LOVELIES IN SHORTS. Contestants in the Search for Miss Magic 2006 wave and smile for press photgraphers during their visit to the City Hall last week. The winners will be known this week coinciding with the Bangus Festival, which officially started last Friday and end on May 1. (PStar Photo by Butch Uka.)

No world record break but grand street party proceeds
DAGUPAN is all set to stage the world renowned “Kalutan ed Dagupan,” the country’s only Guinness World Record holder for longest barbecue, on April 30, starting at 5:30 pm in the city’s main thoroughfare.

Half a million people are expected to take part again in this culminating activity of the Bangus Festival.

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FOR the first time since the start of the Bangus Festival four years ago, two major events which have been done in the past on two separate dates will be fused in one major day event on April 29 to bring more delight to onlookers and visitors.

Gilon! Gilon! Street Dancing and Bangus ed Karosa, the two major events, will start at 2 p.m. and will pass through the main streets of the city.

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SAN CARLOS CITY – This city will hold its sixth Mango and Bamboo Festival on April 29 to showcase its chief products, mango and bamboo, to the world and gain more recognition and support for the two crops.

Mayor Julian Resuello said the day-long festival will be marked with street-dancing where the participants will don costumes bearing mango and bamboo motifs; a program and contests on the different food preparations derived from mangoes.

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By DANNY O. SAGUN
PIA Pangasinan Infocenter

CALASIAO – Producers of different milkfish products like the popular boneless marinated bangus badly need a fish processing plant for them to compete in local and international markets, Dagupan City Mayor Benjamin S. Lim stressed Tuesday.

Addressing stakeholders of the milkfish industry who gathered at the Regency Hotel here to discuss the proposed bangus products standards, Lim said the processing plant will cater to the needs of industry players for a fee. He noted small producers rely on the primitive system due to lack of capital.

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PANGASINAN folk are advised to refrain from harvesting or gathering, transporting, marketing and eating shellfish from the coastal waters of Bolinao and Anda, Pangasinan as the two areas are now found positive of Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning (PSP) caused by red tide organisms.

Shellfish advisory no. 01-06 and shellfish bulletin no. 076 both dated April 13, 2006 of the Department of Agriculture and Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, regional offices, called on the public to avoid eating shellfish for the duration of the ban.

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GOOD news to visitors coming to Dagupan on May 1 for the Pista’y Dayat (Sea Festival) celebration.

The National Integrated Fisheries Technology Development Center (NIFTDC) here has confirmed that the Bonuan Blue Beach, a favorite destination of summer swimmers, especially on May 1 or labor Day celebration, is free from pollution and or contamination.

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BALUNGAO – Four persons are now facing criminal charges before the Regional Trial Court in Rosales town in connection with the killing of a lawyer and the wounding of his wife on Maundy Thursday in remote barangay Angayan in Balungao.

The Balungao police filed cases for murder and frustrated murder against Roger Ellorin, alias ‘Sition’, 23; Johnny Palpalatoc, alias “Oning’, 28; Bernie Castillo, alias ‘Amboy’, 46; and Quinto Alejandro, alias ‘Ross’.

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By FREDDIE G. LAZARO

VIGAN CITY - Tobacco farmers will soon be richer after an international paper manufacturing company expressed keen interest in buying tobacco pulp from the Philippines to sustain its annual requirement in paper-making.

This was disclosed on Wednesday by Administrator Carlitos S. Encarnacion of the National Tobacco Administration (NTA) who met an official from a large paper manufacturing company from France.

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THE Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) recently said the total number of classrooms built under its Classroom Galing sa Mamamayan Abroad (CGMA) Program, which aims to alleviate classroom shortage, is steadily approaching the 400 mark nationwide.

A report reaching Labor and Employment Secretary Patricia A. Sto. Tomas indicated that a total of 312 CGMA classrooms have been finished, while another 62 are in various stages of construction in several regions. Seven classrooms are also undergoing school area identification, and 19 are undergoing site validation and documentation prior to construction.

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