By LIWAY M. YPARRAGUIRRE

ASINGAN — The municipal assessor here wasshot dead by two motorcycle-riding men in front of her house Thursday aternoon.

The victim, Eugenia de Leon, 48, sustained a lone gunshot wound in the head from a .45 cal. pistol. She was pronounced dead on arrival by Dr. Caroline Mina of the Asingan Community Hospital where she was rushed after theincident.

Asingan Police Chief Fidel Drapeza said the motive for the killing could not be work-related. He said they are instead considering other angles, including family dispute.
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SOMETHING tells us pretty face Dindin Baniqued, the city legal officer of Dagupan, is playing for high-stakes in the city government’s face-off with the Dagupan Electric Corporation.

Cards kept close to her chest, she is taking on Decorp, the main power distributor of the city, in preparation for more, and bigger, legal tussles with giants in the electric power industry, among these, the National Transmission Corporation (Transco) and possibly telecom agencies which, like Decorp and Transco, have their distribution poles within city limits.

If the court rules in favor of the city – and Dindin’s—arguments that the poles be taxed, it will be a bonanza for BSL’s cash-strapped government. But of course, the industry giants won’t give in just like that, they’ll be fighting tooth and nail to deny the city’s pie, or at the very least, pay only with a few slices. After all, Dindin knows only too well that’s how things ended with the suit she filed for the provincial government (when she was yet the provincial attorney) against the Mirant power corporation for real property tax dues.
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ONE thing going against Gov. Victor E.Agbayani is that he is hard to reach, even by his fellow officials in the provincial government. The media have been complaining too as they do not have direct contact with the governor.
This issue was raised during the Patrima Kapihan at the Philippine Information Agency office last Thursday where his info officer Ruel Camba virtually admitted that he himself could not just contact the governor thru his cellular phone as he has to pass thru his appointments secretary, one Frank Reyes, to make one.
We recall one time we texted Vice-Gov. Oscar Lambino asking for Victor’s contact number as this writer had been asked by a superior to get his. The vice-governor had no reply; apparently he could not just give it to me or he himself does not have Victor’s number. We asked some media friends like Orly Navarro and Joel Balolong. Negative, they replied. Eva Visperas’ reply was quite interesting: “Only God knows Victor’s number.”

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“Prepare the toilet for the next user.”

A very simple but meaningful reminder from Congressman. Conrado M. Estrella III.
It smacks right on the saying “Don’t do unto others what you don’t want others do unto you.”
Let’s examine ourselves, have we ever thought about it? Do you have the “never mind attitude” on what the next user might say or feel?

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Cong. Estrella utilizes a different design for classrooms or school buildings being funded by congressional fund. He said it is an unconventional design different from the classroom design being used by the DepEd. Read more

ALAMINOS CITY – The operations manager of the Philippine National Bank here was killed and his two sons wounded by four armed men who barged into their house at about 7:30 p.m. Sunday in barangay Boleney here.

The lone fatality was identified as Rolie Narra, 51, who was pronounced dead on arrival at the Alaminos Doctors Hospital with a gunshot wound on the left breast.

His sons Christian, 24, and Mark Henrick, 21, were slightly wounded by the suspects.
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IF even the Department of Education or DepEd, the supposed model for uprightness and moulder of the young, can get itself enmeshed in corruption allegations over such otherwise “minor” item as test booklets ( no matter its officials’ Pontius Pilate act of passing the blame on Parents-Teachers Associations) what more moral ascendancy can our teachers offer to their wards?

Superintendents, supervisors, principals, head teachers and ordinary teachers now find their collective integrity shot through and through with the widespread talks and reports of parents and pupils becoming the “milking cows” of scheming DepEd field personnel.

As though the similarly loud, though largely unproven, charges of teacher plantilla items being up for sale by unscrupulous ranking authorities were not enough, this latest scandal affecting the department puts it in the league of other discredited public institutions such as Customs, internal revenue, public works and highways, etc. In fairness to the latter agencies however, money collection and disbursement is part of their job and the temptation can be dubbed as “natural,” though, of course not necessarily conscionable.

DepEd officials, by the simple nature of their mandate, to teach the young and make them responsible citizens of the republic however, should be the last to be found guilty, or even just perceived as guilty, of violating the very rules of honesty and discipline that they instill daily to the children.

At the hearing on the test booklet mess conducted by the provincial board, it was a sad commentary on the bad image that the agency has fallen into when, in their earnest desire to extricate themselves from any fault, the ‘good’ mentors were practically falling over each other in pointing the finger at the PTCAs as the “collector” of the test booklet fees, not them. No sir, not them.

We can only wish they will remember to wipe the pie smudges off their faces and fingernails before saying that.

AGKO amta, Balong, no antoy walad kanonotan toniay Kapitan Eric Munoz na Tambac, say presidente na Liga ng mga Barangay ed Dagupan, no akin sankainomayan so manawag tan ondagup ed miting na Liga, agto balet nagawaan.