SUSPECTED vigilantes may have been behind the fatal shooting of a suspected notorious drug pusher and his girlfriend in front of the Development Bank of the Philippines building on M.H. del Pilar street here at past 11 p.m. Thursday.

Dead were Reynaldo de Guzman, 40, of Perez Market site in Dagupan City; and Cristina Bellosillo, 20, of barangay Osiem in Mangaldan town.

Both were walking down the road going southward after coming out from the Caliman Lodge when they were shot by an unidentified gunman who used a Caliber 45 pistol as evidenced by two empty shells found near the crime scene.

De Guzman died on the spot while Bellosillo was rushed to the adjacent Region 1 Medical Center but died later from a gunshot wound on her left side, soon after identifying herself as a girlfriend of de Guzman.

Theories of a summary execution by vigilantes surfaced as a placard was found across the road, possibly left by the killer or killers, tagging de Guzman a holdup man and a drug pusher and urging the people not to emulate his deeds.

Records of the police showed Bellosillo was involved in several cases of snatching before and may have shifted later to shabu-pushing.

On the other hand, De Guzman was identified as a former henchman of a detained gun-for hire, identified as Willy Mendoza, alias “Samal”.

Supt. Edgar Basbas, police chief of Dagupan, said however that the placard found near the bodies of the victims was not a sure indication they were summarily executed because the perpetrators may have deliberately left it there to confuse police investigation of the incident.

“We can say this could be the work of vigilantes or their companions who may have eliminated them due to possible “double-cross” or (they may have) been salvaged, but these are all speculation and (are without) evidence to support the same,” Basbas said.

Basbas said there were still many people at the corner of M.H. del Pilar street and PNR road when the incident happened but apparently the possible eyewitnesses refuse or are afraid to come out.

Both de Guzman and Bellosillo were the second and third victims of alleged summary execution in Dagupan City since Basbas took over the helm of the Dagupan Police last Aug. 9.
The first victim was a man whose cadaver was dumped in an isolated place in barangay Bonuan Binloc two weeks ago after being shot on the left side of his face.

There were many more suspected cases of summary executions that happened in Dagupan City, the sheer number of which may now have made Dagupan second only to Davao in the number of possible vigilante killings.

Not one suspect has been arrested by the police yet.

The body of de Guzman was already claimed by his legal wife from a funeral parlor in Dagupan City while that of Bellosillo has been brought home by her relatives. (PNA)

MALASIQUI – Grief and anger among local residents mounted here after two students were found stabbed dead along the road in barangay Talospatang by still unidentified men who took away the tricycles the boys were riding.

Police are hunting down the perpetrators who mercilessly stabbed and killed the two boys Wednesday night along the barangay road leading to the town of Villasis.

The bodies of Nelson Hiteroza, 18, a second year student, and Jan-jan Antolin, 16, a third year student, were found lying in a pool of their own blood on each side of the road at about 6:30 a.m. last Thursday.

Both were last seen Wednesday night on board a motorized tricycle driven by Hiteroza.
The motorized tricycle was nowhere to be found and believed taken by the perpetrators who sped towards Villasis.

Investigators theorized both boys may have picked up passengers along the way who held them up or carnapped their motorized tricycle and stabbed them when they resisted. Killing of the two boys has alarmed classmates and teachers as well as other residents of Malasiqui. (PNA)

THE Dagupan Electric Corporation (Decorp) is seeking a P0.25 increase per kilowatt hour from its consumers because of the current economic crisis.

The Dagupan City council endorsed the proposed rate increase after finding it reasonable although the final approval will come from the Energy Regulatory Commission where Decorp coursed its petition since May this year.

Decorp not only serves the power needs of Dagupan City but also those of Calasiao, Sta. Barbara, part of San Carlos City, San Jacinto, San Fabian and part of Manaoag, Pangasinan.

Arzenio Zacarias, an official of Decorp, said they sought the rate increase because of the increasing cost of operations and maintenance, including materials needed by the power firm.

He said the weekly increases in the prices of oil and fuel has added burden to their maintenance, thus seriously affecting their operations.

Decorp maintained however that the increase is only minimal because they were only asking for P0.25 centavo per kilowatt increase.

Saying that they have studied carefully the proposed increase before applying, Zacarias revealed that last year they sought for 40 percent power rate increase but ERC only approved 12 percent. (PNA)

FILIPINO expatriates in California and the United States have been asked to adopt schools, preferably their alma maters, and build classrooms for them which the government cannot afford to build at this time.

This was the challenge hurled by Dagupan City Vice Mayor Alvin Fernandez during the induction of the new set of officers of the Greater Long Beach Association, Inc. headed by Pepe Palaganas in Los Angeles, California last week.

The Dagupan vice mayor represented his father, Immigration Commissioner Alipio Fernandez, Jr., as guest of honor and speaker in the activity.

Fernandez said most, if not all, of the expatriates graduated from elementary and high schools in the Philippines who are now well off in the land of milk and honey and may want to help their respective former schools anywhere in the Philippines.

He said the Adopt-A-School program would benefit Filipino pupils and students in public elementary and high schools who can not be accommodated in the few classrooms because of their sheer numbers.

Fernandez cited the Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce that has been helping the Philippine government build classroom in rural areas where such are lacking

“Our public school children, who shall benefit from this worthwhile project, would be forever grateful for our contributions,” Fernandez told the Filipino expatriates. Citing the normal expenses of the benevolent Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce, Fernandez said each two-room school building costs some P380,000 or P190,000 per class.

UMINGAN – The police here reiterated its previous suspicion that the four men found dead and massacred in the hilly barangay of Casilan here Friday night could be connected with a cattle rustling group operating in adjacent Nueva Ecija.

Chief Inspector Eddie Granil, chief of police of Umingan, said the three victims from Umingan and one from Nueva Ecija were riddled with Armalite rifle and 12-gauge shot gun bullets when they were found sprawled near a dirt road.

At least 30 empty shells of Armalite rifle and one spent shell for 12-gauge shotgun were found by investigators near the bodies of victims Edwin Sobrepeñ, 18; brothers Masong and Ronald Camacho, all of Umingan; and Raymundo Miranda, 32, of barangay del Pilar in Rizal, Nueva Ecija.

Granil admitted there is a strong suspicion the victims were massacred by their own companions as a result of “double-cross” although he said nothing’s definite yet on the possible reason for the massacre. Granil revealed there has been no latest incident of cattle rustling in Umingan.

He theorized that the massacre was done in Umingan because the killers may have found the four men in this remote, boundary town.

It will be recalled that five other men, four of whom were found dead inside an L-300 van in barangay Montano, this town near the Nueva Ecija border suffered a similar bloody end in November last year.

In the previous incident, the involvement of vigilantes was suspected although this was never found out in the investigation.

TWENTY primary schools and 64 secondary schools in La Union and Pangasinan benefited from the 9,100 textbooks donated by the Shoemart (SM) Foundation.

The selected belonged to the municipality covered by the Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (CIDSS) Program, which is now devolved to the local government units.

In La Union, 20 primary schools and 14 secondary schools were identified from the municipalities of Santol, San Gabriel, and Tubao. Each school was allotted books worth some P8,000.

In Pangasinan, 5,000 pieces textbooks that cost some P400,000 were turned over to the provincial government for the 50 secondary schools.

National high schools in the following municipalities of Pangasinan benefited from the SM program: Alcala, Bautista, Laoac, Mapandan, Natividad, Sta. Maria, Sto. Tomas, Agno, Balungao, Aguilar, Basista, Dasol, Urbiztondo, Infanta, Burgos, Anda, Bugallon, Labrador, Mabini, Dagupan City, Alaminos, Asingan, Bani, Bayambang, Binmaley, Bolinao, Calasiao, Lingayen, Malasiqui Manaoag, Mangaldan, Mangatarem, Rosales, San Fabian, Sison, and Villasis.

Regional Director Porfiria M. Bernardez expressed hope the generosity of SM Foundation will go a long way in helping the students improve their intellectual faculties in addition to the learning they acquire in their regular classes.

For the past few years, SM Foundation has been providing thru the Department of Social Welfare and Development food commodities, used clothing and other basic needs to families affected by disasters or typhoons. (Iryn Q. de los Reyes, Info Officer)

LINGAYEN – Government cars are now fair game for carnappers.

This was found out by the provincial government the hard way when an Isuzu Highlander XTRM issued to the provincial accountant of Pangasinan was stolen while parked inside his compound on Amado-Tapuac street in Dagupan City.

In hot water because of the carnapping is Provincial Accountant Rodolfo Carolino, 64, who woke up Sunday morning to find out that his provincial government-issued vehicle with Plate No9. SMI-174 was already missing.

Three cars were in Carolino’s compound the night before but for unknown reason, the carnappers chose to take the red-plated one. Provincial Administrator Virgilio Solis, Jr. on learning of the incident, called for a province-wide alert for the missing provincial government vehicle.

He said however he was not fully blaming Carolino because as one of the deparment heads of the provincial government, he (Carolino) was allowed to bring home the provincial vehicle issued for his official use.

Solis said there was a memorandum of Gov. Victor Agbayani that officials and employees are not allowed to bring government vehicles to their homes after office hours and on weekends and holidays.

Exemptions to this rule, however, are provincial department heads like Carolino, he said. But nevertheless, the department heads cannot use the vehicles for their private trips except if they are on official mission and in such a case, should be issued corresponding trip tickets.

Solis said he ordered Carolino to exert utmost efforts to retrieve the vehicle and if it can not be found anymore, the vehicle’s insurance with the Government Service Insurance System will answer for its loss.

SAN CARLOS CITY – More than P5.5 million went up in smoke when two barangay high schools here burned separately under mysterious circumstances two days apart last week.

First gutted down in the evening of Aug. 26 were four school buildings of the Abanon National High School estimated to cost P5 million, including 20 water-damaged computer units in the school’s computer room.

Burned aside from the computer room were the Parents-Teachers Association building, and the administrative building of the elementary school.

The following night, a two-room building of the Bacnar National High School also burned down on August 28, with damage placed at P450,000. One of the gutted rooms was where eight computer units were installed. From the computer room, the fire spread to the principal’s office and dental clinic.

San Carlos City Fire Marshal Jovito Quilateg said initial investigations showed faulty electrical wiring was the cause of the first blaze and on overheated unplugged computer or air-conditioning system in the second blaze.

He admitted however that arson is not being ruled out yet, adding this would be found out in the investigation now being conducted by his office.

Investigators are now trying to find clues of arson among the ashes of the burnt school buildings.

Even San Carlos City Mayor Julian Resuello believes arson was a possible cause of the two fires due to reports of the existence of heaps of papers and flammable materials near the two school buildings before these were gutted down.

Reports said the blaze may have something to do with the purchase of the computer units for the two barangay schools. (PNA)

EIGHTEEN-year-old Arnel Florentino of barangay Cataray, Bayambang was almost at hid death throes – cyanotic, very faint heartbeat and his skin was cold and clammy – when he was brought into the Region 1 Medical Center (R1MC) around 3:30 pm of August 20. He had been bitten by a poisonous snake in his left ankle while cooking at the Quitaleg Dormitory on Posadas Avenue, in San Carlos City.

The deadly effects of the snake bite was ravaging his body and a hospital in the city to where he was first rushed, decided to refer his case to the R1MC after worried relatives noted eh was going numb and dizzy despite emergency medications. It was a timely decision; by the time he reached R1MC, his condition had turned for the worse.

He was admitted at the R1MC at 5 p.m. of the same day. Doctors quickly intubated him and hooked him to a cardiac monitor. Dr. Jesus T. Canto, medical center chief, after being apprised of the patient’s progressively worsening condition and knowing time was of the essence, ordered the administration of cobra anti-venom which was readily available at the hospital pharmacy on the now-violet-skinned and totally numbed Arnel.

A toxicologist was also called in for additional orders and closer monitoring of Arnel’s medical reactions at the ward. Ten hours after he was admitted in near-death condition, the patient woke up. Seven days after, the patient was ambulatory, coherent and “miraculously without any neurologic deficits,” his attending physicians reported, and was discharged good as new.

Arnel consumed 25 ampules of cobra anti-venom (15 ampules provided by the hospital pharmacy and 10 were additional requests fro the Regional Institute for Tropical Medicine) all given for free.

Based on previous cases, Arnel’s medical condition at time of admission was a “Glasscow 3 status” where a patient usually recovers but with neurologic deficits or mental lapses. In his particular case, however, thanks to the quick and alert staff and management of R1MC led by Canto, the patient went home as if nothing happened, all his faculties and senses intact.

Canto said he had always insisted on having standby medicines for such rare medical cases as snake bites at the pharmacy, despite the cost and potency preservation requirements for such. “Nothing beats anticipation and preparation,” the R1MC chief said.

True enough, the R1MC records show the anti-venom ampules have saved not just Arnel’s extreme case but that of seven other since August last year, all victims of snake bites: Robert Ydio, 58, of Mangaldan; Sally Castro, 17 at the pedia ward; Jimmy Bajo, 41, Mangaldan, who was treated twice on September 25, 2004 and again lat April 25, this year; Rolando Yangao at the surgical ward; Marvin Espinosa, 21, medical ward; Bernabe Nibre, 58, of San Fernando, La Union; and Paulino Dulay at the emergency room.

British Ambassador Peter Beckingham addresses the Sangguniang Panlungsod of Dagupan during his visit to the city, his second this year, last Friday during which he explored with local officials led by City Mayor Benjamin S. Lim and Vice Mayor Alvin Fernandez (both seated at extreme right) possible British assistance in terms and trade and culture for Dagupan. (Pangasinan Star Photo by Butch F. Uka)