WHEN was Pangasinan created as a province?

Former Pangasinan Vice Governor Gonzalo Duque has reiterated his challenge to the provincial government to conduct a comprehensive research in order to find out the exact day in Philippine history when Pangasinan was created as a province.

Now president of Lyceum Northwestern University, Duque lamented that “Pangasinan is the only province in the Philippines that has not established the date when it was created.” Read the rest of this entry »

MALASIQUI – The days of mulcting cops are numbered, if one is to have full faith in the words of the country’s top policeman.

PNP Chief Director General Avelino Razon Jr. vowed to eradicate graft and corruption in the streets perpetrated by mulching cops and scalawags at all cost.

He said he will implement to the latter his program “No to Kotong” (No to Mulcting) and warned policemen who will not toe the line. Read the rest of this entry »

THERE is hope that the proposed modern sanitary landfill in Bayambang town can still be realized.

No less than the Department of Environment and Natural Resources categorically denied that the project, which was proposed and subjected to a series of public hearings last year, was already shelved.

Samuel Songcuan, community environment and natural resources officer of Pangasinan, said it is unfair to say that the proposed multi-million peso sanitary landfill in Bayambang town was already deemed a failure as the project has not yet started. Read the rest of this entry »

THE P1.249-billion Dawel-Lucao Diversion road in Dagupan City is set to be opened to vehicular traffic in March Next year, according to Department of Public Works and Highways Regional Director Fidel Ginez.

Ginez said the new highway is now 70 percent complete and the remaining 30 percent uncompleted is the P930 million bridge across the Pantal river funded by a soft loan released by the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC). Read the rest of this entry »

SOME 20 illegal fishpens in Dagupan City are up for demolition in various rivers here within this week, the city agriculture office said.

City Agriculture Officer Emma Molina said the owners of these contraptions were already given three notices by her office to remove their structures but they have not complied yet.

These structures are simply extended paraphernalia of registered and legally operating fish pens, some others are visibly oversized and others were built in prohibited areas or those along existing navigational lanes, she said. Read the rest of this entry »

LINGAYEN – Provincial government officials will hold a business forum with senior managers of the Business Process Outsourcing Association of the Philippines this month to hopefully hammer out strategies that could make Pangasinan as an attractive point of investment.

Alex Ferrer, head of the Provincial Employment Service Office (PESO), said the forum will seek to determine the reasons for the slow turnout of investors in the province despite its vast natural and human resources as well as trained manpower.

Pangasinan also has the built-in advantage as the nearest province among the rest in the Philippines to the economic tigers of Asia, like China, Korea and Japan. Read the rest of this entry »

PANGASINAN poet Santiago B. Villafania launched his second collection of poems in the Pangasinan language in Urdaneta City on November 9.

Malagilion: Sonnets tan Villanelles was launched after atwo-day conference on “Revitalizing the Pangasinan Language and Cultural Heritage” recently held at the Urdaneta City Sports and Cultural Center. Read the rest of this entry »

By Norman C. Caguioa

THE Virgen Milagrosa Medical Center (VMMC) in San Carlos City will mark another milestone in its history during a grand celebration of its 50th Golden Anniversary on November 27 and 28, this year.

VMMC Medical Director Dr. Angelo B. Juan said that one of the major highlights of the annual celebration is the selection of the Mr. and Miss VMMC 2007 on November 28 with hospital and medical staff vying for the coveted title. Read the rest of this entry »

THE livestock market in Mangaldan town is now the biggest and cleanest in the province, according to district veterinarian Marissa de Vera.

De Vera said that the market conforms strictly to health and sanitation rules to ensure that livestock being sold there do not pose health risks both to animals and humans.

She said that Pangasinan has been free from foot and mouth disease (FMD) for years now because of strict policies on the transport and entry of livestock. Checkpoints have been set up in boundary areas to prevent entry of infected animals from other provinces. Read the rest of this entry »

SAN FERNANDO City, La Union – A massive campaign to urge people to use natural and indigenous materials, instead of plastics and styropors as receptacles and food containers is now being pushed in the city and the rest of La Union, the Philippine Information Agency reported.

This is consistent with a memorandum of agreement signed by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the city government, in cooperation with the Department of Trade and Industry.

The MOA actually seeks to encourage the people of La Union to use “bayong”, paper bags and or boxes made from cartoons, instead of plastics and or styropors, considered as non-environmental. Read the rest of this entry »