HAS the current national crisis really become so malignant it has turned provincemates into enemies?

Congressman and ousted House Speaker Jose C. de Venecia and Presidential Anti-Smuggling Group (PASG) head Usec. Antonio A. Villar, Jr. , Pangasinenses both, appear to be the latest pair of protagonists ‘infected’ by the unraveling national bitter drama sparked by the National Broadband Network-STE deal.

In a press conference with local mediamen Saturday on his way to inaugurate several municipal projects in the fourth district, De Venecia issued another one of his calibrated response at what he said were Malacanang’s “desperate” moves to divert the issue from the NBN-ZTE bribery scandal to his alleged link to some oil smugglers. Read more

IT is probably correct to say, as it has often been said in these people-powered times in the country, that Manila is not the Philippines and vice versa.

This, in light of the brewing ferment in the nation’s capital where oppositionists are again marching to force the sitting President to resign in the wake of charges of massive and unbridled corruption while the provinces are largely unaffected and on wait-and-see mode.

What is behind this marked and contrasting attitudes of burning involvement in Manila and quiet indifference in the countryside?
Maybe, resignation to the fate or fatalism on the part of the rural masses? Perhaps contentment among people in the provinces?
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BEHN FER. HORTALEZA, JR,.

SO FAR, it’s just a plan, alright?

But surely, creating a novel Chinatown in Dagupan sounds romantic enough, considering that the Chinese entrepreneurs of the city have been here for as long as those now in their late fifties can remember.

The Chinese-owned stores in Dagupan have come as huge and imposing as the CSI and Magic mall chains and as modest and sturdy as the Botica China and Kwong Tay and Sanitary bakeries downtown. Their managements have been passed on from one generation to the next and while the heirs have imbibed the native Dagupenos’ culture and street ways, they basically adhere to the cool efficiency of the mostly Mandarin community. Read more

By DANNY O. SAGUN

OUR attention shifted to a group of several men in black T-shirts with the word ‘MARSHALL’ boldly printed at the back who showed up suddenly at the People’s Astrodome in barangay Tapuac at the start of a medical mission last month. Those people became visible anew just last week for another medical mission.

‘Where did these people come from?’ was everyone’s query. There were no such Marshalls during the time of former hizzoner Benjie Lim. A regular security guard was stationed at the Astrodome during those days. Where indeed did they come from? Are they regular employees of City Hall? Are they contractuals or casuals? Read more

Nen Mario F, Karateka

NATAN siguro, mas babaleg so tsansa daray taga komapat a distrito ya makapitoyaw ed inad-aro dan Kongrisman Dyo de Benesya. Mas naynay dala nanengneng so momokatan nen Mama Dyo ta walaan laya na mas malublubay ya iskedyul parad ibisita to ed bar-barangay, binaley-baley da.

A singa ginawa to ed sayay imbeneg a samba.

Sanen Sabado wadman ya ininagora to so “Fishery Academy” dimad kompawn na BFAR ed Bonuan, sakey a proyekton baleg so iter ton benepisyo ed sayan probinsiya tayon nabibilay ed panagdalus tan panagsigay. Nen Simba’y kabkabuasan , Read more

LINGAYEN – It was an unexpected victory for Hannah Sue Eming of Apayao State University as she romped off with the Miss Solid North 2008 crown last Wednesday night at the Pangasinan State University (PSU) Convention Center in Lingayen besting 13 other candidates from various state universities and colleges in Regions I, II and the Cordillera Autonomous Region

All of eighteen summers, Hannah came like a whiff of fresh wind, smartly and confidently answering the final question tossed to the Magic 7 finalists to capture the nod of jurors and spectators.
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By DANNY O. SAGUN
DAGUPAN City is fast becoming a favorite place for medical missions by U. S.-based Filipino groups — in only about a month’s time, four groups have come to the city.

The latest to undertake a medical mission here was the Philippine Medical Association of Greater St. Louis in Misouri which treated more than 2,000 patients for four days at the People’s Astrodome starting last Monday.
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THE 2008 Ilocos Region Athletic Association meet opened last Sunday at the Narciso Ramos Sports and Civic Center (NRSCC) with some 6,000 participating athletes from various public schools both elementary and secondary levels in the entire region vying for the gold medals.

Gov. Amado T. Espino, Jr., together with the members of the board headed by Vice Governor Marlyn Primicias-Agabas and some local officials, welcomed the young athletes as he reiterated his call to genuine sportsmanship and sports excellence
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TAYUG—Four armed men, believed to be bodyguards of the town’s vice mayor, were arrested by the police while they were in the vicinity of the legislative building here at 11:30 a.m. of Thursday.

Arrested by a team from the 10th Police Mobile Group led by Superintendent Tommy Cabigas and the Tayug Police led by Superintendent Roberto Vocal were Joven Bautista, Rogelio Alcaneses, Sammy Rimas and Carlo Itchon.

Policemen seized from each of them a caliber .45 pistol.
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CAMP BGEN OSCAR M. FLORENDO, La Union—The drug problem in the Ilocos-Pangasinan region is now on the wane if court records showing lesser number of cases being filed now are any indication.

Judge Victor Viloria of the Regional Trial Court in La Union noted that there are now lesser cases being filed in court for violation of the Anti-Drugs Law.

This is not only true in the province of La Union but also in the provinces of Pangasinan, Ilocos Sur and Ilocos Norte, he said.
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