‘By DANNY O. SAGUN
PIA Dagupan Infocenter

“Itaob Mo!’

With this strategy, the city government tries to meet head-on and win the seasonal battle against dengue especially during the rainy reason.

The city council, on motion of Councilor Jesus D. Canto, last Tuesday asked Mayor Alipio Fernandez, Jr. to direct the city health office to implement the “Operation Itaob Mo,” referring to the disposal of all water-containing vessels in the city.

The resolution also asked the city engineering office to inspect gutters of all buildings to prevent these from becoming breeding sites for the mosquitoes.

Canto noted that discarded tires, clogged gutters, tin cans, empty bottles, flower vases and other containers become veritable breeding places of the dengue-carrying mosquito aedes egypti if left indisposed.

The health problem is effectively contained by simply removing possible breeding places, Canto, formerly head of the Region l Medical Center, stressed in his sponsorship speech.

Dengue, he said, is one of the most dreaded vector-borne diseases transmitted through the bite of an infected day-biting female aedes mosquito.

Containers like pails being used to store water should be covered well to prevent mosquitoes from using these for breeding, he also said

City heath officer Leonard Carbonel, who was called by the sangguniang panlungsod for him to share his views on the matter, lauded Canto for coming up with the measure.

For the whole province, a total of 143 dengue cases with three deaths was recorded by the provincial health office from January to July 16 this year, assistant provincial health officer Ana de Guzman said in a text message. She stressed however that the figures were lower than those recorded in the same period last year.

She also confirmed a report that the island town of Anda had six suspected dengue cases.

THE University of Pangasinan last Thursday took a big step to defeat the province’s poor performance in the job market by “producing readily employable graduates” with the university’s call center training program.

The move is seen to diversify the university’s services to enable its clientele to find their place in the fastest growing industry in the country today.

Dr. Catalino Rivera Jr. UPang president, and Chief Executive Officer Carol Domiguez of John Clements Consultants Inc. signed Thursday an agreement in line with the university’s P11 million program “to develop English proficiency among the students, Read the rest of this entry »

LINGAYEN – A policeman was shot dead by unidentified persons for no apparent reason in barangay Hacienda, Bugallon on Sunday night, according to the police.

The fatality was identified as SPO1 Nelson Labiano, 47, a member of the Bugallon Police, who sustained several gunshot wounds in the body and died on arrival at the Bugallon District Hospital. Read the rest of this entry »

THE Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) has shown strong determination to help eradicate all illegal gambling activities in Pangasinan when it destroyed in public 11 video gambling machines seized from various parts of the province.

Senior Inspector Marvin Bolabola, chief of the CIDG in the Ilocos region, motored all the way to Pangasinan from San Fernando City, La Union to spearhead the destruction of the illegal video gambling machines.

“The strategy is, we confiscate these gambling machines, then destroy these immediately to prevent any recycling,” Bolabola said. Read the rest of this entry »

BINALONAN – Mayor Ramon Guico Jr. of Binalonan was reelected unopposed as president of Pangasinan Mayor’s League (PML) for the third straight term.

Guico, a cousin of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo by her mother side, was reelected during an election held here, attended by 40 municipal mayors of Pangasinan.

Mayor Reynaldo Velasco on his first term as mayor, was elected executive vice president of the 44-man PML.

Other elected officers are Anda Mayor Nestor Pulido, vice president for first district; Lingayen Mayor Ernesto Castañeda Jr., vice president, second district; Calasiao Mayor Roy Macanlalay, vice president, third district; San Jacinto Mayor Rodolfo Columbres, vice president, 4th district; Villasis Mayor Nonato Abrenica, vice president, 5th district; and San Manuel Salvador Perez, vice president for 6th district.

The other officers are San Fabian Mayor Mojamito Libunao Jr., secretary-general; Mapandan Mayor Jose Ferdinand Calimlim, treasurer; Rosales Mayor Ricardo Revita, auditor; Sison Mayor Carmen “Kimi” Cojuangco and Pozorrubio Mayor Emma Chan, business managers; Binmaley Mayor Simplicio Rosario, public relations officer; and Tayug Mayor Carlo Trece Mapili, general legal counsel.

As president of the mayors’ league of Pangasinan, Guico will aspire to get reelected as president of the 1,500-member League of Municipalities of the Philippines (LMP) whose election is set sometime in August.

He is also reportedly eyeing the presidency of the Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines (ULAP), the umbrella organization of all local government units’ leagues, also called “league of all leagues”.

Already holding the position of ULAP executive vice president and also being its most senior member, Guico feels he has about 80 percent chance of capturing the highest position in that organization.

By: Venus May H. Sarmiento
PROFESSIONAL Filipino journalists who have written and aired news or interesting pieces on agriculture in the Philippines have the chance to win a laptop, a trophy and cash in the first-ever Bright Leaf Journalism Awards sponsored by a giant tobacco company.

In response to the growing demand of agriculture journalism, Philip Morris Philippines Manufacturing, Inc (PMPMI) launched the Bright Leaf Agriculture Journalism Awards, a news and features competition that aims to bring the country’s agriculture industry to the forefront of the Filipino’s consciousness. Read the rest of this entry »

By VENUS MAY H. SARMIENTO
PIA Dagupan Infocenter

A MEDICAL-DENTAL mission capped by a concert promo in the evening will highlight the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) Roadshow in Dagupan City this September.

Dubbed as “Project Walang Kupas,’ the year-long creative campaign was designed to promote PCSO products and services and showcase the agency’s medical and health services as well as products aimed at revenue generation in key sities outside Metro Manila, according to the Philippine Information Agency, PCSO’s partner agency. Read the rest of this entry »

CAMP BGEN OSCAR M. FLORENDO, La Union – Four children, two of them from Baguio and Benguet, drowned in two separate incidents along the seashores of sitio Banks, Poro, and barangay Pagdaraoan, both in San Fernando City, La Union over the weekend.

A belated police report stated that at about 5:30 PM last Saturday, Sonny Boy Libid, 14, and Jason Punzalan, 13, both of barangay Catbangen, San Fernando City, were swept away by strong currents while swimming along the seashore in barangay Poro San Fernando City and drowned.

They were swimming with four other minors when the incident happened.

At about 6 p.m. that day, Felirose Berto, 6, of New Lucban, Baguio City and her cousin, Richmel Berto, 11, of La Trinidad, Benguet; also drowned after they were swept by high waves along the seashore in barangay Pagdaraoan.

The victims were attending a birthday party in the beach when the incident happened.

The bodies of Richmel Berto, and Punzalan were found a few hours later but were pronounced dead by doctors when brought to the hospital.

The following day, the rescuers recovered the cadavers of the other two victims. (PNA)

MEMBERS of the media in Pangasinan attended a one-day seminar on Disaster Risk Management Tuesday as part of this city’s observation of the Disaster Consciousness Month.

The seminar, spearheaded by the Center for Disaster Preparedness (CDP) in coordination with Project PROMISE and the City Information Office, highlighted the important role of the media during disasters. It aimed to fully prepare them before, during and after a disaster Read the rest of this entry »

CONSTRUCTION of mega projects in the North Luzon Agribusiness Quadrangle, a super region covering Region 1, Cordillera Administrative Region and some parts of Region III, is on course.
Eighteen projects, costing P56.28 billion, were identified for NLAQ, all to be implemented up to 2010 when President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo ends her term.

Since after the State of the Nation Address (SONA) of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in 2006 where she announced a new road map to be taken in order to harness the full potentials of regions, two of the 18 identified projects for NLAQ have already been completed. Read the rest of this entry »