THOUSANDS of coastal residents in the Ilocos were evacuated when giant waves spawned by the north-east wind surge fanned by the exiting Super Typhoon ‘Mina’ in the south China Sea, battered and destroyed their houses.

In Pangasinan, the massive evacuation occurred Tuesday afternoon till evening and lasted up to dawn the following day in the coastal areas of Dagupan, San Fabian, Binmaley, Lingayen, Labrador, Sual, Alaminos City, Bani, Bolinao and Anda, all in the Lingayen Gulf. Read more

WITH no less than the Pangasinan Mayors’ League appearing to favor another town over his beloved Alaminos City in the matter of where the much coveted international airport in Pangasinan would be established, Mayor Hernani Braganza is in a daze.

PML president Ramon Guico, Jr of Binalonan, President Arroyo’s own cousin, and his league officers have made it known thru their resolution that they are ready to oppose even GMA’s own expressed preference for Alaminos made during her last State of the Nation Address and ultimately deprive Nani of his fondest dream. Read more

By BEHN FER. HORTALEZA, JR.

TUESDAY evening’s near-panic in coastal Bonuan Gueset and even parts of barangay Pantal and the downtown area when water began suddenly carpeting the groundfloor of homes and roads – this less than 12 hours after an Intensity 6 earthquake shook the city at lunchtime –necessarily brings images of the deadly July 16, 1990 killer quake, if not Apocalypse itself.

A hundred or so shanty dwellers in the Gueset area, including those in the honky-tonks of Bagong Baryo fled in fright as three-meter high waves began to batter the beach area and floodwater entered their homes and small video-oke cottages. In the downtown area, we are told, even at the CSI area and the Read more

By DANNY O. SAGUN

THE idea of redistricting the province has come alive anew. From the present six congressional districts, the plan is to create 10 to 12 districts. If that happens, expect a district to be composed only of two to three towns.

Dagupan, which has yet to qualify as a highly urbanized city, needs to combine with just one town like Mangaldan in order to qualify as one congressional district. We now recall the dream of former Mayor Benjie Lim of combining or fusing Dagupan with San Fabian so that the resulting LGU would qualify as a highly-urbanized city and thus entitled to a representation in Congress.
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THREE bills have been filed in the 14th Congress for “An Act Granting the Right of Reply and Providing Penalties for Violations Thereof.”

 House Bill 162, sponsored by Rep. Juan Edgardo Angara
 HB 1001, sponsored by Rep. Monico Puentebella
 Senate Bill 1178, sponsored by Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr.

The bills seek to
 mandate an automatic Right of Reply
 require media to honor the Right of Reply
 impose monetary fines and prison terms for non-compliance

One bill even proposes a 30-day suspension on a media outlet’s franchise.

The Philippine Press Council, set up by the PPI to guarantee a news subject’s Right of Reply, opposes Right of Reply legislation on the following grounds

 Our constitutionally guaranteed freedom of the press means, among others, that editors have the sole and final discretion of determining what to print on the pages of their publications.

The Press Council is authorized to require a member newspaper to publish a complainant’s reply, and can invoke penalties. However, the Press Council is a self-regulatory body and its sanctions do not include deprivation of liberty.

We are opposed to any form of State intervention in editorial matters. Passage of this Act will trigger further legislation threatening press freedom.

 Even if not all media fall under the authority of the Press Council, they can set up their own press councils or ethics committees, or cooperate with citizens media councils as in Baguio, Cebu and Palawan. Even if this does not materialize, there is still no justification for Congress to pass a law abridging editors’ freedom to decide the contents of their publications.
Philippine history records pendulum experiences ranging from suppression to liberty and back again. In 1986 we regained press freedom after 14 years of martial law. We do not want to go back to darkness. A society that does not have a free press is not a free society. Ultimately, the victims of Right of Reply legislation will be the public.

This will happen if newspapers start avoiding difficult issues for fear that failure to print a reply within 24 hours will result in jail time.

If you share our sentiments, we would appreciate if you would allow us to add your name, e-mail and address when we communicate with our Congressmen.

Nen MARIO F. KARATEKA

APONDI metlan talaga si opisyal militar tan Senador Antonio Trillanes IV kanian siguro niman ya nan-alburuto lamet ed Manila Pensinsula dimad Makati kaibay Heneral Danny Lim ya kapara ton kinasuan na rebelyon tan peles ya dedengelen na korte so kaso ra.

Diad sayan balon ag atuloy ya rebelyon daranian sundalon pinangaranan day inkasaysikara a grupoy “Magdalo”, lalon binmelat lamet so kaso ra. Siguro, no ag nasaltan yan administrasyon, dimad istakeyd (stockade) na militar laraya nabulok, awey labat. Read more

AGAPE MEDICAL CLINIC

DANNY A. CLARIDAD, M.D.
Certified Family Physician
Pob. Mangaldan, Pangasinan
Tel. # 513-0244
Cell. # 09205587366

THE Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) of Region 1 has increased the basic wage of workers and employees in the private sector in the whole of Ilocos by P3 to P15 per day.

This was contained in Wage Order No. RB 1-12 approved on November 19, 2007 after due public hearings conducted in Pangasinan, La Union, Ilocos Sur and Ilocos Norte by RTWPB in Region 1 headed by Department of Employment and Regional Director Henry John Jalbuena as chairman. Read more

CHAIRMAN Renato S. Velasco of the Alternative Fuels Corporation, a wholly-owned subsidiary of state-owned Philippine National Oil Company, said PNOC-AFC does not aim to make farmers shift their food crop production to jatropha, a possible source of biodiesel feedstock in the country.

“We want the farmers to continue growing rice, sugar, and others. What we intend to do is give farmers additional income by developing idle lands by planting jatropha,” he noted.
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TWO types of ferries, a 30-seater and a 100-seater, may be used for the planned tri-point ferry service that will take a tourists or travelers from San Fernando to Dagupan to Alaminos, or vice versa in a jiffy.

“Depending on the study, we will lease or purchase the ferry service units in the Pasig river,” Mayor Alipio Fernandez told media last week in an update on the announced tourism project.
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