UNKNOWN to many, the battlecry “Sigue Dagupan” permanently attached to the official logo of Dagupan City, was coined from way, way back by one of the foremost sons of Dagupan who joined the Philippine revolution and contributed much to its success.

These two words originated from Don Crisostomo Villamil, a railroad engineer who studied in London and who, after graduation, was tapped to become the second in command of British company that won the contract to build the country’s first railroad from Caloocan to Dagupan in Pangasinan.

Villamil, scion of a famous clan in Dagupan, was the right hand man of Henry Kipping, the Englishman who was in charge of the building the railroad and who married Jose Rizal’s sweetheart and cousin Leonor Rivera in a ceremony at the Dagupan church.
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A BUSINESSMAN and also an operator of a passenger van was shot dead by unidentified gunmen at about 9:30 a.m. Thursday while he stopped at a repair shop along Jose R. de Venecia Sr. Highway in barangay Lucao here.

Jesus Cañeja, 50 years old, a resident of barangay Mayombo here, died on the spot with three gunshot wounds, two in the head and one in the chest, fired at close range from a caliber 45 pistol as evidenced by two empty shells found at the crime scene.

He was identified through his wallet found by investigators from his pants pocket. Read the rest of this entry »

ILOCOS region police director Chief Superintendent Leopoldo Bataoil has ordered the La Union police to conduct in-depth investigation into the alleged explosion of an improvised bomb in Agoo, La Union early morning on Thursday.

Bataoil gave his order to Senior Superintendent Franklin Bucayu, police provincial director of La Union.

The explosion occurred at the Southern La Union Sand and Gravel and General Merchandise located along Victoria Road in barangay Sta. Barbara, Agoo owned by Ronnie I. Baldemor, an engineer. Read the rest of this entry »

THE police has assured that it is ready for any eventuality during the opening of classes here starting tomorrow, June 4.

Superintendent Mateo Casupang, deputy chief of police, said they will field on the streets sufficient number of men, uninformed and those in plainclothes, as part of its security measure for the “Balik Eskuwela”.

Casupang said the Dagupan Police is lucky because aside from its personnel, it can utilize at least 58 newly recruited policemen with the rank of Police Officer 1 who were assigned in the city for field training. Read the rest of this entry »

THE close election contests in four separate towns of Pangasinan ended in election protests filed against the winning candidates before different branches of the Regional Trial Court.

The most celebrated of these cases was the election protest filed against Emma Chan, declared winner of the mayoralty race in Pozzorubio town, by the losing candidate Ernesto Go.

Chan will replace her husband, graduating Mayor Artemio Chan, as mayor of Pozorrubio town for the next three years. Read the rest of this entry »

RODRIGO ‘Ding’ Galletes, Sr., publisher of the Ilocano Observer, a provincial newsweekly based in Urdaneta City, succumbed to a lingering illness yesterday, Saturday.

His death came soon after his failed congressional bid in the fifth district in the May 14 elections.

Galletes, who started his newspaper days as a reporter and man-Friday of the late Jose N. Fermill, dean of local newspapermen, in the defunct Pangasinan Courier with editorial offices at the Pangasinan Review, Inc. building on Rivera St., Dagupan City, was an acknowledged media leader of eastern Pangasinan where his newspaper mainly circulates. Read the rest of this entry »

By: VENUS MAY H. SARMIENTO

LINGAYEN – The Philippine National Police–Pangasinan Provincial Office will tighten security in schools and prioritize the campaign against petty crimes like cell phone snatching and robbery when classes officially start on June 4.

Provincial Director Isagani Nerez said the police force has been alerted under the “Oplan: Balik Eskwela”. The goal is to make the school opening crime-free.

“Cases of cell phone snatching and robbery/hold-up are abundant in urban areas especially in cities where there are many students”, Nerez said. Read the rest of this entry »

WITH the rainy season coming upon the country again, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has mobilized its field personnel for all-out de-clogging of drainage canals to ensure uninterrupted flow of run-off water during heavy rains.

DPWH Regional Director Fidel Ginez relayed his instructions to all DPWH district engineering offices in the region, comprising of Pangasinan, La Union, Ilocos Sur and Ilocos Norte.

Noting that most drainage canals are now clogged with debris, like sediment, mud, tin cans and even plastic wrappers, Ginez said an all-out de-clogging operation is a must before the start of prolonged rains. Read the rest of this entry »

LINGAYEN – Leaders of the Muslim community now numbering some 28,000 in Pangasinan signed a covenant for peace on Wednesday before the police, guaranteeing their support to the latter’s peace and order drive especially against illegal drugs.

They signed the covenant with Police Provincial Director Senior Superintendent Isagani Nerez during a ceremony at the Police Provincial Office.

The signatories were led by Datu Allan Maasir, chairman and president of the Pangasinan Muslim Assembly, composed of different Muslim Associations from 15 towns and cities of Pangasinan. Read the rest of this entry »

THE Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is now helping the country realize its dream of becoming self-sufficient in bangus (milkfish) fry in a few years.

JICA is now providing technical assistance to a three-year program that seeks to improve the efficiency of the 17 exiting satellite hatcheries fro bangus throughout the country.

The program seeks to evaluate the performance of each hatchery, including the cost of its maintenance, as well as the exiting fishery practices being applied on them, and at the same time train people how to manage these effectively.
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