By DANNY O. SAGUN

PEDESTRIANS can now hardly walk thru the sidewalks in the downtown area. Ambulant vendors and store owners alike have occupied almost all available spaces forcing pedestrians to use the roadsides. In fact they are forced to walk almost in the middle of the road since the sides are occupied by vehicles which are not parked properly mainly because of the presence of vendors.

We cannot help but again ask City Hall what happened to law enforcement. We are returning to the chaotic road conditions of old –yes, during those times when you had to spend half an hour to an hour negotiating the way from traffic post No. 1 to city hall. Read the rest of this entry »

By DANNY O. SAGUN

FORMER agriculture Secretary William Dar had this to say about the apparently successful marketing pitch for jathropa, (locally known as tagumbao) touted to be an alternative source of fuel:. Its fruits or specifically its seeds can be processed into biodiesel as per initial studies.

Dar, who heads a research institute on alternative fuels in India, revealed however that knowledge on the plant as a major agricultural crop is sorely lacking yet as research on it has barely begun. Yet, he noted, there have been plans to grow the plant massively. Read the rest of this entry »

By DANNY O. SAGUN

THAT first order by Gov. Amado T. Espino to have the Pangasinan language the primary tongue in transactions within the provincial Capitol is apparently not being taken seriously.

These days, Tagalog or a mix of English and Filipino are mainly used by the people there, even by officials themselves, who should lead their staff in using widely their native tongue. Read the rest of this entry »

By DANNY O. SAGUN

GOV. Amado Espino faced the Pangasinan media last Friday, his first press conference after taking over Urduja House. He must have felt it was time to rub elbows again with his media friends after holing himself up in his office to be seen only by people close to him and the department heads — a move that elicited negative reactions especially from journalists covering the Capitol beat.

He said had reasons to distance himself from the media for the past 100 days. A big task is put in his shoulders so that he needs no distractions but concentration in his work. The task was so Read the rest of this entry »

By DANNY O. SAGUN

CAN”T the present provincial administration move on without constantly bringing up the alleged “sins” of its predecessor in its public pronouncements?

We are not alone in this observation.

It appears that Gov. Amado Espino cannot help but take a snipe at former Governor, now Congressman, Victor Agbayani every time he opens his mouth to talk on provincial government projects. He issued a mouthful in his first two weeks in office Read the rest of this entry »

By DANNY O. SAGUN

THERE’S no stopping anymore the October 29 barangay and sangguniang kabataan polls. Only incumbent barangay captains are actually desperately moving for another postponement for obvious reason. Everyone else want the election to push thru.

We just hope the coming political exercise will not be as bloodstained as the past May 14 polls. It’s likely that protagonists in many barangays are relatives so that the campaign would not be as heated as in other political contests.
Read the rest of this entry »

By DANNY O SAGUN

IT’S now more apparent that the barangay elections as well as the sangguniang kabataan elections scheduled on October 29 would push thru. The two houses of Congress indeed tackled proposals to postpone the polls anew but failed to get its act together. While the lower House appeared favorable to it, the Senate was lukewarm to the idea.

Congress is about to go on a recess leaving very little time for the legislature to deliberate on the matter. Time therefore is not on the side of the proponents. Only six senators so far have signified willingness to vote in favor of the proposed postponement. And the chair of election reforms, Senator Richard Gordon, is abroad at the moment, as well as several members of the upper chamber. Read the rest of this entry »

By DANNY O. SAGUN

NOW we know why traffic is getting problematic anew on M.H. del Pilar street, Arellano street and A. B. Fernandez Avenue east. Those bus entry and exit points which are within the prohibited zones, i. e., within the 100-meter-radius from road intersections, have been opened anew.

It seems the public order and safety office under Robert Erfe-Mejia has melted under pressure, by whom and for whom we don’t know. That city ordinance regulating establishment of PUV terminals had long been there but it was only during the Lim administration that it was fully observed.
Read the rest of this entry »

By DANNY O. SAGUN

HAD Dagupan city engineer Virginia Rosario come to our Pantongtongan Tayo public affairs program last Tuesday over Radyo ng Bayan, she could have clarified issues surrounding the controversial stoppage of construction work at the Magsaysay area as well as other burning issues involving her office.

We could not fault her representative, engineer Ogie Ventenilla, for his very cautious general answers to our questions. Rosario was reportedly scheduled to attend a meeting at City Hall that day so that she instead sent Ogie to our weekly radio program.
Read the rest of this entry »

By DANNY O. SAGUN

SIX years after the ouster of the very popular Erap Estrada, majority of the people seem already resigned on what he is now. Except for his die-hard supporters, the public took the guilty verdict as it is. No violent reaction so far. In fact, there were more policemen in the streets than rallyists-supporters of the deposed president.

Seven of the 10 friends we texted for their reactions on the guilty verdict shared a common sentiment: that justice still exists in this country and that no one is above the law. We suppose that such observation is true to majority of
Pangasinenses who went on with their daily activities when the sentence was being rendered by the Sandiganbayan. Read the rest of this entry »