LINGAYEN – Pangasinan and the rest of the Ilocos region, including the Cordilleras are all set to be officially declared Foot and Mouth Disease-Free on Dec.16.

This was disclosed by Dr. Benedicto Perez, provincial veterinary officer of Pangasinan, who said the formal declaration that these areas are now FMD-free will be held in Manila by the National FMD Task Force.

Perez said the province of Pangasinan played a significant role in making these places FMD-free after it was designated by the National FMD Task Force as gateway for the control of the dreaded disease for cloven-footed animals.

Traders bringing pigs, cattle and other animals into the Ilocos region and Cordilleras from the south – especially Bulacan which is still an FMD endemic area – pass thru Pangasinan enroute to La Union, Ilocos Sur, Ilocos Norte, including Baguio, Benguet, Abra and Mt.Province.

Perez said six checkpoints were set up in all entry points in Pangasinan to monitor the movements of animals. These are still existing in Carmen and Bakit-bakit, Rosales, Umingan, Bayambang, Mangatarem and San Fabian towns.

The Bureau of Animal Industry under the Department of Agriculture sent 12 personnel to man all these checkpoints. Their salaries are shouldered by the National FMD Task Force that gets assistance from the Australian government through the Australian Aid, Perez said.

He added Pangasinan has had no FMD case or outbreak since September last year.

Perez said he saw to it that blood samples taken from animals at random were submitted regularly to the National FMD Task Force for laboratory analysis in compliance with the needed protocol to be undertaken before a place can be declared FMD-free.

Stressing that the declaration of Region 1 as FMD-free area is very significant, Perez said this is a big boon to animal raisers and meat processors who can now even import their products to other countries.

He pointed out that in the entire country, only Mindanao and the Visayas have so far been declared FMD-free with the exception of Luzon. Ilocos Region and Cordilleras are set to follow Region II which was earlier declared as FMD-free.

HOUSE Speaker Jose de Venecia, Jr. called for a ceasefire in “poisonous, dirty, excessive, negative and confrontational politics” in the spirit of Christmas and the coming New Year.

Speaking to newsmen Monday before flying back to Manila after a three-day speaking engagement with his constituents in Pangasinan, de Venecia expressed hope that this season of joy “will mark the beginning of reconciliation and unity among our people”.

De Venecia was guest of honor and speaker Sunday during the “Galikayo” Festival in Manaoag town, a religious activity honoring and professing devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary of Manaoag.

Manaoag is today’s religious capital of Pangasinan if not in the entire northern Luzon.

De Venecia said ceasefire is not only among the rebels and government forces but also among the various political forces across the land.

“At the same time, let’s hope that our family—husbands, wives, sons and daughter, nephews and nieces can be together as part of the great Filipino tradition to observe Christmas,“ he said.

De Venecia called on the people to observe the religious dimensions of Christmas which are very important, like gift-giving, Misa de Gallo, attending mass or service, prayers and solidarity among families.

“These are the high points of Christian life that we must preserve in the Philippines,” he said. (PNA)

By Venus May H. Sarmiento
(PIA-Pangasinan Infocenter)

TWO thousand seventy-eight elementary and high school students representing 13 school divisions in Region I convened in Dagupan City Monday to Wednesday for the 2005 Regional Schools Press Conference at the City Astrodome

Dagupan City National High School played host division for this year’s RSPC heralding the theme ”Responsible and Quality Campus Journalism Gearing up to the Challenges of Schools First Initiative”

Coming from the four provinces of Region I, the 13 participating school divisions are the cities of Alaminos, Dagupan, San Carlos, Urdaneta, Pangasinan I and Pangasinan II for the province of Pangasinan; Candon City, Vigan City and Ilocos Sur; Laoag City and Ilocos Norte; and San Fernando and La Union.

Accompanied by their school division chiefs, superintendents and school organ advisers, the student contestants who have earlier emerged winners in their division level, eagerly joined the various writing contests.

The three-day regional press conference served as an avenue for budding journalists to hone their talents in English and Filipino for the various writing categories—editorial, news, feature, sports and even photojournalism

In last Monday’s opening ceremonies at the Dagupan City Astrodome, DCNHS Principal Teodora Nabor said the school paper is an excellent avenue for the virtues of truth and excellence that form the bedrock of society. She added that the aspiration for winning and the will to excel are “things that endure in man’s existence.”

City Mayor Benjamin S. Lim welcomed the participants whom he called “clear thinkers” following the saying that “writing is clear thinking made visible.” He also thanked the Department of Education for the “traditional and time-honored contest”

Present during the affair were assistant schools division superintendent of the host division Dr. Aurora Domingo, secondary education division chief Dr. Ernesto Florendo and elementary education division chief Dr. Elva Lois Orlanda.

Winners in the regional level will go all the way to Kalibo, Aklan in February for the national contest.

The regional schools press conference is held annually in accordance with regional memorandum. 54 which forms part of Republic Act 7079 also known as the Campus Journalism Act of 1991 (VMHS-PIA-Pangasinan/ Ilocos News Service)

POLICEMEN accompanied by officials of the Department of Trade and Industry seized two big bundles of fake Mongol pencils and products worth thousands of pesos during a raid on a downtown store Dagupan City Thursday.

Arrested in the operation was Jayson Sy, 24, tagged as the owner of SK Enterprise on A.B. Fernandez Avenue in Dagupan City which was fond selling fake Mongol pencils, crayons and Lotus ball pens that resemble the original products.

Sy, claimed he did not know that the products were imitations as these were brought to them by a dealer from Manila whom he did not identify.

The raid was part of a nationwide crackdown launched by Amspec Corporation, lone manufacturer and distributor of Mongol products, against imitation products being sold in the market at much cheaper prices than the genuine ones.

Wency Cao, national sales manager of Amspec, said they sought the assistance of the police and the DTI after they received reports that Sy’s store was selling information Mongol products, a violation of the Intellectual Property Rights. Guillermo Avelino represented the DTI in the raid.

Cao was with their company lawyer, Cesar Lopez Jr. and two of their quality control officer in determining that the fake products seized during the raid were not the genuine Mongol products though their label and appearance were almost the same.

He said the genuine Mongol pencil is “sweet-smeeling” as it is made of Cedar wood imported by their company from California U.S.A. while the imitation is odorless as it is made from Palo-China wood.

Hinting that the fake Mongol products came from China though the Manila ports by alleged misdeclaration, Cao believed a company in Manila is importing and distributing the fake products nationwide at the expense of the genuine Mongol products solely manufactured and distributed by his company.

“Of course, it is affecting sales of our products. Our concern is to provide quality products tot eh people but this is being destroyed by the flooding of fake products in the market, Cao said.

Buyers of Mongol pencils with distinctive taste can easily determine the fake from the genuine by examining their wood. The fake product is white while that of the genuine is reddish.

Lopez said the ferrule (ring that holds the eraser, that is made of tin) of the genuine and fake Mongol pencil are different. The marking of the fake pencil is easy to erase, in contrast with that of the genuine which is difficult to erase.

Also, the eraser of the genuine pencil is colored red orange while the eraser of the fake product is pale red. Genuine Mongol pencil sells at P4.50 each while the fake pencil costs only P1.25.

DID MAYOR Benjamin S. Lim intentionally skip the trip to Singapore widely perceived as a Christmas treat for allies of House Speaker Jose de Venecia among the mayors of the fourth district?

Except for Lim, all the mayors of the district – Mojamito Libunao of San Fabian, Herminio Romero of Mangaldan, Rolando Columbres of San Jacinto, and Napoleon Sales of Manaoag left this week for the prosperous city-state with a sidetrip reportedly to Malaysia.

Lim’s action may be viewed as an indication of a growing chasm between the two political leaders although publicly De Venecia has tried to shrug this off as mere speculation and intrigue.

Lim stumped his Lakas partymates, especially the House Speaker, when he joined the call for President Macapagal-Arroyo to step down from office in the wake of alleged rigging in her favor of the 2004 presidential election results.

Lim, being a Lakas party member, obviously only toed the line during the last elections but many sectors believe he was for the late Fernando Poe, Jr. in the last presidential elections.

At the height of the controversy caused by the “Hello Garci” scandal, the mayor welcomed with open arms Poe’s widow, Susan Roces, when she came to Dagupan City to press her call for the President to resign. That incident widened the gap all the more between him and the administration.

Political observers said it is very possible De Venecia and the mayor could find themselves rivals in the next congressional election if their political differences worsen further.

VETERAN broadcaster Bernie Errasquin handily won the presidency of the Pangasinan Tri-Media Association (Patrima) Inc. in the mediamen group’s simple and orderly elections held last Wednesday at the Dagupan Business Center in the City Astrodome.

Errasquin , station manager of DWRS-Radyo ng Bayan-Tayug, is only the third president of Patrima. He will take over from Roland Hidalgo of DWPR who becomes ex-officio director of the club when the new president is formally inducted. Patrima’s first president was Minerva Caburnay of DZRH-Dagupan.

Supervised by the club’s Convenors led by Behn Fer. Hortaleza, Jr., the board election was preceded by a general assembly and meeting as set in the Association’s by-laws where the president and treasurer rendered their reports to the body.

The new board directors and officers came from the Sectoral Representatives earlier elected by club members in the club’s nine media sectors: Publishers/Editors, Station Managers/Program Directors, Announcers /Commentators, Columnists, Reporters, Government Information Officers, Cable TV Managers/Program Directors, Photographers and Reporters.

Completing the new and incoming board officers are Lelia C. Sy (Northern Times), vice president; Venus May H. Sarmiento (PIA/Pangasinan Star), secretary; Liway M. Yparraguirre (Manila Times/Pangasinan Star), treasurer; Joey Ballesteros (DWPR) auditor; and Violeta V. Ferrer (DWPR), business manager.

The rest of the earlier -elected sectoral representatives automatically become board directors.
Patrima, now on its third year, was formed by leading members of the local media to uphold the integrity of the profession and together make a difference in the public’s perception of the media sector.

AMONG all the shoreline areas of Pangasinan and Ilocos, the most naturally developed and abundantly attractive is the San Fabian beach and resort area.

Thus did House Speaker Jose C. de Venecia laud the natural attributes of San Fabian beach in his brief remarks last Dec. 4 at the groundbreaking ceremonies for the San Fabian Beach Villas of the International Gateway Realty and Development Inc. chaired by top Manila and Palawan businessman Rolando Asis.

Located just across the PTA Resort in barangays Bolasi and Mabilao, the San Fabian Beach Villas will soon rise as a “world-class subdivision in the tradition of the famed beach villas of France… that can easily become a major destination for international tourists,” de Venecia said.

The Speaker took time to report that Congress is now finalizing a bill to require developers of middle-class housing projects to include provisions for low-cost housing to help answer the acute need for mass settlements in the country.

He announced that such a mass housing project will be put upby government “starting May next year” in the Bolasi area in San Fabian in addition to a low-cost housing venture being planned by Asis and his group.

The San Fabian Beach Villas sits on a 35-hectare property sold by the family of Dona Consuelo Perez, widow of the late Speaker Eugenio Perez and mother –in-law of de Venecia, to the International Gateway group of Asis.

Present at the groundbreaking ceremonies were San Fabian Mayor Mojamito Libunao and sangguniang bayan members led by Vice Mayor Liberato Villegas, former Congressman Joe Bengson, international banker George Go of PCI, DENR regional Director Victor Ancheta, businessman Tito de Venecia, lawyer Vic Castaneda and Eli Opena, marketing director of IGRDI, among other guests.

Once completed, the world-class beach villas project will feature facilities and amenities such as a fully landscaped park and playground, entertainment cabanas with children and adult pool, a commercial area, potable water with overhead tank, telephone system, basketball court, concrete roads, curbs and gutters, barbecue pits and underground drainage.

SAYAN INDIO
Mario F. Karateka

AGAYMETLATAN ey, Heneral Heneroso Senga, sir, ey?

Sikatotay makapataktakot met ed militar tan say Kapolisan no manonaan nin protektaan daray totoo dan mangagaway iligal ya aktibidades (iligal, no agyoni amta, so mandengel tan mangirikord na tongtongan ed telepono diad bansa tayo) nen say italindeg so katua-an. Satan et pikewet ya klasen ‘esprit d’corps’ odino say tradisyonal ya panoolopan ed saray walad serbisyo militar.

WE fully agree that the Consultative Commission members deserve the President’s and the People’s congratulations for doing a good job. Up close during the Pangasinan leg of their nationwide consultations, despite time constraints, the Con-Com commissioners who came from diverse fields and sectors were able to project their sincerity and frankness in “trying to help” the country get out of its present rut. Now, they have submitted their final report to President Arroyo who will shortly endorse it to the Speaker of the House and the Senate President for action or disposition.

In all probability, and at the risk of going ahead of the honorable men and women of Congress, the country’s going to have a parliamentary-federal form and structure of government if not next year, then soon after.

This newspaper fully supports such a course. The presidential system of government has been self-destructing all this time and making elections of officials a big farce because of all the spending. While the parliamentary system might not altogether do away with corruption, it is our fervent hope that it would be minimized even as party accountability to the people is reinforced.

While we endorse a parliamentary-federal government, we do not however quite believe – unlike many of our Pangasinan leaders, most of them the rich and the moneyed and influential — in opening up wide the avenues for foreign ownership of our national patrimony and resources. This newspaper believes the 60-40 ratio for foreign ownership of major utilities and industries that exists today, more than being just a sense of nationalism, is a sense of reality.

Proponents of the lifting of that provision on national patrimony argue that if 90 or a hundred percent ownership is offered foreigners, more out-of-country investors would be lured to come in and thus start a surge of industries and utilities for the Philippines, one we have never seen before, pump-priming the economy. After all, the proponents add, we still have a “parliament” that can draw up the regulations and control for such foreign-owned utility enterprises on Philippine soil so as to prevent abuse and overexploitation.

That, we all know, is pipe dream. Given our track record as a country in enforcing our own laws and rules, we might as well be allowing the rape of our maids and sister and daughters inside the room while we keep fumbling for the keys to open the door and cursing to high heavens why we ever gave access to the strangers in our house at all.

That’s not imagination; that’s experience.

AFTER ALL
Behn Fer. Hortaleza, Jr.

SOMEHOW, they managed to come up with quaint, brightly lit rows of lamp posts on Dagupan’s major bridge, the Quintos bridge downtown. And that’s about all. Evenings when you cruise further down the main thoroughfare, the dull glow of the old streetlights is what illumines the heart of Dagupan’s commercial center as though keeping in spirit with the general downcast feelings of cash-strapped Dagupenos and Pangasinenses in, of all seasons, Christmastime and Fiesta-time.

Whoever decided to light up Perez bridge miserably forgot its twin, the Perez bridge (or de Venecia bridge, whatever you call it) that parallels it along the same Pantal river which is making do with the old, broken “Golden Gate” replica of lights. Some nights, the lights are turned on, some nights they’re not.

The difference is striking – on one side, the downtown area, the spirit of motorists and pedestrians is lifted just passing by the bright lamp posts (wonder how much those lights cost the city again, and we’ don’t just mean the purchase price but the coming electric bill); on the other side along Perez Boulevard, one gets the feeling he’s suddenly passing through the darker side of the moon (at least on some nights when somebody forgets to switch it on, we don’t know).

But no matter how city hall spins it, there’s some problem in city finances on ‘dar hills. It’s saving, it’s scrimping, it’s spending with utmost care – quite uncharacteristically, we might add. And Dagupenos so used to having bongga fiesta seasons are suddenly seeing and feeling the difference between a profligate past and a penurious present, both under the same city administration.

Oh, but you have to hear all the wailings and bayings among City Hall employees now who see the tightening of the once liberal or open coffers as Disaster Signal One – not to mention the most unfortunate cut in GMA’s-mandated P5-T cash gift for government workers to just P3T with all its attendant and frantic last-minute sourcing of fund among sanggunian’s appropriations committee chair Michael F and the city treasury, accounting and budget offices , just so the waiting workers won’t be left hanging at Christmas, again, of all seasons.

The times, they’re hard. And the ghost of the spending binge of the past, aside of course, from the fat salaries of City hall consultants of all sizes and shape (that’s according to some rank-and-file employees commiserating with the laid- off emergency workers who have been doing much of the dirty work) seems to have come back hauntingly to the Lords of the Ring at city hall this Christmas, again , of all seasons.

One thing sure, many contractors would have to wait until next year anew to be paid their services’ and labors’ due. Some imaginative accounting will have to be done yet between now and the closing of the books for audit this year, see?
Now you know why the Pangasinan Star wouldn’t want to add to the financial burden by running that city fiesta ad you see in most local newspapers. It’s not out of pride, it’s out of civic duty. Hello, CIO chief Butch Velasco!