entitled to the compensation were the chiefs of offices, rank and file personnel and casual employees who are assigned in various offices and hospitals under the provincial government.

Claveria added that the amount constituted 50 percent of the monthly basic salary of each employee depending on their corresponding monthly rates.

Governor Amado T. Espino, Jr. revealed that the release of such compensation proved that Pangasinan has robust economy despite the recent calamity that struck the province last month when typhoon “Cosme” devastated the province leaving billions of damages in agriculture and infrastructure.

The release of the midyear bonus marked the very first time such compensation benefit was released thru all the past many administrations or governors that served the province.

“Akala ko di kaya ng provincial government magbigay ng midyear bonus kasi sa 33 taon ng aking serbisyo, maski isang gobernador di naisip magbigay. Ngayon alam ko na kaya naman pala kung gugustuhin lang nila, at nagpapasalamat ako kay gobernador dahil dito.” (I thought that the provincial government cannot afford to give us midyear bonus because in my past 33 years in service, the benefit was never given by any governor. Now I know that the province can well afford to grant it if they want, and, I thank the governor for this) said Rudy de Guzman, Administrative Aide IV of Provincial Planning and Development Office (PPDO).

“Nagpapasalamat ako kay Gobernador Espino sa pagbibigay niya ng halaga sa kapakanan ng mga empleyado lalo na ang mga ordinaryong empleyado gaya ko. Napaenrol ko ang anak ko sa kolehiyo ng ‘di nagbebenta ng sahod sa mga nagpapainteres,” (I thank Governor Espino for giving utmost attention to the welfare of employees especially the ordinary employees like me. Thru the midyear bonus I was able to enroll my son in college without selling my salary to the loan sharks) disclosed Fe Lacson,
Administrative Aide IV of Provincial Engineering Office who has been with the provincial government for 31 years.

The other half of the employees’ bonus will be released in December in addition to the cash gift which will be sourced out from the province’s surplus resources.

Another benefit set to be received by the provincial employees is the ten percent salary increase effective July this year. (PIO/Ruby R. Bernardino)

Filed under News, Provincial News by The Pangasinan Star (http://pangasinanstar.prepys.com/archives/2008/06/25/provincial-workers-get-mid-year-bonus/#more-2685).

capricorn2000

June 28th, 2008, 06:05 PM

http://YBoI97LVpHc

http://y8cOWGel1LM&feature=related

allan_dude

June 29th, 2008, 01:32 AM

Young Pangasinan chess master bags gold in ASEAN tilt

By GESELL CAPUA
ABS-CBN Dagupan

An eight-year-old girl from Pangasinan recently brought home the gold and four other medals won during the 9th ASEAN Age Group Chess Competition held from June 8-18 in Vietnam.

"Alam ko mananalo ako!" said Samantha Glo Sam" Revita when interviewed by ABS-CBN Dagupan.

Revita, aside from her gold, came home with two silver medals and two bronzes.

She gave honor to the country through chess for the fifth time.

Since 2006, Revita has been the representative of the Philippines for ASEAN Chess and also World Youth Chess competitions. She has visited Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, Turkey and lately, Vietnam to compete with other young chess wizards.

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=123337

Nabartek

June 30th, 2008, 12:53 AM

tracymack

June 30th, 2008, 12:54 AM

Pangasinan fans relish Manny's win
http://beta.ph.news.yahoo.com/star/20080630/tsp-pangasinan-fans-many-d685dba.html

URDANETA CITY, Pangasinan - More than 3,000 people gathered yesterday at the cultural and sports center here as they watched through a large screen Pinoy boxing icon Manny Pacquiao dethrone World Boxing Council (WBC) lightweight champion David Diaz via knockout in the ninth round of their scheduled 12-round duel dubbed as "Lethal Combination."

"Of course, we are happy Pacquiao won again," Rosendo So, president of the Eastern Pangasinan Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, told The STAR after the fight.

But So quickly said that the previous fights of Pacquiao were more exciting. "As early as the second round we knew Manny could handle Diaz."

Ruben Elasin, a tricycle driver from Asingan town who took time out off the road, said he never failed to watch every Pacquiao fight.

"It's always exciting to see Pacquiao dominate his opponent," said Elasin, adding that he even prayed for Pacquiao to win.

Thousands of Pangasinenses broke in uproar as Pacquiao finally knocked out the bloodied WBC lightweight champion in the ninth round.

In Dagupan City, the Smart Communications set up large screens at the cultural and sports center.

According to marketing events officer Debby Perez, they had put up screens at eight other venues all over the country for the people to watch the bout. Metro Manila had two in San Juan and Pasay City, Pampanga had one at the Bren Guiao Convention Center, Batangas at the Lipa Cultural Center, Bacolod at the La Salle gym, Cebu at the Mandaue Sports Center, Cagayan de Oro City at Xavier University and Davao at the Rizal Memorial College.

Existing Smart subscribers just bought P60 worth of electronic load while those non-subscribers bought Smart's subscriber's identification module (SIM) card plus P30 electronic load for tickets to the fight. - Cesar Ramirez/Philstar

allan_dude

June 30th, 2008, 02:45 AM

Sto. Tomas gets world's longest barbecue title

By Liway C. Manantan-Yparraguirre
Sun.Star (http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/pan/2008/06/30/news/sto..tomas.gets.world.s.longest.barbecue.title.html) Monday, June 30, 2008

The small town of Sto. Tomas in Pangasinan Province now holds the world record of the town with the longest barbecue.

They made the bid on February 11, 2008 during first Corn Festival, one of the events in the town's 10-day centennial celebration.

Accordingly, the Guinness World Records based in London has sent the Guinness certificate to the town's longest barbecue record.

Their record: the longest barbecue measuring 3,803.96 meters.

Town residents grilled 93,540 glutinous corn on the 1,559 meters long especially-made grills (each interconnected grill measured 2.4 meters). It was set up in the town's boundaries in Rosales in the east and Alcala in the west, traversing its 10 barangays.

The longest barbecue event was chaired by Vice Mayor Timoteo Villar, Jr. who was also the overall chairman of the Santo Tomas Centennial Celebration.

Accordingly, the Guinness World Records sent the Guinness certificate to Mayor Vivien Villar.

Among those very happy with the town's feat is Undersecretary Antonio Villar, Jr. of the Presidential Anti-Smuggling Group (PASG), the mayor's husband. The PASG head served as mayor for more than 20 years.

The holding of the longest barbecue, the Mayor said, showcased the Sto. Tomas people's diligence, discipline and teamwork.

The town officially launched its Corn Festival 2008 on December 1, 2007.

Officials led the planting of hybrid glutinous corn in the town's five-hectare organic farm.

The corn ears were harvested three days before the main event.

On that historic day, each participant (from the grillers, members of the documentation team, marshals and local folks) stayed and played their respective roles.

Celebration started immediately after the necessary documentation was finished. The grilled corn was distributed to the people, and some were given to the visitors to bring home.

Vice Mayor Villar said several dry runs - from laying down of grills, burning of charcoal to actual corn grilling - were held before the main event to perfect the flow and time per step and to avoid any accident that would thwart their attempt for a world record.

Their first try was a smash hit.

Sto. Tomas' longest barbecue erased Montevideo, Uruguay's 1,493.2 meters long record (they grilled red meat.)

Meanwhile, in April 2002, Dagupan City broke Canchia, Peru's 613 meters long record set in November 1999.

Dagupeños grilled bonuan bangus in their 1,001-meter long grill during the "Kalutan ed Dagupan" street party.

allan_dude

June 30th, 2008, 02:47 AM

Streetlights rehab urged in Dagupan

By Venus May H. Sarmiento

Dagupan City -- This city needs a three million peso budget for the repair of toppled streetlights when typhoon Cosme invaded Dagupan a month ago.

City officials as well as residents have noted that lights at the downtown area and at the two main bridges- Perez and Quintos-- during night time are quite dim as most electric posts and electrical connections were destroyed by the strong winds.

Vice Mayor Belen Fernandez expressed alarmed that a dim Dagupan could invite more 'akyat-bahay gangs' and more cases of theft and robbery.

"It is sad that streetlights in the downtown area and even in some barangays were destroyed. We have to act immediately to prevent crimes especially theft." Fernandez said.

Fernandez added that the city cannot just take this for granted considering a dozen or more typhoons are expected within the coming months.

City Engineer Virginia Rosario said her office has requested for an initial P600,000 for the repair of the lights, including some decorative lights.

Another cause of concern are the open manholes whose lid were either blown away during the typhoon or were stolen.

Rosario said of the 32 destroyed manholes, 14 have been repaired. More work on these entails a budget of P36,000, she added. (PIA-Pangasinan (http://www.pia.gov.ph/?m=12&fi=p080624.htm&no=27&r=&y=&mo=))

allan_dude

June 30th, 2008, 02:49 AM

Feature: San Carlos revolutionary hero's statue unveiled

San Carlos City, Pangasinan -- As part of the Independence Day celebration in this city, the statue of local revolutionary hero Andres Malong was unveiled at the Central I school last June 12.

Last year, the statue of hero Juan dela Cruz was unveiled, also at Central I.

The two heroes whose lives have been cited in Philippine history books on Philippine revolution, are from Binalatongan, the old name of San Carlos City.

At the unveiling of the Malong statue, Mayor Julier Resuello said the city government has always coordinated with the DepEd in promoting not only high quality of education for students but also introducing them to their local history and culture.

The mayor also thanked the Marcelo Casillan Foundation for spearheading projects that showcase and seek to preserve Pangasinan culture.

The foundation is headed by Engr. Marcelo Casillan, Jr., who also heads the Binalatongan Historical and Cultural Foundation.

Siblings of Engr. Casillan were present during the Independence Day program. They were Commodore Julito Casillan, and Fe Garcia a book author on San Carlos City history who is married to Engr. Ben Garcia the former dean of the University of the Philippines College of Engineering in Diliman, Quezon City.

DepEd Superintendent Rowena Banzon during the program that followed the Malong statue unveiling, gave a glimpse on the life of Don Andres Malong as an affluent and landed person, and maestro del campo during the Spanish regime in the 17th century. He thus initially cooperated with the Spanish government.

When the Spanish authorities however commanded him to quash a rebellion in Pampanga, Malong instead sided with his disgruntled countrymen, because he believed that they were not to be pitted against one another by foreign invaders.

Malong thus became the first Pangasinense revolutionary. His first cry of battle was sounded at Lingayen in 1660 and his revolutionary forces defeated many Spanish soldiers.But when he extended his revolt to Pampanga, Zambales, and the Ilocos, his troops splintered. He was executed in Binalatongan.

Banzon explained that it was during the Malong revolt that San Carlos earned the monicker amputi layag (white ears).

A peasant's daughter was brutally mutilated, raped, and killed by Spaniards. To avenge her death, Malong and his men killed the criminals, slashed their ears, and displayed these "white ears" of the Caucasians in public.

With the story told and retold, Carleñans were soon depicted as brave, ferocious even, thru the amputi layag phrase - a tag many Carlenans want to stress as one to symbolize bravery and not their being violence-prone. (PIA/CIO (http://www.pia.gov.ph/?m=12&fi=p080624.htm&no=27&r=&y=&mo=))

allan_dude

June 30th, 2008, 03:36 AM

Finally, there is light in Cabalitian Island, Sual

SUAL-Let there be light.

And then there was light in Cabalitian Island where a community had thrived without power throughout the decades.

The island, located about a kilometer away from Pangasinan’s mainland or a 10-minute boat ride away from the mainland, is within sight of the Sual Coal-Fired Power Plant.

The power was delivered via a submarine cable made possible by a joint undertaking of the Tokyo Electric Power Company or Tepco and Marubeni Corp. (TeaM Energy), operator of the Sual power plant, Department of Energy (DoE), local government unit of Sual, and the Central Pangasinan Electric Cooperative (Cenpelco).

“People are excited and they are now buying home appliances like refrigerators, television sets, among others,” said Jesusa Cera-Calaunan, TeaM Energy’s public relations officer.

The coming of electricity into the island is seen to spur economic activity as construction of a resort is now underway fronting one of the island’s white sand beach.

TeaM Energy initially provided a big generator to provide households with temporary energy supply for three hours nightly while the energization project was still under construction.

The cost of the P20 million project was shared by TeaM Energy picking up the P15 million cost of the submarine cable while the local government unit spent P3 million to supplement construction costs.

Cenpelco conceptualized and is implementing an “all-for-one, one-for-all” scheme for the island residents wherein all residents understand that each household must pay regularly lest they lose the power supply delivered to the island.

The project, originally submitted to DoE, could not be undertaken by the provincial government since the maximum allocation for any barangay island electrification is P4 million.

The Sual coal-fired power plant in Barangay Pangascasan, the largest coal power plant in the Philippines, has a generating capacity of 1,200 megawatts.

TeaM Energy has also initiated several other community and livelihood projects on the island.

Filed under News, Inside News by Sunday Punch (http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/2008/06/29/finally-there-is-light-in-cabalitian-island-sual/#more-9820).

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Cabalitian Island

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allan_dude

June 30th, 2008, 03:40 AM

Wanted: licensed tourist guides

LINGAYEN- Believe it or not, there has always been and still only one government-licensed tourist guide serving the province’s tourism industry.

Reynaldo Livara, 26, is the only known holder of a professional tourism guide license that lends to his credentials in his work in his hometown, Alaminos City, site of the world-famous Hundred Islands National Park.

Livera, park manager of the Hundred Islands, said there is an urgent need for more professional guides in the province given the growing number of tourists’ arrivals in the province.

“Tourists are assured of correct information when assisted by licensed tour guides who have studied and been trained for the job,” he said.

Tourist arrival at the Hundred Islands has been steadily increasing, from 100,000 in 2004 to more than 150,000 in 2007. This year, according to Livera, the number of arrivals has been surpassing the month-on-month numbers from last year.

Livera said aside from the Hundred Islands, the province has many promising tourist attractions such as the historic Lingayen; the pristine beaches in Bolinao and Dasol; the forest park Manleluag Spring National Park in Mangatarem; shrines of the miraculous Our Lady of Manaoag and Senor Divino Tesoro in Calasiao town; Umbrella Rocks in Agno; beautiful beaches with colorful marine life from San Fabian to Infanta, the caves in Mabini town, among others.

He encouraged college graduates of any degree who are waiting to land permanent jobs to train and work initially as licensed tour guides because it is “enjoyable, educational and challenging.”

TRAINING COURSE

Meanwhile, to address the dearth of professional tourist guides, the provincial government through the Tourism Operations Division and Department of Tourism Region I will conduct a 10-day Professional Tour Guiding seminar and one day practicum for trainees starting on July 23 at the mezzanine room of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority in Lingayen.

Registration for the seminar will be on a first come-first served basis targeting 40 participants, particularly local government unit tourism officers/representatives, Hotel and Restaurant Management (HRM) and Tourism students /graduates, community leaders, and out-of-school youth.

Luisa Elduayan, chief tourism operations officer of the province, said the training program seeks to establish a pool of about 43 licensed tour guides to provide tour guiding and escorting assistance.

For inquiries and reservation on this seminar, applicants may get in touch with Maika Labaupa or Leo Jun Jugo at (075) 542-6853 or email at tourism-pangasinan@yahoo.com.

http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/2008/06/29/wanted-licensed-tourist-guides/#more-9819

dark_knight_detectve

June 30th, 2008, 04:43 PM

P’sinan town bags Guinness record for longest barbecue

By Eva Visperas

Sunday, June 29, 2008
STO. TOMAS, Pangasinan – This quiet town in this province clinched a world title in the Guinness World Records when it successfully staged its longest barbecue measuring 3,803.96 meters using its own product, the white glutinous corn and dethroned Montevideo, Uruguay.

In an e-mail sent Friday night (Philippine time) by Kaoru Ishikawa, records manager of the Guinness World Records based in London to Dea Que, team leader of the documentation team of the longest barbecue event here, it said,” We are pleased to confirm that you have set the new Guinness World Record for longest barbecue and details of your achievement have been entered into our records as follows:

“The longest barbecue measured 3,803.96 meters and was created by the municipality of Santo Tomas (Philippines) in Santo Tomas, Pangasinan, Philippines on Feb. 11 2008.”

Ishikawa said they sent the Guinness certificate for this title by courier also on the same day.

Upon learning of the good news, Mayor Vivien Villar, jumping and shouting in joy, told The STAR that the people of Sto. Tomas rejoiced for this prestigious crown wrestled by her town.

“Now it can be said, and I’m proud to say that we may be the smallest town in the province of Pangasinan but we can make great things happen simply through our united efforts and strong faith in God”, she said.

“I’m still at a loss. It’s like a dream,” she added.

Villar said the much-coveted crown which they wrestled was a product of a year-long sacrifice and several sleepless nights, series of dry-runs just to perfect their grilling.

“In the midst of the series of bad news happening in our country today, this is one good news that uplifts our spirits,” she said.

She said she is lucky for the all-out support given by her husband, Undersecretary Antonio Villar Jr., chief of the Presidential Anti-Smuggling Group, especially when resources were not readily available during the staging of the event. The undersecretary was also the mayor here for more than 20 years.

She said she is dedicating this honor to the united people of Sto. Tomas, their generous sponsors and supporters, the dedicated local and barangay leaders, the efficient documentation team, the balikbayans who came home to be part of this historic activity, and to everyone who helped them even in just small ways.

“All efforts pooled together made us achieve this feat. God is really good to us,” she said.

Vice Mayor Timoteo “Dick” Villar Jr., who served as the overall chairman of the centennial celebration of the town and the event chairman of the longest barbecue, said all the efforts and sacrifices of their townmates paid off.

“Many thought it was impossible for us to achieve it, especially so, that we belong to one small community but we proved them wrong,” he said.

He recalled that they encountered several challenges, some enough to put them down.

“But we prevailed because we remained focused and determined to achieve our goal,” he added.

The longest barbecue bid of this agricultural town was made on Feb. 10 where the grills were set up along the 10 barangays here from the boundary of Rosales up to Alcala towns as the highlight of their 10-day celebration of the town’s centennial celebration. In their offical bid submitted to Guinness, there were 1,559 meters interconnected fabricated grills made of bamboo, chicken wires and galvanized iron sheets, where 93,540 pieces of corn ears were grilled by 3,500 cooks.

Prior to its creation as a municipality in year 1898, the town was only a barrio of Alcala.

The town is bounded on the northern part by Villasis town, on the eastern part by Carmen, Rosales, western part by Alcala and southern part by San Manuel, Tarlac.

allan_dude

July 1st, 2008, 03:43 AM

Alaminos residents rally versus global warming

ALAMINOS CITY—Every citizen must help address global warming.

Thus said Mayor Hernani Braganza during the celebration of the Philippine Arbor Day here last Monday where he called on all residents to face and deal with the grim reality of global warming.

“Anywhere in the world, global warming is now a reality,” he told more than 500 city government employees, barangay officials, heads of various government agencies and students.

Braganza cited no less than former U.S. Vice President Al Gore for leading the worldwide effort to fight global warming.

Like Gore, the mayor firmly believes that there’s still hope in saving Mother Earth.

“It’s high time that, together, citizens of the world must act now before it’s too late,” said Braganza.

Echoing Gore’s mantra, he said “We live in just one planet. We all breathe the same air and drink the same water. Whatever we do here in Alaminos could also affect other places in the world. In our city, we started planting trees and protected our environment and natural resources.

And we must keep on planting more (trees) to caution the impact of climate change that we have already seen and experienced such as the extreme weather conditions like many strong typhoons, longer dry spells and inundations,” he added.

The Mayor earlier led the distribution of an initial of 6,000 mahogany seedlings to the city’s 39 barangays. Rakes and shovels were also given to the leaders of the city’s ten coastal communities.

City Agriculturist Ernesto De Leon said the seedlings will replace the trees that were uprooted or destroyed by recent Typhoon Cosme.

The city now has a plant nursery at the Adopt-A-Mountain Project site, a 16-hectare city government-managed and protected Tree Park.

De Leon said the city has a program involving the communities in planting of more fruit bearing and forest trees. —LM

http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/2008/06/30/alaminos-residents-rally-versus-global-warming/

allan_dude

July 1st, 2008, 04:01 AM

Pangasinan officials defy Palace directive on IRA use

NEW FERTILIZER SUBSIDY SCHEME

LINGAYEN-After the 2005 fertilizer scam was blown sky-high, mayors do not seem inclined to support another fertilizer subsidy scheme being touted by the Arroyo government.

“It’s not negotiable” was the quick retort from the governor and the mayors.

Governor Amado Espino Jr. and the mayors said as much during the meeting with officials of the Department of Agriculture to discuss the mechanics of Executive Order No. 753.

They were in agreement with the sentiment that the national government should not teach the LGUs where to spend their funds.

Specifically, local officials expressed opposition to the recent Malacañang executive order directing all local government units to use part of their deferred Internal Revenue Allotment share from 2001 to 2004 as fertilizer subsidy to farmers.

The officials manifested their objection during a meeting on Tuesday with officials of the Department of Agriculture who bared the plan for a P500 subsidy for two bags of fertilizer at P250 each, but requiring a counterpart from the LGUs to provide subsidy to four additional bags of fertilizer at P2,000.

The scheme will invariably prevent mayors from utilizing their deferred IRA for other projects.

The six-bag formula was arrived at by DA after it determined that a one hectare of riceland needs six bags of fertilizer that now costs farmers P1,800 per bag. The new subsidy formula should help the farmer cover other essential inputs.

Espino belittled the new fertilizer subsidy program, finding DA’s own P500 subsidy to farmers too small.

The governor and the other local officials were in agreement that unreleased IRA be used instead for irrigation purposes as farmers need water for their farms during the dry months.

It was Mayor Reynaldo Velasco, vice president of the Pangasinan Mayor’s League, who was unequivocal about the use for the deferred IRA share of LGUs as non-negotiable since towns, cities and the province have other uses for their IRA.

Besides, he said, it is the local legislative body that programs the IRA share of LGUs, and therefore the mayors cannot commit what is not under their authority.

Executive Order No.753 mandates LGUs to use part of their deferred IRA shares from 2001 to 2004 as fertilizer subsidy to farmers so that they can increase their rice production and help bring about 98 percent rice sufficiency by year 2010.

Espino was earlier given the authority by the provincial board to negotiate with LandBank for a loan, using their deferred P79 million IRA share for 2001 to 2004 as collateral for which purpose was not specified yet.

Sunday Punch (http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/2008/06/30/pangasinan-officials-defy-palace-directive-on-ira-use/)

allan_dude

July 1st, 2008, 11:29 AM

Prov’l board gives Guv ok to negotiate P79.2M loan

LINGAYEN—The provincial board has approved a resolution authorizing Gov. Amado Espino Jr. to enter into a seven-year term loan with the LandBank of the Philippines even if the projects for which the amount will be allocated have yet to be identified.

The loan will be using as collateral the P79.2 million share of Pangasinan in the unreleased 2001 and 2004 Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA).

Under the program called Monetization of IRA Collectibles for Local Empowerment Program (MIRACLE 2 Program), LandBank has presented three schemes upon which the province may opt to collect its more unreleased IRA share.

The seven-year term loan has been identified as the most beneficial option following studies made by the local government’s finance experts.

Sixth district Board Member Alfonso Bince Jr. said the board has its full confidence in the governor to ably negotiate with the bank as members draw up a supplemental budget on how the money will be spent.

The President of the Philippines issued Executive Order no. 723 (2008) authorizing the release of the IRA Differential on installment basis for a period of seven years commencing in fiscal year 2009 up to fiscal year2015 or avail in advance of their respective shares in the IRA Differential through a monetization program.

The Development Bank of the Philippines and LandBank, both government-owned banks, jointly established in 2006 the MIRACLE Program to implement the benefits intended under the EO.

Sunday Punch (http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/2008/06/30/provl-board-gives-guv-ok-to-negotiate-p792m-loan/#more-9829)

tracymack

July 1st, 2008, 12:45 PM

NCO Career Fair Urdaneta City

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3142/2627877930_b396f3c17a_b.jpg

July 3-4, 2008
Donal Bldg., San Vicente East
Urdaneta City
9AM to 5PM

allan_dude

July 1st, 2008, 01:12 PM

^ Hey! I used to work for NCO-Rmh QC. :lol:

allan_dude

July 1st, 2008, 01:15 PM

Spanish city mayor cited for Urdaneta visit

Fa Sizon Almazan

URDANETA CITY -- Residents of this Pangasinan City lauded yesterday the second visit of Mayor Jose Miguel Santa Maria Eziza of Ordizia City, Spain to this city last June 27.

Urdaneta City Mayor Amadeo R. Perez Jr. said Mayor Eziza came to this city for the first time in November 2007 for the signing of a sisterhood agreement between Ordizia and Urdaneta.

His second visit last week was in connection with a plan to honor Father Andres de Urdaneta, after whom this city was named, with a monument to be built in a mini park here.

Mayor Perez said Father Urdaneta had been named as a hero of Ordizia City, Spain.

Perez said that Father Urdaneta, a native of Ordizia, is celebrating his fifth centennial this year.

The city’s chief executive said that Urdaneta City is the only city in Asia given the honor of being a sister city of Ordizia, a highly industrialized city in Spain.

Mayor Perez said the city government of Ordizia has pledged to donate scholarship grants to children of poor families in this city.

Perez said that the scholarship fund will amount to some 150,000 euros which will fund four-year college courses.

He said that the grant will be coursed through a non-government organizations (NGOs) which will later release the amount to the city government of Urdaneta.

He said that a committee will be formed to determine the criteria for the selection of the students who will be beneficiaries of the scholarship grants to be donated by city government of Ordizia.

He also said that Mayor Eziza has expressed support for efforts to strengthen the sisterhood ties of the two cities by undertaking activities stipulated in the agreement.

"We thank Mayor Eziza and the people of Ordizia for the great opportunity given to Urdaneta City, and we will try our very best to keep the good, warm relationship between the two cities," Mayor Perez said.

http://www.mb.com.ph/PROV20080701128713.html

allan_dude

July 1st, 2008, 04:43 PM

Pangasinan Capitol building inaugurated

By Eva Visperas
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Philstar.com (http://www.philstar.com/archives.php?&aid=20080630124&type=2&)

LINGAYEN, Pangasinan – Exactly one year after he assumed his post, the provincial Capitol building was inaugurated with new and elegant looks, similar to the interior design of Malacañang Palace.

Gov. Amado Espino Jr. led the soft opening and inauguration yesterday of the neo-classical Capitol Building, which is said to be one of the most, if not the most elegant Capitol buildings in the country.

“I hope this will serve as a lasting legacy for future generations and make every Pangasinense proud of his province,” Espino said.

The building stands majestically in front of the historic Lingayen Gulf.

Espino Jr. said for the first time, all the elected provincial officials, from him and the Sangguniang Panlalawigan members led by the vice governor, will now be housed in the same building.

“That gives us an ambience of belonging and working together as one family,” he said.

“I thought I was in Malacañang,” said Police Superintendent Harris Fama who was present during the inauguration.

The province has already spent P35 million which also includes the rehabilitation of other buildings within the Capitol complex.

Espino also broke tradition when he now holds office at the Provincial Capitol Building, instead of the adjacent Urduja House where past governors held office. He said the Urduja House is the official residence of the governor and it’s right and fitting that he holds office daily at the refurbished Capitol building.

The Capitol building was erected in 1918 by the provincial board led by Gov. Daniel Maramba, Segundo Estaris and Victor Tomelden as members, J.W. Crow as treasurer, Chas Dandors as district engineer and Ralph Harrington Doane as consulting architect.

It was reconstructed in 1949 by the provincial board led by Gov. Enrique Braganza, Vicente Soliven and Miguel de Vera as members. A.F. Buenaventura as provincial treasurer and V.B. Oledan as district engineer.

Espino’s predecessor, then governor Victor Agbayani, also had it rehabilitated but Espino decided to refurbish it in a way befitting its grandeur and its great heritage value.

Also, Espino said there were some structural defects like leaking roofs.

“We wanted it to be like little Malacañang or the old Congress. Its craftsmanship is excellent,” he said.

---

Guv set to hold office at 'new' Capitol

By Liway C. Manantan-Yparraguirre
Tuesday, July 01, 2008
Sun.Star (http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/pan/2008/07/01/news/guv.set.to.hold.office.at.new.capitol.html)

LINGAYEN -- Governor Amado Espino Jr. will start holding office on Tuesday at the newly renovated Provincial Capitol building here.

The governor's office used to be at the Urduja House.

"The Urduja House is defined as the official residence of the governor. Although the office is at the ground floor, I think it's not appropriate," Espino remarked.

Aside from the governor's office, the Office of the Vice Governor, the Provincial Board (PB) session hall and secretariat, the new Capitol building also houses the offices of the 12 board members, three sectoral representatives, and provincial administrator.

The Provincial Capitol now also has a conference room as envisioned by Espino.

But among others, the session hall was a butt of joke among the media practitioners as its color and window Venetian blinds looked similarly to that of a daycare center.

Renovation started August last year with Cris David as project manager.

Espino said the Provincial Government has so far spent P35 million for the renovation of the different buildings that include Finance, Malong, and Kalantiao and the Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office.

The new Provincial Capitol building was designed by Ralph Harrington Doane, who also designed the Provincial Capitol of Leyte Province.

"The architect interpreted what we want the building to look like," said Espino who was satisfied with the new face of the Capitol building.

allan_dude

July 1st, 2008, 06:13 PM

Lingayen Capitol Grounds
Pictures taken before the onslaught of Typhoon Cosme :(

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2017/2473856164_1ee2e8eaa4.jpg?v=0
MAIN ENTRANCE (CAPITOL)
Courtesy of Flickr by tom_lois_windson (http://flickr.com/photos/20975394@N03/)

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2321/2473856042_6063ed6cf1.jpg?v=0
Courtesy of Flickr by tom_lois_windson (http://flickr.com/photos/20975394@N03/)

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3103/2473035919_ab8462332e.jpg?v=0
CAPITOL
Courtesy of Flickr by tom_lois_windson (http://flickr.com/photos/20975394@N03/)

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2265/2473036365_7b92205d1c.jpg?v=0
SISON AUDITORIUM (Areal View)
Courtesy of Flickr by tom_lois_windson (http://flickr.com/photos/20975394@N03/)

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2196/2473036557_04cfdab6a4.jpg?v=0
VETERANS PARK
Courtesy of Flickr by tom_lois_windson (http://flickr.com/photos/20975394@N03/)

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2165/2473855128_cf86b7cca5.jpg?v=0
GOVERNOR STATUE
Courtesy of Flickr by tom_lois_windson (http://flickr.com/photos/20975394@N03/)

tracymack

July 5th, 2008, 06:46 AM

NCO Career Fair Urdaneta City

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3142/2627877930_b396f3c17a_b.jpg

July 3-4, 2008
Donal Bldg., San Vicente East
Urdaneta City
9AM to 5PM

NCO Career Fair Successful
http://urdanetacity.blogspot.com/2008/07/nco-career-fair-successful.html

2 days
100 aspirants
8 for contract signing

They had only less than a week to actively promote the Call Center Job Fair thru flyers, banners and even online.But the hiring team of NCO and the GSI staff can now say that the two day event is a resounding success.

Compared to other venues in Northern Luzon where the passing rate was sometimes 0% out of 170 applicants, this recent event held at the GlobalSkills Institute in Urdaneta City has produced 8 applicants invited by NCO for contract signing at the Clark office. The NCO team also reported that at least two dozen more applicant only missed a few points in the hiring process and would be glad to refer them for training with the Global Skills Institute - Urdaneta City to hone and polish thier English Skills, especially on Accent training.

Because of the good turnout of applicants, both NCO and GlobalSkills Institute have agreed to make the career Fair a regular thing. Possibly once a month or once every two months.

The Philippines is closely trailing India in the IT and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry. Unfortunately, while the Philippines has been tagged as the third largest English speaking country in the world, the level of proficiency among Filipinos has been on a steep decline in the last 10 years. Call center recruiting has been meeting increasing challenges in finding qualified applicants as days go by. The good news is that the government as well as private entities have been exerting effort to reverse the downward trend.

It has been reported that the Call center industry is stated to boom into a 10-billion dollar industry in the Philippines by year 2010.

This is an original publication of Urdaneta.Multiservers.Com

tracymack

July 7th, 2008, 11:14 AM

Arroyo: Exports, BPO can recoup losses from oil price hikes
By Lira Dalangin-Fernandez
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/infotech/view/20080707-146939/Arroyo-Exports-BPO-can-recoup-losses-from-oil-price-hikes

MANILA, Philippines--President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said Monday that losses from the high prices of imported oil and rice could be recouped from exports and the business process outsourcing industry that continue to expand amid the economic crisis.

"The best response by the Philippines to the rising global commodity price today is, if on the liability side of the national balance sheet, we sustained a loss from rising prices of commodities that we import, that is oil and rice, then we should endeavor to generate compensating gains on the asset side to the commodities we can export," Arroyo said in her speech at the 8th ASEAN [Association of Science and Technology] Science and Technology Week and this year's National Science and Technology Week.

"This asset side consists of hard commodities such as primary products supplemented by soft commodities such as outsource business processing under the leadership of our chairman ICT [Information Communication Technology] Ray Chua," she added in the speech which was broadcast on national television.

Arroyo reiterated her program to create a "cyber-corridor," which is a group of locations nationwide where investments in information and communications technology are to be concentrated.

The government and the private sector have been working on so-called "next wave cities" to attract business process outsourcing companies to locations outside of Metro Manila.

Next-wave cities are locations in the country identified as friendly areas for outsourcing companies. These cities are identified by the Department of Trade and Industry and the Commission on Information and Communications Technology.

From eight provinces, Arroyo said the cyber corridor has been configured by the Business Process Outsourcing Association of the Philippines to now include 24 "next wave centers" -- Tuguegarao, Baguio, Dagupan, Urdaneta, Cabanatuan, Clark, San Fernando in Pampanga, Subic, Cainta, Bacoor, Sta. Rosa, Lipa, Batangas City, Camarines Sur, Legaspi, Iloilo, Bacolod, Dumaguete, Cebu, Leyte, Cagayan de Oro, Davao, and General Santos City.

She said the new international broadband links of PLDT in La Union and Globe in Cagayan would be operational in 2009.

"So no tsunami, no earthquake, nothing will interrupt gateway services to the Philippines," Arroyo said.

A Taiwan earthquake affected Internet links of the country after major fiber optic lines were damaged in 2006.

Arroyo said that the government has allotted P3 billion from 2007 to 2010 for research and technology. For this year, the DoST received 51 percent increase in their funds from the national budget.

"We look for science and technology to do many other things, to put food on the table, to save lives and prevent calamities, to harness renewable and indigenous energy, to cure and prevent illnesses and to create more high quality jobs. And I know that all the ASEAN has the same aspirations," she said.

allan_dude

July 7th, 2008, 01:21 PM

FVR sees countless opportunities for Philippines in China connection

Rene Q. Bas

FORMER President Fidel V. Ramos is the most active mover and shaker for greater Philippine-China trade, investment and human development relations.

He is the chairman of the board of the annual Boao Forum for Asia (BFA), in southern China’s Hainan island-province. The former president never tires of stressing the important role China has been playing to advance the process of achieving economic integration in Asia, which has begun, albeit slowly, in Asean.

The Boao Forum for Asia is fast gaining the prestige of being our part of the world’s equivalent of the Davos (Switzerland) World Economic Forum. BFA is the largest Asia-based nongovernment, nonprofit intellectual resource center. It is of course heavily supported by China.

We talked about logistics and freeport development in China in which field Filipinos can have jobs and business partnerships.

Earlier this month, he gave the keynote address at the international conference on “Modern Logistics and Freeport Development” in Ningbo City, Zhejiang province, China. Zhejiang used to be spelled Chekiang in English-language newspapers, including The Times.

“Ningbo is a major port, tourism center, and economic hub located at the south end of the Yangtze River Delta,” he explained. It has among the most highly developed economies in China, with 93,000 domestic and foreign enterprises, a GDP of 343 billion RMB ($43 billion) in 2007 (or 1/3 of the entire GDP of the Philippines at $117 billion), and an export-import volume of $56.5 billion. The port of Ningbo, ranked fourth busiest in the world, is the largest transshipment hub in China for crude oil, petroleum products, and chemical materials.”

“In May, 2008, the Hangzhou Bay Bridge which connects Ningbo to Shanghai was opened. It is 36 kilometers long, the world’s longest sea-crossing bridge, and was built within four years—that is a record. It is considered an engineering marvel,” he said.

He explained that Zhejiang province, with a population of 51 million, is one of the best developed in China. Its GDP of 1,863 billion RMB ($233 billion) in 2007 is twice the 2007 GDP of the Philippines. Zhejiang’s per capita GDP of $4,600 is roughly five times China’s national average, he said.

The Boao Forum organized the logistics conference, together with the UN Development Program (UNDP), the Zhejiang provincial government, and the Ningbo city government.

There were 500 participants. These were senior officials, logistics experts, and port administrators from Asia and Europe, as well as top executives of transport giants, notably Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK-Japan), Moller-Maersk (Scandinavia), China Overseas Shipping Co. (COSCO), UPS (US) and DHL (US). While the conference was going while the 10th Zhejiang Investment and Trade Symposium and the seventh China International Consumer Goods Fair was being held nearby.

FVR gave a definition of logistics as “the process of planning, implementing, and controlling the efficient, effective flow and storage of goods, services, and related information from point of origin to point of consumption in conformity with customer requirements. This includes inbound, outbound, internal, and external movements, and return of waste/used materials for environmental purposes.” It apparently comes from the military’s need and experience, according to Wikipedia, of being supplied with arms, ammunition, and rations from their base to a forward position.

He said that among the major subjects discussed at Ningbo were new approaches in free-port operations, government-private sector cooperation, and models of competitive international ports. The participants gave high priority to “capability-building in ‘emergency logistics’ for timely and effective responses during natural calamities and other disasters in the wake of the massive earthquake in Sichuan province last May 12, which China’s Central Government—with the support of the UN and donor-countries—has handled with admirable efficiency and, for the first time, with unprecedented transparency.”

Linking the Philippines and China

In his keynote address, he highlighted Philippine efforts to link with the major markets in the Asia-Pacific region in order to benefit from our favorable geostrategic position at the center of East Asia. He emphasized the fact that “The Philippines is investing a great deal of capital and human talent to link our vast archipelago with regional markets and industrial powerhouses. Only through these investments in logistics systems can the Philippines take advantage of its strategic location at the heart of East Asia—with easy access to China, Japan, South Korea and other huge markets.”

He sees the great and countless opportunities in China’s logistics sector for the Philippines.

FVR calls attention to President Hu Jintao’s message to President Arroyo and the Filipinos congratulating us on our 110th Independence Day last June 12 (see Page A8 for full text). The Chinese president made a commitment “to further open the three-decade-old bilateral ties between our two countries, which have entered a new phase of all-around development.” This, he said, is a reason why Filipinos must desire and work to maintain favorable relations with China—as other Asian countries are doing.

“It is in logistics facilities and operations where new opportunities lie for the expansion of RP-China trade, investment, tourism and other forms of economic cooperation. In relation to China’s fast-developing Xiamen-Ningbo-Shanghai axis, choice Philippine locations are those along the South China Sea corridor, principally Port Irene-San Vicente, Cagayan; Poro Point, La Union-San Fabian, Dagupan, Sual, Pangasinan; Iba, Masinloc, Zambales-Agno, Alaminos, Bolinao, Pangasinan; Subic-Clark; Bataan Manila Bay-Sangley Point, Cavite; Batangas-Mindoro Occidental; and Palawan.”

He told me that the authorities in Ningbo and Zhejiang made it clear to the Filipino delegates at the conference that they wanted to pursue trade, investment and joint venture opportunities here in the Philippines. They could see what great new positive effects could result from such a partnership.

FVR also said that a delegation led by Guo Zhengwei, president of the Ningbo People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, and Ningbo’s Deputy Chief of the Communist Party were coming to Manila to begin surveying opportunities for bilateral cooperation.

http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2008/june/29/yehey/top_stories/20080629top3.html

allan_dude

July 7th, 2008, 01:45 PM

Pangasinan registers 2.65-M population in 2007

By Venus May H. Sarmiento

Dagupan City (2 July) -- Pangasinan population continues to grow as it registered a 2.65 population based on the results of the 2007 Census of Population conducted by the National Statistics Office.

From 2.17 million population in 1995 and 2.46million in 2000, the province now has 2,645,395 persons as of April 16, 2008.

Provincial Statistics Officer Dante L. Pescador said more than 25% of the population is in three cities and two municipalities.

The city of San Carlos has the largest population with 161,844 (6.18%) followed by the city of Dagupan with 149,554 (5.71%) and Malasiqui with 122,785 (4.69%). Completing the top five are the City of Urdaneta with 120,785 (4.61%) and Bayambang with 103,145 (3.94%)

Among barangays, Pescador said Bonuan Gueset of Dagupan City has the largest population with 20,335. Pantal, also in the city of Dagupan is the second highest with 16,835. Barangay Poblacion of Lingayen, ranked third with a population of 12,612. Other barangays that reached the 10,000 mark in Pangasinan are Poblacion in Alaminos (10,095) and Bonuan Boquig of Dagupan City (10,852)

The population counts were based on census questionnaires from the different barangays which were processed in Regional Data Processing Centers adopting a technology which involved digital imaging and intelligent character recognition. The census was conducted pursuant to Batas Pambansa Blg. 72 and Commonwealth Act 591, added Pescador.

Pescador said the provincial figures were included national POPCEN result that was made official with President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's signing of Proclamation No. 1489 on April 16,2008. (PIA-Pangasinan)

http://www.pia.gov.ph/default.asp?m=12&fi=p080702.htm&no=32

allan_dude

July 7th, 2008, 01:50 PM

Fixing of Pangasinan hospital to start soon

Sun.Star Pangasinan

SAN CARLOS CITY -- Heavy equipment from the Provincial Engineering Division and policemen in fatigue duty uniform arrived at the Pangasinan Provincial Hospital (PPH) in Barangay Bolingit here last Wednesday.

Caught by surprise were the administrative officers of PPH and the Provincial Health Office (PHO).

Governor Amado Espino Jr. instructed Provincial Disaster Coordinating Council (PDCC) executive officer Paterno Orduña last Tuesday to form the team for the cleaning and clearing operation at the 4.2 hectare PPH compound.

Espino said the 14 hospitals, including the provincial hospital being run by the Provincial Government, were in bad shape when he assumed office last year.

After assessing the conditions of these hospitals and regularly meeting the chiefs-of-hospital, he said they mapped out plans to improve the health services being provided by the government hospitals in the province.

"What we wanted to do is, what the private hospitals in Dagupan City could offer, the provincial hospital must be able to offer also," he remarked.

Rehabilitation works started long before Typhoon Cosme hit the province last month.

There are eight buildings at PPH, but these are poorly located; and the facilities are not really good and way below the standard of the governor.

Meanwhile, PPH officer-in-charge Policarpio de Guzman said they were surprised when the team headed by Orduña arrived. Nonetheless, they are very happy, as they have not experienced such attention from the Provincial Government before.

The governor said only the administrative and main buildings will remain when they start fixing the provincial hospital.

Prioritized to be constructed are the "birthing" or pediatric building and the dialysis building.

"We will build a modern birthing area, and all mothers (regardless of their social status) and their newborns will be treated equally," said Espino.

The dialysis building will house 10 dialysis units. The buildings will cost around P40 million including the facilities. These will be started this year and will be completed next year.

The hospital will also have a conference room (which is currently lacking), a nurses' headquarters, and a supply building, among others.

Espino said they are working with at least a P35-million budget, P11 million of which came from the Department of Health for the repair of the damages caused by Typhoon Cosme.

He said the bulk of the province's capital outlay next year would be for the hospitals.

De Guzman said there are 299 employees at the provincial hospital including the casuals and contractual.

The provincial hospital used to be a district hospital known as Bolingit Hospital. It was transformed as provincial hospital when the old provincial hospital located in Dagupan City was converted into Region 1 Medical Center.

Meanwhile, district and community hospitals undergoing rehabilitation are those in Dasol, Bolinao, Alaminos City, Bayambang, Lingayen, Mapandan, Manaoag, Asingay, Umingan and Tayug. (LCMY/Sunnex (http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/pan/2008/07/04/news/fixing.of.pangasinan.hospital.to.start.soon.html))

allan_dude

July 7th, 2008, 02:05 PM

Pangasinan mayors score delayed rehab funds

Philippine Daily Inquirer

LINGAYEN, PANGASINAN—Mayors of Pangasinan towns severely damaged by Tropical Storm “Cosme” in May have complained that money meant for rehabilitation had not been released by government agencies, delaying the repair of school buildings and houses in their areas.

During a meeting of the Regional Disaster Coordinating Council (RDCC) here on Friday, Sison Mayor Kimi Cojuangco told President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo that the reconstruction of schools and houses had yet to start two months after her town was battered by the storm.

“The funny part is Education Secretary Jesli Lapus already (released) the money to the provincial [schools] superintendent’s office. But DepEd has not repaired a single school in my town and I think that is true in most towns in Pangasinan,” Cojuangco said.

DepEd, she said, built in her town makeshift classrooms made of plywood and GI (galvanized iron) sheets, but these “look like pigpens.”

She said the Department of Public Works and Highways had also not released a single centavo to her town.

“The children are suffering. They are boiling in the heat and when it rains, classes are suspended,” Cojuangco said.

The Philippine Daily Inquirer tried to reach Armando Aquino, schools superintendent of Pangasinan Division II, for updates on the rehabilitation of school buildings on Saturday, but his mobile phone was off.

It was learned, however, that Aquino could not start construction because Pangasinan Rep. Marcos Cojuangco, the mayor’s husband, had specified construction materials that should be used in the school buildings.

But Mayor Cojuangco said “it was for the safety of the children why the congressman [had] specified better materials.”

In Binmaley town, Mayor Simplicio Rosario said he stopped the construction of two school buildings by DepEd contractors because they were using substandard materials.

Cojuangco also said the DPWH had not delivered the allocated GI sheets as promised by Ms Arroyo during her visit a week after Cosme struck.

“People are living in tents. I could no longer pacify the people, I told them the government cares but [these agencies] are not showing that the government [indeed] cares,” she said.

Fidel Ginez, DPWH Ilocos director, said the delivery of GI sheets to the province was delayed because the vessel carrying the materials from Thailand was stranded due to Typhoon “Frank” (international code name: Fengshen).

“But the raw materials are here and have been manufactured. On Sunday, we will deliver 5,885 GI sheets to Sison and next week, 118,000 GI sheets will be delivered to the province,” Ginez told the Inquirer in a phone interview. Yolanda Sotelo-Fuertes, Inquirer Northern Luzon

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/regions/view/20080707-146872/Pangasinan-mayors-score-delayed-rehab-funds

allan_dude

July 7th, 2008, 02:09 PM

GMA flares up over GI sheets

UNDELIVERED ASSISTANCE TO PANGASINAN

LINGAYEN-The boss lady was mad.

Mayors who were in the meeting of the Regional Disaster Coordinating Council (RDCC) at the Sangguniang Panlalawigan session hall at the capitol, which was off-limits to the media, saw for themselves a sample of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s noted temper after she learned that only a few of Typhoon Cosme’s victims received the assistance she promised and worse, got these only in trickles.

The President visited the province Friday afternoon to personally verify if the assistance she promised was really received by the people.

Pangasinan officials who attended the meeting were Governor Amado Espino Jr., Rep. Victor Agbayani (2nd District), Rep. Mark Cojuangco (5th District), Acting Dagupan City Mayor Belen Fernandez, and several town mayors.

The regional directors of national agencies, who are members of RDCC, were in the meeting as well.

Chief Superintendent Romeo Hilomen, RDCC chairman, reportedly told the President that only 6,000 G.I. sheets had been received so far, out of the P500 million worth she promised for Pangasinan, La Union and Zambales,

Media reporters were asked to leave the meeting after the formalities were extended.

Of the 24 towns and cities in Pangasinan badly hit by the typhoon, Dagupan City, Bugallon and Infanta initially received galvanized iron sheets from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

Mayor Ruperto Martinez of Infanta said he received only 358 G.I. sheets of the 16,000 pieces he initially requested and these were distributed equally to the barangays, each one getting only 29 pieces of G.I. sheets.

“How can my barangay captains divide 29 G.I. sheets among their constituents.” he asked.

It was learned that Dagupan was the first to submit a list of typhoon victims validated by DSWD and was given 2,000 G.I. sheets although it had asked for 6,000.

No figure was given for Bugallon.

Sison Mayor Kimi Cojuangco, wife of Rep. Cojuangco, complained that the Department of Education already released rehab funds to the Pangasinan II division under Schools Superintendent Armando Aquino but not a single cent was allocated for the repair of damaged schools in her town.

She said she appealed to DPWH Regional Director Fidel Ginez to release the G.I. sheets needed by her people but not a single piece of roofing material was released to them yet.

She later admitted that she had complained earlier to the President that the promised help to Pangasinan has not reached the typhoon victims.

Mayor Simplicio Rosario of Binmaley confirmed that the President went ballistics when she learned about the slow pace in the delivery of the G.I sheets she promised for Pangasinan, pointing out that his town has not received not a single G.I sheet from the DPWH.

Arroyo had instructed DPWH Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane while in barangay Portic, Bugallon last month that there should be weekly deliveries of G.I. sheets at P50,000 worth each week for 10 weeks till all the G.I. sheets are delivered.

It appears that only one delivery to the Second High District Engineers Office was made.

Ebdane was not with the President during Friday’s visit. —LM

http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/2008/07/08/gma-flares-up-over-gi-sheets/#more-9910

allan_dude

July 8th, 2008, 04:48 AM

Massive production of hybrid seeds to start this season

CALASIAO—To boost rice production in Pangasinan, the government, with the help of partylist Abono, has launched a massive production of hybrid rice seeds, initially targeting 100,000 hectares of land.

The farmlands in 22 municipalities will be tapped for the massive utilization and production of hybrid rice seeds under the new A x R Seed Production Project, according to the Department of Agriculture Regional Field Unit (DA-RFU).

The project, which seeks to ensure seed requirement for planting and ultimately increase rice production, was launched jointly by Rep. Robert Estrella of the partylist Abono, the DA-RFU, the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice), Agricultural Training Institute and the Bureau of Plant Industry-National Seed Quality Control Standard. (PBI-NSQCS).

Estrella pledged P2,000 financial assistance per hectare of the programmed areas from his congressional fund to answer input subsidy worth while PhilRice will provide for free parental lines or seeds costing P4,000 per hectare.

ATI and BPI-NSQCS will provide season-long training on hybrid rice seed production for seed growers, especially those venturing on this project for the first time.

Technical assistance and supervision of the project will be under the care of DA-RFU I.

The project has been timed to start this wet cropping season in the 22 identified municipalities of Pangasinan.

A x R Seed Production Project requires seed growers committed to the activity to plant parental lines, (male and female parents) that will later produce seeds that will be used as planting materials for rice farmers in the ensuing cropping season.

“A” line is the mother or female parent while “R” line is the father or male parent. Both lines are grown in a seed production project on hybrid.

Compared with inbred varieties seed production, A x R Seed Production is more profitable but entails more time and care.

Massive production of A x R seeds is being strongly pursued and recommended as supply and source of F1 seeds for rice production of farmers has become a problem every planting season.

More seed producers have been adopting hybrid rice production due to its proven productivity and profitability.—LM

http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/2008/07/06/massive-production-of-hybrid-seeds-to-start-this-season/#more-9894

allan_dude

July 8th, 2008, 04:49 AM

Provincial environment summit set next month

LINGAYEN-Preparations are underway for the holding of the province’s first multi-sectoral summit on water and environment next month.

The summit, with the theme “Hurdling Road-blocks to Sound/Sustainable Environment”, is geared towards reconciling systems, approaches and methodologies in planning and implementing programs for a sustainable environment.

Sally Navata, head of the non-government organization Kalikasan Foundation that’s spearheading the event in cooperation with the University of the Philippines Social Action and Research Development Foundation (UPSARDF), said her group is coordinating with the provincial government and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources for the meeting.

Expected to participate are some 300 leaders of various NGOs, Local Government Units, educational institutions, religious and business sector and women organizations in Pangasinan.

Among the topics lined up for discussion are the principles of ecologically sustainable development, water, coastal and forest resource management, solid waste disposal management system, land use and renewable energy program.

Navata said the summit has been designed to backstop a proposed measure being deliberated upon in the Sangguniang Panlalawigan, specifically to codify the implementation of environmental programs in the province.

SP Member Alice Pulido, chairperson of theSP committee on environment and natural resources, filed the resolution seeking the adoption of an environment code of Pangasinan last year.

“Being a potential regional growth hub, Pangasinan — with its vast territory and rice natural resources — needs a comprehensive environmental regulatory measure that will serve as guidepost to any development and growth venture,” Pulido said, batting for the adoption of the proposed code.

Pulido noted that Bulacan, Batangas, Cebu, Iloilo and other key provinces in southern Philippines are surging ahead in economic growth because “these provinces have codified their environmental undertakings.”—LM

http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/2008/07/08/provincial-environment-summit-set-next-month/#more-9909

allan_dude

July 8th, 2008, 04:52 AM

Ordizia (Spain) Mayor visits Hundred Islands

Ordizia, Spain Mayor Jose Miguel Santamaria, his wife Alaitz Arranz Rueda and son Iñigo arrived here last Saturday morning for a whirlwind visit at the Hundred Islands National Park (HINP).

Mayor Hernani A. Braganza welcomed Ordizia''s first family to the city, who were accompanied by Urdaneta City Mayor Amadeo Perez, Jr. and his family.

The Santamarias were in the province for the signing of the Twinning Agreement between Urdaneta and Ordizia.

Santamaria and Perez inked the sister city accord last week in Urdaneta City Hall and witnessed by other local officials.

Perez then toured around the Santamaria family to the best places in the province foremost of which is the home of the world famous Hundred Islands.

Right after the courtesy call, Braganza briefed the Ordizia mayor of the city government’s on-going thrusts anchored on agriculture and tourism development.

He said, the city’s pride, the Hundred Islands, was under the control and supervision of national government for many decades.

In 2005, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo granted the wish of the city government and the Alaminians to fully managed, rehabilitate, develop and protect the city’s icon.

“Hundred Islands is not just for Alaminians, our provincemates and countrymen. This is God’s gift to mankind and therefore it’s for all of us to enjoy, protect, conserve and preserve,” stressed Braganza.

Sta. Maria was amazed how the city government and the people of Alaminos have preserved the beauty of the marine park.

He said the city is very lucky for having this unique and awesome natural wonder.

Ordizia is a rustic town and more of a hilly area in northern part of Spain. While, the large modern communities and big industries are located on its foothills.

The former Agrarian Reform and Press Secretary under the Arroyo government also informed the visiting chief executive that like Urdaneta City, Alaminos also derived its name from another Spanish hero.

Sarapsap was renamed Alaminos in 1873 in honor of Governor General Juan Alaminos de Vivar who visited the place.

Braganza said the city is still on the process of tracing the roots of the late Gov. Gen. Alaminos.

Santamaria and his family along with the Perez were quickly brought to the Hundred Island for a whole day of island hopping and adventure.

They enjoyed frolicking in the beach of Quezon and Governor’s Islands.

A sumptuous lunch was prepared at the Pinoy Big Brother House for the former were the guests feast on grilled milkfish, lechon, rib roast and other seafoods.

Santamaria said they will definitely revisit the city and spent more time at the national park to enjoy its spectacular view and the experience more real adventure.

He also vowed to entice his constituents and countrymen to visit the many island paradise and scenic spots in the country that include the Hundred Islands National Park.

With a commercial airport soon to rise in the city it would be a lot easier for tourists particularly from Basque Country to visit the Hundred Islands anytime of the year.

Perez, on his part, offered his help in luring more fiesta lovers, thrill seekers and tourists to take part in 2009 Hundred Islands Global Homecoming (HIGH) and the Festival of the Hundred Islands which will be held from March 18-28, 2009.

The third-termer mayor said he is proud of what Braganza, his distant relative and former colleague in the House of Representatives, have done so far in transforming the Alaminos into a booming green city.

Preparations are now underway to ensure the success of this biggest gathering of balikbayans, city residents and foreign tourists here.

City councilor Cirilo Radoc will head next year’s city HIGH and FIHI’s executive. (CIO)

http://www.alaminoscity.gov.ph/news/newsdetails.aspx?newsid=410

allan_dude

July 8th, 2008, 05:27 AM

Alaminos jin to compete in the Worl Korean Expo

A product of the city government’s comprehensive and sustainable sports program is seeing action in a highly competitive taekwondo tournament in South Korea.

Twelve year-old Melanie Hope C. Douglas, one of the city’s bemedalled athletes and local sport’s newest faces, will compete in the World Korean Expo Taekwondo Championship from July 4-10.

Douglas qualified as a member of the Philippine Team Delegation after passing the rigid and series of selection facilitated by the Philippine Taekwondo Association (PTA).

Her sterling performance in the regional tournaments has also earned her a slot in the team, said Retired Commodore Loreto Velasquez, Taekwondo Regional Director.

Douglas bagged gold medals in 2007 Ilocos Region Athletic Association Meet (Lingayen, Pangasinan) PMA Class ‘89 Makatao: Poomsae Taekwondo Championships (Baguio City).

She also ruled the 2007 Taekwondo Regional Inter-School Championship (Dagupan City), the 2008 Regional Taekwondo Championship (Asingan, Pangasinan) and the 2008 (4th) Adventure Hundred Islands Taekwondo Championship (Alaminos City).

The current sophomore student at the Alaminos City National High School also represented the city and region 1 in last year’s Palarong Pambansa.

“She (Douglas) will compete in the junior division and will be her first appearance in the world expo or any international competitions,” said Jose Elvis Sison, city’s sports consultant.

Sison noted that Mayor Hernani A. Braganza had already shouldered Douglas’ airfare and accommodation including a pocket money.

In a simple send-off at his office, Braganza wishes the city’s pride the best of luck and told this young and promising jin to further hone her skills and do her best to bring home the bacon.

At the same, the Mayor told her to enjoy this wonderful experience, have fun and gain new and foreign friends.

Douglas thanked Mayor Braganza for his all-out support accorder her especially in her first international competition.

She vowed to give her all to finish strong in this super tourney and hopefully capture the first international bronze, silver or even gold medal for her citymates.

Likewise, she expressed her fellow local athletes’ sincere gratitude and appreciation to the chief executive for helping realize the dreams of young Alaminians of becoming the next top caliber athletes of the city and the nation in general.

Aside from Douglas, eleven more athletes were tapped from Region 1 to beef up the country’s contingent.

A total of 58 taekwondo players were sent by the PTA to the World Expo which will be held simultaneously at key venues in Jeonju and Muju of Jeonbuk and Seoul.

Joining the young jins are team officials, coaches and team delegates headed by Tem Igor Mella, Randy Pabilico and Ricardo Santiago Jr. (CIO)

http://www.alaminoscity.gov.ph/news/newsdetails.aspx?newsid=411

allan_dude

July 8th, 2008, 11:43 AM

Komentaryo: Gapolay gawat

Dagupan City (8 July) -- HULYO, Agosto tan Septyembre so panaoy gawat. Diad sarayan bulan, ilaloan yam as ondenden so irap, laotla say nalilikas lan itatagey tan itatagey na presyoy belas.

Walamay riport ed radyo ya nadngel ko ya ni, anggapometla kono tay P18.50 kada kilo a belas na NFA ta pati belas-NFA kono ilalako la na masolok a beinte pisos. Anggapo labatlay oras tayon tawagan iray kakaarod NFA et kanian agtayo amta no walay kapnekan tonia.

Et no tua, lalo sirin ya mankaruskos lad kelas so saray totoon mamairap ta anggad nagonoyan puro inlambong lan kamotey kanen da, basta aglabat ira naerasan.

No panagani lamet bandad Oktubre, onabig lamet so sitwasyon na belas, padisir daray dakel ya opisyales. Taloy bulan ni sirin so anosan - agta kasi inatey lay kabayo no Oktubre ni so isabiy kanen ton dika?

Andimet siguro, onebeng tan katag-taglang metla labat. Ontan so "forced diet" o pilit ya gimper na panangan parad say balon Pilipino.

* * * *

Analo lamet so Pakyaw. Pinatumba toy singa dueg a David Diaz pian samsamen toy titulon "lightweight champion" na mundo.

Diad lokal a pustaan, anggapoy ompusta ed kalaban nen Manny Pacquiao, onong met ed samay barberok ya datin ompustad anggan siopan nakalaban na boksingeron taga General Santos City. Solid lara amon tua so Pilipino parad si Pakman.

Antomet lanti ey ta diad sayan sankaonoran a laban, singa sankanengneng lan binangon tan nayarin palampasan tola nen Pakman so dayew ya inani nen dati met ya Pilipinon "lightweight champion" Gabriel "Flash" Elorde.

Ag balet manisia si laki Boying ed saya. Mas matibay tan maong a boksingero si Elorde kono. Say pandumaan da labat, kuanton anonotan ya inyarom, blak en wha-ayt so laban nen Elorde balet si Pakman et de-kolor.

Naksit ka, Balong!

* * *

Nala na baley na Santo Tomas so pitamitam ton nailista ed Guinness Book of World Records so ginawa ton Sankarokoyan a Barbekyu na Mais ed intiron mundo.

Pinmaway lay ginawan inpan-balideyt na saray taga-Guinness kono tan on, say Santo Tomas la so makankayarian na peles a titulo parad saya.

Kongratuleyten tipa sirin so makoli tan maoyamon mayora na saman a baley, Vivien O. Villar, asawa nen Undersekretari Antonio "Bebot" Villar na Presidential Anti-Smuggling Group (PASG); si Bise Mayor Ttimoteo Villar, say konsejo municipal tan amin ya onlugar ed Santo Tomas parad sayan dayew na Pangasinan.

Sayamay tatawagen dan minais day laban, agda minane. (PIA-Pangasinan (http://www.pia.gov.ph/?m=12&sec=reader&fi=p080708.htm&no=67))

tyronne

July 8th, 2008, 11:16 PM

Yung CB Mall halos tapos na pala yung buong mall. :)

tracymack

July 9th, 2008, 12:07 AM

^^Any pics Ty? Baka uwi ako this weekend. Try ko kuhanan. :)

tyronne

July 9th, 2008, 12:09 AM

^^Wala akong pics eh. Pero yung main structure parang tapos na siguro yung interiors na lang tapos meron pang part na may paint na. Yung CSI across it, medyo ok na rin, malapit na rin siguro yun.

tracymack

July 9th, 2008, 12:11 AM

^^Ok, thanks for the updates! Ano pala kulay nung CSI? Dati parang lavender/ light purple-ish noong huli ko to makita. :lol:

tyronne

July 9th, 2008, 12:32 AM

^^I can't remember kung anong color scheme it will have. Para kasing first coating pa lang yung meron nung nakita ko 2 weeks ago hehe!

allan_dude

July 9th, 2008, 01:42 AM

Integrated farming reaps success

By Anselmo Roque
Philippine Daily Inquirer (http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/regions/view/20080709-147262/Integrated-farming-reaps-success)
First Posted 00:42:00 07/09/2008

SCIENCE CITY OF MUÑOZ – In 2005, farmer Patricio Castillo, 40, asked 28 of his neighbors in the farming village of San Joaquin in Balungao, Pangasinan, to work with him on his three-hectare lot to raise crops and animals for food.

Castillo’s group planted rice, corn and various vegetables and cultivated and raised tilapia, chickens, turkeys, ducks, goats and pigs.

Weekly informal meetings and discussions were held. In time, his neighbors started adopting the farming system he introduced.

Castillo said his farm had been producing the daily food needs of his family with a steady cash flow to boot. His neighbors enjoy the same benefits.

According to the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice), Castillo and his neighbors are among the growing list of rice farmers in the country who subscribe to the “palayamanan system,” coined from the Filipino words “palay” (unhusked rice) and “kayamanan” (wealth).

The system is offered by PhilRice as a way of improving further the productivity of farmers. Castillo was one of those who attended a training-seminar on palayamanan who adopted the system and became an advocate in his community.

Integration

According to PhilRice, monoculture of rice or corn in one hectare is indeed not enough to support the needs of a family of five. Through palayamanan, a farmer can expect better production and income, it said.

The key concept in the system is a high level of integration.

“It combines rice with other high-value crops and trees, fish, poultry, livestock and biomass recycling. It espouses efficient use of available farm resources and highlights the interconnectivity between each resource and byproduct through modern available technologies,” said Dr. Leocadio Sebastian, a former PhilRice executive director, during the project’s launching in 2002.

Palayamanan is an old paradigm, which was immortalized in the Filipino traditional song “Bahay Kubo,” but it lost its popularity due to the widespread “rice-rice culture” every cropping season, Sebastian said.

Among the system’s benefits are “continuous food supply, higher income and economic stability, increased farm productivity and sustainability, reduced production risk, maximized use of land or better resource allocation, and enhanced diversity and ecological imbalance,” PhilRice said.

The land is subdivided into a residential area that can be used for a farmhouse or hut, nursery, vegetable garden, animal production and waste recycling; a field crop production area for rice, rice-fish culture and cash crop; a small farm reservoir for fish culture; and an area for fruit trees and vegetables.

Strategy

Rizal Corales, who leads the palayamanan project, said farmers could use the following as guide:

For crops, farmers should plant about half a hectare with rice. Taro can be planted along the perimeter and canals while vegetables can be grown on the bunds (earth mounds or embankments).

For cash crops and vegetables, farmers should plant a variety of crops, such as onion, melon, cucumber, squash, and corn during the dry season, and tomato, eggplant, pepper, string beans, bitter gourd, sponge gourd and okra during the off season.

Corales said raised plots should be put up for vegetable production during the rainy season but their fruits must be bagged to protect them from insects. Leafy vegetables, such as mustard and lettuce, should be provided with fine mesh net.

Fruit and vegetable trees are also good sources of income, he said.

Livestock can yield big income. Raising duck and chicken can provide immediate cash, while goats, sheep and pigs can cover other expenses. Large animals, like cows and carabaos, can provide more income.

A multi-animal single roof system can be used for raising two cows, 10 goats, 10 pigs, 50 chickens and 50 ducks.

A layer of rice hull, coco dust, sawdust, chopped rice straw and dried leaves mixed with rice hull and garden soil is recommended for reduced cleaning and for fertilizer use later.

Benefits

Palayamanan’s benefits can be categorized into noncash and cash returns, PhilRice said.

The noncash benefits are continuous food supply for the family, reduced production risks, savings and healthy diet from eating homegrown crops, and savings from converting biomass wastes into fertilizer.

The cash benefits, according to PhilRice studies in 2005, showed the following net income per year: For rice, P15,045; onion, P17,200; corn, P5,250; vegetables, P14,847; two cycles of “rice-fish” and gabi farming, P37,205; and two cycles of raising 20 chickens and five pigs, P11,666 or a total of P101,213.

allan_dude

July 9th, 2008, 01:43 AM

Turnover of bangus fry deferred

Wednesday, July 09, 2008

DAGUPAN CITY -- The Tuesday’s turnover of about 3.2 million bangus fry by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) to the owners of fishponds and fish pens in Pangasinan affected by Typhoon Cosme was postponed.

BFAR Regional Director Nestor Domenden said Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap, who was supposed to lead the turnover ceremony at the BFAR regional office here, could not attend the event. He does not know yet when would the turnover be held.

BFAR allotted 10 million bangus fry for the provinces of Pangasinan and La Union. Of which, 6.2 million will go to Pangasinan.

This is part of their fishery rehabilitation program to help the fisherfolks recover their losses from Typhoon Cosme.

There were talks before that BFAR was arranging for the turnover ceremony be held at the Provincial Capitol.

Governor Amado Espino Jr., however, was opposed to this plan. “There is no fishpond at the Provincial Capitol grounds,” he said.

Espino also wanted that the bangus fry be turned over to the recipients at the place where they come from for them not to incur transportation and other expenses anymore. Moreover, some of the bangus fry might die while being transported due to lack of oxygen because of the distance.

Last June 13, the BFAR regional office turned over about three million bangus fry to Pangasinan in a ceremony held in Alaminos City.

Meanwhile, Domenden said an individual recipient will receive a maximum of 25,000 bangus fry.

He said 5,000 will be given to a hectare of fishpond. He said for those less than a hectare area, the number of bangus fry to be released will be computed on a ration proportional to their area.

All the recipients were certified by a team from their respective local government units composed of the municipal or city agriculture technicians, municipal agriculturist and the Municipal Fisheries and Aquatic Resources and Management Council. (LCMY/Sunnex)

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/pan/2008/07/09/news/turnover.of.bangus.fry.deferred.html

allan_dude

July 9th, 2008, 01:45 AM

Bince joins PB majority

By Liway C. Manantan-Yparraguirre
Wednesday, July 09, 2008

LINGAYEN -- Pangasinan Board Member Alfonso Bince Jr., the lone opposition at the Provincial Board (PB) and critic of Governor Amado Espino Jr., finally joined the PB majority bloc.

Bince delivered a privilege speech during the PB’s first regular session at refurbished session hall.

Arroyo Watch: Sun.Star blog on President Arroyo

His speech sounded like a State of the Province Address (Sopa) preempting what the governor would report when he delivers his Sopa this month.

Bince first admitted that he criticized Espino’s “programs and omissions,” and that he tried to find fault “to his acts, omission, and deeds.”

But after one year of observing the governor, he said he has become his admirer.

“What makes me admire Governor Espino is his way of giving dignity and importance to the members of the PB, constantly interacting with us and now providing us with offices comparable to those of congressmen,” he remarked.

“This is the first time the governor had deemed fit to dignify elected members of the PB with decent and elegant offices at no less inside the Capitol building, the seat of government in the province,” he added.

When Espino assumed last year, he immediately had the Finance Building (where the board members were holding offices) renovated as “it was not fit for officials elected by the people to represent them.”

The ceiling of the old building drips when rain pours, rats and cockroaches frolic after office hours when they have the offices by themselves.

The new Finance Building is now occupied by offices and departments dealing with money or finances of the Provincial Government.

The board members, the governor, the vice governor and the session are now under one roof at the re-renovated Provincial Capitol Building.

Bince said he has served five governors since 1969, and he had always been on opposition. He was a board member under the administration of former governors Tito Primicias, Aguedo Agbayani, Oscar Orbos, Victor Agbayani, and now Espino.

He admitted that one of the reasons why he decided to join the majority is for his proposed provincial ordinances to be approved by the committees and passed by the PB smoothly.

When asked by Board Member Von Mark Mendoza if he has had difficulty having his ordinances passed, Bince said no as all of his ordinances were good.

However, when asked by the media why he gave up his minority floor leader position, Bince sang a different tune.

“The perception of the minority is opposition. I have wanted to pass many ordinances, but the committee doesn’t allow this to happen,” he said.

“My speech won’t have its punch if I don’t resign as minority floor leader. I’m the only one. What can I expect with my programs that I want to pass?” he added.

Bince is the lone minority at the PB after Board Members Alice Pulido, Romeo Dadacay, and Angel Baniqued, who is now the majority floor leader, joined the majority.

He also commended the governor for being always in the province unlike the previous governors, whom he said were here only one or two days a week.

Despite joining the majority bloc, Bince said he will continue to speak his mind "on matters which I think should resound to the welfare of our people."

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/pan/2008/07/09/news/bince.joins.pb.majority.html

gurugeri

July 9th, 2008, 10:05 AM

Visit www.missuniverse.com or www.nbc.com to vote for Miss Philippines for the Best National Costume award at the Miss Universe 2008 pageant. Vote ASAP kasi baka mag-close na ang voting. Thanks and God bless!

allan_dude

July 9th, 2008, 06:58 PM

Lingayen honor grads prefer public school posting

Lingayen, Pangasinan -- Why would five top graduates of the Pangasinan State University in Lingayen - all with Latin honors to their name - want to teach in public schools?

The honor graduates who all finished their degrees on full scholarship were led by Jerome Patungan, a magna cum laude in Bachelor of Science in Education (BSE) major in Social Studies. He was joined by Auralyn Baliton, Chona Nisperos, Ma. Theresa Nolledo and Jie Ann Bandong, all cum laude BSE graduates of PSU.

"I want to teach in public school as a sense of duty to my country rather than go abroad," said Baliton.

For her part, Nolledo noted that she is looking forward to teaching in a public school because DepEd is taking good care of teachers. "Besides, I want to have a part in molding our young into becoming good citizens," she added.

Education Secretary Jesli Lapus expressed his appreciation to the honor graduates who had to overcome poverty before finishing their education degree. "Being on top of your class is not easy. You are an inspiration to many of our students. You gave your best despite your poverty," Lapus told the graduates.

The graduates were accompanied by officers of the Pangasinan Washington Sister State Association, the local counterpart of the Washington and Pangasinan Sister State Association (WAPSSA) based in the United States, which shouldered the scholarship of the students.

According to Dr. Cecilia Daranciang, a retired school official and WAPSSA member, they choose their scholars from the ranks of poor who have impressive scholastic record. Since their scholarship program started in 2002 with 33 beneficiaries, they have already graduated 26. At present, they have 12 scholars who each receive $400 per semester.

Dr. Daranciang also said they want to continue contributing to the development of Pangasinan by providing quality education to poor but deserving students. This year's 11 graduates from among their scholars had five on top of the graduating class.

During the visit with Lapus, Superintendent Alma Ruby Torio of Pangasinan Division I thanked Secretary Lapus for approving the assignment of a schools superintendent position for Pangasinan Division II. Prior to this, there was only one superintendent attending to both divisions.

Region 2 Director Ligaya Miguel also expressed appreciation to Secretary Lapus since her region has already complete assignment of schools superintendent in all the divisions.

http://www.pia.gov.ph/default.asp?m=12&r=&y=&mo=&fi=p080707.htm&no=31

allan_dude

July 9th, 2008, 06:59 PM

Retailers launch commercial rice rolling stores in Pangasinan

By CRIS ZUNIGA
ABS-CBN Dagupan (http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=124662)

Lingayen, Pangasinan - Commercial rice retailers in Pangasinan were experiencing near bankruptcy since rice from the National Food Authority (NFA) started to flood the local market.

Marie Navarro, a commercial rice retailer from Lingayen, said she was dismayed at her recent sales.

A sack of commercial rice can hardly be sold because consumers prefer NFA rice which only costs from P18.25 to P25 per kilogram.

As a result, local retailers have launched commercial rolling stores to different barangays as a remedy to break off the drop in their sales.

They said that instead of competing with other high-priced commercial rice in the public market, they would just hit the road to sell their rice.

Aside from this selling strategy, most rice retailers in the province are now eager to take over NFA outlets to possibly gain a profit. With the anticipated influx of P35 per kilo NFA rice in the market, retailers said they expect to regain what they have lost due to decreased sales.

allan_dude

July 13th, 2008, 12:17 PM

Pangasinan women vs ‘Urduja’ portrayal

DAGUPAN CITY, Pangasinan, Philippines—A group of women hailed APT Entertainment for making the movie “Urduja,” about the iconic Pangasinan princess who ruled the province in ancient history.

But the group protested the way Urduja was portrayed as a “lovesick warrior” who needed a pirate to protect her.

“We must honor every effort to look into our own history, myths and legends in our continuing effort to build our national identity,” said Virginia Pasalo, Women in Development Foundation (WID) chair. “But the film could have developed the character of Urduja according to historical accounts or, if one were to think of her as a myth or a legend, at least developed the story closer to the myth or legend.”

Pasalo said they object to a Chinese pirate (Limhang in the movie) fighting for Urduja against his fellow Chinese pirates and a rival tribe. “There was absolutely no need for [that],” said Pasalo. She cited historical accounts that showed Urduja fought her battles alongside other women.

“Urduja was trained in the art of war as a child,” Pasalo pointed out, quoting accounts of Ibn Battuta, a Muslim traveler from Morocco. “She was an expert at the kampilan and a skilled navigator. With her beauty, she attracted many suitors.”

The WID Committee on Women and Culture maintained that Urduja and Limahong, on which the character Limhang was based, could not have met. It said Limahong existed in the 16th century; Urduja, two centuries earlier.

Producer Antonio P. Tuviera admitted prior to the movie’s commercial run that its heroine was a “fictionalized” version of the warrior princess.

Still, the WID committee said, “The film could have focused more on Urduja’s adventures at sea. More colorful suitors could have been created if, indeed, men were needed to spice up her story.”

Yolanda Sotelo-Fuertes, Inquirer Northern Luzon

http://showbizandstyle.inquirer.net/entertainment/entertainment/view/20080710-147648/Pangasinan-women-vs-Urduja-portrayal

allan_dude

July 14th, 2008, 12:45 PM

RP teener is Sudoku champ

Tarra Quismundo
Philippine Daily Inquirer

MANILA -- Sarah Cua, 14, thought she would end up a runner-up in a numbers game against competitors from five other countries when somebody finished the last puzzle ahead of her.

But when the winners were called, the Filipino teen from Pangasinan was declared champion of a Sudoku tournament in the Asia-Pacific in Singapore on Saturday.

The number-placement puzzle challenges players to fill empty blocks in nine-by-nine squares with the correct digits so that each row, column and quadrant will have digits one to nine without any repetition.

“The last puzzle was so difficult, it was an expert-level puzzle and the time limit was 50 minutes. I passed [my finished puzzle before the limit]. Somebody finished ahead of me but, unfortunately, she made a mistake,” Cua said at the airport on Sunday.

She said she was too shocked. “It was really unexpected,” she told reporters upon arriving in Manila Sunday afternoon.

Cua, a second-year high school student at the Pangasinan Universal Institute, bested 50 other contestants from China, Malaysia, Thailand, India, host country Singapore and the Philippines in the Sudoku open that accepted Asian players of all ages.

Besting five other Filipino players, Cua took the champion’s trophy and 10,000 Singapore dollars (more than P330,000), finishing the final puzzle in 15 minutes with all digit entries correct.

She also took home a hamper of products from brain vitamin BRAND’s, organizer and host of the Sudoku challenge.

“When it was down to 5, the Malaysian contestant finished first so we felt we had a second-placer. But when all contestants finished the puzzle, the one who submitted first was declared fifth-placer because she was incorrect. So we had a champion,” said Cua’s coach, Sid Aguilar of the Philippines’ Mathematics Trainers’ Guild (MTG).

The championship came two years since Cua solved her first Sudoku puzzle, which she encountered through training with the MTG.

A consistent topnotcher in her school, Cua was among math whiz kids that the MTG, an organization of Filipino math teachers, took under its wings and trained for mathematics competitions in the Philippines and abroad.

Competing against a crop that included fellow teeners and professionals, Cua showed a fighting chance early in the competition, only her second math competition abroad for which she had spent several weeks training.

She placed 6th among 15 players that pushed on to the second round after the easy-level challenge. In the next rounds, she consistently placed first.

“She became the darling of the press during the marathon competition because she was consistently making first place so all cameras were on her. She was already leading so she began feeling nervous,” Aguilar said.

As cameras clicked away into the final round, Cua zeroed in on her game as it required intense focus and analysis. It was just her against a game sheet with 22 digits as the only clues in an 81-block puzzle.

“I calmed down and I just didn't mind [the people] around me. I just concentrated [on the puzzle],” she told the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

An intense math trainee since third grade, Cua is bound for Singapore again this week for the International Mathematics Competition on July 18.

Responding to a joke on why she didn’t just stay in the city-state until her next contest, Cua said with a shy chuckle: “Because I have to go to class.”

http://www.inquirer.net/specialfeatures/education/view.php?db=1&article=20080713-148207

allan_dude

July 14th, 2008, 04:31 PM

Tale of Dagupan’s two oldest bakeries

By Yolanda Sotelo-Fuertes
Northern Luzon Bureau

DAGUPAN CITY -- At a time when modern bakeshops and pastry shop chains are sprouting in every major city or town, two pioneers in the bakery industry in this Pangasinan City continue to corner a sizable chunk of loyal patrons.

A visit to the Sanitary Bakery and Grocery and the New Kwong Tay Bakery and Sari-Sari Store evokes a feeling that the two “little corner bakeries” were plucked out of another time and place.

But it is through their use of the old reliable pugon (brick oven) and secret family recipes that these establishments endure the changing times.

Partnership

The Sanitary Bakery was established in 1947, two years after World War II, by seven Chinese friends who came from China to escape their country’s repressive regime.

The friends—Seen Seaw, Lee Sam, Ung (Domingo) Lee, Lee Luk, So Cheng, Liong Shin and Won Tak—started different ventures but soon pooled their resources and established the Sanitary Bakery and Grocery.
The partnership broke in 1962 and Seen bought the shares of his six partners.

Seen adopted the Filipino name Isabelo when he married Alejandra, a woman from Candon, Ilocos Sur. Their union bore 12 children.

The third child, Conchita Seen (known here as Manang Cita), 62, is now managing the bakery’s daily operations.

“I was the only unmarried child so our father entrusted the bakery’s operations to me [and I have been running it] since 1969,” Conchita says.

When her father and his friends decided to dissolve the partnership, some of them did not want her father to be left with the bakery.

But Won Tak, who had the biggest share among the partners, prevailed upon the others to allow Seen to manage the bakery.

Sacrifice

“Those were difficult times,” says Conchita, who had to stop schooling for a year so her father could save enough money to buy the bakery.

“I often cried then. Imagine seeing my classmates in high school already going to college and there was I, helping out in the bakery. But now I realize the value of my sacrifice,” she says.

From 1960 to 1968, her eldest brother, Jesus, managed the bakery until she took over in 1969. She remained at the helm of the bakery’s operations since then, just as her father, who died in 2007 at the age of 98, had wished.

The July 1990 earthquake destroyed the bakery’s original pugon, forcing Seen to transfer the bakery to another family property in the city.

But the new pugon was not efficient so Seen returned to the original bakery on AB Fernandez Street.

“Suwerte daw dito (They say this is a lucky place),” Conchita says. Her father instructed the children not to change the pugon as it might be difficult to have another one like it.

Conchita says her father had no formal training in baking or store management but in Canton, China, (now known as Guangzhou) where he came from, cooking and sewing were part of the children’s training in school.

Her father had a baking book that a British gave him and he changed some ingredients to suit the Filipino taste for bread and pastries.

Conchita says she photocopied the book and gave copies to all her siblings.

Three generations

Sanitary Bakery has three generations of chief bakers—an immigrant from China, his son and, now, his grandson. But while the bakers came up with delicious products, Conchita, a commerce graduate, persevered to learn to bake.

“I asked my father to teach me how to bake,” she says.

But her father refused, saying she should learn on her own. By experimenting and relying on her instincts, Conchita was able to create the formula for the perfect bread, pastries, cookies and biscuits.

It is still the original product—pan de sal—that is Sanitary’s bestseller.

“We do not change the recipe but we can’t help but decrease [because of the rise in the cost of ingredients] the size,” Conchita says.

She likes to call the bakery “Seven-Eleven” because the venture was started by the seven Chinese friends and when her 11th sibling, Antonio, was born in 1962, her father acquired the bakery.

Antonio also went into the bakery business and established the Panaderia Antonio and Plato Wraps with his wife, Kamela.

The Seen matriarch, Alejandra, is still involved in the family business. She mans the cash register daily.

Kwong Tay

Kwong Tay Bakery is the oldest bakery in Dagupan, having been established before World War II.

Sofronio Wong, 61, the grandson of the original Chinese owners, says he and his eight siblings could not recall the name of their grandparents who returned to China and died there.

His sister, Florentina, 78, says their father, Wong Peng Hung, went to China and married a Chinese girl, Eng Shi, but returned to the Philippines to continue the bakery business.

She and her sister, Beatrice, take care of the bakery’s daily operations.

Sofronio recalls that the Wong family stayed in Alaminos City during the war and returned to Dagupan after the fighting to resume the bakery’s operations.

The bakery reopened in a new location with the name New Kwong Tay Bakery and Sari Sari Store.

The bakery churns out white bread and pan de sal that have become part of Dagupan’s daily breakfast fare for years.

Modern bakeshops have sprouted but loyal customers always return to Kwong Tay for its array of baked products.

Florentina says the recipe is tightly guarded among the Wong siblings.

“It is really a secret formula,” she says.

“We just bake enough bread that we can sell for the day,” she says.

The bakery’s pugon was destroyed during the 1990 earthquake, but has been repaired since.

A resident says she would always drop by the bakery every afternoon before she goes home from work. She says her mother loves Kwong Tay’s bread and would not trade it for products sold in other bakeshops in the city.

http://business.inquirer.net/money/features/view/20080713-148232/Tale-of-Dagupans-two-oldest-bakeries

allan_dude

July 15th, 2008, 05:02 AM

Sta. Barbara goes bricks

Jul.15, 2008 in Business, News
Sunday Punch (http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/2008/07/15/sta-barbara-goes-bricks/)

STA. BARBARA – Intent on marking Sta. Barbara a “Brick-Town”, Mayor Reynaldo Velasco has ordered that all new buildings here to be constructed with public funds shall have a brick component.

In an interview with The PUNCH, Velasco said since he assumed office last year, 80 classrooms have so far been built with bricks.

“People know that our bricks built Ateneo and UP, so we have to patronize our own product, we are going to use it and, henceforth, our town shall be known as the Bricks Capital of Pangasinan“, the retired three-star police general said.

“It’s been with us since time immemorial. It was used to build old churches in Pangasinan. It’s time it goes with our identity,” he added.

Velasco said that they are also encouraging building contractors to apply bricks in the design of their construction projects.

He added he will also ask the cooperation of the subdivision owners to incorporate bricks in their design.

“Their biggest encouragement is what they see. They praise our newly refurbished municipal hall, our town plaza, our waiting sheds, our classrooms, among others, built with bricks or adorned with bricks” he said.

During the town fiesta celebration in December, Velasco said they were going to have a soft opening for their Lario Festival as part of their promotional effort.

“Lario” is the Pangasinan word for bricks.

A Lario Award is also being considered for buildings and homes with the best brick design.

Velasco has sought the help of the Department of Science and Technology, the Department of Trade and Indus try and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources for product innovation and modern technology to manufacture the bricks in lieu of the traditional ‘pugon’ (stove).

To this day, he notes that bricks producers in barangays Ventenilla and Primicias still use the crude means of bricks production, using the carabao or cow for the massing of the clay soil.

The mayor also plans to explore the conversion of the dug areas into fishponds or small water impounding projects for better efficiency.

allan_dude

July 15th, 2008, 12:35 PM

PENRO implements new developmental projects

Courtesy of Sunday Punch (http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/2008/07/15/penro-implements-new-developmental-projects/) Jul.15, 2008

ThE Provincial Environment and Natural Resources office (PENRO) is keen on implementing its priority developmental projects this year.

Wendy Co, PENRO chief, said her office will focus on priority programs such as the establishment of several hectares of lands for reforestation, mangrove rehabilitation, and watershed rehabilitation.

In addition, she said her office is busy preparing documents of some 3,000 free patent land titling this year.

“We have to register these with the register of Deeds before the year-end,” she said.

In June, when the country celebrated the Environment Month, Co said free patent titles were distributed to some beneficiaries in Mapandan, Mangaldan, and Sta.Barbara.

Mahogany seedlings were also given to beneficiaries in Sta. Barbara and Mangaldan towns.

A forum dubbed as Salu-salo at Ugnayan sa Kalikasan was also conducted in Sta.Barbara town to explain the services being offered by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to the people.

Present at the forum was lawyer Rufino Moreno, chief of the Register of Deeds based in Lingayen, who explained the processes involved in land titling.

Other activities conducted during the Environment Month were the massive tree-planting along the Sinucalan River in Sta. Barbara where 1,000 eucalyptus and bamboo seedlings were planted.

In Dagupan City, 1,000 mangrove seedlings along the Lucao by-pass road were also planted.

LNU citation

Co congratulated the Lyceum-Northwestern University (LNU) for the citation it received from Malacanang for its environmental program.

LNU, through its president, Dr. Gonzalo Duque, and the DENR earlier signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) tapping the students taking National Service Training Program (NSTP) for environmental programs and projects like tree planting.

“We are tapping the students for seedling production and again for more tree planting activities,” Co said.—CSR

allan_dude

July 15th, 2008, 12:37 PM

Finally, a sanitation code in Dagupan

Courtesy of Sunday Punch (http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/2008/07/15/finally-a-sanitation-code-in-dagupan/) Jul.15, 2008

THE city council is set to approve the Sanitation Code of Dagupan by December this year.

According to Councilor Jesus Canto, chair of the committee on health and sanitation, the sanitation plan for the city, designed with the help of the Southeast Asia Sustainable Sanitation (SUSIA) program, will soon be presented to the city council for adoption as the Sanitation of Dagupan City.

“We are very lucky because we will able to re duce the mortality rate of our population through the sanitation plan designed with the help of SUSIA,” said Canto, former director of the Region 1 Medical Center.

He said the sanitation plan will ensure that every Dagupeno will have access to clean and potable water and address the elimination of arthropods or insects, including parasites that carry diseases.

The proposed sanitation code emphasizes continuing health education, especially in the barangays, so that the people will thoroughly clean their premises and observe hygienic practices as a common habit daily.

“We are 10 per cent sure that if the Sanitation Code is implemented, there will be significant reduction in the mortality of the people of Dagupan,” he said.

Calling on his fellow city legislators to help him pass the Sanitation Code, Canto said this will be the first sanitation code of its kind to be introduced in the city and elsewhere in the province.

The code, Canto said, will incorporate the ordinance passed last year imposing fines and imprisonment on people spitting in public, which is another way to prevent the spread of diseases.—LM

allan_dude

July 15th, 2008, 12:38 PM

Guv signs P79M

Courtesy of Sunday Punch (http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/2008/07/15/guv-signs-p79m-loan-with-lbp/)Jul.15, 2008

WITH DEFERRED IRA AS COLLATERAL

LINGAYEN — Gov. Amado Espino Jr. entered into a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the LandBank of the Philippines (LBP) for a seven-year term loan using the P79-million uncollected Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) of the province as collateral.

The loan, Espino said, will boost the provincial government’s priority development programs.

Earlier, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ordered the release of a P12.58-billion fund to settle the unpaid IRA of local government units (LGUs) nationwide, which was not disbursed due to the reenactment of the national budget in 2001 and 2004.

The MOA signing on Thursday at the office of the governor at the Capitol building here was resorted to ostensibly to monetize the deferred IRA (for the years 2001 and 2004) due the province that remains collectible.

This move, which was earlier approved by the provincial board thru Resolution No. 679-2008 authored by Board Member Tyrone Agabas, was offered by the LandBank as the best scheme in monetizing the unreleased IRA.

Under the IRA Monetization Program (IMP), the provincial government will only receive a net amount of P55-million if availed of it as an advance of its IRA share as the discounted value, net of interest and other charges from the government financial institution.

IMP likewise offered a release on an installment basis for a period of seven years from 2009 to 2015, which will entitle the province to receive P11-million every year.

However, the provincial government said such option will not support the immediate delivery of social services.

Espino said 50 percent of the IRA differentials will be used primarily to boost food production.—LM

allan_dude

July 15th, 2008, 12:40 PM

Irrigation project to benefit 3,600 hectares of farmland

Courtesy of Sunday Punch (http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/2008/07/15/irrigation-project-to-benefit-3600-hectares-of-farmland/) Jul.15, 2008

STA. BARBARA–An irrigation project here is expected to serve an additional 3,600 hectares of rice farmland here and several of its neighboring towns.

Sta. Barbara Mayor Reynaldo Velasco said the ongoing P125- million ongoing irrigation project with flood control component here will benefit not just the farmers of their town but also those from Malasiqui, Mangaldan, Mapandan,and Calasiao.

The irrigation and flood control project, under the National Irrigation Administration (NIA), started four months ago and is targeted for completion by next year.

NIA has so far spent some P86- million and another P40 million fund is planned for release by the end of the year or by early 2009.

“That is the biggest subsidy for our farmers,” Velasco told The PUNCH.

He said farmers spend about P10,000 to P12,000 per hectare to pump water as compared to a cost of only P2,00 per hectare with the irrigation facility.

Velasco, a former three-star general and himself a small-scale farmer, said this is a big boost to their farmers especially that Barangay Songkil had been cited as the top national producer of hybrid rice.

However, farmers still are only able to plant during the dry season because of perennial flooding in their farms during the rainy season.

Once the project is completed, Sta. Barbara has committed to the Department of Agriculture another 25,000 metric tons of rice production as their contribution to make Pangasinan improve its rank from number three rice producer to number one in the whole country.

Velasco also said they are undertaking a program to become self-sufficient in table rice and certified seeds that they’re going to plant.

He said they are giving 50 percent subsidy to farmers for the purchase of certified seeds.

allan_dude

July 15th, 2008, 12:44 PM

OCULAR INSPECTION

Courtesy of Sunday Punch (http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/2008/07/15/ocular-inspection/) Jul.15, 2008

http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/dpwh-1.jpg

http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/dpwh-2.jpg

OCULAR INSPECTION—Public Works and Highways Regional Director Fide Ginez (3rd from left) and Pangasinan Second Engineering District Chief Rodolfo Dion (second from right) join Dagupan City Police Chief Col. Dionicio Borromeo in identifying portions of the newly opened Diversion Road along Barangays Bonuan Gueset (sitio Dawel), Pantal, Poblacion Oeste and Lucao where directional traffic signs should be installed during an ocular inspection last July 7. Also in photo are Adonis Bautista and Ramil dela Cruz of the Guardians Brotherhood.

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DPWH, Dagupan police inspect Diversion Road

Public Works and Highways and the Dagupan City police will soon install directional traffic signs on the newly opened Dawel-Lucao Diversion Highway to guide motorists and ease up motorists’ travel between east and west in the city.

Director Fidel Ginez and 2nd District Engineering Chief Rodolfo Dion and Police Chief Dionicio Borromeo made an ocular inspection of the Pl.2 billion landmark infrastructure constructed by Toyo Construction firm last Monday in response to motorists’ and the public’s observations about driving through the newly constructed bridge.

Earlier, Borromeo also expressed fears that without the signs, a fast driving motorist could end up slamming into a wall at a sharp curve near the bridge

Ginez asked Engr. Dion to install the appropriate signs and warnings in specified locations to guide motorists.

The 5-kilometer diversion/bridge infra facility has reduced traffic volume in Dagupan City and reduces travel time by 25 minutes, which motorists say is rather a big improvement.

Motorists’ reaction polled by the PUNCH praised the government for undertaking the project, singling out President Arroyo, Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr., Mayor Alipio Fernandez and the Japanese government for funding the bridge construction through the JBIC.

Private contractor BMK undertook the road project, while the bridge which was funded by a loan with Japan at less than l percent per annum was done by the Manila and Regional consultants under the DPWH’s PMO under Director Emil Sadain.

Mayor Fernandez said the new infrastructure will tremendously improve Dagupeños’ socio economic life and thanked the President and Congressman Jose de Venecia Jr. for making it a reality.

http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/2008/07/15/dpwh-dagupan-police-inspect-diversion-road/

dark_knight_detectve

July 15th, 2008, 01:31 PM

Fil-Am organization in US to fund GK village (http://www.philstar.com/archives.php?aid=20080713141&type=2)

By Patricia Esteves
Monday, July 14, 2008
One of the oldest and richest Filipino-American organizations in the United States will donate a village to Gawad Kalinga (GK).

The Legionarios del Trabajo in America Inc. has pledged to fund 30 homes to poor beneficiaries in Pangasinan this year.

The Legionarios, a fraternal order that started in 1924, was organized by the first wave of Filipino migrants to the United States to serve as a support group for Filipinos in America.

When the group arrived in the US in the 20s, their main purpose was to serve as a social support system to the predominantly male Filipino migrants amid hostile pressures at the time, which included anti-marriage laws.

Today, the Order still provides support to Fil-Ams through scholarships and cultural assistance.

Bro. Zozimo de Veas, grandmaster of the Legionarios, said they have decided to fund the homes of poor beneficiaries in Pangasinan because it bodes well with their creed of love for God and country.

De Veas first came across GK through an article he read about founder Tony Meloto and the foundation in 2006.

It was then he realized that Legionarios and GK have the same vision.

“After I’ve read the article about GK, I felt very inspired and enthusiastic in following up GK. I really strived hard to know a lot about GK and convince my fellow members that this is a good vehicle to help the poor,” de Veas said.

He scheduled a meeting with other members of the Legionarios and they debated whether to help the GK or not. Initially, a lot of members were not receptive to the idea.

“They had a lot of reservations. Charity begins at home, they tell me, why not start here. Bakit sa Pilipinas na hindi natin nakikita? Ganun mentality nila. (Why in the Philippines? We don’t see it anymore. That was their mentality.) They wanted us to donate in the US and not in the Philippines,” De Veas said.

But he was persistent and his proposal to fund the GK homes won in a voting by a margin of two votes to pass a memorandum.

Funding is not a problem to the Legionarios.

The Legionarios is one of the most-financially stable companies in the US. It has 57 acres of farm near Stockton, California.

Their investments in the past have earned them enough money that continues to grow, which in turn are utilized for the needs of the members.

After donating homes to GK, they plan to support other projects like education.

De Veas also noted that after deciding to donate to GK and explaining to them the goodness of the cause, members had a turnaround in their thinking.

“In the beginning, they would not see the real purpose of what we do, but when I brought back some pictures and releases about GK, it’s like they have embraced GK. They were very happy with the decision to donate. You have this feeling that it feels so good to help,” De Veas said.

But sadly the members of Legionarios are dwindling. The youngest member is 50 years old and the oldest are 100 years old. They have 489 members.

De Veas said helping GK is his way of giving back to all the good breaks that he received.

He came from a poor family and was orphaned at a young age. He lost his mother when he was six and never got to see his father since birth. It was his grandparents who took care of him.

De Veas managed to finish high school and although he wanted to go to college, they didn’t have the money then.

“After high school, I worked on a farm. My aunts could not send me to school because they also have children. Luckily, there were people who gave me a break. I don’t know any skills. But I have a neighbor who let me study stenography at a school that owed him. My neighbor said, ‘ok, if you can’t pay me in full, just let Zozimo study in your school to lessen your debt’, and that was my first break,” he said.

The second break came when De Veas was able to study at the Far Eastern University (FEU) on a scholarship grant while working as a houseboy during the day.

When he was in third year college, he met an anthropologist from the US who was married to a Filipina.

He got the biggest surprise of his life when the American, who was touched by his kindness, invited him to come to the US.

Once in America, things started to turn up rosy and bright for the once-poor De Veas.

He finished a master’s degree in business administration in two years at a university in Illinois and worked for 20 years at the Oakland airport and then joined the IRS.

Looking back at all the good breaks that came his way, he realized that he must impart some of these to the less fortunate, especially those who lacked opportunities in the Philippines.

GK, for its part, promised to help the Legionarios get more members.

Back to top

allan_dude

July 18th, 2008, 03:38 PM

Umingan rider wins 5th leg of national series

UNHERALDED Umingan cyclist Emil Pablo gave all what was left of his vigor in the last 250 meters to outsprint his two breakaway competitors to seize the fifth leg of the national criterium series held last Sunday along Roxas Boulevard in Manila.

The diminutive Pablo, 25, won the P5,000 top prize and also carried his team Guimba-Agnes Bike Shop to a first place victory with a P5,000 team prize.

Former RP team member Dante Cagas of Manila came in a close second to earn P3,000 while two-time Tour champion Warren Davadilla of Valenzuela City landed third worth P2,000.

Pitaki Boyz member Reynaldo Navarro from San Jacinto finished fourth, allowing his squad retain the overall leadership in the open-elite team category competition.

According to race director Ric Rodriguez, the 6th leg of the series will be held on August 17 at the Quezon Memorial Circle, UP Diliman, Quezon City.-JAGJr.

http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/2008/07/15/umingan-rider-wins-5th-leg-of-national-series/

allan_dude

July 18th, 2008, 03:38 PM

Disabled people to enjoy more perks

DAGUPAN CITY -- Persons with disabilities (PWDs) here and all over the country will soon enjoy the same discount benefits as senior citizens.

This is due to President Gloria Arroyo's signing into law of the Magna Carta for Persons with Disabilities or Republic Act (RA) 9442 on April 30, 2007.

RA 9442 amended RA 7277. It gives more incentives and privileges to PWDs.

Cynthia Bariga, program director of the National Council on Disability Affairs in the Ilocos Region, said they have written all the local government units (LGUs) in the region urging them to implement the ID system for PWDs.

Card-bearing PWDs shall enjoy 20 percent discounts in public utility vehicles (PUVs), restaurants, hotels, and other business establishments.

Bariga expressed appreciation for the quick response of the City Government to their request. In Ilocos Region, the first LGUs to act on the ID system were San Fernando City and Aringay, both in La Union.

Last Thursday morning, Social Welfare Regional Director Margarita Sampang and Dagupan Vice Mayor Belen Fernandez led the kick-off activities for the 30th National Disability Prevention and Rehabilitation Week. This year's theme is "Kapag may access, may success."

After the opening program, Sampang, Fernandez, and representatives from different government agencies proceeded to the central transport terminal at M.H. del Pilar Street.

The two led the pasting of notice stickers above the windows (first seat beside the door) of mini-buses. The stickers bear the words "please vacate this seat for disabled passengers."

"The people should be aware that the front seat near the door is for PWDs. It is a special seat and one should automatically vacate it if a PWD boards the vehicle," Sampang said.

They also visited the city's call center being manned by PWDs. The call center is located at the ground floor of the Dagupan City Hall Complex.

In the afternoon, an orientation forum was held on the amendments to RA 9442 and other related laws.

Among others, participants included operators and drivers of PUVs and representatives from government agencies who are mandated to implement the law.

According to Josie de Vera, president of the federation of associations of PWDs in Dagupan, every barangay in the city has an association of PWDs and there are around 800 registered members all over the city.

She said the IDs are ready for the signature of the mayor. She is enjoining all PWDs in the city to fill up the registration form and be counted. (LCMY/Sunnex)

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/pan/2008/07/18/news/disabled.people.to.enjoy.more.perks.html

allan_dude

July 18th, 2008, 03:44 PM

Arroyo’s ‘foster dad’ in Dagupan turns 100

By Eva Visperas
Friday, July 18, 2008

DAGUPAN CITY – President Arroyo’s “foster father,” who was her dad’s bosom buddy, celebrated his 100th birthday on Wednesday at the Dagupan Stadia with a dinner party with family, friends and business associates.

Now bedridden, Don Pedro Balingit, owner of the city’s oldest pharmacy, Farmacia Balingit, thanked Mrs. Arroyo repeatedly in his recorded audio-visual message shown during the party.

Balingit thanked everyone for coming to his birthday celebration, with special mention of “my foster daughter, President Gloria Arroyo”.

“I want to thank the President for greeting me. I love you,” he said.

Mrs. Arroyo, in a recorded audio-visual message, greeted Balingit, though briefly, and called him “my foster father in Pangasinan.”

The presentation recalled fond memories through pictures of Balingit with the First Couple during their visits here.

Balingit’s son, Albert, a board member of the Land Bank of the Philippines, told The STAR that his dad still has sharp memory and would often mention the President.

During his birthdays, the President consistently greeted the old man, sometimes by phone given her hectic schedule.

The elder Balingit and the President’s father, the late President Diosdado Macapagal, belonged to Batch 1929 of the Pampanga National High School.

The best friends were always together, especially when Macapagal campaigned and won as congressman, senator, vice president, and president.

Maca*pagal was the baptismal godfather of Balingit’s son Cecil.

When he was President, Macapagal would sleep at the back of Farmacia Balingit on M.H. del Pilar street whenever he was in Dagupan.

This tradition was passed on to Mrs. Arroyo, as she would also spend the night at the Balingit’s residence in Bonuan Binloc during her visits to this city.

During Christmas and Holy Week, the First Family would come over here to personally greet Don Pedro and give him gifts.

When Farmacia Balingit celebrated its 50th year in 1992, Mrs. Arroyo, then still a senator, was the special guest.

Mrs. Arroyo last saw Don Pedro last Jan. 20 when she stood as a wedding godmother at the St. John the Evangelist Church here.

Due to old age, Balingit’s five children – Siony, Ramon, Albert, Baby and Cecil – were the ones who blew the candle on their dad’s cake.

http://www.philstar.com/archives.php?&aid=20080717117&type=2&

allan_dude

July 19th, 2008, 12:22 PM

Braganza pushes ‘Bright Child’ drive

Philippine Daily Inquirer

ALAMINOS CITY, Philipppines—Mayor Hernani Braganza has declared that he is determined to sustain his efforts to help children reach their full potential and raise them to have bright minds.

He made the pledge to help children be the best they can and develop their intellect under his three-year-old “Bright Child” program designed to upgrade their mastery level. The program was prompted by the results of national tests which placed the city’s schools division last in the Ilocos regional and third to last in the country.

“We must give the children a skill that builds brain power. Let children expand their mind as we do our best to provide them the resources and other interventions,” he said in a press statement.

The city government, together with the Department of Education, is pooling its resources to enable parents raise “bright children.”

“Here’s good news: the performance of the school children in the 2007 National Achievement Test (NAT) improved a lot. The elementary and secondary levels ranked sixth and eighth, respectively, in the Ilocos region,” he said in a recent education summit.

“The support of the whole community, the local government and the parents will determine the future of the children.”

In 2004, the city government noted the dismal results of its students in NAT, prompting Braganza to launch the “Bright Child” program.

School children then had a low performance in Mathematics, English and Science in the NAT results, while there was an inadequacy of books and reference materials in all public schools.

The city also noted the lack of specialized instructional rooms and a high rate of school drop-outs.

Among the other problems were the high malnutrition rate among pre-school and elementary pupils, shortage of day-care centers, lack of sports facilities and lack of comprehensive knowledge on the locality’s history and culture.

In the 2004 NAT results of Grade 6 pupils, the city’s division placed last among 13 divisions in the Ilocos region and 185th among 188 divisions in the country.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20080718-149162/Braganza-pushes-Bright-Child-drive

tracymack

July 21st, 2008, 01:13 AM

Ombud officials rally Urdaneta folk vs corruption
By Liway C. Manantan-Yparraguirre
Sunday, July 20, 2008
http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/pan/2008/07/20/news/ombud.officials.rally.urdaneta.folk.vs.corruption.html

URDANETA CITY -- The Office of the Ombudsman on Friday led the Luzon Roadshow Conference of the National Anti-Corruption Program of Action (Nacpa) held at the city's Cultural Complex and Sports Complex.

Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez said the "anti-corruption rally for integrity" is part of their campaign to make Filipinos aware of their anti-corruption efforts especially now that the Philippines was given "compact status" by the US government.

The activity was hosted by the City Government.

Victor Fernandez, deputy ombudsman for Luzon, said they first conducted a survey on the best place to conduct the anti-corruption program.

"We felt that Urdaneta City fits our requirement in the sense that this is a big and progressive city being run by a very competent and equally progressive mayor in the person of Mayor Amadeo Perez Jr.," he remarked.

"It was a product of extensive study taking into consideration the location, the number of people, means of communication, and most of all, the leadership of the city which is very important in this kind of activity," he added.

Gutierrez hoped that their anti-corruption efforts will be known by the people.

"Perhaps you will be happy for us because we got compact status. Many people around the world apply to get this status because through this, the US government will give you US$60 million to US$700 million," she said.

She said they presented to the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MMC) the ombudsman's programs and projects to address corruption in the country, focused of which is the improvement of their conviction rate.

The MCC was convinced with their programs and projects, she said.

Steve Rood, country representative to The Asia Foundation (TAF), said TAF is a non-government organization (NGO) based in San Francisco, USA.

He said they have a funding from the MCC and that they have this Philippines Threshold Program, which will end on November 21, 2008.

"The whole of idea was to qualify the Philippines what the Millennium Challenge Corporation calls a compact, which is an agreement between the Millennium Challenge Corporation and the Philippine government about how to spend a rather large of several hundred millions of dollars," he explained.

Rood said the MCC under the Philippine Threshold Program will send a team here next month in order to begin discussions with the Philippine government on what its compact will look like.

"Will we use it for roads, or for hospitals, or for education? But the kind of decision remains to be made in consultation between the Millennium Challenge Corporation and the Philippine government. The President (Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo) has set up a task force to lead the interaction with the Millennium Challenge Corporation," he added.

Also attended the press conference were Deputy Ombudsman Emilio Gonzales III, Assistant Executive Secretary Lynn Danao-Morena, Over-all Deputy Ombudsman Orlando Casimiro and United States Agency for International Development (Usaid) representative John Avila.

allan_dude

July 21st, 2008, 04:22 PM

Penro, SK unite to save environment

By Liway C. Manantan-Yparraguirre

LINGAYEN -- More and more groups are signifying their conviction to protect the environment.

Recently, the Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office (Penro) headed by Penro Officer Leduina Co and the Pangasinan Sangguniang Kabataan Federation (SKF) led by Board Member Kazel Celeste signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) to pursue a joint campaign in the fight for environmental protection.

Arroyo Watch: Sun.Star blog on President Arroyo

Co commended Celeste, as it was the first time such agreement is forged between the Penro and the Pangasinan SKF.

Co said the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has been enjoining all stakeholders in the protection of the environment and conservation of natural resources.

Celeste, on the other hand, said environmental protection is one of her personal causes.

She said she is happy she has the privilege to influence her fellow youths being the provincial president of the SK federation.

Recently, she distributed seedlings to her scholars at the first district of Pangasinan.

"Earning education and planting trees will both give us youngsters a better future. We have to do our part, we have to act now," she said.

As stated in the MOA, Penro will provide the PSKF a calendar of DENR activities including its mechanics for implementation.

It will provide technical assistance and training in various activities for implementation.

The two parties will monitor and evaluate the implementation of the projects. Penro will also document best practices of environment related projects implemented by the PSKF.

For their part, PSKF will organize its members on scheduled activities and will orient and train its ranks for Youth Environmental Leadership and Governance.

It will also identify projects that would promote environmental development, conservation and protection.

Part of its task is to submit periodic reports to the DENR on project accomplishments and provide system mechanisms in order to sustain the projects.

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/pan/2008/07/21/news/penro.sk.unite.to.save.environment.html

allan_dude

July 21st, 2008, 04:27 PM

Alaminos lass shines in international taekwondo tilt

ALAMINOS CITY–A sophomore female student from the Alaminos City National High School has given this city another reason to be proud after bringing home one gold and one silver medal from the 2nd World Taekwondo Culture Expo in Korea.

Melanie Hope Douglas, who competed with the full backing of the city government led by Mayor Hernani Braganza, was all smiles when she publicly presented her medals, her firsts from an international competition.

Douglas’ twin medals helped the Philippine team raise its medal haul to a total of 21 gold, 21 silver and 17 bronze medals and positioned her as among the upcoming preeminent young athletes in the province and nationwide.

“This award is for Mayor Braganza for reviving our local sports program and for supporting young athletes like me to achieve our dreams,” said the 4′11″ Douglas who promised to intensify her training as she prepares for other local and international competitions.

“I hope someday I could join the Olympics, the World Championship or other international tournaments,” she said.

“Melanie is one of the city’s newest sources of pride. She’s a model student and an outstanding athlete and certainly has better future ahead of her,” the mayor said.

More than 50 nations participated in the World Expo that include powerhouse teams like host Korea, Japan, USA, China, Spain, France and Germany.

Braganza committed the city government and Department of Education-Alaminos to support her training and participation in future competitions.

Douglas was given a certificate of recognition by the city government for her achievement as an athlete and for her contribution to the city.

Douglas ruled the under-13 poomsae and also pocketed a silver medal in the sparring event.

Originally, she was entered for the sparring category but her second event turned out to be a blessing in disguise as she ruled the event despite limited practice opportunities.

Poomsae, known as ‘The Form’, is a pattern of pre-arranged Taekwondo movements, consisting of blocks, strikes and kicks.

Here, a jin uses his/her techniques to fight off imaginary opponents of her own size, attacking from multiple directions and at the same time making defensive moves.

In the poomsae finals, Douglas defeated her counterparts from USA, Japan and host Korea.

While in sparring, a form of self-defense, she surprised her Russian rival but bowed to her Australian rival in the gold medal match.

More than 50 nations participated in the World Expo that include powerhouse teams like host Korea, Japan, USA, China, Spain, France and Germany.

http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/2008/07/21/alaminos-lass-shines-in-international-taekwondo-tilt/

allan_dude

July 21st, 2008, 04:28 PM

Medical mission serves city’s jeepney drivers and kin

SOME 3,000 jeepney drivers, operators and their respective families benefited from a day-long medical mission held on Thursday at the Simbaan Ya Bato in barangay Bonuan Gueset in Dagupan City.

City Councilor Jesus Canto, former director of Region I Medical Center, conducted the medical mission for jeepney drivers to help them through the rainy season since they are susceptible to different ailments like fever, cough, colds, hypertension and intestinal problems.

The beneficiaries were members of the Alliance of United Transport Organization Provincewide (AUTOPro) from Bonuan Binloc, Bonuan Boquig and Bonuan Gueset.

Benny Aquino, president of AUTOPro, thanked Canto for the timely medical mission at this time when jeepney drivers and operators and their families need help to cope with their trade.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, Region 1 Medical Center and the City Health Office provided the free medicines.

Another medical mission is set to be conducted for the benefit of AUTOPro members from Caranglaan, Herrero-Perez, Mayombo, Bacayao Sur and Bacayao Norte, and from Tambac, Bolosan, Mangin, Tebeng, Salisay and Mamalingling, and other parts of Dagupan.

Clarifying that the medical mission has no political color, Canto said he is doing it on behalf of the city government —LM

http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/2008/07/22/medical-mission-serves-city%e2%80%99s-jeepney-drivers-and-kin/

allan_dude

July 21st, 2008, 04:44 PM

DepEd sup’t explains delay in schoolbuildings repair

By VENUS MAY H. SARMIENTO
Pangasinan Star (http://pangasinanstar.prepys.com/archives/2008/07/21/deped-supt-explains-delay-in-schoolbuildings-repair/#more-2725)

IT was the Department of Education construction engineers who assessed which typhoon-damaged schoolbuildings are for repair only or total reconstruction and it is they who have scheduled such repairs and constructions.

Thus did embattled Schools Division Superintendent Armando Aquino of DepEd Pangasinan II schools division explain his side on the issue of long-delayed repair of schoolbuildings reported by Sison mayor Carmen “Kimi” Cojuangco to President Arroyo herself during the Chief Executive’s visit to Lingayen last July 4 for the Regional Disaster Coordinating Council meeting.

Aquino was singled out by Cojuangco as taking his time repairing the public schoolbuildings in Sison thus exposing the pupils to great difficulties while attending their classes in dilapidated schoolrooms, some of which, she said, have been roofless since the destructive passage of typhoon Cosme in the province on May 17.

To prove her point, Cojuangco had presented during the RDCC meeting slide shots of the damaged schoolbuildings in her town as the President and other council members watched.

Aquino, speaking to media last Friday, admitted that his schools division that covers eastern Pangasinan has already received P58, 200,000 from the DepEd Central Office for the schoolbuilding rehabilitation after the typhoons.

He said he had talked to Mayor Cojuangco after her scathing report to the President to tell her it was the DepEd engineers sent in by the central office who have scheduled the repairs.

“I am not an engineer and I have to go by their (engineers) word as to which school or area needs more urgent repair or total reconstruction,” Aquino declared.

So far, he said, the engineers and construction crews have started and are about to complete repair of public schoolbuildings in Mangaldan, one of the most hard-hit towns in his schools division.

As for Sison, he said the DepEd engineers have also checked out the schools needing repair there as cited by the mayor last week and the materials are now being delivered with full construction to follow.

The Pangasinan II schools superintendent also took time to clarify that the “unsightly” and “makeshift” schoolbuildings the mayor cited in other interviews with media were constructed as “stop-gap measures” using the Division’s own funds before the release of the P58,200,000.

Aquino argued he had to resort to building those “makeshift classrooms” in order that classes in the elementary grades in his division can open last June 10.

“It was just my initiative, drawing funds for it from the Division’s own standing fund,” he explained.

allan_dude

July 21st, 2008, 04:54 PM

The ‘auditorium’ and the capital

By Gerry Garcia

Two outstanding landmarks of Luzon’s biggest province, Pangasinan, stand on the coast of Lingayen town which faces its historic Lingayen Gulf: the Sison Auditorium and the Pangasinan Provincial Capitol. While these two withered the years in admirable endurance and stand out as the town’s beckoning spots of attraction, tourists and visitors were beginning to get more interested and more investors had come in to face the challenge of business investments.

Fact is Mayor Castañeda’s hometown has become more alive and kicking today because of this. Jollibee and Chowking are among the first to take the bait.

* * * *

Guv Espino has launched the first step in sprucing up the capitol grounds and in fact moved to transfer the provincial administration center from the Urduja House to where it should be in the first place - the provincial capitol.

The provincial capitol, built in 1919, was a brain-child of then Provincial Gov. Daniel Maramba after whom the well laid out, tree-lined boulevard leading to the capitol, was named-Maramba Boulevard. It was Governor Maramba who procured for the province the capitol site, laid out the spacious park fronting the capitol.

* * * *

The late Board Member Roberto O. Ferrer Jr., had reminiscences of the historic Sison Auditorium. The auditorium, he said, was named after Teofilo Sison, two-term governor of the province from 1922 to 1928. Originally, Bob said, the auditorium was built as part of the Pangasinan Academic High School complex-the province’s first secondary school. (If we remember right, it was at the PAHS that the Punch’s late editor founder, Ermin Garcia, Sr. had his first secondary schooling.)

The Sison Auditorium, Ferrer wrote (quoting the late historian Dr. Baldomero Pulido) was first called “Assembly Hall” - the main building of the Pangasinan Academic High School. School authorities later named the main building Sison Auditorium in honor of Gov. Teofilo Sison, Jr.

Since its completion, the Sison Auditorium was the site of major social functions in the province, like the reception and ball held on Nov. 22, 1939 in honor of the man it was named after. Sison was the first Pangasinense to become cabinet member during Pres. Manuel Quezon’s administration in 1928, first as Secretary of Interior and Labor and later, Secretary of Justice and National Defense.

Article courtesy of The Sunday Punch (http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/2008/07/15/here-and-there-119/)

allan_dude

July 21st, 2008, 04:56 PM

Bendisyon so oran

Nen MARIO F. KARATEKA

MAGANGANON ombilonget so tawen, insan bigla labatlan onooran natan, agyota nanaimano?

Panaon lay sibilao.

Makolo-kolor iray rosas tan singa malike-liket iray kompapey a singaraya kapawa-paway dad no iner so nanaamotan da nen panaon na tiagew.
Basta ag ombabagyo odino natetekepan na maksil a dagem, maliketak no ompepelag so oran. Awey no akin. Sanen ogawak ni ya batik-batik ditad banday Pandayan (Herrero), no onoran tan nadanoman so silong na abong mi (ta sankanengneng ed leksab diad sengat na datal min kawayan), amtak lan panag-gawalay papel ya bal-baloto ya ipaanor ed danom dimad silongan.

Saraman so panaon no iner, sarag moy manayam o ompokok ed abong mo ya manpalabas na oran – ta siguradom, antam ya onkalna tan ontonda iyan tampol met tan makapaway ka lamet ed karsada ya mantaktaksaw ed saramay batyan insalor mo pian panamesan.

* * * *
Natan balet ey?

No binmilonget tan ompelag so oran, wadtan iray totoo kalamor ya mantetepetan no walatay bagyon onsasabi, odino angibolos tala kasi so San Roke dam na danom tan no immapaw tala kasi so asingger ya ilog.

Walaniray manpokal so pagew da, laotlaray matatakken, ed ikakasil lan ikakasil na dagem tan kakatarem na kirmat-karol. Natawtawag so amin a sasanto tan Diyos pian ontonda la komon so basig na maruksan panaon.

Kasompal o kadalan na peligro, insan oras la lamet na panagbilang na danyos, na bilay ya atigtigway ed indalan na bagyo tan no panon ipawil so atep na alakasan ya abong.

Onsoblay so pilad rasyon o tulong na gobyerno. Manpaagew o manpataktak ka parad pigaran kiloy belas tan sanderwan latay sardines tan pakitiy noodles – odino no manmamalas-malas kani, mananos ed terter na oran pian naiderew mo so inter dan “stub” mo ya agdaka naonaan na arom ompan naopotan ni so manrarasyon.

* * * *
Amin daranian irap, amtak ag nasasali daray kabaleyan tayon mayayaman odino walay pakayarid bilay. Ta walay meyd o katulong dan igangan pian mangaliw na pankaokolan da, kompleto rad abasto tan no anto-antoman, sarag day onalis lugan na saray SUV da paonlad pasen ya marakdakep – ni, aga anggan nabasa so dapan da no delap bilang.

Agmet ira ingen nepeg a bosolen ed onian kipapasen dan mainawa. Pigaramet ed sikara so datin nanirap tan nan-anos pian nasabi da so ontan ya mainawan panag-bilay.

Say palar met lanti na too no maminsan et talagan ontan.
Walaray intiron bilay dan mantrabaho manbanikel balet agira maka-agwat a sinasia..Walamet iramay pinmaway ira labat ya aganod solar da et sinmabin tampol so grasya.

Biig dia iramay talagan puro takew, kawigi-kawanan tan panaglames, tagey-leksab so gagaween da pian makatipon iray kayamanan. Saraya iramay ag manlayon so inawad sikara tan nagonoyan, simot-simot met ira lamet.

Manisia kayo karid karma.

http://pangasinanstar.prepys.com/archives/2008/07/21/sayan-indio-bendisyon-so-oran/

allan_dude

July 21st, 2008, 04:58 PM

Kuryente, kanen tan imprastraktyur, kaibad SONA nen PGMA

Nen Venus May H. Sarmiento

Dagupan City -- Say Balikas Ed Estadoy Bansa nen Presidente Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo no Hulyo 28 et onsentro ed tulong na gobyerno parad mamairap bilay, kuryente, kanen tan imprastraktura.

Saya so imbalikas nen Sekretaryo Ehekutibo Eduardo Ermita ya angibaga met ya "aaralen na Presidente no agamoran so nepeg ya gamoran."

Imbaga ni nen Ermita ya walad say Presidente la so datos tan aromniran dokumento ya saraya et usaren to ed panggawa toy SONA 2008.

"Basaen nen Presidente iramay dokumento tan ikday kabaliksan iraya" kuanen Ermita.

Kaiba nid tongtongen nen Presidente Arroyo so 'roll-on, roll off' odino RORO na Strong Republic Nautical Highway (SR-NH)) tan say pambalanse na badyet.

Kaiba met iray 'mid-range' tan 'long-range' iran proyekto, insan saray highways, airports, seaport tan pangiter na kuryente ed amin ya barangay, balikas ni nen Ermita. (PIA-Pangasinan)

http://www.pia.gov.ph/?m=12&sec=reader&fi=p080711.htm&no=24

tyronne

July 21st, 2008, 10:48 PM

^^Sana may Ilocano translation. O, di kaya, English or Filipino. Thanks.

tracymack

July 22nd, 2008, 04:26 AM

Bridge replacement in Pangasinan town finished soon
By FA SISON ALMAZAN
http://www.mb.com.ph/PROV20080722130403.html

BAYAMBANG, Pangasinan – The replacement of the Calvo Bridge in Bayambang, Pangasinan is going on and expected to be finished by the end of this year or early 2009, Public Works and Highways Region I Director Fidel D. Ginez said yesterday.

Director Ginez, who is also the caretaker of Pangasinan II sub-district engineering office, instructed Assistant District Engineer Marietta Mendoza to monitor the project and submit updates on the work.

Director Ginez also said that the initial allocated fund for the Calvo Bridge project is R50 million and an additional R20 million is much needed to complete it.

"The additional fund of R20 million has been made available with the help of Public Works and Highways Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane Jr., and Undersecretary Ramon Aquino and there will be no fund problem for its completion," Ginez said.

Meanwhile, Assistant District Engineer Mendoza said that the project has run into a snag as a result of the loss of the three structural casings installed at 2the project site.

Mendoza said that important parts of the bridge were washed away recently by floodwaters spawned by typhoon "Cosme."

She said that the contractor is now undertaking fabrication of the three structural casings.

Mendoza said that tight supervision is being conducted to ensure the early completion of the Calvo Bridge.

Ginez and Mendoza appeal to the public to be patient and assured them that the R70-million bridge will be completed soon for the benefit of the people.

allan_dude

July 22nd, 2008, 04:03 PM

^^Sana may Ilocano translation. O, di kaya, English or Filipino. Thanks.

Ty, try to read the article. Then tell me no inya ti natarusam. padasem ah maawatam met lang. :lol:

nayki

July 23rd, 2008, 02:05 AM

tyronne

July 23rd, 2008, 03:22 AM

Ty, try to read the article. Then tell me no inya ti natarusam. padasem ah maawatam met lang. :lol:

Kuryente, kanen, infrastructure at SONA. Based on those words, alam ko na kung ano yung topic ng article. Pero ayoko namang mag-assume everytime may article na Pangasinan hehe! Malay mo baka iba pagkaintindi ko :D

allan_dude

July 23rd, 2008, 05:23 PM

Hay salamat naman at kahit papaano may time line sila...sana lang mag katotoo. Laking perwisyo na sira ang Calvo bridge kelangan pang umikot sa Carmen para lang makapunta ng Bautista,mas malapit kung sa Camiling dadaan. :ohno: Galing ako sa Anulid, Alcala kanina. Naglakad kami sa Calvo bridge at wala namang construction workers dun. Anyway, asa dike yung bagong rebars.

Malamang matatagalan pa yung pag open dahil yung daanan papunta sa tulay tinayuan na ng makeshift market. Under construction yung bagong palengke doon sa original site ng Rizal Marker. Panalo sa BOT bidding ang Quiambao Group (WTF!) tinalo nila yung Magic Group ni Benjie Lim. Sayang another Nepo Mart sana parang sa Alaminos.. market sa lower floor, mall sa taas. :ohno:

Good luck sa Bagong market dahil trxfer raw nila dun yung Royal Supermarket sa groundfloor ng bagong palengke. Sigurado dugyot uli yun! LOL Makikipag competensya sa CSI Bayambang (Citymall?). LOL

allan_dude

July 23rd, 2008, 05:37 PM

allan_dude

July 23rd, 2008, 05:37 PM

Unicef donates assistance packs to Dagupan 13 schools

By Danny O. Sagun

Dagupan City -- Thirteen elementary schools in Dagupan City received Monday assistance from the Unicef in the form of child's and teacher's packs.

The Unicef gave 1,500 child's packs and 181 teacher's packs in response to earlier requests for assistance to victims of typhoon Cosme which left heavy damages to properties in several towns in Pangasinan. Each pack, worth some P407, contains notebooks, pencils, water jug and other student needs. The teacher's pack, worth some P683, contains Manila paper, umbrella and other teaching needs.

Mayor Alipio Fernandez, Jr. thanked the Unicef thru its representatives led by Emily de Vera who came to the city to turn over the items to school officials led by Dr. Aurora Domingo in a simple ceremony at the city museum.

Reference materials and library books were also given.

The other recipients of the assistance package were five schools in Dasol town, and 32 schools in Zambales.

The recipient schools in Dagupan are Carael, Juan P. Guadiz, Pogo Lasip, T. Ayson-Rosario, Calmay, Caranglaan, Lucao, Bacayao Sur, Salapingao, Juan Siapno, Pascuala G. villamil, East Central and Salisay. (PIA-Pangasinan)

http://www.pia.gov.ph/default.asp?m=12&r=&y=&mo=&fi=p080722.htm&no=74

allan_dude

July 23rd, 2008, 05:42 PM

City opens exhibit to remember late mayor

THE San Carlos City Government on Tuesday commemorated the 56th birthday of late mayor Julian Resuello by launching and opening to the public the exhibit of his memorabilia and photos displayed at the office he once occupied.

Mayor Julier Resuello and his younger brother Vice Mayor Joseres Resuello led the program at City Hall's Bulwagan where they paid tribute to their father's accomplishments from the time he was in the private sector until he became mayor.

A mass was held in the morning followed by the offering of flowers on Julian's tomb at the Holy Garden Memorial Park. In the afternoon, Mayor Resuello distributed Philhealth (Philippine Health Insurance Corporation) cards to 973 indigent recipients.

"Part of the plan is to schedule visits here by the students in San Carlos to make them aware of what the late mayor has done to transform the city into what it is now. We also want them to be inspired by his love and dedication for the city," Mayor Resuello said.

He said the memorabilia exhibit starts the transformation of Bulwagan (which is being used as a conference/meeting hall) into a museum. All the artifacts and other displays in the museum will be transferred to Bulwagan.

"We have saved a lot of artifacts in the museum to remind us of what San Carlos was before and what it is now. We hope to finish the transfer of the museum here in August," Julier said.

The Resuello patriarch was shot dead during the culmination of the city fiesta and coronation night of Miss San Carlos City 2007 on April 28 last year. He died while being treated at St. Luke's Hospital.

One of the suspects in the killing, Angelito Soriano, was arrested. Another suspect, identified as Cesar de Guzman, remains at large.

Pangasinan Police Provincial Director Isagani Nerez said the case is partly solved with the arrest and filing of a murder case against Soriano and de Guzman.

He assured that they are doing their best to arrest de Guzman.

Police maintained that the motive behind the killing of Julian could be related to politics. (LCMY/Sunnex)

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/pan/2008/07/23/news/city.opens.exhibit.to.remember.late.mayor.html

tracymack

July 24th, 2008, 04:41 AM

tracymack

July 25th, 2008, 05:53 AM

Sayang another Nepo Mart sana parang sa Alaminos.. market sa lower floor, mall sa taas. :ohno:

Nakapunta na yata ako dito nung last time na nagpunta kami ng Bolinao. Market sa baba, "mall" sa taas. Problem is, amoy palengke din sa taas. :(

allan_dude

July 26th, 2008, 05:56 PM

'Arroyo, JDV conflict will not deter Alaminos airport construction'

By MALU ECHEVARRIA
ABS-CBN Dagupan

ALAMINOS CITY - Mayor Hernani Braganza has reassured his constituents that the proposed airport in the city will be pursued despite rumors that the conflict between President Arroyo and former House Speaker Jose de Venecia's would affect the project.

Braganza, who was a former member of Arroyo’s Cabinet, said that the project is already undergoing a feasibility study to see whether the city is technically suitable for an airport or not.

He added that the budget for the airport has already been allocated and that hopefully in 2010, the airport would be completed.

The project is expected to provide a great boost not just to the economy and tourism of Alaminos City but also to the entire province of Pangasinan.

The airport was part of Mrs. Arroyo’s promises made on her previous State of the Nation Address.

The contract for its construction is expected to be awarded on August 7.

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=126475

tyronne

July 27th, 2008, 02:51 AM

Yung dating CSI in front of CB Mall, na almost finished na, ay hindi na pala CSI. S&P North yung name na nakalagay. Meron Security Bank sa baba at mukhang maganda ang new look. Hindi pa siya tapos. Yung bank pa lang ata ang open don.

tracymack

July 27th, 2008, 09:40 AM

^^
Thanks Ty! Now that you mentioned it, here are my updates.

Yes, it is no longer CSI. It is now S & P North. I don't know if it is still owned by the CSI group but I'm actually glad that there is a new player in town. A player other than CSI & Magic. The rendering looks good and I hope the real thing will look just as good or even better. I hope the lower lefthand portion of the structure will turn out to be a decent cafe. Ideally starbucks. :D

Kung ang Rosales may SM, ang Urdaneta may SP. :lol:

The Rendering:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3040/2688884846_d87fd046e6_b.jpg

The Structure:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3244/2688063067_edbdc799cb_b.jpg

tracymack

July 27th, 2008, 10:14 AM

Looks like they are targeting Christmas for their Grand Opening or it could even be earlier than that.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3259/2688064459_3ee3e677bd_b.jpg

tyronne

July 28th, 2008, 05:10 AM

They really have to do something with the road/drainage. When I went there last Saturday, it was raining in the afternoon at hindi naman ganun kalakas pero parang walang pupuntahan yung mga tubig kaya nai-stagnate sila sa roadside. Sobrang putik tuloy. Bakit parang tumigil na yata sila? Hindi pa yun complete di ba?

tracymack

July 28th, 2008, 05:15 AM

^^Hindi pa. Ang nakakapagtaka, saka lang nila nireresume yung projects kapag latter part na ng rainy season. Nakakairita na nga eh kasi iniscrape nila yung daan papuntang Nancayasan pero di naman nila na-pave kaagad. Yung sa drainage naman hanggang Jollibee pa lang yung nalagyan kaso ang operational lang is from Sacred Heart Hospital hanggang sa Public Market. :ohno:

DPWH Region 1 Dir. Fidel Ginez, Sir, Gising!!! Alam kong nadadaanan nyo to palagi tuwing umuuwi kayo from your La Union office to Villasis. :hammer:

tyronne

July 28th, 2008, 05:25 AM

^^OT: Ano yung avatar mo? 1st Place saan?

tracymack

July 28th, 2008, 06:27 AM

^^OT: Ano yung avatar mo? 1st Place saan?

ECE Board Exam

:)

tyronne

July 28th, 2008, 06:53 AM

^^^Wow! 1st placer ka sa Board Exam ng ECE?! Galing naman :D

tracymack

July 28th, 2008, 07:16 AM

^^Haha. I was trying to be subtle about it. :lol:

nayki

July 28th, 2008, 02:51 PM

^^ wow naman galing! anong year ka nag first place?

dark_knight_detectve

July 28th, 2008, 03:02 PM

ARROYO'S STATE OF THE NATION ADDRESS (Transcript) (http://www.gmanews.tv/story/109854/ARROYOS-STATE-OF-THE-NATION-ADDRESS-(Transcript))
07/28/2008 | 11:26 PM

Email this | Email the Editor | Print | Digg this | Add to del.icio.us State of the Nation Address of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo
2nd Regular Session of the 14th Congress
Republic of the Philippines
28 July 2008

Thank you, Speaker Nograles. Senate President Villar. Senators and Representatives. Vice President de Castro, President Ramos, Chief Justice Puno, members of the diplomatic corps, ladies and gentlemen:

I address you today at a crucial moment in world history.

Just a few months ago, we ended 2007 with the strongest economic growth in a generation. Inflation was low, the peso strong and a million new jobs were created. We were all looking to a better, brighter future.

Because tough choices were made, kumikilos na ang bayan sa wakas. Malapit na sana tayo sa pagbalanse ng budget. We were retiring debts in great amounts, reducing the drag on our country’s development, habang namumuhunan sa taong bayan.

Biglang-bigla, nabaligtad ang ekonomiya ng mundo. Ang pagtalon ng presyo ng langis at pagkain ay nagbunsod ng pandaigdigan krisis, the worst since the Great Depression and the end of World War II. Some blame speculators moving billions of dollars from subprime mortgages to commodities like fuel and food. Others point of the very real surge in demand as millions of Chinese and Indians move up to the middle class.

Whatever the reasons, we are on a roller coaster ride of oil price hikes, high food prices and looming economic recession in the US and other markets. Uncertainty has moved like a terrible tsunami around the globe, wiping away gains, erasing progress.

This is a complex time that defies simple and easy solutions. For starters, it is hard to identify villains, unlike in the 1997 financial crisis. Everyone seems to be a victim, rich countries and poor, though certainly some can take more punishment than others.

To address these global challenges, we must go on building and buttressing bridges to allies around the world: to bring in the rice to feed our people, investments to create jobs; and to keep the peace and maintain stability in our country and the rest of the world. Yet even as we reach out to those who need, and who may need us, we strive for greater self-reliance.

Because tough choices were made, the global crisis did not catch us helpless and unprepared. Through foresight, grit and political will, we built a shield around our country that has slowed down and somewhat softened the worst effects of the global crisis. We have the money to care for our people and pay for food when there are shortages; for fuel despite price spikes.

Neither we nor anyone else in the world expected this day to come so soon but we prepared for it. For the guts not to flinch in the face of tough choices, I thank God. For the wisdom to recognize how needed you are, I thank, you Congress. For footing the bill, I thank the taxpayers.

The result has been, on the one hand, ito ang nakasalba sa bayan; and, on the other, more unpopularity for myself in the opinion polls. Yet, even unfriendly polls show self-rated poverty down to its 20-year low in 2007.

My responsibility as President is to take care to solve the problems we are facing now and to provide a vision and direction for how our nation should advance in the future.

Many in this great hall live privileged lives and exert great influence in public affairs. I am accessible to you, but I spend time every day with the underprivileged and under represented who cannot get a grip on their lives in the daily, all-consuming struggle to make ends meet.

Nag-aalala ako para sa naka-aawang maybahay na pasan ang pananagutan para sa buong pamilya. Nag-aalala ako para sa magsasakang nasa unang hanay ng pambansang produksyon ng pagkain ngunit nagsisikap pakanin ang pamilya. I care for hardworking students soon to graduate and wanting to see hope of good job and a career prospect here at home.

Nag-aalala ako para sa 41-year old na padre de pamilya na di araw-araw ang trabaho, at nag-aabala sa asawa at tatlong anak, at dapat bigyan ng higit pang pagkakakitaan at dangal. I care for our teachers who gave the greatest gift we ever received – a good education – still trying to pass on the same gift to succeeding generations. I care for our OFWs, famed for their skill, integrity and untiring labor, who send home their pay as the only way to touch loved ones so far away. Nagpupugay ako ngayon sa kanilang mga karaniwang Pilipino.

My critics say this is fiction, along with other facts and figures I cite today. I call it heroism though they don’t need our praise. Each is already a hero to those who matter most, their families.

I said this is a global crisis where everyone is a victim. But only few can afford to avoid, or pay to delay, the worst effects.

Many more have nothing to protect them from the immediate blunt force trauma of the global crisis. Tulad ninyo, nag-aalala ako para sa kanila. Ito ang mga taong bayan na dapat samahan natin. Not only because of their sacrifices for our country but because they are our countrymen.

How do we solve these many complex challenges?

Sa kanilang kalagayan, the answer must be special care and attention in this great hour of need.

First, we must have a targeted strategy with set of precise prescriptions to ease the price challenges we are facing.

Second, food self-sufficiency; less energy dependence; greater self-reliance in our attitude as a people and in our posture as a nation.

Third, short-term relief cannot be at the expense of long term reforms. These reforms will benefit not just the next generation of Filipinos, but the next President as well.

Napakahalaga ang Value Added Tax sa pagharap sa mga hamong ito.

Itong programa ang sagot sa mga problemang namana natin.

Una, mabawasan ang ating mga utang and shore up our fiscal independence.

Pangalawa, higit na pamumuhunan para mamamayan at imprastraktura.

Pangatlo, sapat na pondo para sa mga programang pangmasa.

Thus, the infrastructure links programmed for the our poorest provinces like Northern Samar: Lao-ang-Lapinig-Arteche, right now ay maputik, San Isidro-Lope de Vega; the rehabilitation of Maharlika in Samar.

Take VAT away and you and I abdicate our responsibility as leaders and pull the rug from under our present and future progress, which may be compromised by the global crisis.

Lalong lumakas ang tiwala ng mga investor dahil sa VAT. Mula P56.50 kada dolyar, lumakas ang piso hanggang P40.20 bago bumalik sa P44 dahil sa mga pabigat ng pangdaigdigang ekonomiya. Kung alisin ang VAT, hihina ang kumpiyansa ng negosyo, lalong tataas ang interes, lalong bababa ang piso, lalong mamahal ang bilihin.

Kapag ibinasura ang VAT sa langis at kuryente, ang mas makikinabang ay ang mga may kaya na kumukonsumo ng 84% ng langis at 90% ng kuryente habang mas masasaktan ang mahihirap na mawawalan ng P80 billion para sa mga programang pinopondohan ngayon ng VAT. Take away VAT and we strip our people of the means to ride out the world food and energy crisis.

We have come too far and made too many sacrifices to turn back now on fiscal reforms. Leadership is not about doing the first easy thing that comes to mind; it is about doing what is necessary, however hard.

The government has persevered, without flip-flops, in its much-criticized but irreplaceable policies, including oil and power VAT and oil deregulation.

Patuloy na gagamitin ng pamahalaan ang lumalago nating yaman upang tulungan ang mga pamilyang naghihirap sa taas ng bilihin at hampas ng bagyo, habang nagpupundar upang sanggahan ang bayan sa mga krisis sa hinaharap.

Para sa mga namamasada at namamasahe sa dyip, sinusugpo natin ang kotong at colorum upang mapataas ang kita ng mga tsuper. Si Federico Alvarez kumikita ng P200 a day sa kaniyang rutang Cubao-Rosario. Tinaas ito ng anti-kotong, anti-colorum ngayon P500 na ang kita niya. Iyan ang paraan kung paano napananatili ang dagdag-pasahe sa piso lamang. Halaga lang ng isang text.

Texting is a way of life. I asked the telecoms to cut the cost of messages between networks. They responded. It is now down to 50 centavos.

Noong Hunyo, nagpalabas tayo ng apat na bilyong piso mula sa VAT sa langis—dalawang bilyong pambayad ng koryente ng apat na milyong mahihirap, isang bilyon para college scholarship o pautang sa 70,000 na estudyanteng maralita; kalahating bilyong pautang upang palitan ng mas matipid na LPG, CNG o biofuel ang motor ng libu-libong jeepney; at kalahating bilyong pampalit sa fluorescent sa mga pampublikong lugar.

Kung mapapalitan ng fluorescent ang lahat ng bumbilya, makatitipid tayo ng lampas P2 billion.

Sa sunod na katas ng VAT, may P1 billion na pambayad ng kuryente ng mahihirap; kalahating bilyon para sa matatandang di sakop ng SSS o GSIS; kalahating bilyong kapital para sa pamilya ng mga namamasada; kalahating bilyon upang mapataas ang kakayahan at equipment ng mga munting ospital sa mga lalawigan. At para sa mga kalamidad, angkop na halaga.

We released P1 billion for the victims of typhoon Frank. We support a supplemental Western Visayas calamity budget from VAT proceeds, as a tribute to the likes of Rodney Berdin, age 13, of Barangay Rombang, Belison, Antique, who saved his mother, brother and sister from the raging waters of Sibalom River.

Mula sa buwang ito, wala nang income tax ang sumusweldo ng P200,000 o mas mababa sa isang taon – P12 billion na bawas-buwis para sa maralita at middle class. Maraming salamat, Congress.

Ngayong may P32 na commercial rice, natugunan na natin ang problema sa pagkain sa kasalukuyan. Nagtagumpay tayo dahil sa pagtutulungan ng buong bayan sa pagsasaka, bantay-presyo at paghihigpit sa price manipulation, sa masipag na pamumuno ni Artie Yap.

Sa mga LGU at religious groups na tumutulong dalhin ang NFA rice sa mahihirap, maraming salamat sa inyo.

Dahil sa subsidy, NFA rice is among the region’s cheapest. While we can take some comfort that our situation is better than many other nations, there is no substitute for solving the problem of rice and fuel here at home. In doing so, let us be honest and clear eyed – there has been a fundamental shift in global economics. The price of food and fuel will likely remain high. Nothing will be easy; the government cannot solve these problems over night. But, we can work to ease the near-term pain while investing in long-term solutions.

Since 2001, new irrigation systems for 146,000 hectares, including Malmar in Maguindanao and North Cotabato, Lower Agusan, Casecnan and Aulo in Nueva Ecija, Abulog-Apayao in Cagayan and Apayao, Addalam in Quirino and Isabela, among others, and the restoration of old systems on another 980,000 hectares have increased our nation’s irrigated land to a historic 1.5 million hectares.

Edwin Bandila, 48 years old, of Ugalingan, Carmen, North Cotabato, cultivated one hectare and harvested 35 cavans. Thirteen years na ginawa iyong Malmar. In my first State of the Nation Address, sabi ko kung hindi matapos iyon sa Setyembre ay kakanselahin ko ang kontrata, papapasukin ko ang engineering brigade, natapos nila. With Malamar, now he cultivates five hectares and produces 97 cavans per hectare. Mabuhay, Edwin! VAT will complete the San Roque-Agno River project.

The Land Bank has quadrupled loans for farmers and fisherfolk. That is fact not fiction. Check it. For more effective credit utilization, I instructed DA to revitalize farmers cooperatives.

We are providing seeds at subsidized prices to help our farmers.

Incremental Malampaya national revenues of P4 billion will go to our rice self-sufficiency program.

Rice production since 2000 increased an average of 4.07% a year, twice the population growth rate. By promoting natural planning and female education, we have curbed population growth to 2.04% during our administration, down from the 2.36 in the 1990’s, when artificial birth control was pushed. Our campaign spreads awareness of responsible parenthood regarding birth spacing. Long years of pushing contraceptives made it synonymous to family planning. Therefore informed choice should mean letting more couples, who are mostly Catholics, know about natural family planning.

From 1978 to 1981, nag-export tayo ng bigas. Hindi tumagal. But let’s not be too hard on ourselves. Panahon pa ng Kastila bumibili na tayo ng bigas sa labas. While we may know how to grow rice well, topography doesn’t always cooperate.

Nature did not gift us with a mighty Mekong like Thailand and Vietnam, with their vast and naturally fertile plains. Nature instead put our islands ahead of our neighbours in the path of typhoons from the Pacific. So, we import 10% of the rice we consume.

To meet the challenge of today, we will feed our people now, not later, and help them get through these hard times. To meet the challenges of tomorrow, we must become more self-reliant, self-sufficient and independent, relying on ourselves more than on the world.

Now we come to the future of agrarian reform.

There are those who say it is a failure, that our rice importations prove it. There are those who say it is a success—if only because anything is better than nothing. Indeed, people are happier owning the land they work, no matter what the difficulties.

Sa SONA noong 2001, sinabi ko, bawat taon, mamamahagi tayo ng dalawang daang libong ektarya sa reporma sa lupa: 100,000 hectares of private farmland and 100,000 of public farmland, including ancestral domains. Di hamak mahigit sa target ang naipamahagi natin sa nakaraang pitong taon: 854,000 hectares of private farmland, 797,000 of public farmland, and Certificates of Ancestral Domain for 525,000 hectares. Including, over a 100,000 hectares for Bugkalots in Quirino, Aurora, and Nueva Vizcaya. After the release of their CADT, Rosario Camma, Bugkalot chieftain, and now mayor of Nagtipunan, helped his 15,000-member tribe develop irrigation, plant vegetables and corn and achieve food sufficiency. Mabuhay, Chief!

Agrarian reform should not merely subdivide misery, it must raise living standards. Ownership raises the farmer from his but productivity will keep him on his feet.

Sinimula ng aking ama ang land reform noong 1963. Upang mabuo ito, the extension of CARP with reforms is top priority. I will continue to do all I can for the rural as well as urban poor. Ayaw natin na paglaya ng tenant sa landlord, mapapasa-ilalim naman sa usurero. Former tenants must be empowered to become agribusinessmen by allowing their land to be used as collateral.

Dapat mapalaya ng reporma sa lupa ang magsasaka sa pagiging alipin sa iba. Dapat bigyan ang magsasaka ng dangal bilang taong malaya at di hawak ninuman. We must curb the recklessness that gives land without the means to make it productive and bites off more than beneficiaries can chew.

At the same time, I want the rackets out of agrarian reform: the threats to take and therefore undervalue land, the conspiracies to overvalue it.

Be with me on this. There must be a path where justice and progress converge. Let us find it before Christmas. Dapat nating linisin ang landas para sa mga ibig magpursige sa pagsasaka, taglay ang pananalig na ang lupa ay sasagip sa atin sa huli kung gamitin natin ito nang maayos.

Along with massive rice production, we are cutting costs through more efficient transport. For our farm-to-market roads, we released P6 billion in 2007.

On our nautical highways. RORO boats carried 33 million metric tons of cargo and 31 million passengers in 2007. We have built 39 RORO ports during our administration, 12 more are slated to start within the next two years. In 2003, we inaugurated the Western Nautical Highway from Batangas through Mindoro, Panay and Negros to Mindanao. This year we launched the Central Nautical Highway from Bicol mainland, through Masbate, Cebu, Bohol and Camiguin to Mindanao mainland. These developments strengthen our competitiveness.

Leading multinational company Nestle cut transport costs and offset higher milk prices abroad. Salamat, RORO. Transport costs have become so reasonable for bakeries like Gardenia, a loaf of its bread in Iloilo is priced the same as in Laguna and Manila. Salamat muli sa RORO.

To the many LGUs who have stopped collecting fees from cargo vehicles, maraming, maraming salamat.

We are repaving airports that are useful for agriculture, like Zamboanga City Airport.

Producing rice and moving it cheaper addresses the supply side of our rice needs. On the demand side, we are boosting the people’s buying power.

Ginagawa nating labor-intensive ang paggawa at pag-ayos ng kalsada at patubig. Noong SONA ng 2001, naglunsad tayo sa NCR ng patrabaho para sa 20,000 na out of school youth, na tinawag OYSTER. Ngayon, mahigit 20,000 ang ineempleyo ng OYSTER sa buong bansa. In disaster-stricken areas, we have a cash-for-work program.

In training, 7.74 million took technical and vocational courses over the last seven years, double the number in the previous 14 years. In 2007 alone, 1.7 million graduated. Among them are Jessica Barlomento now in Hanjin as supply officer, Shenve Catana, Marie Grace Comendador, and Marlyn Tusi, lady welders, congratulations.

In microfinance, loans have reached P102 billion or 30 times more than the P3 billion we started with in 2001, with a 98% repayment record, congratulations! Major lenders include the Land Bank with P69 billion, the Peoples’ Credit and Finance Corporation P8 billion, the National Livelihood Support Fund P3 billion, DBP P1 billion and the DSWD’s SEA-K P800 million. For partnering with us to unleash the entrepreneurial spirit, thank you, Go Negosyo and Joey Concepcion.

Upland development benefits farmers through agro-forestry initiatives. Rubber is especially strong in Zamboanga Sibugay and North Cotabato. Victoria Mindoro, 56 years old, used to earn P5,000 a month as farmer and factory worker. Now she owns 10 hectares in the Goodyear Agrarian Reform Community in Kabasalan, Zamboanga Sibugay, she earns P10,000 a week. With one hectare, Pedro and Concordia Faviolas of Makilala, North Cotabato, they sent their six children to college, bought two more hectares, and earn P15,000 a month. Congratulations!

Jatropha estates are starting in 900 hectares in and around Tamlang Valley in Negros Oriental; 200 in CamSur; 300 in GenSan, 500 in Fort Magsaysay near the Cordero Dam and 700 in Samar, among others.

In our 2006 SONA, our food baskets were identified as North Luzon and Mindanao.

The sad irony of Mindanao as food basket is that it has some of the highest hunger in our nation. It has large fields of high productivity, yet also six of our ten poorest provinces.

The prime reason is the endless Mindanao conflict. A comprehensive peace has eluded us for half a century. But last night, differences on the tough issue of ancestral domain were resolved. Yes, there are political dynamics among the people of Mindanao. Let us sort them out with the utmost sobriety, patience and restraint. I ask Congress to act on the legislative and political reforms that will lead to a just and lasting peace during our term of office.

The demands of decency and compassion urge dialogue. Better talk than fight, if nothing of sovereign value is anyway lost. Dialogue has achieved more than confrontation in many parts of the world. This was the message of the recent World Conference in Madrid organized by the King of Saudi Arabia, and the universal message of the Pope in Sydney.

Pope Benedict’s encyclical Deus Caritas Est reminds us: “There will always be situations of material need where help in the form of concrete love for neighbour is indispensable."

Pinagsasama-sama natin ang mga programa ng DSWD, DOH, GSIS, SSS at iba pang lumalaban sa kahirapan sa isang National Social Welfare Program para proteksyonan ang pinaka-mahihirap mula sa pandaigdigang krisis, and to help those whose earnings are limited by illness, disability, loss of job, age and so on—through livelihood projects, microfinance, skills and technology transfer, emergency and temporary employment, pension funds, food aid and cash subsidies, child nutrition and adult health care, medical missions, salary loans, insurance, housing programs, educational and other savings schemes, and now cheaper medicine—Thanks to Congress.

The World Bank says that in Brazil, the income of the poorest 10% has grown 9% per year versus the 3% for the higher income levels due in large part to their family stipend program linking welfare checks to school attendance. We have introduced a similar program, Pantawid Pamilya.

Employers have funded the two increases in SSS benefits since 2005. Thank you, employers for paying the premiums.

GSIS pensions have been indexed to inflation and have increased every year since 2001. Its salary loan availments have increased from two months equivalent to 10 months, the highest of any system public or private—while repayments have been stretched out.

Pag-Ibig housing loans increased from P3.82 billion in 2001 to P22.6 billion in 2007. This year it experienced an 84% increase in the first four months alone. Super heating na. Dapat dagdagan ng GSIS at buksan muli ng SSS ang pautang sa pabahay. I ask Congress to pass a bill allowing SSS to do housing loans beyond the present 10% limitation.

Bago ako naging Pangulo, isa’t kalahating milyong maralita lamang ang may health insurance. Noong 2001, sabi natin, dadagdagan pa ng kalahating milyon. Sa taong iyon, mahigit isang milyon ang nabigyan natin. Ngayon, 65 milyong Pilipino na ang may health insurance, mahigit doble ng 2000, kasama ang labinlimang milyong maralita. Philhealth has paid P100 billion for hospitalization. The indigent beneficiaries largely come from West and Central Visayas, Central Luzon, and Ilocos. Patuloy nating palalawakin itong napaka-importanted programa, lalo na sa Tawi-Tawi, Zambo Norte, Maguindanao, Apayao, Dinagat, Lanao Sur, Northern Samar, Masbate, Abra and Misamis Occidental. Lalo na sa kanilang mga magsasaka at mangingisda.

In these provinces and in Agusan Sur, Kalinga, Surigao Sur and calamity-stricken areas, we will launch a massive school feeding program at P10 per child every school day.

Bukod sa libreng edukasyon sa elementarya at high school, nadoble ang pondo para sa mga college scholarships, while private high school scholarship funds from the government have quadrupled.

I have started reforming and clustering the programs of the DepEd, CHED and TESDA.

As with fiscal and food challenges, the global energy crunch demands better and more focused resource mobilization, conservation and management.

Government agencies are reducing their energy and fuel bills by 10%, emulating Texas Instruments and Philippine Stock Exchange who did it last year. Congratulations, Justice Vitug and Francis Lim.

To reduce power system losses, we count on government regulators and also on EPIRA amendments.

We are successful in increasing energy self-sufficiency—56%, the highest in our history. We promote natural gas and biofuel; geothermal fields, among the world’s largest; windmills like those in Ilocos and Batanes; and the solar cells lighting many communities in Mindanao. The new Galoc oil field can produce 17,000-22,000 barrels per day, 1/12 of our crude consumption.

The Renewable Energy Bill has passed the House. Thank you, Congressmen.

Our costly commodity imports like oil and rice should be offset by hard commodities exports like primary products, and soft ones like tourism and cyberservices, at which only India beats us.

Our P 350 million training partnership with the private sector should qualify 60,000 for call centers, medical transcription, animation and software development, which have a projected demand of one million workers generating $13 billion by 2010.

International finance agrees with our progress. Credit rating agencies have kept their positive or stable outlook on the country. Our world competitiveness ranking rose five notches. Congratulations to us.

We are sticking to, and widening, the fiscal reforms that have earned us their respect.

To our investors, thank you for your valuable role in our development. I invite you to invest not only in factories and services, but in profitable infrastructure, following the formula for the Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway.

I ask business and civil society to continue to work for a socially equitable, economically viable balance of interests. Mining companies should ensure that host communities benefit substantively from their investments, and with no environmental damage from operations.

Our administration enacted the Solid Waste Management Act, Wildlife Act, Protection of Plant Varieties, Clean Water Act, Biofuels Act and various laws declaring protected areas.

For reforestation, for next year we have budgeted P2 billion. Not only do forests enhance the beauty of the land, they mitigate climate change, a key factor in increasing the frequency and intensity of typhoons and costing the country 0.5% of the GDP.

We have set up over 100 marine and fish sanctuaries since 2001. In the whaleshark sanctuary of Donsol, Sorsogon, Alan Amanse, 40-year-old college undergraduate and father of two, was earning P100 a day from fishing and driving a tricycle. Now as whaleshark-watching officer, he is earns P1,000 a day, ten times his former income.

For clean water, so important to health, there is P500 million this year and P1.5 billion for next year.

From just one sanitary landfill in 2001, we now have 21, with another 18 in the works.

We launched the Zero Basura Olympics to clear our communities of trash. Rather than more money, all that is needed is for each citizen to keep home and workplace clean, and for garbage officials to stop squabbling.

Our investments also include essential ways to strengthen our institutions of governance in order to fight the decades-old scourge of corruption. I will continue to fight this battle every single day. While others are happy with headlines through accusation without evidence and privilege speeches without accountability, we have allocated more than P3 billion – the largest anti-graft fund in our history – for real evidence gathering and vigorous prosecution.

From its dismal past record, the Ombudsman’s conviction rate has increased 500%. Lifestyle checks, never seriously implemented before our time, have led to the dismissal and/or criminal prosecution of dozens of corrupt officials.

I recently met with the Millennium Challenge Corporation, a US agency that provides grants to countries based on governance. They have commended our gains, contributed P1 billion to our fight against graft, and declared us eligible for more grants. Thank you!

Last September, we created the Procurement Transparency Group in the DBM and linked it with business, academe, and the Church, to deter or catch anomalies in government contracts.

On my instruction, the BIR and Customs established similar government-civil society tie-ups for information gathering and tax evasion and smuggling monitoring.

More advanced corruption practices require a commensurate advances in legislative responses. Colleagues in Congress, we need a more stringent Anti-Graft Act.

Sa pagmahal ng bilihin, hirap na ang mamimili – tapos, dadayain pa. Dapat itong mahinto. Hinihiling ko sa Kongreso na magpasa ng Consumer Bill of Rights laban sa price gouging, false advertising at iba pang gawain kontra sa mamimili.

I call on all our government workers at the national and local levels to be more responsive and accountable to the people. Panahon ito ng pagsubok. Kung saan kayang tumulong at dapat tumulong ang pamahalaan, we must be there with a helping hand. Where government can contribute nothing useful, stay away. Let’s be more helpful, more courteous, more quick.

Kaakibat ng ating mga adhikain ang tuloy na pagkalinga sa kapakanan ng bawat Pilipino. Iisa ang ating pangarap – maunlad at mapayapang lipunan, kung saan ang magandang kinabukasan ay hindi pangarap lamang, bagkus natutupad.

Sama-sama tayo sa tungkuling ito. May papel na gagampanan ang bawat mamamayan, negosyante, pinunong bayan at simbahan, sampu ng mga nasa lalawigan.

We are three branches but one government. We have our disagreements; we each have hopes, and ambitions that drive and divide us, be they personal, ethnic, religious and cultural. But we are one nation with one fate.

As your President, I care too much about this nation to let anyone stand in the way of our people’s wellbeing. Hindi ko papayagang humadlang ang sinuman sa pag-unlad at pagsagana ng taong bayan. I will let no one – and no one’s political plans – threaten our nation’s survival.

Our country and our people have never failed to be there for us. We must be there for them now.

Maraming salamat. Magandang hapon sa inyong lahat.

allan_dude

July 28th, 2008, 05:30 PM

^^OT: Ano yung avatar mo? 1st Place saan?ECE Board Exam

:)

^^ Halimaw ka! :lol:

:master::master::master::master::master::master::master: Idol na kita!

allan_dude

July 28th, 2008, 05:38 PM

Pangasinan to host Milo Little Olympics

LINGAYEN -- The province of Pangasinan will again host the annual Milo Little Olympics-Luzon, which is now on its 11th year.

The teams to watch are the Baguio City National High School and the University of Baguio that went home last year as overall champions in the high school and elementary divisions, respectively.

As in the past years, the main venue of the event will be at Narciso Ramos Sports and Civic Center (NRSCC). Some events, however, will be held at the CSI Mall and CSI Stadia in Dagupan City.

More than 5,000 athletes from Ilocos Region, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon and the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) are expected to participate in the different sporting events.

The athletes will be representing about 250 public and private elementary and secondary schools.

According to Tess Bernardino, Milo sports organizer, the Milo Little Olympics-Luzon is scheduled on September 12, 13, 14 and 20, 2008.

The competition is set to be participated by athletes aged 12 years old and below for the elementary category and 17 years old and below for the secondary level.

The sporting events are athletics, badminton, chess, football, gymnastics, lawn tennis, sepak takraw, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo and volleyball.

Champions in the elementary and secondary schools categories will each receive P40,000; second placers will receive P20,000; P10,000 for the third placers and P5,000 for the fourth placers. Fifth to placers will receive P3,000 each.

Most Outstanding Athlete in every event in both categories will receive P5,000.

Meanwhile, there will be special competitions during the opening ceremonies. These include the cheer dance competition, loudest cheer, and biggest delegation.

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/pan/2008/07/28/news/pangasinan.to.host.milo.little.olympics.html

allan_dude

July 28th, 2008, 05:40 PM

City to use force versus Sitio Russia squatters

ITS still 'all systems go' for the construction of the Seafood Processing Plant this year in Dagupan despite initial setbacks on account of the refusal of squatters in the target venue to leave and be relocated.

According to City Engineer Virginia Rosario, chairman of the Task Force on Housing and Urban Resettlement, the city will apply the full force of the law to remove them from the area.

The land in sitio Russia in Bonuan Boquig consisting of 4.5 hectares is part of the foreshore area of the Lingayen Gulf which the occupants claim to have secured through Tax Declaration Certificates. These same certificates are now the subject of a cancellation process initiated by the city government.

Rosario said at least one to two hectares will be needed for the processing plant to be built from the financial grant of $1.1 million dollars made available by the Korean government (through the Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICO) through the initiative of then House Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr.).

"We are just awaiting the order of Mayor (Alipio) Fernandez to start the demolition," said Rosario, pointing out that the informal settlers in the area had already been notified to vacate the place since January this year.

She said the task force already gave the residents there till July 31 to vacate the area and move to the Gawad Kalinga Bangusville Housing Project in Bonuan Gueset where 30 units have been reserved for them.

According to Rosario, since they refuse to move out and after sufficient notices had already been given them (informal settlers), the city will have no alternative but to assert its authority.

There were initially 65 structures standing in sitio Russia, but 46 of which were destroyed in the aftermath of Typhoon Cosme on May 17.

Rosario noted that some houses in the area actually serve as vacation houses for affluent families in Baguio and other cities who claim they bought "rights" to the houses and land from still unidentified people. These owners' had used the 'rights' as basis for applying for land titles with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

Rosario reported that the informal settlers who refuse to vacate the area are led by one Francisco Caoile who claims they have documents to show that they had been legally occupying the place for many years now. —LM

http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/2008/07/29/city-to-use-force-versus-sitio-russia-squatters/

allan_dude

July 28th, 2008, 05:41 PM

Dagupan City sets up emergency response center

Dagupan will soon have its own emergency call center, expected to operate much like the popular 911 center in the United States.

The city's Emergency Operations Center (EOC), currently under construction in front of the city hall, has been designed to provide residents immediate assistance to emergency situations in the city.

This was disclosed by Mayor Alipio Fernandez who just arrived from a four-day international forum on disaster risk management in Da Nang, Vietnam from July 14 to 18.

He explained that the EOC is being set up for the city to have a center of operations during calamities and where every citizen may call for help 24 hours a day for any kind of emergency situation, including crimes.

Fernandez said the presence of the EOC will support Dagupan's position as the primary trading and commercial center of the north.

The city will soon acquire four sophisticated cameras to be installed in city's major traffic intersections to help EOC perform its traffic and emergency monitoring function.

The establishment of the EOC, the first in Northern Luzon, is in line with the city government program to make Dagupan safe and responsive to all its citizens, including visitors.

Fourth District Rep. Jose de Venecia, his wife Gina, and officials of the city government led the laying of the time capsule, marking the start of the construction of the EOC last week.

"We will only have one command center where all information relating to all data and stages of developing calamities up to its passing can be obtained and disseminated immediately to all concerned," said Fernandez.

The EOC will install several help lines where all citizens in distress or whose lives are in danger may call 24 hours a day.

The help lines will be manned by persons with disabilities trained by a professional call center instructor and supervisor.—LM

http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/2008/07/28/dagupan-city-sets-up-emergency-response-center/

allan_dude

July 28th, 2008, 05:49 PM

City promotes responsible pet ownership

THE city veterinary office here is vigorously conducting its anti-rabies program in a bid to promote responsible pet ownership.

Dr. Fernando Banchiran, city veterinarian, told The PUNCH his office visits barangays to provide free anti-rabies vaccines for both stray and pet dogs.

Banchiran said while there has so far been no rabies infection incident this year, the number of reported animal bites have been high.

Since January this year, the city veterinary office has conducted a free anti-rabies vaccination drive in barangays Lasip Grande, Bonuan Gueset, Mangin, Lasip Chico, barangay IV, Caranglaan, Herrero-Perez, and Pugaro Suit.

The city veterinary office said it is ready to conduct free anti-rabies vaccination drive in any place if there is a request from the community.

Pet owners need not wait for a visit from the veterinary office but they can avail of the vaccine at its clinic anytime at a minimal cost.

“Kapag hindi schedule ng free vaccination, a pet owner is charged P80 per vaccine shot if they will go to the city veterinary office or P100 per vaccine if held at their residences,” Banchiran said.

According to Banchiran, barangay Bonuan Gueset, Mayombo, and Caranglaan had the highest number of animal bite incidents last year but there was no incident of death.—CSR

http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/2008/07/28/city-promotes-responsible-pet-ownership/

allan_dude

July 28th, 2008, 06:20 PM

After 36 years, Bayambang finally gets new bridge

TO SERVE SIX BARANGAYS

BAYAMBANG-Sixty eight-year old Maria Dimalanta, a resident of Barangay San Vicente here, had to walk to get to the town center for the last 36 years after the bridge linking their community and five others was destroyed by flood.

The trek gets worse during the rainy season as the people have to traverse floodwaters.

But soon vehicles should be able to service the route as a new bridge will finally be constructed.

"This is a big relief for us," Dimalanta told The PUNCH.

The new structure, estimated to cost P30 million, will be built through the Project Development Assistance Fund of 3rd District Rep. Rachel Arenas.

Mayor Ricardo Camacho expressed gratitude to the congresswoman for her initiative as the bridge is expected to spur economic activity in the six barangays with easier access to transport particularly for trading agricultural products.

The groundbreaking ceremony for the new bridge was held July 19 and Arenas said construction will start immediately.

Aside from San Vicente, the other barangays that will benefit from the project are Amabayat 1st and 2nd, Warding, Capantolan and Managos.

NOT JUNKET

Meanwhile, Arenas also belied reports that she went on a junket trip to the United States during the recent Congressional recess.

"It is mere cheap black propaganda from political enemies. It's still too early for such gimmicks," Arenas said in an interview with The PUNCH.

She said she worked hard during the trip, which was upon the invitation of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to join the party for an official visit to the US.

She said while in the US, she met with about 500 people from her district now based in the US for a homecoming event and had a chance to meet with some potential investors for her planned economic-zone within the 3rd District.

http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/2008/07/28/after-36-years-bayambang-finally-gets-new-bridge/

tracymack

July 29th, 2008, 04:36 AM

^^^Wow! 1st placer ka sa Board Exam ng ECE?! Galing naman :D
Thanks, karruba. :)

^^ wow naman galing! anong year ka nag first place?
Thanks din nayki. November 2003 po. Ang tagal na pala nun. Ganun na ba ako katanda? :lol:

^^ Halimaw ka! :lol:

:master::master::master::master::master::master::master: Idol na kita!
Haha! Di naman ako halimaw. Hayup lang. :D

Naku! Compromised na yung identity ko. Mag-iingat na ako palagi sa mga pinopost ko. :rofl:

nayki

July 29th, 2008, 04:07 PM

Ahahaha kabatch mo pala iyong school mate ko dati pero ahead siya sa akin siya naman iyong top 2 nyo...hehehe Mahusay!

tracymack

July 29th, 2008, 05:35 PM

^^

Sino? Si Basmayor? Summa Cum Laude yun diba? PLM grad ka pala kung ganun.

allan_dude

July 31st, 2008, 12:17 PM

Pangasinan, site of 'Palit-Ilaw sa Barangay'

By Venus May H. Sarmiento

Bayambang, Pangasinan (July 31) -- The Department of Energy (DOE) will launch a 'Palit-Ilaw sa barangay' activity, which encourages the shift to efficient lighting system, tomorrow at barangay Cadre Site, this town.

DOE is presently implementing the Philippine Efficient Lighting Market Transformation project (PELMATP), a five-year project supported by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) through the United Nations Development Program (UNDP)

PELMATP Project Director Racquel S. Hullganga said the project aims to address the barriers to the widespread use of energy efficient lighting systems (EELs) in the Philippines.

The project, through its various activities engages public and private sectors in the promotion of the use of EELS not only to save electricity and money, but also to mitigate climate change and further degradation of the environment related to power generation

Hullganga said the 'Palit- Ilaw' program serves as an avenue to showcase EEL products where model residential, commercial, industrial or government establishments are encouraged to shift to the use of EEL by doing either of the following: replacing incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent lamps; replacing T12s with T8s; and replacing the conventional magnetic ballasts to low loss electromagnetic or electronic ballasts.

Some 500 households in barangay Cadre Site will receive compact fluorescent lights tomorrow (August 1).The activity starts at 9 a.m. (PIA-Pangasinan)

http://www.pia.gov.ph/?m=12&r=&y=&mo=&fi=p080731.htm&no=29

nayki

July 31st, 2008, 03:32 PM

^^

Sino? Si Basmayor? Summa Cum Laude yun diba? PLM grad ka pala kung ganun.

Yup dun din me grad same course. Summa cum laude siya tapos ung kakambal nya cum laude. Ako naman isa lang hamak na regular passer...hehehe

tracymack

July 31st, 2008, 07:46 PM

Indian firm eyes Dagupan City for call center expansion

By Danny O. Sagun

Dagupan City -- An Indian company is eyeing this city as expansion area for its call center operations.

Representatives of Minacs, a company based in Bangalore, India met with City Mayor Alipio Fernandez, Jr. yesterday to discuss the possibility of establishing a call center in the city. Representatives of the Department of Trade and Industry and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority also attended the meeting.

The group also visited the various colleges and universities in the city for the possible hiring of agents.

It was gathered that call center agents earlier recruited from Pangasinan are now working in Manila and other places where the operations of the call center companies are based. About 700 were said to have been recruited from the province, according to Tesda.

The upper floors of the new Malimgas market on Galvan street was earlier reported as an ideal site for call center operations because of wide space.

The Indian company is also eyeing Urdaneta City for its expansion plans, it was learned. (PIA-Pangasinan)

http://www.pia.gov.ph/default.asp?m=12&fi=p080722.htm&no=73&r=&y=&mo=

Fish Market?

http://bp1.blogger.com/_qlZRMA0BnbY/SJClfMl72eI/AAAAAAAABJw/1BeoV6AdLWQ/s400/publicmarket1.jpg

Look again...

http://bp2.blogger.com/_qlZRMA0BnbY/SJClfa03TRI/AAAAAAAABJ4/zMOv_bJ0pUw/s400/publicmarket.jpg

INDIAN FIRM EYEING TO BUILD CALL CENTER IN PHILIPPINES' URDANETA CITY

URDANETA CITY - A big Indian company is set to open a big call center here that could open jobs to an initial 1,000 people.

Councilor Higinio Agsalud, majority floor leader of the city council, said officials of Minacs, whose head office in the Philippines is located in Libis, Quezon City, are determined to rent the whole second floor of the city's public market for its call center business.

http://bp2.blogger.com/_qlZRMA0BnbY/SJClfatvxsI/AAAAAAAABKA/szxQO2dSc0M/s400/IMG_2190.JPG

Source: http://urdanetacity.blogspot.com/2008/07/call-center-in-urdaneta.html

^^ I hope this is accurate. If so, this is the kick start that Urdaneta's been waiting for to finally break through the call center world. [fingers crossed]

tracymack

July 31st, 2008, 07:48 PM

Yup dun din me grad same course. Summa cum laude siya tapos ung kakambal nya cum laude. Ako naman isa lang hamak na regular passer...hehehe
OT na tayo pero ayos. Hehe. ECE ka din pala. Anong batch ka?

dark_knight_detectve

August 1st, 2008, 12:15 PM

Of Pangasinan, Paradise and Putolets (http://www.philstar.com/archives.php?aid=200808011&type=2)
by Kristy Ann Q. Texon
Friday, August 1, 2008
While summer trips to beaches can be equally relaxing and stressful with the paradox of great sights and overcrowded shores, such is not the case in Pangasinan. There are numerous beaches in this province, thus assuring that every traveler gets to enjoy his fair share of fine sand, clear waters and blue skies.

Alaminos, Pangasinan is home to the Hundred Islands, which is a group of beaches, rocks, and caves. While people wish to see most (if not all) of the islets, there are those (like us) who opt to see just a few islands. A boat tour usually includes three stops; this way, travelers can spend more time in a particular spot and take in what the island has to offer.

Governor’s Island was our first stop; the place boasts of a small, private beach with clear waters. The island has a viewing deck, which gives visitors a breathtaking view of the surrounding group of islands. Although it took a bit of a climb to get to the deck, we could hardly complain as the view is well worth it. We also got a bit of pop culture while visiting this place when we found out that Governor’s Island also holds the rest house for the reality show Pinoy Big Brother.

The transparent waters in Children’s Island had us dumbstruck; the water is insanely clear that we could see our feet right through the water. As the name suggests, this is an ideal place for children since the water is shallow.

Our last stop for the boat tour was Quezon Island, which is a long strip of beach with amenities like a huge dining area and barbecue stations. Many families flock to this island because aside from the pristine beach, Quezon Island offers water activities (kayaking, snorkeling) to tourists. There is also a long deck that connects the island to small islet with a hut, which is a great place for a nap. The deck is also perfect for photo ops; we instantly became camera hogs because of this place.

Further up north, Bolinao, Pangasinan also features beautiful beaches that are worth visiting. Among those beaches is Patar Beach, found in Barangay Patar. The beach is breathtaking with the white sand and azure water; this place can be easily considered as the best in the area. The waves were a bit strong, but that only upped the excitement as we had silly games by the shore. There are also cottages by the beach so tourists can enjoy the view while having a picnic. Near the beach, the second oldest lighthouse in the Philippines stands on a hill.

As if the lighthouse and Patar Beach weren’t enough to make Bolinao charming, the Enchanted Cave gave us more reasons to love Bolinao. Travelers who have had enough of saltwater should visit this place because the underground cave features a freshwater pool. The water in the cave is pretty deep. Fortunately, there are safety ropes for those who don’t know how to swim.

Pangasinan is the perfect destination for water babies, but we also got to see other relatively dry places. We toured St. James Parish, the Bolinao Marine Laboratory, and the Bolinao Museum. We also went to the market to look for the yummy Puto Calasiao, which we feasted on in the morning; we fondly called those treats putolets.

While we visited as many places we could during our two-day stay, we were still thinking of other places we should have seen or waters we should have swam in. That’s what Pangasinan does, I guess; you think you’ve taken a piece of it with you, but it has in fact taken a bigger chunk out of you that you end up vowing to return to this paradise.

Photos (photos 1, 2, 4, 5 by Kristy Texon; photos 3 & 6 by Don Alimasa).



http://www.philstar.com/newphilstar/www/image/20080801/Pangasinan[1]_files/image002.jpg

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The water was insanely clear at Children’s Island.



Boatmen can be seen from the islet in Quezon Island.



Quite a number of people have compared Patar Beach to Boracay, but the former holds a charm of its own.



We stayed in Villa Carolina; the resort also had a beachfront.



St. James Parish, one of the oldest churches in the country, can also be found in Bolinao.

 The Bolinao Marine Library is instrumental in preserving sea creatures like the Tridacna gigas.

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dark_knight_detectve

August 2nd, 2008, 06:22 PM

EXPERIENCE BOLINAO AND HUNDRED ISLAND
By Michael Cacho
Friday, August 1, 2008
Travel to Bolinao and Alaminos Pangasinan is so easy. A round oclock sched can you travel anytime.Its takes 5 hr to 6.5 hr trip from Metropolis served by big bus comapanies named Victory liner, and Fivestar. First Stop the city of Alaminos . A place that Hundred island located just a 10 minute drive 5km from the city proper To get there you take tricycle ride from the bus terminal to lucap wharf there are numerous lodging area to take rest.its better to take first a rest before you explore the islands.

After a whole night of rest you may now can explore the islands by renting a banca good for 15 person better to rent a larger boats if you only with a companion or more. Rentals of banca is costing 800 to 2000 php. depends its size. bring a right amount of baon ang things.You can take a dip or to swim snorkel in major islands, PBB island, Quezon island the largest island and Marcos island if you want not crowded place to swim theres also a cave here with a man deep water. important to bring life jacket. sometimes you feel scared inside when the waves entering inside the cave.

You feel the two nose shaped holes inside are pushing you (nakakatakot par kang hinihigop) better to swim here with more companions. Take note avoid shouting inside to not bothering something elements (syempre me mga nilalang na di nakikita dun kaya minsan me ang masayang bakasyon can turn to tragedy) respect these sanctuary place.

After exploring Hundred islands if you want another place to fullfill your enjoyment Anda, and Bolinao town is also have best tourist destination. First try to explore the town of anda a 30 kms away from Lucap Alaminos you foud a long span bridge that connects anda and bolinao. then a newly discovered Tondol beach resort and eco tourism park. its perfect to the vacationers who wants to be a quiet and can relaxed their selves wihout overspending.Businessman also starting to build resorts here.

After exploring Anda next the last stop the town of Bolinao the last destination the northmostip town in western pangasinan 40kms away from alaminos . A town proper with bustling activity especially mornings of market day it also a museum here besides highschool. Also found a 399 year old baroque church built here located at the hearth of the town Theres also a open daily market activities that can you bought other kind of seafoods fruits vegtables and souveneirs also can bought here a rice cake in a bamboo tubes called Binunguey.If Vigan have their own tinubong Bolinao is have their own version.

The Zambals is the originator of these style of cooking Bolinao is a former part of Zambales.A number of large houses are built by balikbayans who want to have vacation area.theres a lodging area here within town proper. After exploring the town. a 20 min drive from town proper the pride and beauty bolinao can be found a white sand beaches, corral rock formation and also resorts are like mushroom. (parang kabutieng nagsulputan at nag tayuan). LOcated at the barangays of Ilog Malino, Abrac Patar but still not over crowded. there are two class resorts here named puerto del sol, and treasures can be match the resorts in bora. but (medyo pag sosyal ang target market nito) bu still having a low rates accomaodations .

The white sand beach can comparable to the shorlines of pagudpod and bora.Not only beaches can found here there are 3 or more caves here with natural pool with a refreshing dip (bukal kasi yun at nasa loob ng kweba) named Enchanted, Cyndys.and 2 Waterfalls located at barangay Tara and samang.

Also found a century old Cape Bolinao Lighthouse 2nd tallest in Philippines next to cape bojeador the lights can be visible up to 24 miles from the shores and tourist love to take their pictures here. Even movie producers want to shoot their taping here or some TV commecials.Ex movie of The Promise, Agent X-44, Dyesabel, Isla the young version.Bolinao can turn the next paradise of the north A multi million toursit complex planned to be erect here or to be have eco tourism park. if theres pagudpod, Bora, Pgallera Theres a Bolinao. Iwant ot spent my life here if i have properties here.Trully first time visitors want to come back here.

They Fall in love the beauty of bolinao. Trully have quiet and peace without bothering the noise of beach party and other social climers (kahit na nasa beach gimmik parin) . Kung Quiet place at may privacy hanap mo try Bolinao .

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dark_knight_detectve

August 3rd, 2008, 10:04 AM

i hope i got this in the right thread. kindly pm if im wrong.

BOLINAO AND HUNDRED ISLAND (http://www.philstar.com/archives.php?aid=200807295&type=2)

By Michael George Cacho
Wednesday, July 30, 2008

eto nasakyan ko na to panis farinas at partas dito. victory.jpg banka.JPG alaminos hundred island.jpgmarcos island at hundred island.jpg

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CRUISING TO BOLINAO WITH VLI HUNDRED ISLANDS

A 6hr and 6.5 hrs by taking bus by day. first stop lucap alaminos pangasinan where the entry point going to island by taking banca (cap 15 persons) a whole day island hopping and can swim specially the quezon island the main and largest island. and marcos island that you found a cave a man deep water can you dive here. but scarry to the person cannot swim inside.

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anda bridge.jpgAnda tondol beach.jpganda bridge view.jpg

ANDA BRIDGE AND TONDOL BEACH ECO TORISM PARK

after that a 35 min drive going to bolinao before bolinao its nice to see also the island of anda a Long bridge can also found (anda bridge) also their have a Tondol beach and eco tourism park. Bolinao town patar beach may match to sa pagudpod.jpg beach.gifsunset1bolinao.jpgpuerto del sol bolinao.jpg

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FAMOUS BOLINAO SCENERY PRIDE OF THE NORTH TREASURES OF BOLINAO

bolinao puerto del sol.jpg white beach patar bolinao pangasinan.jpg

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http://www.philstar.com/newphilstar/www/image/20080729/HUNDRED%20ISLAND_files//image026.jpg
PUERTO DEL SOL ABRAC WHITE BEACHES

is also nice and there's accomodation within the town proper. From the town a 20 min drive (16-19) kms away from town proper) also find white beaches same to pagudpod beaches or the Famous boracay. 2 class resort or numerous resort here a caves with natural pool in BRGY Patar, Ilog Malino. also found a century old lighthouse 2nd tallest lighthouse in the phil next to cape bojeador. The cape Bolinao lighthouse.the light can be seen up to 24 miles by the ocean going vessels tourist and visitors always taking their pictures and videos as a remembrance this is also a ideal to shoot movies , music video TV commercials. Ex The promise, agent X44, SMB and music video of nina I don’t WANt to be yor friend.

cape bolinao lh5.jpg wag ka mag turo dyan sa parola.jpgcape bolinao lighthouse.jpgcape bolinao lh at dark2.jpg

ttp://www.philstar.com/newphilstar/www/image/20080729/HUNDRED%20ISLAND_files//image028.jpg

http://www.philstar.com/newphilstar/www/image/20080729/HUNDRED%20ISLAND_files//image030.jpg

http://www.philstar.com/newphilstar/www/image/20080729/HUNDRED%20ISLAND_files//image032.jpg

ttp://www.philstar.com/newphilstar/www/image/20080729/HUNDRED%20ISLAND_files//image034.jpg
THE CAPE BOLINAO LIGHTHOUSE AT DAY AND SUNSET

2ND TALLEST LIGHTHOUSE IN THE COUNTRY NEXT TO BOJEADOR

Bolinao is an ideal alternative place to take vacation Because of its beaches are not overcrowded, and can you relax without bothering noise of beach parties that you experience in some most popular resorts in our country. I hope maintain its is beauty and not to be overcrowded. Maybe the one travel get away to the north. Planning to build a multi million peso tourist complex and pushing a eco tourism due if its corrals and reef. Advantages of these place can you get there or leave any time due of its availability of bus trips served by five star bus and victory. A every day Public market activities in town proper that vacationers can bought towns specialties ex bangus, other kind of fishes,and kakanin sa buho. A 399 years old roman catholic also here with marking of queen isabela.

bolinao town proper gym and market.jpg binunguey kakanin sa buho ng bolinao.jpg bolinao 350 years old church.jpg

http://http://www.philstar.com/newphilstar/www/image/20080729/HUNDRED%20ISLAND_files//image036.jpg

http://www.philstar.com/newphilstar/www/image/20080729/HUNDRED%20ISLAND_files//image038.jpg

http://www.philstar.com/newphilstar/www/image/20080729/HUNDRED%20ISLAND_files//image040.jpg
BOLINAO PUBLIC MARKET BINUNGUEY BOLINAO CHURCH

(GLUTENOUS RICE)

A place you will surely love. Many first timers and tourist fall in love to the beauty of bolinao. They will be back again.
Back to top

tracymack

August 4th, 2008, 01:46 AM

nayki

August 4th, 2008, 09:36 AM

OT na tayo pero ayos. Hehe. ECE ka din pala. Anong batch ka?

Oo nga OT na tayo...hehehe :cheers: last year ako nagka license

tracymack

August 4th, 2008, 01:58 PM

Urdaneta will host new call center
http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/2008/08/04/urdaneta-will-host-new-call-center/

URDANETA CITY– Minacs, a major call center company with head office in Libis, Quezon City has confirmed its plan to establish a call center here that will initially open 1,000 jobs.

Councilor Higinio Agsalud, majority floor leader of the city council, said officials of Minacs came to the city twice to express their determination to set up a call center in the city.

When fully operational, the call center will have openings for up to 3,000 call center agents who will be working on three shifts daily.

“The coming of Minacs will stimulate business activities in Urdaneta as several establishments will be prompted particularly restaurants, to open 24 hours a day in order to cater to the demands of call center agents on duty,” Agsalud said.

Minacs is set to rent the whole second floor of the city's public market and the high-rise Shahani Building along the Maharlika Highway in barangay Nancayasan.

The same firm also offered to set up and operate a separate call center in Dagupan City and in other big cities in the country.

In Dagupan, Minacs plans to rent the entire idle third floor of the Malimgas Public Market or the former MC Adore Hotel which is now owned by the Dagupan City government.

Minacs officials were accompanied by former Senator Leticia Ramos Shahani and her son, former Sixth District Rep. Ranjit Ramos Shahani when they called on Urdaneta Mayor Amadeo Perez Jr.

Agsalud hailed the coming of Minacs as it will open jobs to thousands of graduates and unemployed professionals in Urdaneta City, which is the education center in eastern Pangasinan. –LM

Here's a similar article from a different website:

Indian firm eyeing to build call center in Urdaneta City
http://www.positivenewsmedia.net/am2/publish/Business_19/Indian_firm_eyeing_to_build_call_center_in_Urdaneta_City_printer.shtml

URDANETA CITY, July 30 (PNA) â€” A big Indian company is set to open a big call center here that could open jobs to an initial 1,000 people.

Councilor Higinio Agsalud, majority floor leader of the city council, said officials of Minacs, whose head office in the Philippines is located in Libis, Quezon City, are determined to rent the whole second floor of the cityâ€™s public market for its call center business.

The company is also eyeing to rent the whole Shahani building along the Maharlika Highway in barangay Nancayasan, also for its call center.

Agsalud said top executives of Minacs already came to the city twice and conferred with Mayor Amadeo Perez Jr. about their proposed investment.

They were accompanied by former Senator Leticia Ramos Shahani and her son, former Rep. Ranjit Ramos Shahani, who own the Shahani Building which will be occupied by Minacs, aside from the second floor of the cityâ€™s public market.

Minacs is also set to establish its call center in Dagupan City, in addition to Urdaneta City.

Agsalud said the coming of Minacs will be a big boon to Urdaneta City because it will open jobs to thousands of graduates from various colleges and universities in Urdaneta.

When fully operational, he said, the call center has openings for up to 3,000 call center agents, divided into three shifts.

Officials of the Indian company said they already conducted a survey and found out that Urdaneta is an ideal location for a call center business. (PNA)

© Copyright 2004 by Positive News Media

tracymack

August 4th, 2008, 02:05 PM

i hope i got this in the right thread. kindly pm if im wrong.

You picked the right thread dark_knight_detectve. Thanks for posting. :)

allan_dude

August 4th, 2008, 04:08 PM

Urdaneta will host new call center
http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/2008/08/04/urdaneta-will-host-new-call-center/ Congrats! Locals seeking BPO employment need not to relocate to cities like Baguio and Angeles.

allan_dude

August 4th, 2008, 04:10 PM

Espino issues provincial employees’ code of conduct

A professional, helpful and efficient public servant.

This is what Gov. Amado Espino Jr. aspires for the government employees when he framed the code for strict adherence by the latter with the end view of making the provincial government's delivery of services effective.

The code, contained in Executive Order No. 0031-2008 that took effect last month, outlines a behavioral framework and ethical standards for everyone working in the Capitol, including concessionaires such as the restaurant operators.

It requires officials and employees to follow a specified dress code, prohibits loitering during office hours and are directed to exercise utmost courtesy tin the performance of their duties and always be ready to attend to the needs of visitors.

Information and assistance desks have been set up in every building and other strategic areas around the Capitol to provide visitors with best possible service.

Also included in the code of conduct is the strict observance of cleanliness and orderliness within the Capitol complex including the beach area and Capitol building, which, after its recent renovation.

http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/2008/08/04/espino-issues-provincial-employees%e2%80%99-code-of-conduct/

tracymack

August 4th, 2008, 04:14 PM

Congrats! Locals seeking BPO employment need not to relocate to cities like Baguio and Angeles.

Yeah, I just hope politics doesn't get in the way of this pushing through. I'll have my fingers crossed until the call centers are operational.

allan_dude

August 4th, 2008, 04:43 PM

Forest lands in Western P'sinan eyed for jathropa

SOME 50,000 hectares of forest lands in the western part of the province are being considered for planting jathropa in support of the government's program for bio-diesel production.

The Community Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) in Alaminos City has already identified areas in the towns of Infanta and Mabini as possible sites while some parts of Bolinao, Agno and Dasol are also being considered.

“Practically, lahat ng munisipyo mayroong forest lands, it is a series of mountain ranges up to Mangatarem,” CENRO chief Celso Salazar said in an interview with The PUNCH.

The open areas that were pinpointed ideal for jathropa plantation include those in barangay Pita in Infanta and in barangay Villacorta in Mabini.

Salazar said a Filipino businessman with a counterpart from Australia, among several other investors, recently arrived in the province to look into prospective sites for a jathropa plantation.

A map of the proposed areas has been forwarded to the regional office of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the Philippine Forest Corporation.

He also stressed that the proposed jathropa plantation will not be competing for agricultural areas to the detriment of traditional crops.

The Pangasinan State University (PSU) in Infanta haa set up a five-hectare demo farm for jathropa.

3 YEARS

According to DENR Regional Director Constancio Arciaga, a feasibility study prepared by the Philippine Forest Corporation indicates that jathropa starts bearing fruit on its third year.

The study also indicates that investment recovery on the jathropa business could be as short as three to four years.

“With the help of the present leadership, we could hasten the establishment of jathropa plantation in western Pangasinan and there are prospective investors who will go into the project,” Arciaga said.

Arciaga said jathropa development is being accelerated not only in Pangasinan but in the whole region to help in production of bio-fuel.—CSR

http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/2008/08/04/forest-lands-in-western-psinan-eyed-for-jathropa/

allan_dude

August 4th, 2008, 04:44 PM

Planned tri-city ferry still on schedule

THE proposed tri-city ferry service that will link three cities in the Ilocos Region is not dead in the water as critics want others to believe. In fact, it is proceeding according to its set timetable.

This was pointed out by Dagupan Mayor Alipio Fernandez Jr. as he confirmed that Dagupan City is currently hosting the technical working group (TWG) composed of representatives from the city and Alaminos and San Fernando cities.

The TWG is studying the hydrological behavior of the water of the Lingayen Gulf to determine the type of ferryboat that will be commissioned for the service.

"We need to carefully study the factors essential to the project," he said, adding that a study on the behavior of the water of the Lingayen will help determine the route and the kind of ferryboats that will be utilized.

Fernandez said there is already a pending proposal to purchase three boats, one by each of the participating cities, to ply the approved navigation route.

"We are not running against time," said Fernandez, explaining that there are lessons to be learned from recent sea disasters obviously pointing particularly to the tragedy met by MV Princess of the Stars off San Fernando town in Romblon.

He said Dagupan is ready to construct the P4 million wharf-cum-theme park it has planned to build along the eastern bank of the Calmay River just below the new Pantal Bridge within the year.

Based on the mutually agreed plan, Fernandez said the three LGUs will initially operate the ferry service but will readily hand it over to any qualified and interested private investor at a any given time.

"The important thing is that we start it in the hope of attracting investors later," Fernandez said.—LM

http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/2008/08/04/planned-tri-city-ferry-still-on-schedule/

allan_dude

August 4th, 2008, 04:44 PM

GMA vows to make San Roque Dam priority

ROSALES–Another SONA. Another promise.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, in her eighth State of the Nation Address (SONA) delivered Monday, listed the re-regulating pond component of the San Roque Dam as among the administration's priority projects.

“With her announcement that makes it already official”, said 6th District Rep. Conrado Estrella III in an interview with The PUNCH.

However, no specific timetable was given by Arroyo who has two years left in office.

The re-regulating pond component involves development related to flood control, potable water system, irrigation and tourism that will benefit not just Pangasinan but the neighboring provinces of Tarlac and Nueva Ecija as well.

Estrella said he discussed the project with some key Cabinet officials during their trip to the United States as part of the President's entourage on her official visit.

He said he proposed to source the funding for the project through a loan but Arroyo promised to just include it in the national budget for faster implementation.

Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya has assured that P2 billion will be listed in the 2009 General Appropriations Act (GAA) for the project estimated to cost P5 billion, according to Estrella.

The remaining P3 billion will be sourced from loans with foreign funding agencies.

The re-regulating pond will be a storage for the water discharged by the San Roque power plant from its energy production which in turn will be diverted to irrigate some 70,000 hectares of farmlands in eastern and central Pangasinan, as well as in Nueva Ecija and Tarlac.

"Imagine if we could have three cropping seasons in these areas a year, how much would we be contributing to our food supply?," Estrella said.

Tied to the construction of the re-regulating pond are structures for flood control, water supply for some towns, and a tourism complex.

The re-regulating pond was not part of the plan when the San Roque Multi Purpose Project, completed in 2003, was packaged under a build-operate-transfer scheme.

http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/2008/08/04/gma-vows-to-make-san-roque-dam-priority/

allan_dude

August 10th, 2008, 01:53 PM

SCTEX to improve tourism in C. Luzon

By Reynaldo G. Navales

MABALACAT -- Tourism in Central Luzon has been in an upbeat mood following the full operation of the 94-kilometer Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX) recently.

This was disclosed by the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA). The Clark-Tarlac segment opened on July 25 while the Subic-Clark portion began commercial operations on April 28.

Regional Development Council (RDC) for the Ilocos Region chairman Salvador Duque said that providing a fast, safe and convenient access is integral to the country's tourism business.

With the new expressway, travel hours from Manila to Zambales and Bataan were reduced to almost half the time. Motorists going to Nueva Ecija and northern parts of Luzon, particularly Pangasinan, Baguio, La Union and Ilocos provinces, save almost an hour-and-a-half by passing through the Clark-to Tarlac segment of the expressway.

Based on traffic volume data, close to half million motorists have used the expressway since it opened last April. Majority of motorists have found SCTEX as a fast and convenient access to both Subic and Clark from all the major points in Luzon, including Metro Manila and Baguio.

This upward trend of traffic volume is expected to continue because there are now more entertainment choices and alternatives made available to travelers visiting Central Luzon.

"Visitors who wish to stay in Subic, for example, can take a 45-minute trip via SCTEX to events in Angeles City and return the same day. Those who are staying in Clark area, on the other hand, can always go to resorts in Zambales and be back in their hotels the same day without much hassle," Duque said.

Duque also noted that tourists from Northern Luzon provinces like La Union and Pangasinan can now visit Central Luzon more frequently because of the shorter travel time and excellent road conditions.

Local businessmen hoped that SCTEX will provide the much-awaited boost to Central Luzon's tourism and economic activities.

Duque said tourism is one of the strong potentials of the country to usher in the much-needed development.

"Central Luzon has tourist spots with similar appeal or better than any other places in Asia. SCTEX provides an efficient and fast transportation system to entice tourists in visiting the region, thus providing more employment and investment opportunity for Filipinos," he said.

Potential investors, according to Duque, come in the country initially as tourists.

"If they could see that the country has all facilities to support a business, then the next time they come might be the opening of their new businesses here," he said.

SCTEX connects three economic powerhouses in Central Luzon - the Subic Bay Freeport, Clark Freeport, and the Central Techno Park in Tarlac.

Economists view that with all these infrastructures, including the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport and the seaport in Subic, are bound to help make Central Luzon a "Little China."

SCTEX will also be connected to the 85-kilometer four-lane Tarlac-La Union expressway, which is under construction, and is expected to boost trade, tourism, and speed up transportation in the provinces of Tarlac, Eastern Pangasinan and La Union.

BCDA officials said with the completion of SCTEX, Central Luzon would be ready to create a more progressive stance aimed at propelling the country to compete in the fast-rising global economy.

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/pam/2008/08/09/news/sctex.to.improve.tourism.in.c..luzon.html
:cheers:

allan_dude

August 10th, 2008, 01:54 PM

Construction work at Calvo bridge resumes

By Liway C. Manantan-Yparraguirre

SAN CARLOS CITY -- Construction work at the Calvo Bridge in the town of Bayambang has resumed after its stoppage for several months.

The contractor was given five months more to complete the project. At present, the Calvo Bridge is 44-percent completed.

Pangasinan third district Representative Rachel Arenas earlier instructed Pangasinan Third Engineering District Assistant Marietta Mendoza to have the project contractor's contract terminated if they cannot expedite the construction work.

Ground work started in August 2007. Mendoza said the original completion date is in one year.

"At first, the project was delayed for one month because the utility cables attached at the old bridge were not immediately removed by the Central Pangasinan Electric Cooperative and Digitel," she said, adding that there was also the problem of removing the business stalls near the bridge.

"The deadline has been repeatedly extended and expiry date of the contract is until September, then came Typhoon Cosme," she added.

Construction work again stopped as a still casing, the basic requirement for the construction of a board pile, was washed away by strong rush of water in the river.

The Calvo Bridge is a vital link between Central Pangasinan to the province’s fifth district.

With the piling complaints from the people, Arenas suggested the termination of the project contract.

"I understand why they can't cancel it, as first it is based on an old price. Second, the project will take longer if it will be cancelled. But even then, if we won’t finish it on time and the people will get angry, we will just cancel it. We will just request President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for a new and higher budget based on the new price scheme," the lawmaker remarked.

Meanwhile, Mendoza said they have instructed the contractor to work double time to compensate for the delay.

Rehabilitation of the Calvo Bridge started early last year. When Arenas was elected congresswoman, she was able to have the reconstruction funded for P70 million.

"I've done my part to have the project approved. What I want now is for the bridge to be passable already in the coming months," she reiterated.

Accordingly, P55 million was already released by the Department of Public Works and Highways. Of which, P25 million was already used. An additional P30 million will be released next year.

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/pan/2008/08/09/news/construction.work.at.calvo.bridge.resumes.html

tracymack

August 10th, 2008, 03:52 PM

SCTEX to improve tourism in C. Luzon

SCTEX will also be connected to the 85-kilometer four-lane Tarlac-La Union expressway, which is under construction, and is expected to boost trade, tourism, and speed up transportation in the provinces of Tarlac, Eastern Pangasinan and La Union.

Four lanes na? Nice! :cheers:

dark_knight_detectve

August 11th, 2008, 06:01 PM

So resumes title hunt vs Georgian IM (http://www.philstar.com/archives.php?aid=20080810158&type=2)

Monday, August 11, 2008

GM Wesley So resumes his title drive in the World Junior Chess Championship Sunday as he takes on IM Tornike Sanikidze of Georgia in the eighth round at the Sehitkamil Municipality Sport Hall in Gaziantep, Turkey.

Fully charged after a one-day break Saturday, the 11th-seeded So hopes to start the final drive to the championship the way he ended the first half of the 13-round tournament – on a winning note.

So even gets the luxury of handling the white pieces for the second straight game after he demolished Indian IM Pradad Subramanian Friday to gain a share of sixth place with five points.

But against Sanikidze, So will be playing against one of Georgia’s three top players in the tournament which attracted 22 GMs, five WGMs, 23 IMs, 14 WIMs, 15 FMs and 27 WFMs among the 195 players from 60 countries. Sanikidze is coming of a resounding win over IM Manuel Leon Hoyos of Mexico in the seventh round. So drew with Sanikidze in the fourth round.

A win by the 14-year-old Filipino champion, the world’s youngest GM, will definitely boost the Dubai Open champion‘s confidence heading into crucial stages of the tournament.

NM Haridas Pascua, meanwhile, also hopes to sustain his winning streak against Arun.

Pascua, the 15-year-old campaigner from Mangatarem, Pangasinan, has won his last three matches to bounce back.

flesh_is_weak

August 13th, 2008, 06:34 PM

i just had the damnedest dream the other night...

the Hundred Islands was turned into a venetian-style Dubai daw...hehehe

skyscraper100

August 14th, 2008, 04:11 AM

is there any development regarding alaminos airport?
http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/3200/100islands003cl9.jpg
i love 100 island.they have a cool mayor and the island improve's alot congratulation sir!
i just hope when i come back they would have a place in the island where they can serve iced tea,fresh juice or something like resto in one of the island and still preserve it's natural beauty then that would be great!

tracymack

August 14th, 2008, 09:18 AM

^^ This is the last thing I've read about the airport:

'Arroyo, JDV conflict will not deter Alaminos airport construction'

By MALU ECHEVARRIA
ABS-CBN Dagupan

ALAMINOS CITY - Mayor Hernani Braganza has reassured his constituents that the proposed airport in the city will be pursued despite rumors that the conflict between President Arroyo and former House Speaker Jose de Venecia's would affect the project.

Braganza, who was a former member of Arroyo’s Cabinet, said that the project is already undergoing a feasibility study to see whether the city is technically suitable for an airport or not.

He added that the budget for the airport has already been allocated and that hopefully in 2010, the airport would be completed.

The project is expected to provide a great boost not just to the economy and tourism of Alaminos City but also to the entire province of Pangasinan.

The airport was part of Mrs. Arroyo’s promises made on her previous State of the Nation Address.

The contract for its construction is expected to be awarded on August 7.

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=126475

skyscraper100

August 14th, 2008, 10:08 AM

good^^ more development to Pangasinan.my province.

allan_dude

August 14th, 2008, 02:37 PM

SM City Rosales opens in November

Source: Manila Bulletin

There will be a lot of shopping excitement in the Northern Luzon region when a new SM supermall, SM City Rosales, opens in November.

Located along MacArthur Highway in barangay Carmen East, Rosales, Pangasinan, it will be the first SM supermall in this bustling province. It will bring SM's shopping, leisure and entertainment excitement to Rosales and other neighboring towns in Pangasinan like Villasis, Sta. Maria, Balungao, Urdaneta City, Santo Tomas and Umingan. It will also serve' shoppers in Nueva Ecija and Tarlac, as well as travelers from Baguio City and the Ilocos Region.

The mall will have approximately 42,000 square meters of well-designed retail space, with the SM Department Store and the SM Hypermarket as its main anchors. It will also include SM mainstays, like the SM Appliance Center, ACE Hardware and Watsons, as well as over 100 boutiques, specialty shops and restaurants. These will provide an exciting mix of fashion, electronics, home furnishings, health and personal-care stores, as well as restaurants, amusement centers and services from homegrown tenants and prestigious national and international brands. Completing the malling experience are four deluxe cinemas with a total seating capacity of 2,000.

For customer convenience, the mall has parking facilities for 700 vehicles, and is strategically located beside the main terminal for inter-town public buses and jeepneys.

The construction team of SM City Rosales includes DSGN Associates, mall designers; Jose Siao Ling & Associates, architects; New Golden City Builders, general contractors; and D.A. Abcede & Associates, project managers.

Prospective tenants had a first glimpse of SM City Rosales during a tenants' preview held recently at 1 Esplanade in the Bay Area. SM's Shopping Center Management Team, led by president Annie Garcia, VP for leasing Daisy Chua, AVP for operations Bien Mateo and mall manager Jersey Mendoza showcased the mall through an AVP presentation.

http://www.smprime.com/News.php?BlurbID=1509

tyronne

August 15th, 2008, 12:49 AM

Mas malapit siya sa amin kesa Urdaneta so malamang don na lang kami magsho-shopping or manonood ng movie:D

allan_dude

August 15th, 2008, 01:29 PM

^ Excited na rin kami! Kaso kelangan pa namin umikot sa Malasiqui-Villasis Road. Mukhang matagal pa bago matatapos ang Calvo Bridge.

allan_dude

August 15th, 2008, 01:30 PM

Capitol town bids Capital City

By Janice Hidalgo

Lingayen- The local Government of this town bids to become Pangasinan’s capitol city.

It will be recalled that it was in the year 2006 when Rep.Amado T. Espino Jr. now Governor of Pangasinan, has echoed in sponsoring the city charter in congress.

Today, as Governor Amado T. Espino pushes for making the province a place to live and invest by investing in a massive development program of the provincial capitol as a tourist site the local government of this town has been pushing for a united effort in marketing this town as the next potential city and Pangasinan’s capitol town.

Mayor Ernesto Castaneda Jr. came to power in 1992 as a mayor where Lingayen was a 4th class municipality.

From 2000 up to 2006 Lingayen was able to established a consistent growth which led to this town attain its status as a first class Municipality and now one of Northern Luzon’s highly urbanized town.

Article courtesy of PangasinanToday (http://pangasinantoday.wordpress.com/2008/08/11/capitol-town-bids-capital-city/)

tracymack

August 15th, 2008, 02:13 PM

^^

Not a bad idea. I just hope that the requirements (income, population/land area) are met if Lingayen is to become a city and that they don't end up becoming one of the many "exempt cities".

tracymack

August 15th, 2008, 04:00 PM

^ Excited na rin kami! Kaso kelangan pa namin umikot sa Malasiqui-Villasis Road. Mukhang matagal pa bago matatapos ang Calvo Bridge.

Dude, musta? Tuloy ba yung plano mong business sa SM Rosales?

allan_dude

August 16th, 2008, 12:10 PM

^ Nakausap ko na yung leasing department, kaso hindi ko na itinuloy. Problema kasi yung tulay samin hindi magawagawa. Try ko uli next year pag may available pa na space.

allan_dude

August 16th, 2008, 12:23 PM

Pangasinan posts rice sufficiency level of 152%

Saturday, August 16, 2008

LINGAYEN —This agricultural province, the third largest rice producing area in the country, posted a rice sufficiency level of 152 percent, according to a report from the office of the governor.

Gov. Amado Espino Jr. reported that from July 1, 2007 to June 30, 2008, palay production reached 1,057,117 metric tons harvested from 233,814 hectares.

He said productivity is 4.52 metric tons per hectare or 90 cavans per hectare. This translates to 21,142,329 cavans of rice produced for the said period.

Meanwhile, corn production for this year also reached 249,974 metric tons from a total harvested corn area of 43,099 hectares.

Espino said this registered a productivity rate of 5.8 metric tons per hectare, which is still higher than the productivity record of 5.3 metric tons per hectare in 2006.—Eva Visperas

http://www.philstar.com/index.php?Local%20News&p=54&type=2&sec=2&aid=200808166

tracymack

August 16th, 2008, 05:11 PM

^ Nakausap ko na yung leasing department, kaso hindi ko na itinuloy. Problema kasi yung tulay samin hindi magawagawa. Try ko uli next year pag may available pa na space.

Hintayin mo na lang yung SM Urdaneta. Mga 10yrs na lang siguro. :D

collegekid

August 17th, 2008, 03:58 AM

nayki

August 17th, 2008, 04:31 AM

nayki

August 17th, 2008, 04:34 AM

^ Excited na rin kami! Kaso kelangan pa namin umikot sa Malasiqui-Villasis Road. Mukhang matagal pa bago matatapos ang Calvo Bridge.

Sana mabigyang pansin nila ung Bayambang - Villasis altenative road, ung dadaan sa Brgy. Bacnono ng Bayambang. Ok din sana na daan un kaso rough road siya ngayon.

allan_dude

August 17th, 2008, 03:37 PM

Sa palagay ko super tagal pa bago maging city ang Lingayen dahil sa nakikita ko eh kaunti lang ang improvements doon, malilliit ang mga kalsada at talagang barrio look, daming fishponds sa mga liblib na lugar.

May magiging city pa kaya dito na municipality? :lol:

Sobra ka naman. May mga towns saten na mas urbanized (ex Calasiao & Mangaldan) kesa sa ibang mga newly established cities sa Pinas.

Sana mabigyang pansin nila ung Bayambang - Villasis altenative road, ung dadaan sa Brgy. Bacnono ng Bayambang. Ok din sana na daan un kaso rough road siya ngayon.

Aya may dalan ed dike awa?

dark_knight_detectve

August 20th, 2008, 05:35 PM

P’sinan posts 152% rice sufficiency (http://www.philstar.com/archives.php?aid=2008081689&type=2)

Sunday, August 17, 2008
LINGAYEN, Pangasinan – This agricultural province, the third largest rice producing area in the country, posted a rice sufficiency level of 152 percent, according to a report from the Office of the Governor.

Gov. Amado Espino Jr. reported that from July 1, 2007 to June 30, palay production reached 1,057,117 metric tons harvested from 233,814 hectares.

He said productivity is 4.52 metric tons per hectare or 90 cavans per hectare. This translates to 21,142,329 cavans of rice produced for the said period.

However, corn production for this year also reached 249,974 metric tons from a total harvested corn area of 43,099 hectares.

Espino said this registered a productivity rate of 5.8 metric tons per hectare is still higher than the productivity record of 5.3 metric tons per hectare in 2006.

He also reported that the agricultural stations under the provincial government used as demonstration farms in the towns of Sta. Barbara, San Quintin, Dasol and Mangatarem are being transformed as site for the production of vegetable gardens, hatcheries for tilapia and catfish and area for livestock for superior breeds of cattle, pigs and goats.

The station in Libsong, Lingayen is focused in producing tilapia and catfish hatchery while the one in Arnedo, Bolinao undertakes mangrove production on one side and high value fish on the other side. The station in Natividad town is also being renovated as demo station for livestock. – Eva Visperas

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allan_dude

August 23rd, 2008, 04:39 PM

SM City Rosales opens in November

Source: http://www.smprime.com/News.php?BlurbID=1509Clips from The Philippine Star Aug 22

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dark_knight_detectve

August 24th, 2008, 12:47 PM

7 aircon buses to boost tourism drive in P’sinan (http://www.philstar.com/archives.php?aid=2008082348&type=2)
By Eva Visperas
Sunday, August 24, 2008
LINGAYEN – Seven brand new air conditioned buses were purchased by the provincial government and inaugurated Thursday to boost tourism promotion of this scenic province.

Gov. Amado Espino Jr. led the inauguration while provincial workers were in awe seeing for the first time such top of the line buses to transport Pangasinenses in discovering tourist spots as well as religious and historic sites of the province.

Espino said the brand new air conditioned buses cost more than P4 million per unit.

The seven eco-tourism buses and coaster were turned over to the provincial government by the Laguna-based bus manufacturer, Phil-Hino Corp., which supplies fleets of Fariñas Lines and Santrans.

Espino said this is the first batch of the buses intended for Lakbay Aral (study tour) of various sectors in Pangasinan.

All the units sport a spanking color of golden yellow accentuated by metallic gold. The buses share the colors of all newly-refurbished and renovated buildings inside the capitol complex, including the ongoing renovation projects of the provincial government’s seven agriculture farm stations and 14 public hospitals.

“When I assumed office as your governor, I told you that we will make Pangasinan a tourism area among ourselves first,” he said.

He said he aims to make Pangasinenses know and learn about Pangasinan first, before they set foot to other provinces for their vacation or leisure.

“Having these buses is one medium I could use,” he said.

In preparation for an all-out tourism campaign, the provincial government has trained a group of 50 new tour guides for the capitol complex and other tourist destinations in Pangasinan.

Espino believes that the Capitol building and its environs, which include the Maramba Boulevard, the World War II Memorial and the Lingayen Beach, will become the centerpiece of tourism in Pangasinan.

In his recent state of the province address, the governor underscored that the tourism industry will become one of the top earners in the province. Pangasinan’s population of 2.6 million is itself considered a captive market, he said.

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dark_knight_detectve

August 25th, 2008, 02:25 PM

Database development to boost agri development launched (http://www.philstar.com/archives.php?aid=200808245&type=2)

Monday, August 25, 2008
A database program that is expected to considerably enhance the development of the country’s agriculture sector has been launched.

Called e-Pinoy Farm Resource Management System (e-Pinoy FARMS), it was crafted by Optiserve Technologies, Inc. (OTI) in partnership with the Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Agricultural Research (DA-BAR).

The software-based program serves as the monitoring and evaluation mechanism for the Community-based Participatory Action Research (CPAR), one of DA-BAR’s banner programs.

It helps farmers and their organizations to effectively organize, allocate and manage vital resources for sustainability, increase profitability and achieve agribusiness development.

It can also assist decision-makers and planners compile useful information from raw data, documents, personal knowedge and business models to identify and solve problems and make decisions.

e-Pinoy FARMS was launched during a fitting ceremony held recently at the Pangasinan State University (PSU) campus in Sta. Maria, Pangasinan.

The launch was led by BAR Director Nicomedes P. Eleazar and assistant director Teodoro Solsoloy; OTI chief executive officer (CEO) Cheryl Marie Natividad, DA Region 1 executive director Cipriano Santiago, PSU vice president Honorio Cascolan, Pangasinan provincial administrator Nestor Batalla and Mayors Jose Ginez of Sta. Maria, Carlos Lopez Sr. of Asingan, and Ricardo Rovita of Rosales.

More than 1,000 farmers, members of the academic, students and representatives of national and local government agencies participated in the day-long activities, as reported by BAR’s Christmas de Guzman.

In his opening remarks, Santiago expressed his appreciation to DA-BAR and OTI for choosing Pangasinan as the program’s launch venue.

“Pangasinan is very lucky to have the highest opportunity to get acquainted with the technology,” he said.

Natividad discussed the essentials of the e-Pinoy FARMS and how it functions vis-à-vis information management and value creation for research, development and extension (RDE).

Dr. Marlowe Aquino, head of BAR’s Management Information Systems Division, talked on the effective and efficient monitoring and evaluation of CPAR through e-Pinoy FARMS.

Dr. Jovita Datuin, DA-Regional Integrated Agricultural Research Center-Region I manager under the Ilocos Integrated Agricultural Research Center (ILIARC), tackled the topic “Community-based Participatry Action Research: Enhancing the Productivity and Profitability by Accelerating Transfer in Farming Communities in Region I.” — Rudy A. Fernandez

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dark_knight_detectve

August 25th, 2008, 02:54 PM

Sports House to open four new branches (http://www.philstar.com/archives.php?aid=2008082411&type=2)
By Zinnia B. Dela Peña
Monday, August 25, 2008
Sports House International Leisure Inc., a one-stop shop for sports equipment and merchandise, is opening four new branches this year with a total estimated cost of P20 million.

Sports House president and chief executive officer Mars Chua said the company will have a total of 36 stores by the end of the year with the addition of the four new outlets which are located in Marikina; Rosales, Pangasinan; Baliuag, Bulacan; and General Santos City.

Chua said the company hopes to open at least three new stores every year as it continues to innovate its way of providing customers’ needs and excellent value on all sports goods.

The company needs to shell out P5 million per store, P3 million of which for structure development while P1.5 million to P2 million for the goods to be sold to the public.

Chua said the company’s sales have been growing by an average of six to eight percent every year.

He said while sales have been affected by the ongoing economic slowdown, the company is confident that sales will pick up toward the fourth quarter as people tend to spend more during the Christmas season.

“We would like to incorporate sports into the lifestyle of people. We have all the things that you need in all the game you play,” Chua said.

Since it opened its first branch on Gilmore Avenue in Quezon City in June 1983, the company has expanded its operations to other key cities in the provinces.

Most of its malls are located in several SM malls across the country such as SM Megamall, North Edsa, Southmall, Centerpoint, Fairview, Bicutan and Baguio.

Other outlets are in Ali Mall, Harrison Plaza, Landmark, Market Market, Robinsons Galleria, San Lazaro, Sucat, Batangas, Cavite, Dasmariñas, Lipa, Lucena, Marilao, Pampanga, Robinsons Lipa, Valenzuela, Bacolod, Cagayan, Cebu, Manduriao and Davao.

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dark_knight_detectve

August 26th, 2008, 03:34 PM

Dagupan is test center for PMA entrance exam (http://www.philstar.com/archives.php?aid=2008082592&type=2)

Tuesday, August 26, 2008
DAGUPAN CITY – The University of Pangasinan here will be one of the designated examination centers in the country for the young men and women who would want to enter the Philippine Military Academy (PMA), Asia’s premier military school, on Aug. 31.

Navy Lt.Cdr. Carlo Resurreccion, officer-in-charge of the testing center in U.Pang, in an-email to The STAR said the examination will start 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Aug. 31.

Resurreccion said an applicant should be a natural born Filipino citizen; of good moral character; single and have never been married; should be 5’4"(for male) and 5’2" (for female) in height; not a day older than 21 years and not a day younger than 17 years on April 1,2009(born between April 1,1987 and April 1, 1992); at least high school graduate with general point average (GPA) of 85 percent or higher; and must be physically fit for cadetship.

The qualified applicants must report at exactly 7 a.m. on the examination day with their exam permits, two proofs of identification, at least two pencil (number 2), pencil sharpener and eraser, and other requirements indicated in their examination permits.

Walk-in applicants will also be accepted and must apply at the testing center (U.Pang) on Aug. 30 at exactly 1 p.m.

Resurreccion, in a phone interview with The STAR, also said they will accommodate at least 50 walk-in applicants at the Dagupan testing center.

The applicants must also bring two pieces of 2x2 id picture, photocopy of NSO birth certificate and photocopy of Form-137. – Cesar Ramirez

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tracymack

August 28th, 2008, 07:42 AM

Sto. Tomas builds landmark to memorialize Guinness feat

STO. TOMAS- A world record must never be forgotten, hence a monument.

A giant corn monument will soon stand at the center of town here as a permanent tribute to the people's recent feat of landing in the Guinness Book of World Records for the 'longest barbecue'.

Mayor Vivien Villar said this will serve as their landmark and a reminder to the people, including the next generations, of how the town worked together to make history using its local product, the white glutinous corn.

Vice Mayor Timoteo Villar III, who chaired the corn festival in February during which the barbecue was staged, told The PUNCH that the contents of the official Guinness certificate will be inscribed on the bronze marker of the 'giant' corn.

The corn icon, which started construction last week, will measure six meters high from the base and four meters wide.

The corn barbecue set up by the town stretched to 3,803.96 meter (12480 feet 2 inches).

The Guinness record gave this small town a lot of media exposure, particularly on national television.

Villar said officials from other towns in other provinces have visited her office to ask for advice and guidance on how to vie for a slot in the Guinness Book of World Records.#

http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/2008/08/26/sto-tomas-builds-landmark-to-memorialize-guinness-feat/

allan_dude

August 28th, 2008, 03:48 PM

'Madrasah' program launched

THE Dagupan City Government on Wednesday launched "Madrasah Program (Tvet with Alive)" for Muslim out-of-school youths (OSYs) in the city.

The launching was in cooperation with the Department of Education (DepEd), the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda), and the Pangasinan Muslim Assembly (PMA).

Madrasah is an Arabic word, which means educational training. Tvet means Technical Vocational Education Training while Alive means Arabic Language and Islamic Values Education.

The signing of the memorandum of agreement (MOA) was held Wednesday morning with 28 recipients of the skills-training present.

Also present were PMA president Allan Maasir, the focal person of the Madrasah Program, and leaders of the three Muslim communities in the city, Delia Ancheta of DepEd-Ilocos Region, and the regional director of Tesda.

Tesda provincial director Ponciano Catipon Jr. said a survey was earlier made to know the skills training to be offered. Out of the more than 50 respondents, 28 chose cellular phone repair thus this will be the first to be offered.

For the learners not to spend on transportation, the training will be held at Sitio Silungan in Bonuan Binloc where one of the Muslim communities in the city is situated.

Mayor Alipio Fernandez Jr. said the City Government is giving equal opportunity to residents here, may they be Christians or Muslims.

"The program for education and skills development is for everybody. We would like to give our OSYs skills training for them to have better opportunity to earn and be a productive Filipino," he remarked.

The Madrasah Program is open to OSYs aged 16 to 30 years old. The OSY learners have to undertake first the Alive.

Dagupan City is the first local government in the province to adopt the program. Tesda and DepEd are finalizing the program with the Urdaneta City Government.

Meanwhile, the PMA is planning to sit down with Pangasinan Governor Amado Espino Jr. to propose the adoption of the Madrasah Program province-wide.

Leo Pinlac of Tesda said about 700 OSYs from the National Capital Region (NCR), Central Luzon and Southern Tagalog Region have graduated from the Tvet-Alive program. (LCMY/Sunnex)

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/pan/2008/08/28news.madrasah.program.launched.html

allan_dude

August 30th, 2008, 02:14 PM

PB opposes additional district in Pangasinan

By Liway C. Manantan-Yparraguirre

LINGAYEN -- Some members of the Provincial Board (PB) will file a provincial resolution on Monday against the proposed redistricting of Pangasinan Province.

Pangasinan composed of three component cities, one independent city, and 44 municipalities has six congressional districts. Its population, based on the 2007 Census of Population, is more than 2.65 million.

Board Member Alfonso Bince Jr. said House Bill (HB) 4267 or “An Act Reapportioning the Province of Pangasinan into seven Legislative Districts” has been endorsed to the Senate committee on local government by the House local government panel chaired by Representative George Arnaiz.

The bill was authored by Pangasinan Representatives Victor Agbayani (second district), Rachel Arenas (third district), and Arthur Celeste (first district).

Celeste said he signed the proposal with the reservation that he will withdraw his signature if his constituents will be opposed to it.

Arenas earlier stated that increasing the number of congressional districts will be advantageous to the province with a seventh congressman bringing home funds for Pangasinan.

In his letter to Senator Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, chairman of the Senate local government committee, Celeste explained that he already requested the House rules panel to delete his name as sponsor of the bill “but unfortunately my name was still inadvertently included as sponsor.”

He further said as far as HB 4267 is concerned, “there is incorrect Geographic Distribution since the towns will be reapportioned into different districts, they are far from each other boundary and accessibility-wise. It violates the constitutional provision of the contiguous location of legislative districts and its purpose of prompt delivery of basic services.”

In the proposed redistricting, however, only the first, second and third districts of the province will be reconstructed into four districts. The present fourth, fifth and sixth districts will be intact.

At present, the localities under the first district are Bolinao, Anda, Agno, Bani, Alaminos City, Sual, Mabini, Burgos, Dasol and Infanta; second district comprises Labrador, Lingayen, Binmaley, Bugallon, Aguilar, Mangatarem, Urbiztondo and Basista; and San Carlos City, Bayambang, Malasiqui, Sta. Barbara, Mapandan and Calasiao are in the third district.

Under the redistricting bill, the first district will be composed of Bolinao, Anda, Agno, Bani, Alaminos City and Burgos; and under second district are Sual, Mabini, Dasol, Infanta, Labrador, Lingayen and Binmaley.

Geographically, the towns of Mabini, Dasol and Infanta which are located south-west of Pangasinan will be displaced as the three are about two hours away from Lingayen.

The third district will be composed of San Carlos City, Bugallon, Aguilar, Mangatarem, Urbiztondo and Basista; while the fourth district will be composed of Bayambang, Malasiqui, Sta. Barbara, Mapandan and Calasiao.

The current fourth, fifth and sixth districts will become fifth, sixth and seventh districts.

Former House Speaker and fourth district Representative Jose de Venecia Jr. agreed that there is indeed a need to add one or two more congressional districts in the province as it has become so big in terms of population.

However, he said there should be consultation first with the governor and the Provincial Government, and more importantly with the people of Pangasinan.

For Bince: “What is important now is for the Provincial Board (and the other local government units affected) to come up with a resolution opposing the said bill.”

He said he will also check on the matter about the maximum number of PB members in a province.

“There is a prohibition in the law that the maximum number is 12 no matter how big the province is. In the redistricting, there will be 14 regular board members and that will be more than what is under the law,” he stated.

He also pointed out that redistricting should be province-wide and not for selected districts only.

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/pan/2008/08/30/news/pb.opposes.additional.district.in.pangasinan.html

allan_dude

September 6th, 2008, 01:46 PM

Governor distributes 1,333 shotguns to barangay chiefs

Firearms to be used only for defense, lawful purposes — Espino

By NORMAN C. CAGUIOA

LINGAYEN, Pangasinan — Pangasinan Gov. Amado T. Espino Jr. has distributed 1,333 shotguns to barangay chiefs (punong barangay) in the province.

The recent distribution was witnessed by, among others, provincial police director Senior Supt. Isagani R. Nerez; Provincial Board Member Amadeo Espino, Liga ng mga Barangay Federation president; Paterno Orduña, the governor’s executive assistant for external affairs.

But before the firearms were distributed, the recipients underwent training on use and handling of firearms. They also attended a seminar on responsible gun handling conducted by the Police Provincial Office.

The were also allowed to test-fire the issued firearms.

Bullets were also issued to the recipients. The shotguns issued to the barangay leaders cost some R30 million.

The governor said that the issued shotguns will be used only for defense and lawful purposes. It will serve also as tool for the protection of the barangay folk. Barangay leaders who would be found abusing the use of the firearms would be dealt with accordingly.

The shotguns distributed were imported powerful firearms with the brand name "AKKAR." It has a load of nine bullets — eight in the cylinder and one in the chamber.

The distribution of the shotguns to every barangay head in Pangasinan is part of the peace and order program of the governor.

Espino is the chairman of the Region 1 Peace and Order Council.

The shotguns are properties of the provincial government of Pangasinan, and each barangay captain receiving it is issued a memorandum receipt (MR).

The MRs are supposed to take the place of regular licenses which the barangay chiefs can show to lawmen if they are accosted for carrying firearms.

The governor told the village chiefs that the shotguns cannot be brought out of their barangays unless during "hot pursuit" operations.

Governor Espino also announced he will issue to all barangays two-way radios in December, this year to enable them to have an easy access to the police for assistance in case of emergency.

Meanwhile, some sectors criticized the distribution of shotguns to the barangay heads. The guns were given selectively, they said.

A Liga ng mga Barangay president in Sison, Pangasinan, declined to receive the shotgun, saying he has already one for his barangay.

http://www.mb.com.ph/PROV20080906134433.html

tracymack

September 6th, 2008, 02:22 PM

Soon to open: National Book Store - CB Mall, Urdaneta City

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3222/2833075644_358f644845_b.jpg

tracymack

September 6th, 2008, 04:40 PM

[Updates] Urdaneta City Road Widening

The bridge near Jollibee & KFC is already being widened. Once this is completed, the southern portion of MacArthur Highway can be widened to six lanes plus sidewalks similar to the Public Market to Sacred Heart stretch.

Here are some pics taken earlier today:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3004/2832356767_5f8b1ca23c.jpg

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Igsuonnimo

September 13th, 2008, 03:12 PM

Nakita ko kahapon ang SM Pangasinan. Hanep!

Paidlip-idlip kasi ako sa byahe ng provincial bus na sinasakyan ko, nang mapansin ko itong SM.
Saan ba ito sa Carmen East o Carmen West? Napansin ko kasi sa karatula ng isang tindahan na nasa Carmen East kami, ng medyo mabagal ang takbo ng bus.

Igsuonnimo

September 13th, 2008, 03:23 PM

^^ Napansin ko rin ang dalawang eskwelahan duon.
Itong Pangasinan State U at Panpacific University Northern Philippines - harapan lang ng building at gate ang nakita ko kaya nagagandahan ako.

garzland

September 13th, 2008, 06:11 PM

tyronne

September 14th, 2008, 01:29 AM

Sa Carmen East yung SM Rosales. Kung hindi ako nagkakamali, yung highway ang boundary ng Carmen East and Carmen West. So, anything across SM is Carmen West hehe!

allan_dude

September 18th, 2008, 03:04 PM

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3030/2867950178_2baf4700e5.jpg?v=0
AB Fernandez Ave

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NEPO

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CSI Market Square

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CSI Bayambang

allan_dude

September 18th, 2008, 03:17 PM

Dagupan seafood processing plant gets $2.2-M SoKor grant

SOUTH KOREA will provide a $2.2-million grant through the Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) for the construction of a seafood processing facility in Dagupan City, Pangasinan to upgrade the production and trading of seafood products like bangus, shrimp and oysters, a statement read.

This project, which will be jointly implemented by the Department of Agriculture and the city government, is one of KOICA’s official development assistance projects worth a total of about $10 million lined up for implementation this year.

KOICA focuses on projects in developing countries in the fields of rural development, information and communications technology, education, and the environment.

http://www.bworldonline.com/BW091508/content.php?id=054

allan_dude

September 18th, 2008, 03:22 PM

San Carlos City is Livelier and Business As Usual

SAN CARLOS CITY - More business ventures have expressed interests in opening here as a result of a positive decision making of both the executive and the legislative body as the local government tracks its implementations of plans and programs at 60 percent with innovations attuned in time as projects implemented bigger than the usual.
San Carlos City is Livelier and Business As Usual

Mayor Resuello added that Multi Million Infrastructure Development projects is now on its way.

The City government has been granted by the Philippine National Bank (PNB) a loan amounting to 250 Million Pesos this year enabling the city to purchased additional heavy equipments amounting to 75 million Pesos that will be used to augment implementation of the R.A. 9003 also known as the Solid Waste Management Act.

54 Million Pesos is now being utilized to complete concreting of barangay roads,and the first city’s state of the art health facility to be named Mayor Julian Valerio Resuello Dialysis Center where the city government will counterpart a 15 million pesos in support for Governor Amado T. Espino’s health development programs and putting up a Dialysis Center at the Pangasinan Provincial Hospital, another five Million Pesos will be used to rehabilitate the slaughter house and five Million pesos to develop additional site for the public cemetery and four million more to add another phase for the public market.

Meanwhile, as the city government plans to spill commercialization outside it’s main business district, the local government has been continuously investing efforts in improving byproducts that labels this city for what it is being known for in the market where the sweetest mangoes and quality bamboo crafts originated.

Resuello assured that this is still one of the province’s peaceful city where the emerging tiger of North goes business as usual.

http://pangasinantoday.wordpress.com/2008/09/13/san-carlos-city-is-livelier-and-business-as-usual-ayoy/#more-361

allan_dude

September 18th, 2008, 03:26 PM

Re-regulating pond can make Pangasinan top rice producer

STA. BARBARA—Pangasinan could become the leading rice producer in the country if the re-regulating pond just below the San Roque Multi-Purpose Dam in San Manuel town is constructed.

Mayor Reynaldo Velasco said the year-round irrigation water from the re-regulating pond could double the province's rice production and surpass those of Nueva Ecija and Isabela, currently the top two rice-producing provinces.

But the plans for the construction the re-regulating pond was suspended when the funding agency originally named for it backed out.

It was originally proposed to be financed from a P3 billion loan from the Japanese government through the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) but the latter withdrew its commitment after original oppositors to the San Roque Multi-Purpose Dam waged a vilification campaign against the agency.

However, NIA Regional Director John Celeste said he was informed that Japanese firm Marubeni Corporation, one of the co-owners of the San Roque Power Corporation, is interested to build the project on its own.

The pond is the most expensive component of the Agno River Irrigation Project (AIIP), a separate infrastructure whose construction is now in full swing following an initial P500 million fund from the national government.

The re-regulating pond, to be managed by the National Irrigation Administration (NIA), is capable of irrigating some 71,000 hectares of land in Pangasinan as well as parts of Nueva Ecija and northern Tarlac.

The structure is designed to store water discharged by the San Roque Power Corporation whenever it generates electricity for the Luzon grid.

Velasco said farmers in Sta. Barbara will be able to plant rice twice or thrice a year and Sta. Barbara can become the rice granary of Pangasinan.

Celeste also said the Chinese government has likewise expressed interest in the project.—LM

http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/2008/09/15/re-regulating-pond-can-make-pangasinan-top-rice-producer/

allan_dude

September 18th, 2008, 03:42 PM

Dawel-Pantal-Lucao Diversion Road (Dagupan City)

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3271/2867165671_7889a304e8.jpg?v=0
From Lucao Exit

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Patal Interchange

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Dagupan skyline

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http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3131/2867979258_de0010b0bd.jpg?v=0
Dagupan skyline

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3057/2867161617_a7fca600d7.jpg?v=0
Dagupan skyline

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3208/2867975382_1bc5393d91.jpg?v=0
Dawel Exit

allan_dude

September 18th, 2008, 04:27 PM

PNP appoints Pangasinense as next chief

LINGAYEN -- A Pangasinense will soon be at the helm of the Philippine National Police (PNP), the second native of Pangasinan next to former PNP chief Arturo Lomibao to hold the post.

The National Police Commission (Napolcom) has formally endorsed Verzosa to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

It's just a matter of the official announcement from the president of the successor of outgoing PNP chief Avelino Razon Jr.

Razon will retire on September 27, 2008.

Verzosa hails from Dasol town. He is a graduate of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) belonging to the "Magilas Class '76."

Among his mistahs or classmates were General Alexander Yano (his bunkmate), chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP); PNP Police Community Relations Group (PCRG) Director Leopoldo Bataoil; PNP Director for Operations Silverio Alarcio; Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (Armm) Police Regional Director Joel Goltiao and Ilocos Region Police Director Romeo Hilomen, who are natives of the towns of Lingayen, Laoac, San Nicolas and Calasiao, Pangasinan.

Bataoil said their class is very happy and proud of Verzosa.

"Our class has been very solid and very supportive of each other. We will make sure that General Verzosa will be the best chief PNP the country will ever have," Bataoil remarked.

Verzosa is currently the Deputy Chief PNP for Administration, the number two man in the PNP hierarchy.

Bataoil said he is known as the "reform manager" as he is the executive director of the PNP Program Management Office.

Verzosa was promoted meritoriously four times.

Among the distinctions he received were the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) Cavalier Award (twice), Lingkod Bayan Presidential Award given by the Civil Service Commission, one of the Ten Outstanding Policemen of the Philippines by the Philippine Jaycees and the People's Heroes Award by the late Jaime Cardinal Sin. (LCMY/Sunnex)

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/pan/2008/09/16/news/pnp.appoints.pangasinense.as.next.chief.html

allan_dude

September 19th, 2008, 12:00 PM

Rosales mayor to receive presidential award

ROSALES -- President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will confer Friday the Presidential Lingkod Bayan award to Mayor Ricardo Revita and six others.

The awarding ceremony, the highlight of the 108th Anniversary of the Philippine Civil Service, will be held at Malacañang.

Elated over the award, Revita said the recognition - the highest being given by the Civil Service Commission (CSC) to public officials or government employees - is a fulfillment of his dream.

"This is equivalent to the Medal of Valor being awarded by the Philippine National Police (PNP) or military. Although majority of us in the government service is dreaming for that award, not all of us is privileged to receive it," he said.

Aside from the medallion and plaque of recognition, which Revita said are priceless, the awardees will also receive P100,000; promotion to the next rank (for government employees); and scholarship for the awardee or one of his children.

"What's more heartwarming is that the nominees were judged not only based on the programs and projects they designed and implemented for the upliftment of the lives of their constituents. Personal and professional background check were made on them, random interviews of people from different walks of life were conducted at their place without their knowledge," the mayor said.

Revita was also cited by the CSC "for implementing projects that dramatically improved the lives of his constituents in Rosales, Pangasinan and for catapulting his town to become a second class municipality.

The mayor provided the youth of Rosales with opportunities to enhance their skills and further their education through job fairs, vocational courses under the Technical Education and Skills Department Authority (Tesda) and improvement of school buildings and facilities.

He introduced programs in environmental management, infrastructure, tourism, security vigilance and health welfare; and enhanced the delivery of basic public services.

Due to these, the town's annual income rose from P42 million to P70 million and was awarded twice as the "Cleanest, Greenest and Safest Municipality in Pangasinan."

The other Lingkod Bayan awardees are Mayor Roberto Agcaoili of San Mateo, Isabela Province; Warren Ambat, Teacher II at Baguio City National High School; Dr. Celia Flor Brillantes, Medical Officer IV at the City Government of Baguio; Dr. Caesar Saloma, Professor 12 and Dean of the College of Science, University of the Philippines, Diliman; the Joint Department of Loans and Credit (DLC) and Information Technology Sub-Sector (ITSS) for the Development of the Electronic Recounting System, Banko Sentral ng Pilipinas, Malate; and the University of the Philippines Manila, School of Health and Sciences. (LCMY/Sunnex)

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/pan/2008/09/19/news/rosales.mayor.to.receive.presidential.award.html

allan_dude

September 20th, 2008, 03:45 AM

SK leaders join Coastal Clean-up Day

By Liway C. Manantan-Yparraguirre

BOLINAO -- The Pangasinan Sangguniang Kabataan Federation (PSKF) headed by Board Member Kazel Celeste will join Saturday's International Coastal Clean-up Day.

Celeste said the SK presidents in the province's first district and the SK barangay chairpersons of Bolinao will be cleaning the shoreline of Barangay Patar here, a white beach being flocked by tourists.

She said the environmental activity is an opportunity for the youth leaders to see the beauty of Bolinao as they join other people in the clean-up drive.

Bolinao municipal officials and employees and all non-government organizations (NGOs) based in the town will take part in the activity.

The PSKF is assisted by the Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office (Penro) and the Environmental Science Society of Ateneo de Manila University, one of the volunteer arms of the International Ocean Conservancy, an NGO promoting the cleaning of the coasts and riverbanks garbage and other debris.

According to Celeste, other SK leaders in Pangasinan will be observing the event in their respective areas.

In Dagupan City, about 4,500 students from different colleges and universities will join the International Coastal Clean-up Day.

The students are from the Colegio de Dagupan, University of Luzon, University of Pangasinan, Philippine Institute for Maritime Studies and Technology (Pimsat), and Pangasinan Merchant Marine Academy.

The clean-up drive will be conducted at the beach from Bonuan Gueset to Bonuan Binloc.

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/pan/2008/09/20/news/sk.leaders.join.coastal.clean.up.day.html

allan_dude

September 20th, 2008, 05:00 AM

ARIIP goes full blast

Sta. Barbara, Pangasinan -- True to the promise of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo during her State-of-the-Nation Address (SONA), the Agno River Integrated Irrigation Project (ARIIP) in Pangasinan is now on full-blast construction.

Reynaldo Mencias, NIA project engineer who also heads ARIIP, said President Arroyo has allotted P511 million this year and vowed to allocate similar amount each year till 2010 in order to make the project going.

The project is expected to be completed in 2011 or after President Arroyo completes her term.

The ARIIP, which seeks to irrigate 35,000 hectares of land in Pangasinan, was among the projects identified by the President to form part of her administration's development agenda.

The initial funding for ARIIP, coming from the expanded value added tax being collected by the government. seeks to expand the facility's service areas t0 8,200 hectares from 4,500 hectares.

Work on this was concentrated in the third district of Pangasinan particularly in Sta. Barbara, Malasiqui, Villasis, Urdaneta, Asingan and part of Binalonan.

So far, 12.2 percent has already been accomplished in these areas, Mencias said.

But Mencias said foreign funding is still needed in order to construct ARIIP's regulating pond component amounting to some P2 billion to expand the service areas of ARIIP from 35,000 hectares to 71,000 hectares.

The re-regulating pond will store excess water being discharged by the San Roque Power Corporation during its peak hours of operation, instead of its being wasted and just flow down towards the Lingayen Gulf.

Mencias said the loan for the re-regulation dam in the amount of some P2 billion was first being sought from the Japan Bank of International Development (JBIC).

The latter however reportedly backed out due to negative publicity spread by original oppositors of the San Roque Multi-Purpose Project in San Manuel town.

The government has yet to receive a formal letter from JBIC however informing that they had already backed out from their commitment to fund the project.

With its re-regulating dam in place, ARIIP is expected to irrigate some 70,000 hectares of farmlands in Pangasinan, Northern Tarlac and Northern Nueva Ecija.

Mencias said that in case JBIC formally backs out, the loan might be sourced out by the government from China which also expressed interest in funding the project. (PIA-Pangasinan)

http://www.pia.gov.ph/default.asp?m=12&r=&y=&mo=&fi=p080919.htm&no=35

skyscraper100

September 21st, 2008, 03:33 PM

is there someone from mangatarem in this thread?

allan_dude

September 22nd, 2008, 03:41 AM

Article from: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/man/2008/09/21/oped/fidel.v..ramos.html

Ramos: Cross-Taiwan Straits Economic Zones: RP opportunities spacer

By Fidel V. Ramos

(First of Two Parts)

THE development of the Cross-Taiwan Straits Economic Zones – among the most significant happenings in East Asia – has been quietly taking place with scant attention from the Philippine public at-large, perhaps because this is not about politics (which, deplorably, is the Filipino favorite menu).

On the other hand, its positive, irreversible direction is towards the ultimate establishment of a genuine East Asian community that will be peaceful, harmonious, caring, and sharing – with equitable benefits for all.

Looking at East Asia’s eras of growth of the past three decades, the mutual dividends that could be enjoyed by its peoples, including of the Philippines, would be comparatively much more this time around. The warming-up of Mainland China and Taiwan relations starting last April with the election of a new Koumintang-led Administration on Taiwan, is the most dramatic event in our part of the world, considering Philippine economic and security interests.

China’s leaders have expressed a greater level of comfort with new Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou and Vice President Vincent Siew – who have long been advocating "economic cooperation first before politics" – than with their predecessors. The same is true for Taiwan’s elder statesmen, former Premier Lien Chan, now KMT Chairman Emeritus and Chairman Wu Po-hsiung, both warmly-welcomed visitors to the Mainland on cultural and family reunion missions.

The West Taiwan Straits Economic Zone

Last week (06-09 September), I keynoted the China-ASEAN Session of the 3rd Forum on the Development of the West Taiwan Straits Economic Zone (WTSEZ) organized by the Fujian Provincial Government. Since 2006, the development of the WTSEZ has been going on full blast, and has experienced a mega-boost with the election of a more friendly administration in Taiwan, known in Mainland terminology also as the East Coast of the Taiwan Straits.

The diversity of the countries represented in the 3rd WTSEZ Forum, as well as its back-to-back partner event – the 12th China International Fair for Investment and Trade (CIFIT) – attests to the increasing potential of WTSEZ as an economic opportunity to be exploited by Filipinos. Even Latin Americans, Eastern Europeans, and Pacific Islanders are active in both WTSEZ and CIFIT.

Today, Cross-Taiwan Straits economic dynamism is centered in Fujian, particularly Xiamen City, its major air and sea gateway. In 2007, the Xiamen International Airport was the 9th busiest airport for cargo, 11th in passenger traffic, and the 13th in traffic movements in all of China. Xiamen is just 45 minutes by air from Taipei, and one hour and 45 minutes by daily direct flight from Manila.

Furthermore, the Port of Xiamen with its natural deepwater, ice-free harbor with a 65-kilometer coastline, is one of China’s ten largest. Fujian also has great potential in tidal energy, vast fish-farming spaces and a variety of aquatic resources, with its per capita aquatic products ranking first in China. Fujian (formerly known as Fukien) and Xiamen City (formerly Amoy) are wellknown to Filipinos, being the original home-communities of 85 percent of the ancestors of present-day Filipino-Chinese.

Fujian Province is adjacent to Hongkong and Macau, and Guangdong Province, connecting the Yangtze River Delta to the north and the Pearl River Delta in the south. Backed by a vast hinterland, Fujian covers a total area of 121,400 square kilometers (40 percent the Philippines’ size). Under its jurisdiction are 9 major cities (notably Fuzhou, the capital, Xiamen, Quanzhou, and Jinjiang) and a resident population of 36 million in 2007.

Eighty percent of Taiwan’s people (called "compatriots" by Mainlanders) are originally from Fujian. In addition to geographical proximity, Fujian and Taiwan share close ties of kinship, culture, business partnership, and historical administration.

Fujian-Taiwan cooperation

Towards Taiwan, Fujian leaders are making every effort to bring about closer economic ties, cooperation in agriculture and tourism, cultural exchange, and improved transportation and communication linkages. By end-2007, Fujian had put into use a total investment of USD13 billion from Taiwan, of which USD1.5 billion went to agriculture, topping all other provinces in China, while their bilateral trade stood at USD 53 billion. There are now 4 Taiwan Investment Zones in Fujian, namely: Xinglin, Haicang and Jimei in Xiamen, and Mawei in Fuzhou. In addition, the Experimental Area for Cross-Straits Agricultural Cooperation; Experimental Area for Cross-Straits Cooperation in Modern Forestry; Taiwan Farmers’ Park; Distribution Center for Taiwan Fruits; and Distribution Center for Taiwan Aquatic Products have been established in Fujian. The Ports of Fuzhou and Xiamen have been designated for direct access of container ships to Taiwan’s Gaoxiong Port, while Xiamen is among the airports declared open for Cross-Straits weekend chartered flights to and from Taipei. Tourism exchange between Fujian and Taiwan, due to their common cultures (Southern Fujian, Hakka, Mazu ethnic groups), is increasing.

Fujian is among the first in China that opened trade relations with the world. In the early 15th century, or 100 years before the advent of famous European navigators of the likes of Vasco da Gama and Ferdinand Magellan, Fuzhou City was the anchor for the fleet of Zheng He, China’s famous Admiral, during his historic seven voyages to the Western Seas along China’s "Marine Silk Route." As a pioneer in China’s world trade – with "special policies and flexible measures" granted by the Central Government – Fujian’s export volume ranked 6th among all provinces, and has established ties with more than 200 countries and international entities.

Long-term strategy for WTSEZ

Fujian is also one of the key provinces where old Revolutionary bases were located. It was in Gutian, Shanghang County that the historic "Gutian Meeting," a milestone in the build-up of the Communist Party of China and the People’s Liberation Army, was held. In the difficult struggles of the 1930s and 1940s, over 100,000 people from Fujian joined the Red Army, of whom some 30,000 participated in the fabled Long March, thus making a great contribution to the birth of the new China. For this reason, Fujian has the distinction of being the only province in China whose nine major cities have all been cited as "National Model City of Mutual Support."

The vision of an Economic Zone on the West Coast of the Taiwan Straits is the result of the collective wisdom and years of best practices. Embodying the concepts of scientific, harmonious, and peaceful development, the Central Government’s strategy to serve the twin aims of national development and peaceful national reunification with Taiwan stems from China’s "11th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development" adopted by the 17th CPC National Congress in October, 2007.

Such affirmation by Beijing thus has provided a powerful driving force that has put together over 50 ministries and enterprises under the Central Government that offer substantial support to WTSEZ. Fujian’s neighboring provinces – Guangdong, Zhenjiang, and Jiangxi – have formed subregional economic networks; while compatriots in Taiwan, Hongkong and Macau, including overseas Chinese of Fujian origin, have joined in the expansion of this new cluster. Taiwanese businessmen have launched a new round of investments in Fujian, with over 40 major companies from among the top 100 Taiwanese corporations, are now operating in Fujian, according to CIFIT organizers.

Relevance and challenge to the Philippines

The relevance of such show of intensified market confidence in the Cross-Taiwan Straits Economic Zones may not be obvious to most, but the still expanding growth polygon consisting of Hongkong, Macau, and the Pearl-Yangtze River Delta regions could be powered further by more Taiwan investment, trade and tourism, due to the direct links now being put in place.

Such tremendous potential should not be missed by Philippine authorities and business leaders, given that our country is the most proximate and strategically positioned among ASEAN countries, in terms of our available air-sea transport and human resources to service such a huge market combination. The two-way flow of capital, technology, goods, services, and people to and from the Philippines – as a nearby logistics base and supply chain source – constitutes a unique opportunity to be seized by Filipino capitalists and entrepreneurs, and clearly justifies our earlier initiatives to set up the Batangas International Seaport, enhance the Subic-Clark-Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union expressway, and reclaim land along the Manila Bay-Cavite shoreline, in accordance with environmentally-accepted standards.

With the above-cited developments, the actualization of East Asian integration is coming within reach, even as ASEAN and its sub-regional BIMP-EAGA cluster continue to be valid models for Northeast Asian strategic planners. (Revisit our earlier column entitled: "East Asian Integration: Breakthrough at Boao," 20 April 2008, re the emerging "Central East Asia" growth polygon in which the Philippines can be a key player – if the Arroyo Administration can exercise consistent political will).

Next week – Part II, "What’s Up Between China and Taiwan?" Abangan!

Please send any comments to fvr@rpdev.org. Copies of articles are available at www.rpdev.org (http://www.rpdev.org).

allan_dude

September 23rd, 2008, 03:17 AM

Lingayen airport rehab done by October

LINGAYEN–Rehabilitation work for the Lingayen Airport is expected to be completed by mid-October, which would then allow for 10- to 20-seater aircraft to use the facility.

Mariano Trinidad, officer-in-charge of the airport, told The PUNCH that 549 meters of the 10 meter-wide asphalt runway is now being concreted.

The rehabilitation of the airport was initiated by Governor Amado Espino Jr. and the runway upgrade is being funded by the Department of Transportation and Communication. The local government earlier financed the construction of a perimeter fence around the airport.

The Lingayen Airport, built before the Second World War, is located in Barangays Libsong East and Libsong West

http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/2008/09/23/lingayen-airport-rehab-done-by-october/

allan_dude

September 23rd, 2008, 04:45 AM

San Carlos to build mango processing plant

SAN CARLOS CITY–This city known as the mango capital of Pangasinan plans to further advance its major industry by putting up a processing plant for mangoes and other fruits.

Mayor Julier Resuello, in his state of the city address Monday, said a task force has already been formed, with the City Cooperative Office under Arlaine De Vera as the lead agency, to prepare a feasibility study for the plant.

Resuello also laid out a plan to boost the city's bamboo industry by diversifying into other products apart from handicraft.

The local government will seek assistance from the Department of Agriculture, Department of Science and Technology, Department of Trade and Industry and the Department of Agrarian Reform to develop these projcts.

Resuello underscored the need for rehabilitating mango plantations that were devastated by Typhoon Cosme in May.

City Agricultural Officer Domingo Resuello said they estimate that less than half, or about only 42,000, of the 100,000 fruit bearing mango trees survived the typhoons onslaught.

He said it would take five years for the plantations to recover its pre-Cosme status.

Resuello said these new initiatives to advance the mango and bamboo industries are intended to improve the status of farmers who still comprise 80% of the city's population despite continued commercial development.

"It is expedient therefore that we motivate our farmers to rise from just being subsistence farmers who just plant and harvest for their day to day needs into commercial farmers and entrepreneurs who earn a living out of their agricultural efforts," Resuello said.

The mayor reported that in support to the Farmers Field Schools, P4 million has been released this year for fertilizer subsidy, and a farm tractor worth P2.6 million has been made available to farmers under the Corn Mechanization Counter-parting Scheme.

The Department of Agriculture gave a grant of P1.2 million pesos while the city provided a P1.4 million counterpart for the scheme.

Resuello said a second tractor is scheduled for release by the end of the year under the same program.

During the previous administration under the late Mayor Julian Resuello, the incumbent mayor's father, a Mango-Bamboo Festival was launched as part of the city's annual summer fiesta activities to highlight these industries.

http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/2008/09/23/san-carlos-to-build-mango-processing-plant/

allan_dude

September 23rd, 2008, 04:48 AM

Pawikans back in Burgos

BURGOS–The pawikans (giant sea turtles) are back at their nesting grounds at the fine, white sand beach here, four months after the area was battered by Typhoon Cosme.

"This is good news to us and we are very happy to welcome them back," Mayor Domingo Doctor Jr. told The PUNCH.

The town's Bantay Dagat and residents have reported the return of the pawikans at the 12-kilometer beach area in Barangay Ilio-ilio, which has been declared by the local government as a protected area for hatching.

The area was heavily devastated by Typhoon Cosme, which hit the northern and central Luzon regions on May 17 and left many houses destroyed.

The pawikans left the area after the storm and the local government was uncertain whether they would return.

About 10 rare species of turtles were found here last year, among them are the Olive Ridley and Leatherback.

They lay their eggs here and the Bantay Dagat as well as people from the community helps in protection efforts by keeping watch against thieves and setting up nets to prevent the hatchlings from prematurely going out into the sea.

The turtles have long been using the area as a nesting ground but their numbers became endangered following years of imprudent catching as turtle meat is popular in the market for its reported aphrodisiac and health benefits.

But Domingo, who first assumed office in 2001, introduced a program to protect the creatures and their habitat.

"Parang may exclusive subdivision na sila dito,” he said.

The pawikans have become a tourist attraction in the area as snorkelers are able to swim with them and divers get to observe them at the coral reefs.

http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/2008/09/23/pawikans-back-in-burgos/

allan_dude

September 25th, 2008, 01:22 PM

I found the answer to my own question.. Robinsons will put up its Pangasinan mall in Calasiao. :ohno:

Here's an article dated Feb 4, 2007 where the mayor mentioned RLC's acquisition of a 7 hectare lot in Calasiao:http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archiv...-forges-ahead/ (http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/2007/02/04/calasiao-the-puto-town-forges-ahead/)

Here's an excerpt from that article:
"Macanlalay told newsmen that the biggest investor that has yet to start constructing is property and retail giant Robinson’s, which already bought a seven-hectare lot along the De Venecia Highway leading to Sta. Barbara to be the location of the first-ever commercial mall in the town."

I also found this:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2258/2270552123_167c6848db_o.jpg

It's part of the list of RLC's properties included in their 2007 Annual Report which I got from the Philippine Stock Exchange website.
Here's the link: http://www.pse.org.ph/html/ListedCom...7A_Sep2007.pdf (http://www.pse.org.ph/html/ListedCompanies/pdf/2008/RLC_17A_Sep2007.pdf)

This is good news for Calasiao. This town benefits from its proximity to Dagupan, Dagupan being jam packed and the city council denying entry of big name malls to Dagupan.

These are clear reasons why Robinsons chose not to put up its mall in Dagupan City but what about Urdaneta City? Urdaneta is perfect location-wise. I just don't get it. First SM puts up SM Supercenter Rosales considering they have 156,000 sqm of land in Urdaneta and now this!? :rant:

I guess what I want to know is what does Rosales & Calasiao have to offer that Urdaneta City cannot? Urdaneta has the population, land, location, income.. virtually everything. Add to that the fact that there is no one in the city council that is in the mall business therefore no one would oppose the entry of these big name malls.

Sorry for being so negative about this but as an Urdanetan, I find it a little hard to comprehend.:nuts:

Peace!

NEWS BREAK!

Construction of Robinsons Rosales will start next month according to a very reliable source. It will be directly in front of SM City. Meanwhile, Robinsons Calasiao is still on the drawing board.

nayki

September 26th, 2008, 05:36 AM

^^Di nga pano mo nalaman na mag kakaron ng Rob dun? Sa harap mismo ng SM? saka SM city ba talaga un diba SM supercenter lang?heheheh

flip2_0

September 26th, 2008, 11:47 PM

NEWS BREAK!

Construction of Robinsons Rosales will start next month according to a very reliable source. It will be directly in front of SM City. Meanwhile, Robinsons Calasiao is still on the drawing board.

Re: SM and the original plan to put up the mall in Urdaneta City, mataas daw kasi "hinihingi" ng City Hall to approve it so SM looked around and found Rosales' offer to be a lot cheaper...

allan_dude

September 27th, 2008, 02:33 AM

^^Di nga pano mo nalaman na mag kakaron ng Rob dun? Sa harap mismo ng SM? saka SM city ba talaga un diba SM supercenter lang?heheheh

Hindi ka ba bilib saken? :lol: diba ako una nag chismis dito last year na magkakaroon ng SM sa Rosales? O one year lang, tignan mo magbubukas na ang mall.

Magkakaroon rin ng Bagsakan center sa Rosales parang sa Villasis.

allan_dude

September 27th, 2008, 03:53 AM

Dagupan seeks to reclaim its old first class status

DAGUPAN CITY - The elevation of Dagupan City to first class status where it used to belong few years ago hangs on some trust funds the city government allocated to some offices a few years ago.

This is the opinion of the city council which is now set to review some ordinances that set aside collections of different offices as trust funds for the use of the same to improve their services.

Councilor Michael Fernandez proposed the reversion of trust funds to the general fund to shore up the total income of Dagupan yearly and hopefully elevate the city to first class in a few years.

Fernandez expressed certainty that if all the trust funds are reverted to the general fund, there is no doubt that Dagupan can get back its first class status in a few years.

Dagupan was relegated to second class in 1997 when its annual income that year was short by only P2 million, for it to be retained to first class.

Councilor Danilo Torio, chair of the finance committee of the city council, agreed that trust funds should now be reverted to the general fund to boost the total income of Dagupan and get back to its first class status.

Sought by Torio is the incentive allocated to the Public Order and Safety Office (POSO), consisting of the 50 percent of the fees collected from traffic violations.

Torio said the financial incentive to the POSO was provided for in a city ordinance approved by the past city council which he sought to be amended or repealed as it contravenes the local tax code.

Although he was one of the councilors of the past city administration who voted for the ordinance that allocated incentive to the POSO, Torio apparently changed his mind and now wants to right a wrong that was done.

Councilor Jose Netu Tamayo, principal author of the questioned ordinance, depended the setting up of incentives to the POSO, which is responsible for putting order in the streets of Dagupan daily.

Also eyed by Fernandez to be reverted to the general fund is the collection of the common usage service area (CUSA) being paid monthly by stallholders of the Malimgas Market that is used to pay for janitorial, water, lighting, security and other services in that market.

Another, he said, is a trust fund given by the city to the City Civil Registry, sliced off from the latter's collections. (PNA)

http://news.balita.ph/2008/09/26/dagupan-seeks-to-reclaim-its-old-first-class-status/

allan_dude

September 27th, 2008, 03:55 AM

San Carlos hospital upgrades facilities, services

By Danny O. Sagun

San Carlos City -- The provincial hospital here is continuously improving its facilities as well as its services to meet the growing number of people seeking medical help, according to the infirmary's officer-in-charge.

Dr. Policarpio Manuel, who is concurrently chief of clinics, said renovation of buildings are underway and new equipment are also being put in place.

Manuel thanked the provincial government under Gov. Amado T. Espino for giving priority to health concerns especially the upgrading of the various government hospitals particularly the provincial hospital, generally known as the San Carlos General Hospital.

He said that recent complaints raised like lack of water and stinking toilets have already been addressed. "Ang mga reklamong tulad nyan ay pinagtuunan na natin ng pansin at salamat kay Governor Espino na pinaunlakan nya ang ating mga requests na mapaunlad ang ating mga facilities," Manuel told a radio interview.

He also said that he has been meeting regularly with his staff to remind them about maintaining cordial relations with the patients and their watchers. The hospital chief was reacting to complaints about arrogant, indifferent nurses and other hospital personnel.

He said he fully undertands the feelings of sick persons. At the same time, Manuel also asked the understanding of the patients and their watchers toward the hospital staff because of lack of manpower as against the big number of patients being attended to.

The provincial hospital has been attracting patients even from far towns because of the usual huge number of patients at the province's premier government hospital, the Region 1 Medical Center in Dagupan City, which used to be the provincial hospital before its upgrade into a medical center. (PIA-Pangasinan)

http://www.pia.gov.ph/?m=12&r=&y=&mo=&fi=p080923.htm&no=26

allan_dude

September 27th, 2008, 03:57 AM

Feature: BLGF commends San Carlos Treasury

By Venus May H. Sarmiento

San Carlos City -- The Bureau of Local Government Finance recently commended this city's treasury department for its very satisfactory performance.

In the bureau's evaluation, San Carlos City's treasurer's office got a final rating of 93.5% for the first semester of this year which is equivalent to 'very satisfactory performance' rating.

San Carlos city exceeded its target collections in various taxes. The collections reached 108.31% for real property taxes; business taxes 137%; fees and other charges 203.9%; and economic enterprise taxes 161.5%

BLGF regional director Peter Baluyan sent his letter of appreciation and commendation to city treasurer Arturo C. Mandapat for a job well done. (PIA-Pangasinan)

http://www.pia.gov.ph/default.asp?m=12&fi=p080924.htm&no=20&r=&y=&mo=

tracymack

September 27th, 2008, 08:40 AM

Re: SM and the original plan to put up the mall in Urdaneta City, mataas daw kasi "hinihingi" ng City Hall to approve it so SM looked around and found Rosales' offer to be a lot cheaper...

So true. My friends have verified this with landowners who sold their properties to SM. Malaki ang "informal fees" na hinihingi ni mayor. Something to the tune of 10% (of the total investment). Oh well. At least now there is someone to blame for Urdaneta's stagnancy in recent years.

allan_dude

September 28th, 2008, 03:08 AM

Dagupan council amends truck ban measure

By Liway C. Manantan-Yparraguirre

DAGUPAN CITY -- To help ease traffic congestion at the downtown area and to reduce vehicular accidents at the major thoroughfares, the city will adopt the synchronized truck-ban hours implemented at the highways all over the country.

City Councilors Michael Fernandez and Karlos Reyna introduced an amendment to City Ordinance 1748-2002, otherwise known as the Comprehensive and Mandatory Traffic Code in the city of Dagupan.

Originally, 10-wheeler trucks, tractor trailers and other vehicles weighing more than 4,000 kilos were prohibited from entering the city from 6 a.m. until 9 p.m.

But under the amendment, the truck ban exempts trucks and delivery vans carrying rice and other perishable items such as fish, vegetables, dairy and poultry products, animal feeds, frozen meat products and export goods.

Also exempted are garbage trucks, fire trucks, military trucks, ambulances, and government trucks transporting materials or goods for a government project.

The introduction of the said amendment to Section 10, Article 5 of the ordinance is in compliance to the directive of Interior and Local Government Secretary Ronaldo Puno.

Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Memorandum Circular 2008-112 dated July 17, 2008 enjoins all local government units in the country to establish a synchronized truck ban hours.

Meanwhile, it was also proposed at the City Council that delivery trucks bringing fishes to the Magsaysay Fish Market here should instead pass through the Pantal-Lucao diversion road.

Fish delivery trucks come from western Pangasinan and Metro Manila.

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/pan/2008/09/28/news/dagupan.council.amends.truck.ban.measure.html

allan_dude

September 28th, 2008, 03:48 AM

Typhoon rehab almost complete, Nani reports

Alaminos City -- Except for a few more houses to be built, rehabilitation of Alaminos from the onslaught of super typhoon "Cosme" sometime in May this year is now almost complete with the help of some 200 volunteers.

Mayor Hernani Braganza paid tribute to the volunteers whom he formed in to the Task Force Bayanihan for helping the city build at least 208 new houses to replace those that were totally damaged by the typhoon.

Aside from this, the task force helped repair damaged school buildings and restore partially damaged houses numbering some 3,000.

The new houses were built for poor families who lost their homes from the onslaught of the typhoon, using part of the P5-million worth of construction materials received by the city from the national government and other donors.

Alaminos City got its share from the galvanized iron sheets made available by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to the victims of typhoon "Cosme" in Pangasinan.

Braganza mobilized volunteers to build destroyed homes, instead of just allowing the typhoon victims to tend for themselves and do the work alone.

The new houses built are located in 26 barangays, Braganza, said, adding that the construction of 60 other houses is on-going in 13 other baranagays.

In grateful appreciation and recognition for the volunteer' effort and valuable contributions to the city, Braganza hosted a special program and luncheon for them.

Among the groups hailed for helping the city build houses for the typhoon victims were the Alaminos City Police, 106th Police Mobile Group, Philippine Army reservists, the Hundred Islands Radio Communication Road, and the Iglesia ni Kristo (INK).

They were complemented by personnel from the city's general services office, public order and safety office and barangay volunteers.

The Department of Public Works and Highways, Department of Health and Metropolitan, Manila Development authority also extended help. (PIA-Pangasinan)

http://www.pia.gov.ph/default.asp?m=12&fi=p080926.htm&no=17

allan_dude

September 28th, 2008, 03:58 AM

Science leaders’ good cause

Source: alaminoscity.gov.ph

Lead coastal clean-up, re-greening of watershed and tree park

The International Coastal Clean-up (ICC) Day, the longest 1-day worldwide effort to eradicate the shorelines from debris and recyclables, once again drew thousands of volunteers who are very determined give back what the environment is due.

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At least 500 secondary science students and 25 teachers here trooped at the city’s mangrove parks in barangays Bued and Sabangan for last Saturday’ edition of coastal clean up.

Headed by Cecilia Nisperos, Education Supervisor 1 for Science, the volunteers enjoyed freeing the mangrove trees from various litters and picking up thrash.

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Garbage coming from mainland is usually trapped along the coastlines and mangrove areas which hinders the sustained growth of these evergreen bushes which serve as a breeding ground of birds and other marine species.

Nisperos said “we’ve been doing this for the past 5 years as part of our commitment to the Braganza administration’s sustainable environmental protection and conservation thrusts and the wise use of the city’s marine resources.”

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“In fact, the Hundred Islands Science Club of Alaminos City National High School (ACNHS) had adopted a 1 hectare mangrove area at Bued Mangrove Park for sustainable rehabilitation, protection and development.”

From the mangrove parks, the group went straight to the city’s watershed areas and to the Adopt-A-Mountain Project Site, a tree park being managed and developed by the city government, also on the same barangays, to plant thousands of forest trees.

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The final stop- Bolo beach, the second top tourist attraction in the city, where the students, armed with gloves, sacks, gloves, brooms, and other cleaning materials, again spread out to search and pick the unwanted debris and later taking part in the “envirolympics”.

Nisperos said the clean up and tree planting activities were the highlights of the 2-day 2008 Division Science Leaders Congress dubbed as “Nature Lovers Day”.

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Last Sept. 19, the “Science Leaders Day” was held at the ACNHS hall and graced by no less than Dr. Renato R. Viray, the City Schools Division Superintendent.

The said forum focused more on team building and lectures on water conservation, climate change, solid waste management and science clubbing.

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Grace Ravarra, city’s environmental management officer, even presented the city’s solid waste management program and urged the student leaders to help educate their barangaymates on proper solid waste segregation and disposal.

Guided by its theme: Understanding Health and Environment, Harmony and Tension, Kilos Kabataan! Maki-jam! Makilahok, the leaders’ congress aims to instill the environmental values through leadership and service on the protection, preservation, and rehabilitation of the environment and conservation of natural resources.

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“We are very happy that every year more and more students sacrificed a day of their vacation to show their utmost care for the environment,” said Nisperos.

“By setting a good example and through information education campaigns, we are hoping that their barangaymates will follow suit.”

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At Lucap wharf, a simple program and briefing was held to kick-start the whole day activity and was attended by other volunteers from the city government, devolved government agencies, and the academe, NGOs, and people organizations.

Celso Salazar, community environment and natural resources officer, in his message encourage anew all the volunteers to start the (sea) change right in their homes by making a habit of cleaning their environment.

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“If we will not act locally now, globally, we will soon be wiped out,” he stressed.

City agriculturist Ernesto de Leon, on his part, noted that the clean-ups were simultaneously being done in all the ten coastal barangays here.

De Leon reminded his citymates that cleaning the environment is everyone concern and responsibility.

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“This is just a one-day affair but if we act now and convince other to join this good cause, we can save our bodies of water from further destruction,” he added.

Retired colonel Manuel Credo, coastal resource management program consultant, added that a whole day or even a week or month-long coastal clean up is not enough to rid the marine environment from garbage.

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“Environmental protection, preservation and conservation efforts must be an everyday activity of our lives to ensure a healthier and better environment for our family and next generations to come.”

Also taking part in the underwater and coastal clean-up known as “SCUBA-surero” activity were 20 professional divers coming from as far as Camp Crame, Baguio City, Dagupan City and San Juan, La Union.

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They were accompanied by local counterparts led by Engr. Ismael Najera, city general services officer and businessman Alex Ang.

The divers reported that they have removed more than 25 kilos of debris from underwater ecosystem of the Hundred Islands National Park.

Other ICC participants in coastal villages were headed by the local officials and concerned barangay folks.

Indeed, for hundreds of volunteers who dedicated their whole Saturday afternoon collecting trash and other recyclables along the city’s shorelines, this year’s ICC day is full of fun and rewarding.

And with the beaches already cleared of thrash and other eyesores, its time to take a plunge, relax, play games and enjoy the cooler ambience. (CIO)

http://www.alaminoscity.gov.ph/news/newsdetails.aspx?newsid=424