THOUSANDS spent Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Saturday at the Tondaligan in Dagupan, savoring the vastly improved rest and recreation area by the beach initiated by the city government.

The city government jointly launched on Wednesday Oplan Semana Santa and Oplan Baywatch to ensure a stress-free long holiday weekend for residents and visitors alike.

The beachgoers started coming in on Monday, their numbers peaking on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The huge crowd gave the owners and operators of the newly-built huts and sheds in the park a good earning weekend.
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POOR Cebu archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal, now he’s brought it upon himself, this current mood of disrespect for his ecclesiastical authority. For one steeped in the psychology of human behavior being a shepherd of men, he appears to have overreacted on the Lozada phenomenon and unilaterally‘decided for his faithfuls’ when he could have best left them to discern things for themselves.

Vidal has done a fatal mistake barring any Catholic mass in Cebu for star corruption witness Rodolfo Noel Lozada in the latter’s current guest speaker mode that’s taking him around the nation.
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By BEHN FER. HORTALEZA, JR.

SOMETHING that’s closest to the gut of Pinoys now threatens to put everything going on in this country– NBN-ZTE deal, Lozada’s crusade, Lakas-Kampi merger, Villarosa’s acquittal, the smuggling issue brouhaha between congressmen and PASG chief Bebot Villar , typhoons, even Ben’s to die for ‘borjer’ – in the back burner.

Rice, the staple, the cereal that most Pinoys can’t do without in a day, now looms in scarce supply. And that is bad news, real bad news.

The administration, quite naturally, won’t say it directly but the telltale signs are there: We’re importing rice from Vietnam, the President has suddenly allocated a whooping P1.6 billion to the Department of Agriculture to boost rice production and the grains agency, the National Food Administration, is nervously twitching as it calculates how long the available stocks in its bodegas could last.. Read the rest of this entry »

By DANNY O. SAGUN

IT’s now clear to us why the third district representative in the House of Representatives voted in favor of a motion to declare the Speaker position vacant that eventually led to the ouster of Congressman Joe de Venecia as House leader. That GMA visit in Malasiqui last Tuesday noon said it all.

The President acknowledged that support given her by Rachel Arenas during that crucial period when ties, relationships, loyalties, etc. were put to the test.
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Nen MARIO F. KARATEKA

MARAKEP so pinawayan na impamasimbalo ed andawes na Tondaligan.

No makapasyar kayo natan ditan ed Bonuan et alay abig na saramay balon “tourist sheds” o siroman tan painawaan.

Simpli, gawad pinaor tan kawayan labat (walamet iray pigaran sementado) tan kada pigaran metros et walay tuaton gripo (shallow wells) a nayarin pambegnawan daray totoo. Walamet iray kalutan (grill) ya akatarya kada “shed” tan magalang, maoyamo iray managbantay na sarayan syeds. (Singa siniminar irayo amo, a pare Ike?) Read the rest of this entry »

By DANNY O. SAGUN

SAN FABIAN – A barangay captain who ran for mayor in the last local elections was abducted Tuesday morning by unidentified armed men on a road leading to the Philippine Tourism Authority resort in barangay Bolasi at around 8 a. m..

In a radio interview, police provincial director Sr. Supt. Isagani Nerez noted that oddly, Villegas had no bodyguards when his kidnappers flagged down his Nissan Terano and dragged him onto a waiting vehicle.
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WHO kidnapped the controversial and “colorful” Barangay Chairman Roland Villegas of Anonang, San Fabian?

The provincial office of the Philippine National Police said none of the law enforcement agencies operating in the province appear to know of the well-planned abduction of the barangay official whose personal career was controversial with some scrapes with the law on occasions.

Villegas was taken at gunpoint in barangay Bolasi on a road going to the Philippine Tourism Authority resort in San Fabian at about Read the rest of this entry »

SAN CARLOS CITY – A policeman assigned with the Dagupan City Police was shot dead by an enraged security guard in barangay Matagdem, this city after the latter found the police officer in bed with his wife before dawn of Maundy Thursday.

SPO2 Jimmy Cornel, assigned with the police community precinct 6 in Bonuan was lying in a pool of his own blood at the guard’s house when police investigators arrived. He was apparently surprised by his attacker while still in bed and was unable to fight back.
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MALASIQUI—There will be no rice shortage in the Ilocos Region this year, an official of the Department of Agriculture field regional office said.

DA Field Regional Director Cipriano Santiago said weather permitting, the region will be able to harvest its target of 1.7 million metric tons of rice in the coming wet season.

He said the 1.7 million metric tons will be the region’s contribution to the nation that could help boost the country’s rice stockpile.
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LINGAYEN—The provincial government is not seeking any loan at this time.

This was clarified by Provincial Administrator Rafael Baraan who branded as ‘disinformation’ talks insisting that the provincial government is set to secure a P950 million letter of credit with the Land Bank of the Philippines.

Baraan said the P950 million letter of credit is being offered not only by Land Bank but also by the Philippine National Bank, Postal Savings Bank and Philippine Veterans Bank.
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