SUAL – The National College Entrance Examination (NCEE) that was phased out in 1994 will soon be replaced by the National College Assessment Examination (NCAE), according to Department of Education Secretary Jesli Lapus.

Lapus, speaking during the launching of the Adopt-A-School Program here last Friday, said NCAE is like a career counseling that will guide students after high school.

He said NCAE will include what was normally tested in the old NCEE—the general scholastic ability of fourth year high school students—and will be given in both verbal and non-verbal form.
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PANGASINAN’S most wanted man, who shot and killed a barangay chairman in Sual town sometime in March was finally arrested by the police last Monday after months of hiding.

Police Regional Director Chief Supt. Leopoldo Bataoil presented to mediamen on Wednesday, Sonny Abata, 27, laborer, at the Sta. Barbara police station two days after the suspect was arrested by the police inside a videoke bar in barangay Pangascasan, Sual.
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FOUR stores in Dagupan were found last week selling alleged substandard Christmas lights and got a stern warning from the Department of Trade and Industry provincial office. .

Marjurie Loresco, a DTI official, said the owners of these establishments were told to withdraw the substandard materials from their shelves or these would be confiscated by her office.

Loresco said the DTI deployed several teams in the market to monitor Christmas lights for sale that are not safe to use as these might explode and cause fire in homes and offices.
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SEN. Ralph Recto has urged the national government to grant a P1,000 across-the-board increase in the monthly pay of 1.1 million employees in its payroll, “from the President down to the lowly janitor,” instead of increasing the basic pay of each by a certain percentage.

Recto made the proposal following the inclusion of a P13.1 billion pay hike package for state workers in the P1.053 trillion 2006 budget bill.

Details of the salary increase have yet to be announced by Budget officials, but a line in President Arroyo’s “Budget Message” to Congress hinted of an increase equivalent to eight percent of an employee’s basic pay.
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LAOAC romped off with the overall championship in this year’s Municipal and Evaluation of Local Level Plan Implementation for Nutrition Program (MELLPI) and received P5,000.00 and plaque of recognition for the achievement.

Burgos copped second place and received P4,000 plus plaque of recognition, followed by Basista which received P3,000 and a plaque of recognition.
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LINGAYEN – A noted historian in Pangasinan has proposed that the whole town of Lingayen be declared a heritage site not only because it is the seat of the provincial government of Pangasinan but also because of the big role the town played in the history of the province.

Historian Restituto Basa, author of many history books about Pangasinan and its people, said Lingayen played a major role in the history of the province since during the Spanish time when it served as a small Chinese trading post, being nearer than any other place in the Philippines to China.

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SAN FERNANDO CITY – At least 2,500 fully-grown marijuana plants were burned by the police on Monday at the Police Regional Office in this, La Union city as part of their all-out war against illegal drugs.

Police Regional Director Chief Supt. Leopoldo Bataoil, who led the burning of the stuff, explained these were parts of the P98 million wroth of fully-grown marijuana plants uprooted by the police at the tri-boundaries of the provinces of Ilocos Sur, La Union and Benguet last week.
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BANGUED, Abra – A murder complaint had been filed against two arrested suspects in the gunslaying on Saturday of Abra Provincial Board Member James Bersamin.

The suspects were arrested on Sunday by members of the newly created “Task Force Usig” after the two were positively identified by witnesses as the ones who shot and killed Bersamin while he was jogging around the town plaza of Bangued.

Senior Supt. Rogelio Damaso, Abra police provincial director, identified those arrested as Misael Gatuc, 39, of barangay Sinapangan, Zone 6, Bangued, Abra; and one JulieAldaca, 22, of Barangay Lub-lubba Dolores, Abra.

Both were named respondents in Case number IS 2006 – K-381 filed at the office of the Provincial Prosecutor in Bangued.
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CALASIAO – Cheap China-made kites of different colors and shapes are selling like hot cakes in Calasiao, giving extra income to some marginal income families only a few days before Christmas.

The kites, made with bamboo frames and soft plastic materials stretched over them, are a sight to behold as they at least lend color to the drab atmosphere on both sides of the Jose R. de Venecia Highway from Calasiao to Dagupan City.

These are displayed and sold in makeshift shops in barangay Lasip Chico, Calasiao at P50 apiece, without the string, cheaper than the locally-made ones.
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LINGAYEN – The Sangguniang Panlalawigan is set to enact an ordinance prescribing guidelines for the determination and declaration of historical and cultural resources of the province.

The proposed ordinance is authored by Board Member Von Mark R. Mendoza and Angel G. Baniqued.

Under the measure, the Provincial Council for Culture and Arts headed by Gov. Victor Agbayani will serve as the lead agency in carrying out the tasks. It will be assisted by a technical working group (TWG) headed also by the governor.
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