By Venus May H. Sarmiento
PIA-Dagupan Infocenter

THE National Youth Commission based in Malacañang has come up with several proposals that may pose serious changes to the Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) setup.

With the upcoming registration of new voters for the SK elections, the NYC proposed to the Comelec that the youth voter registration be conducted in the barangay halls instead of the crowded city or municipal halls. Read the rest of this entry »

IT’S, as the thriller paperback authors would put it, a cliff-hanger.

Tonight — or tomorrow – we’d know if our very own, Speaker Joe de Venecia, the master of compromises and coalitions, has not lost his magic touch on his rowdy group of Housemen.

We have no doubt he’’ll get his fifth term as Speaker of the House. All those reports about his tottering campaign for the post and shifting of loyalties against him will all prove to be just empty talk when this is all over. Read the rest of this entry »

By BEHN FER. HORTALEZA, JR.

SMALL but terrible Governor Espino has given his marching orders to the provincial policemen of Sr. Supt. Isagani Nerez on the criminal matters of cattle rustling and drugs, telling them in his usual ‘lookin’ smart’ fashion, that if they can’t imagine how they’ll do things, they can come to him and he’ll gladly teach them.

No doubt, the two police concerns – cattle thieveries and drug pushing –strike at the very heart of present-day social ills and peace and order problems. Espino himself could not have said it more aptly – the stealing of a farmer’s cow or carabao, his very own means of economic survival, is almost like killing the farmer and his family themselves.

And drugs – well, with just about every youth these days getting into the using and pushing of the stuff you can understand why cops should really do something about it before every goddamn house or streetcorner becomes a talipapa for the ‘bato’ and all the Fair Hope of the Fatherland become nothing but walking zombies. Read the rest of this entry »

By LIWAY M. YPARRAGUIRRE

MIND and body competitions.

After the PD (P/SSupt. Isagani Nerez) Marathon, there’s the PNP On-the-Spot Poster Making Contest held at the police provincial headquarters in Lingayen.

It was a face-off between Pangasinan I and Pangasinan II Schools Division (I wonder why they did not include the four City Schools Divisions). Dr. Marisol Mamaradlo of Pangasinan I said that the last time the two schools division competed against each other in poster making contest was five years ago. Read the rest of this entry »

By DANNY O. SAGUN

ELECTION offices starting last Monday have been full of people. People coming in droves prompted the Dagupan election office to transfer registration of new voters (including the youths for the coming sangguniang kabataan election) from its small crowded office at the city hall to the spacious People’s Astrodome. People literally came from all directions.

Former colleague Carmen Claveria says the Dagupan scenario pales in comparison however to what has been going on in Bayambang since the start of the registration. She notes that there seems to be more people registering there than here in the city. There, she adds, the people are not as behaved as the city registrants. They do not fall in line, shout at Comelec people manning the desks, are restless and boisterous. Read the rest of this entry »

A POLITICAL–bureaucratic snafu has developed at Dagupan City hall after some employees of the city government, tagged as ‘midnight’ appointees of the past city administration, did not receive their salaries last July 15.

The city mayor’s office was stormed by calls and personal inquiries from affected employees asking when their salaries will be released.

City Legal Officer George Mejia confirmed that Mayor Alipio Fernandez Jr. is still reviewing the appointments of these people as the were reportedly appointed during the last few days in office of his predecessor, former Mayor Benjamin Lim. Read the rest of this entry »

FORMER City Mayor Benjamin S. Lim and some of his top department heads have been given 10 days from last Tuesday by the Ombudsman to answer charges filed over the controversial Metro State tourism commercial building.

The Ombudsman order stemmed from the construction of the P84 million supposed tourism-commercial building on a lot owned by the city.

The project was launched just before the election period but its construction was stopped last July 12 by the new city administration of Mayor Alipio Fernandez Jr. for having no building permit. Read the rest of this entry »

STA. BARBARA – True to his word that he’ll make his town safe for its residents but dangerous to criminals, Mayor Reynaldo Velasco, a retired third-star police general, announced on Wednesday the arrest of a suspected gun-for-hire and an escapee from the national penitentiary.

Velasco presented to newsmen Ferdinand Ocampo, 38, a native of barangay Maningding, this town, who escaped from Muntinlupa in 2004 where he was serving his sentence for illegal possession of firearms and attempted homicide since 1999. Read the rest of this entry »

POZORRUBIO – A farther and his son were buried alive while building culverts of a 10-meter deep artesian well Monday afternoon in barangay Buneg here.

The fatalities were identified by the police here as Andres Mendoza, 64, and his son Alex, 30, both artesian well builders.

The incident happened at about 5 p.m. at the residence of Domingo Elorde, 47, who hired the father and son to build an artesian well. Read the rest of this entry »

By DANNY O. SAGUN
PIA Dagupan Infocenter

LINGAYEN – Only a transmittal letter from the governor’s office to the sangguniang panlalawigan for the appointments of two co-terminus positions was all that came up – no fireworks at all.

Many observers including members of the media trooped to the sangguniang panlalawigan last Monday thinking that Rafael Baraan and Cesar Carpio would be grilled by the provincial board before their confirmation as provincial administrator and provincial information officer, respectively. Read the rest of this entry »