By BEHN FER. HORTALEZA, JR.

MANGALDAN—The provincial veterinarian’s office, the National Meat Inspection Service  and the municipal government here led by Mayor Herminio Romero staged a feast known in military parlance as a”boodle fight” yesterday with pork served as main dish in various cooked forms.

Setting up the venue at the plaza gate just across the new municipal hall for the informal public dining – minus eating utensils –, the municipal government led by Romero opened the breakfast treat to all municipal employees and officials and the public who partook of the various pork dishes including tasty lechon with gusto.

The “boodle fight” was decided upon by the OPVet, NMIS and the town officials to somehow allay public fears following reports that swine flu was prevalent among pigs in the fourth district, particularly Mangaldan where a Class AA slaughterhouse is located.  Read the rest of this entry »

By VENUS MAY H. SARMIENTO

ONLY the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) being implemented by the Department of Agrarian Reform was given the June 30 deadline, not the department per se, according to the DAR provincial office.

Provincial Agrarian Reform Officer Raul Laluan clarified Tuesday the issue during the ‘Pantongtongan Tayo’ radio program of the Philippine Information Agency over DZMQ.

“Marami na kasing nagtatanong sa akin at nagsasabing hanggang June 30 na lang kami kung hindi i-extend ng Kongreso. Let’s clear things out, CARP is just one of the many programs of DAR. Nung nag-end ang CARP nung December 30 as regards land distribution, heto nga binigyan ng extension na six months. Pero wala pang linaw kung mae-extend pa uli. But maextend man ang CARP o hindi, ang DAR andiyan pa rin,” Laluan, a lawyer, clarified.

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LINGAYEN — Typhoon Emong which battered western Pangasinan on Thursday night exacted heavy tolls on fisheries resulting in estimated losses of P666.9 million worth of loss on fish; mostly milkfish (bangus), the Provincial Disaster Coordinating Council (PDCC) of Pangasinan said on Friday.

The heavy losses were from owners of fishpens and fishcages located in the towns of Anda, Bolinao and Bani, three of the biggest procedures of milkfish throughout the province.

With the calamity, there might not be enough bangus for Metro Manila soon as Bolinao, Anda and Bani are shipping their bangus to the metropolis daily. Read the rest of this entry »

Some 100 youth and adults were given emergency employment under the food-for-work program of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), through the second highway engineering district in Pangasinan.

Second Highway District Engineer Rodolfo Dion said those given work applied to his office in Lingayen and those who qualified after screening, were endorsed to different contractors doing government projects in his area of jurisdiction.

Taken in by contractors were laborers, masons, carpenters, heavy equipment operators and engineers, Dion said.

Their employment will last till the completion of the projects of contractors that accommodated them, he said.

Dion said these workers have been deployed by contractors to beef up their current work forces and upgrading soon of Mayombo Road, all in Dagupan City.

He said the emergency employment is a job program of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to help poor families brace through the present economic crisis. (PNA)

STA MARIA – A Chinese firm will build the long-awaited irrigation component of the San Roque Multi-Purpose Project (SRMP) in Lingayen.

This was bared by Secretary Hermogenes Esperon Jr., director-general of the Presidential Management Staff, who presided over an Irrigators-Farmers Forum at the Pangasinan State University campus here on Thursday, attended by farmers from the fifth district of Pangasinan.

He said the China Machineries and Agricultural Company (CMAC) will build the re-regulating pond, a vital poart of SRMP’s irrigation component, costing P4.5 billion.

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Bayambang cop killed

LINGAYEN – The flag is on half mast at the Police Provincial Office here following the slaying of a policeman along the road in Barangay Nalsian Sur, Bayambang at 7:20 a.m. on Monday.

Slain was SPO1 Renato Valencia, a member of the Bayambang Police Station, and a native of Malasiqui town who was gunned down by two unidentified armed men riding in tandem on another motorcycle who tailed him along the way.

The suspects used a Caliber 45 pistol as evidenced by four empty shells found in the area.

Valencia’s colleagues in the Bayambang Police Station said that the victim might have been slain as he was responsible for the arrest of numerous persons involved in illegal drugs in Bayambang.

An uncompromising police officer, Valencia may have also incurred the ire of operators of illegal gambling machines which he seized as part of his mission as an intelligence officer of the Bayambang  police.

Police Provincial Director Senior Supt. Percival Barba has ordered an intensive manhunt for the suspects in the slaying of Valencia. (PNA)

LINGAYEN – Philippine Sports Commission chairman Harry Angpin has announced an ambitious plan to develop the Narciso Ramos Sports and Civic Center (NRSCC) here as the center of excellence in sports in the whole of Region 1.

Angpin made the announcement when he graced on Tuesday night the closing ceremonies of the 2009 National Open Invitational Athletic Championships attended by some 700 players, which included those from Brunei, South Korea, Chinese Taipei, Malaysia-Sandakan, Malaysia Kota Kinbalu, Singapore and Vietnam.
The meet was sponsored by the Philippines Track and Field Association (PATAFA) and jointly hosted by the provincial government of Pangasinan headed by Governor Amadio Espino Jr. and Dagupan City government headed by Mayor Alipio Fernandez Jr., who is national chairman of PATAFA.
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TWENTY towns and 10 cities in Region 1, Cordillera and Central Luzon have already signified their intention to join the “Festivals of the North”, a featured event in the 2009 Dagupan Bangus Festival” slated here from April 15 to May 1 this year.

Vice Mayor Belen Fernandez, who chairs the executive committee of this year’s festival anew, said they expect a total of up to 40 towns and cities to join the “Festival of the North”, a unique avenue where they can showcase their talents, culture and products through their colorful dance numbers. Read the rest of this entry »

THE city council of Dagupan is mulling over a proposed ordinance seeking to ban all junk food being sold to pupils and students near schools.
The proposed measure was proposed by Councilor Michael Fernandez, who noted that the junk food is not only non-nutritive but may also have been unhygienically prepared.
Councilor Jesus Canto, chairman of health of the city council, endorsed the proposed law, saying it is about time to put a stop to the peddling of junk food near schools to protect the health of school children. Read the rest of this entry »

COMING from no les than the Director-General of the Philippine National Police, it was candid enough alright.

In tagging the New People’s Army (NPA) as being involved in the production and trafficking of illegal drugs and the Al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) as being into the distribution of shabu in the countryside, PNP Chief Jesus Verzosa made no bones about also admitting that some of his personnel may be “involved directly or indirectly in trafficking of illegal drugs.”

That’s putting it properly, fair and square. Read the rest of this entry »