By VENUS MAY H. SARMIENTO

MELANIE Grace Heng of barangay Lasip Grande was crowned Miss Dagupan City 2007 along with her royal court at the city plaza last Wednesday on the eve of the fiesta.

Rounding up her royal court were other beauties that included Plinkee Delos Reyes (barangay Caranglaan) first runner up, Camille Ann Castro (barangay Bolosan) second runner up, Alanna Cuison (barangay Pogo Chico) third runner up, and Arnelynne Balolong Read more

By VENUS MAY H. SARMIENTO
PIA Dagupan Infocenter

DAGUPAN policemen will be on full alert tomorrow as the province welcomes the new year.

Supt. Dionicio Borromeo, city police chief, said the force had been on full alert since December 26, the day before the city fiesta.

He said he has issued orders to his men to be deployed in key areas tomorrow, December 31, to render all kinds of police assistance to the public from pedestrian assistance to traffic monitoring and directing to routine patrols in the thoroughfares.
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ON a fountain in a small park in the hamlet of Wilhelmsfeld in the city of Heidelberg, Germany is a life-size statue of Dr. Jose Rizal, the Philippine’s national hero whose martyrdom on December 30, 1986 was recalled anew by the whole nation ysterday.

“This is how deeply the Germans love your national hero,” said Professor Manfred Ollik, a retired colonel of the German Police Academy who lives with a Filipino wife and a grown-up son in Bonuan Gueset Centro in Dagupan City.

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AGUILAR—A Christmas party in barangay Panacol here turned bloody when a barangay councilman was shot dead while responding to a trouble at 1 a.m. of December 23.

The fatality was identified as Isidro Parayaoan, alias Boy, who was shot by Ludovico Domingo, alias Nardo, 35, who allegedly opened fore with the use of an undetermined firearm while on board a motorcycle.
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CAMP BGEN OSCAR M FLORENDO—Good news to 1,098 police personnel from the four provinces in the Ilocos region.

Those recommended for promotion are assigned to the different police provincial offices and units of the police in Pangasinan, La Union, Ilocos Sur and Ilocos Norte.

The recommendation by the Regional Police Office was in recognition of the outstanding performance of the men in PRO1 in enforcing laws and in implementing the key programs of the police, such as “Winnning Wars against the Rebels Without Firing Read more

LINGAYEN—A man drowned while swimming on Christmas Day in the Lingayen Beach, according to the police.

Gregorio Inalvez, 40, married, an employee of Robina Farm, of Villa Aglipay, San Jose, Tarlac drowned at around 11 a.m. while swimming with friends and relatives. He was brought by strong current to the deeper portion of the beach where he sank.
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OUR Christmas wish is that our call for Moral Revolution, which is now gaining ground, would advance and spread like a forest fire so that each and every Filipino will be stricken, to include politicians like me.

And since we are all sinners, we would be stricken like St. Paul on the road to Damascus…stricken by a blinding shaft of life and unseated from our horse, fall into the ground and be transformed.

The cleansing of Philippine society, the cleansing of our citizenry is a burning need of the hour. We, all of us, need cleansing. We need to cleanse the executive, the legislative, the judiciary, the local government units, even the business and media community.

This is my prayer and my hope for Christmas that our moral revolution will gain ground next year and in the coming years.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to All!

Speaker JOSE C. DE VENECIA JR.

By VENUS MAY H. SARMIENTO
PIA Dagupan Infocenter

MORE than 40 priests of the Lingayen-Dagupan Archdiocese will refrain from officiating wedding ceremonies in all churches until after they have complied with a state law covering such priestly functions

This was disclosed by Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz who issued a circular letter read by priests of his diocese during the Saturday and Sunday masses last week
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WE’VE never said our thoughts for the Yuletide season so well, we believe, than in this editorial we did for last year, 2006. And so, allow us, indulge us, our reprinted reminiscence:

“ A hand extended in succor, a tear shed for the unfortunate, a prayer uttered for the lonely and helpless, a wish for peace and prosperity for others.

“These are the gestures that matter most on Christmas – and throughout the new year. Read more

By BEHN FER. HORTALEZA, JR.

HE has put his life on the line, that’s for sure – and he knows it.

Still, the man they call ‘1-O-1” or more fondly, Bebot — that’s Undersecretary Antonio Villar, Jr. of the Presidential Antri-Smuggling Group (PASG) under the Office of the President – dares to take on all comers. Like threats were ordinary peanut butter sandwiches for breakfast for him.

He’s, to be trite about it, the right man for the job.
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