THE new year is known as the Year of the Dog.

Although highly regarded in the Orient or East, the dog gets unkind words and insults from the Westerners who say the dog is man’s best friend.

The English language has colorful but cruel words and thoughts for the dog – the 11th of the 12 animal in the Chinese lunar sign.

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MRS. ELLA CRUZ (not her real name) of Barangay Olympia, Makati City, has been a longtime cable subscriber. Recently, however, she has been feeling shortchanged. Not once has she missed paying her bills, she says, but cable services seemed better years ago when the signal was crystal clear. These days, Ella laments that her cable TV reception seems to have deteriorated.

Aling Ella may not know it, but legitimate subscribers like her are the real victims of the growing cable piracy problem in the country. If left unchecked, cable theft will divest more consumers like Aling Ella of quality cable service.

“Cable companies may have been bleeding financially, but it is the subscribers who are at the losing end in the cable piracy crisis,” said Elpidio Paras, vice-chairman and one-time president of the Philippine Cable Television Association (PCTA).

Paras said illegal cable connections cause a 30-to-40-percent degradation in cable signals. This means ghost images, static lines, blurred pictures, hissing noises, sudden flickers on screen and surges of static noise that can damage the TV set. Thus, legitimate subscribers are not just robed of cable signals; they are incurring other potential losses as well.

“The worst thing is, many subscribers out there don’t know they’ve been had,” Paras pointed out. “They are virtually paying for other people’s illegal cable connection and they only complain when the signal has become so bad.”

Paras added cable theft in Metro Manila have become so rampant that the number of illegal connections have surpassed the total number of subscribers of all the cable companies combined.

“Legitimate subscribers are paying for these illegal connections and they get nothing in return,” Paras said.

That is why cable companies are urging their subscribers to report incidents of cable theft as well as bogus linemen offering free cable in their neighborhood.

Paras said it’s very easy to spot an illegal cable connection.

“One tell-tale sign is the presence of multi-channel splitters in the electric splitters. We keep our cable connections seamless, so all you can see is one cable wire connecting the subscriber to the main cable line. We don’t do octopus connections.”

Subscribers, Paras added, should call their cable company’s hotline whenever they see a splitter. “Subscribers should take part in the battle against illegal connections because ultimately, they are the ones being robbed, not the cable companies,” he said.

LINGAYEN – Gov. Victor E. Agbayani has forged a multi-sectoral partnership for the establishment of an Institute of Environmental Governance (IEG) in the province to boost efforts for environmental protection and conservation.

Agbayani explained that under the Local Government Code or Republic Act, local government units are given a broader role in enforcing and implementing environment-related laws and projects.

“With increased power comes additional responsibilities,” he said, as he called for a mechanism to provide training and capability building for local executives and local policy makers in order for them to effectively perform their given mandate.

Among the devolved functions are those on pollution control, solid waste management, law enforcement, management of communal forest, control over small scale mining, fisheries management, and environment protection.

The governor has tapped the assistance of several concerned agencies, notably the Pangasinan State University (PSU), DENR and Tanggol Kalikasan in setting up the IEG at the PSU campus in Lingayen town.

Aside from the governor other signatories to the memorandum of agreement were Dr. Rodolfo Asanion, PSU president, Engr. Roberto Verzola, president of Tanggol Kalikasan; Dr. Andre Uycheoco of the Sagip Lingayen Gulf Project; Dean Rolando Cerezo of the PSU College of Fisheries, and Provincial Agriculturist Jose Almendares.

The training design comprises basic environmental science, relevant environmental policies, applicable management models, basic enforcement skills, and integrated area planning. Almendares said the institute will cater to two levels: one level for barangay officials and another for municipal and provincial officials.

The first batch of trainees was composed of 24 participants from Anda, Bani, Bolinao, Alaminos City, and from the PNP Provincial Mobile Group. (Jennifer Domantay/PIO)

By DANNY O. SAGUN
PIA-Pangasinan Infocenter

SEVENTEEN claimants to the controversy-laden Pindangan Estate in Alcala town finally got their land titles Tuesday in time for the town’s 130th founding anniversary celebration.

The Pindangan Estate, an agricultural land of some 491 hectares touching four barangays in the town, has been ruled a government property some 82 years of conflict between the original owners and later the government and occupants/claimants.

The property was foreclosed by the defunct Agricultural Bank of the Philippines when the original owner, Don Francisco Gonzales, failed to settle his loan obtained in November 1922 with the then government bank. His daughter Cristina, married to Swiss national, Ernest Schenkel, tried in March 1923 to redeem the property thru repurchase on installment basis.

Pending consideration of her application, she applied for a provisionary permit to occupy and cultivate the land which was granted. On October 8, 1923 she filed a lease application but was not granted because of the fact that she had become a Swiss citizen. On November 28, 1923, the land became a government property when the period of her right for redemption expired. She then formed a corporation, Cristina Gonzales, Inc. and filed another lease application with the Director of Lands.

Meanwhile some 93 families occupied the land for themselves even before government took hold of it. The claimants represented by lawyer Cipriano Primicias, protested against the lease application of the corporation, but the agriculture Secretary on December 23. 1926 dismissed their appeal.

The Director of Lands on August 5, 1932, meanwhile, cancelled the corporation’s deed of repurchase. The agriculture secretary however reversed the director’s order and granted Cristina her second repurchase application for which she paid P5,084,62 as first installment. The move only courted more court litigations between and among the claimants that spanned several decades. A group of 178 claimants emerged as well as another group of 302. The land controversy eventually reached the Supreme Court.

On May 15, 1980, the high court resolved to terminate with finality all judicial litigations and authorized the Director of Lands and the Secretary to determine adjudication and distribution of the estate to legitimate claimants and occupants. A modular survey was conducted four years later. On January 18, 1993, the DENR Secretary Angel Alcala issued Administrative Order No. 3 to judiciously implement the 1980 SC decision.

In May 1996, a field team set guidelines to determine the value or cost of the subdivided residential lots and to subject them to bidding. Also in May 1996, Transfer Certificate of Title No. 151 in the name of Cristina Gonzales was transferred to the government with the director of lands as estate administrator. The controversy did not end though as a local court issued a status quo order. The agrarian reform committee of the House of Representatives also held its own inquiry. An inter-agency task force, which was recommended by the House agrarian committee, met with the opposing groups, the 178 claimants and the 302 group to settle their disputes amicably. Several meetings followed between the DENR, the municipal government, and the affected parties for the final resolution of the controversy.

The sangguniang bayan also passed a resolution asking the DENR to finally distribute the property to legitimate claimants as ordered by the high court. Initially, 20 residential lots were approved fro distribution. A group tried desperately to delay the proceedings as if filed a petition for mandamus before the Villasis regional trial court but Judge Manuel Pastor Jr. dismissed it paving the way for the publication and posting of notices for the sale of government lands.

On August 1, 2005, initial bidding for the 20 lots was conducted at the community environment and natural resources office in Dagupan City. Only 17 were bid out because the three supposed bidders had no money for publication in the newspapers. The DENR meanwhile continues to process applications for the other claimants, it was gathered. DENR Regional Executive Director Victor Ancheta and Mayor Manuel Collado led the awarding ceremony Tuesday at the municipal gym coinciding with Alcala Day, the 130th founding anniversary of the town.

THE Task Force on Comprehensive Survey, Recovery and Management of Public Lands (TFCSRMPL) and Task Force on Housing and Squatter Relocation (TFHSR) of the Dagupan City government met recently with the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist (OPAg) in Lingayen to explore the possibility of reacquiring the Inarangan lake that straddles barangays Malued and Lasip Chico.

City Mayor Benjamin S. Lim wants to restore the area into an eco-park and explore its vast tourism potential and environmental significance.

The estimated 12-hectare facility which is under the management of the provincial government of Pangasinan through the OPAg, has been converted into a fish farm.

Based on the report of the two city task forces however, the over-all physical facilities of the farm now require immediate restoration and further improvement of its operations to truly function as a demo farm.

Problems on informal settlement, encroachment and titling have been observed in the area.

The guard houses are no longer functioning even as power and electric installation need urgent upgrading. Sserious improvement on rearing nursery and hatchery ponds are also required.

More dismayingly, the farm or office is flood prone and consequently, all records pertaining to the farm operations have been ruined by the flood.

In a letter to Governor Victor Agbayani, Vice Mayor Alvin Fernandez said the city is concerned over the proliferation of informal settlers in the area which is within the territorial jurisdiction of Dagupan City.

“We want to explore the possibility of a mutual undertaking and management of the facility or possible turnover of the administration of the area under the provisions of Republic Act 7160 on devolution,” according to Fernandez.

City Agriculture Officer Emma Molina said documents collated from the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) show the Inarangan Lake was leased from the city government in 1963 for 25 years.

“If that is the case, the lease should have ended in 1988 and it is probably the proper time for the city to reacquire the lake,” TFHSR vice chairman, Engr. Rodolfo Fernandez said.
TFCSRMPL Chair Atty. Teofilo Gallang said if the present area is not productive, it will be best if it is turned over to the city to augment the limited space within which it is trying to cramp its numerous programs.

EIGHTEEN-year-old Arnel Florentino of barangay Cataray, Bayambang was almost at hid death throes – cyanotic, very faint heartbeat and his skin was cold and clammy – when he was brought into the Region 1 Medical Center (R1MC) around 3:30 pm of August 20. He had been bitten by a poisonous snake in his left ankle while cooking at the Quitaleg Dormitory on Posadas Avenue, in San Carlos City.

The deadly effects of the snake bite was ravaging his body and a hospital in the city to where he was first rushed, decided to refer his case to the R1MC after worried relatives noted eh was going numb and dizzy despite emergency medications. It was a timely decision; by the time he reached R1MC, his condition had turned for the worse.

He was admitted at the R1MC at 5 p.m. of the same day. Doctors quickly intubated him and hooked him to a cardiac monitor. Dr. Jesus T. Canto, medical center chief, after being apprised of the patient’s progressively worsening condition and knowing time was of the essence, ordered the administration of cobra anti-venom which was readily available at the hospital pharmacy on the now-violet-skinned and totally numbed Arnel.

A toxicologist was also called in for additional orders and closer monitoring of Arnel’s medical reactions at the ward. Ten hours after he was admitted in near-death condition, the patient woke up. Seven days after, the patient was ambulatory, coherent and “miraculously without any neurologic deficits,” his attending physicians reported, and was discharged good as new.

Arnel consumed 25 ampules of cobra anti-venom (15 ampules provided by the hospital pharmacy and 10 were additional requests fro the Regional Institute for Tropical Medicine) all given for free.

Based on previous cases, Arnel’s medical condition at time of admission was a “Glasscow 3 status” where a patient usually recovers but with neurologic deficits or mental lapses. In his particular case, however, thanks to the quick and alert staff and management of R1MC led by Canto, the patient went home as if nothing happened, all his faculties and senses intact.

Canto said he had always insisted on having standby medicines for such rare medical cases as snake bites at the pharmacy, despite the cost and potency preservation requirements for such. “Nothing beats anticipation and preparation,” the R1MC chief said.

True enough, the R1MC records show the anti-venom ampules have saved not just Arnel’s extreme case but that of seven other since August last year, all victims of snake bites: Robert Ydio, 58, of Mangaldan; Sally Castro, 17 at the pedia ward; Jimmy Bajo, 41, Mangaldan, who was treated twice on September 25, 2004 and again lat April 25, this year; Rolando Yangao at the surgical ward; Marvin Espinosa, 21, medical ward; Bernabe Nibre, 58, of San Fernando, La Union; and Paulino Dulay at the emergency room.

SOME doctors are themselves abetting the proliferation of counterfeit medicines which are being marketed clandestinely by a syndicate.

Dr. Reynaldo Jacinto, chief of the Standards Regulation Division of BFAD in Region 1, said if doctors are not buying counterfeit medicines to be sold to their patients at higher margin of profit, there would be no demand for these.

Jacinto and Renato Padilla, Food and Drugs Regulation Officer III, were in Dagupan since Sunday to help the National Bureau of Investigation inventory the P3 million worth of counterfeit medicines seized from an Indian national and his driver along the road in barangay Tapuac, Dagupan City last Saturday.

There were at least 84 items of pharmaceutical products seized from Ramchand Dayaldas, 46, of Lubao, Pampanga: and Reynaldo Lozano, 41, of Guagua, Pampanga, all originating from the United States, Canada, China, India, Thailand and Pakistan, and possibly smuggled through the country’s backdoors.

Lawyer Jose Doloiras,, chief of the NBI in Pangasinan, said the suspects will be charged with violation of Republic Act No. 8203 as these were imported, unregistered medicines with counterpart brands in the Philippines; and violations of RA 3720 for selling/distributing pharmaceutical products without license to operate as drug distributors and for selling/distributing pharmaceuticals that are adulterated and unbranded.

They will also be charged with violating the anti-drugs law because among the items seized were several vials of valium which is a restricted and unregulated drugs and use or possession of the same is legal only through doctors’ prescription.

Jacinto said couriers of the syndicate are selling the counterfeit medicines to the doctors at a much, much lower price. In turn, they sell these to their patients at a price almost the same as the genuine ones that can be sourced from drugstores, thus raking in huge profit from the transaction.

“The modus operandi is, the suppliers first offer the counterfeit medicines to doctors. And when these are already being widely used, that is the time they put their products in the drugstores for the patients’ succeeding purchases,” he said.

Jacinto said this is the reason the BFAD decided to seek the assistance of municipal and city governments so that they will pass ordinances banning local medical clinics from selling counterfeit medicines to their patients.

“This is because we are in a peculiar situation wherein a medical clinic is not licensed by the department of health. The drug store is licensed by the DoF through the BFAD whereas the medical clinic is not,” he said.

He clarified that what is licensed by way of a business permit issued by the mayor is the treatment service of the medical clinic. Such clinic, he said, is not supposed to sell drugs and neither is the doctor allowed to sell drugs.

As embodied in the Generic Act enacted by Congress during the term of Health Secretary Alfredo Bengzon, doctors are prohibited from selling or dispensing medicines except prescribing the same to their patients after they had diagnosed the ailments.

The prescription should be brought to the drug store where the medicine can be bought. A person can be charged under Republic 8203 if he can not show any prescription, invoice or receipt for counterfeit medicines found in his or her possession, Jacinto emphasized. (PNA)

By Behn Fer. Hortaleza, Jr.

IT never ceases to amuse us, this familiar scene of a mayor or governor seated behind his desk patiently, if condescendingly, listening to all sorts of problems, personal and very personal, from a succession of visitors. Very early in the morning, they all come “to see the mayor” even if clearly, some of the woes they bring with them are best presented to someone else in the municipal or city hierarchy – the administrator, the engineer, the health officer, the social worker, and yes, the barangay captain.

To everyone troubled and baffled, the mayor is the “final solution”—what he says (sometimes even how he gestures, that’s for the truly fanatical) eases all the trouble and pain, no matter that he more often than not delegates the problem-solving anyway to subordinates.

This is partly the reason that we have, since we assumed a senior level in the rocking media world, tried as best we could not to step inside mayor’s offices, if we could help it. The scene of so many people seeking the mayor’s attention all at one time triggers this little voice within us to take only the minutest fraction of the former’s time as soon as we are granted an audience with him or her in consideration of the waiting crowd.

It’s almost too “criminal” to keep so many others waiting in line for that much-awaited mayor’s word – or smile – with them while you take your own sweet time shooting the breeze with him.
And into this whole busy milieu comes the ubiquitous and “solicitous” mediamen and mediawomen whose various body languages, while trying as best they could to catch the town executive’s welcoming eye, would have been such a delight to sketch or draw for the late caricature artist Gene Sendaydiego.

We can’t blame some municipal executives really for getting the creeps when a whole army of our media colleagues, men and women, descend into their offices to mix with their already overflowing number of callers – this, on an almost daily basis! And to think that only a few of these really belong to legit media outlets or organizations which would have made time spent with them worth their busy schedule.

Some mayors though, like Lingayen’s Jonas Castaneda, Urdaneta’s Amadito R. Perez, Jr., Alaminos’ Nani Braganza, Bayambang’s Leo Boy de Vera, even neophyte politician Jinky Zaplan of Sta. Barbara, we hear, (with pointers from her hubby, multi-term ex-mayor Lito) and Sto. Tomas’ former mayor Bebot and incumbent mayora Vivien Villar have mastered the art of, uh, “media accommodation” well enough they can live with it. No wonder they’re media darlings, anytime.

Word is that Malasiqui Mayor Ponsing Soriano who once got fed up with the gall of some mediapersons now treads on and treats media presence more sparingly to avoid going thru a repeat of the abuso de confiansa by the local pests, er, Press which he denounced in harsh tones once before.

Indeed, some uninitiated mayors now feel, whenever the media comes around and loiters — yes, loiters — that their generic name is Angelo dela Cruz – wearing the orange shirt on the Internet video with his Iraqi captors.

Still wonder why some of them have been going on hide n’ seek games when they see the familiar media faces coming?

AUGUST 17, 1985.

IT actually started out on that date as the Pioneer Herald, the product of a journalistic “itch” of the late colorful newsman Herminio A. Manantan teaming up with the late Dominador P. Navarro, former editor of The Weekly Reporter, the first offset-printed newspaper in Pangasinan in the 70s. The duo contracted then banker-printer Delfin Tandoc for the printing of a forgettable number of copies at the latter’s Mayombo printing press. When Manantan died, Navarro and Tandoc took in Behn Fer. Hortaleza, Jr., who in turn scouted for a financier and found it in his former University of Pangasinan pal and newly-passed lawyer Rodrigo V. Coquia. The editorial office was located, on Coquia’s voluntary offer, at the lawyer-trader’s feeds supply store along Burgos St., this city..By this time, the newspaper had been renamed The Pangasinan Examine with Tandoc still the printer.

The partnership was short-lived though and Coquia, after a few issues of the newspaper, went out.

Left with nothing but their editorial zeal and a few pesos for printing payment, Navarro and Hortaleza accepted Tandoc’s proffer to be part of the newspaper. Years of smooth operation followed until a parting of ways ensued between Tandoc on one hand, and Navarro and Hortaleza, on the other after the former took in more and more staff members whose idea of newspapering did not exactly jibe with Navarro and Hortaleza’s own. Hortaleza was first to leave when the situation became really uncomfortable for him; Navarro stayed on for a few months more only to decide to quit the “team” too.

The two struck out on their own carrying their Pangasinan Examiner banner even as Tandoc insisted on using the same masthead, By that time, the late writer Armando R. Ravanzo, advertising lady Evangeline S. Estrada and budding reporter-columnist Danny O. Sagun had joined the Navarro-Hortaleza group, boosting both its editorial and business wheels.

A messy court battle followed that led all the way to the Court of Appeals where the wise magistrates, recognizing that the name Examiner was “generic,” ruled that Navarro and Hortaleza’s paper can retain use of the brand name “Pangasinan” and Tandoc’s, the name “Regional”, complete with distinct color code for each: green masthead for the first and blue for the latter.

Thus did the Pangasinan Examiner and Regional Examiner came into peaceful co-existence.

The emergence of more newspapers in the province and region using the generic name “Examiner” prompted an editorial reexamination of options, considering that a number of these “Examiners” were giving journalism a bad name. After a careful weighing of the pros and cons, the Pangasinan Examiner was rechristened The Pangasinan Star by Hortaleza, then already wielding much of the blue pencil job in the paper as Navarro became too busy as general manager of the Lingayen Water District, managing to submit only an occasional column when the inspiration hits him. The paper’s new name was registered with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and re-entered as such at the Postal Office on May, 1992.

Thus began the saga of The Pangasinan Star, getting the right mix of editorial and advertising people on a trial-and- error basis until it achieved a steady keel by 2000, or a little after that year.

TODAY, AUGUST 17, 2005, minus the cheerful company of Navarro who has written 30 and had joined other newspaper buddies like Armando Ravanzo in the Great Beyond, the Pangasinan Star runs a weekly regular course with both old hands like Hortaleza, Estrada and Sagun, old but new hire Gabriel “Ging” Cardinoza, and newbloods like Venus May H. Sarmiento, Sheila H. Aquino, Christopher “Butch” Uka, Ilet Breguera, Esther H. Rivera, Miriam R. Abulencia, Raul M. Hortaleza, Roland Naoe, Jerald Chuson and Rod Saingan pooling talents and resources together to keep the Star shining.

Twenty long years of independent publishing, beholden to no political figure, owing allegiance to no civic or business entity and existing purely on its own creative juices and business acumen, The Pangasinan Star will probably celebrate its Golden Anniversary yet.
After all, come to think of it, that’s just some 30 short years away. Peanuts!

Seaweeds industry thriving

By DANNY O. SAGUN
(PIA- Pangasinan)

LINGAYEN —The seaweeds industry in five western Pangasinan towns is starting to reap dividends for the growers, the office of provincial agriculturist said Thursday.

Some 15 fisherfolk-families from the town of Dasol, Anda, Infanta, Sual and Bolinao tried their luck on the fledgling industry starting in April last year and found it viable in their areas.

In Dasol, the Eastern Osmena Fishermen Organziation started the project on a hectare using both the long line and the lantay methods. Most of their produce was replanted to expand their project and some of these were marketed during the Seaweeds Trading in Pangasinan last Feburary 20, Ugaban reported.

The Baquioen Fisherfolk Association of barangay Baquioen in Sual also embarked on the project the same month last year but in a smaller area of .019 hectare. The produce was also used for expansion and some of it marketed during the trade fair.

Two fisherfolk groups started the same project in the island town of Anda last March — the Sablig Barangay Multi-Sectoral Association and the Macalaeng Samahang Multi-Sectoral ng Barangay – using long line method in growing seaweeds on a hectare plantation.

The Samahang Pangkalikasan ng Arnedo, Inc. in Bolinao meanwhile began its own project in January while the Los Pescadores Association of Poblacion, Infanta began theirs last only last May.

A similar seaweeds project of the Rabon Fisherfolk Association in San Fabian town which started in February was not as successful however due to problems on salinity of water, Ugaban disclosed. She clarified however that technically, the seaweeds industry in that coastal town is viable, quoting experts from the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic resources.

She noted that a nearby river which empties into the Lingayen Gulf dilutes the seawater at the project site. Seaweeds need higher salinity to thrive , she observed.

A similar situation exists in other nearby coastal towns of Lingayen and Binmaley and in Dagupan City so no one has yet dared venture on the seaweeds project, said to be a booming export industry in southern Philippines.

Seaweeds are processed into several finished products such as toothpaste.

Experts noted a common disease called “ice-ice” affecting seaweeds. Poaching, fish grazing and infestation of epiphytes are the other problems confronting the industry, she said.

If successful, growers could realize some 70 metric tons per hectare in one cropping of 60 days or 280 MT annual production in four cropping (wet weight) or 40 MT (dry weight).

Selling price of seaweeds is P25 per kilo.