LINGAYEN - Maramba Boulevard Park, one of Lingayen’s earliest landmarks being the gateway to the seat of the provincial Capitol, will finally be given a much needed facelift since its rehabilitation three decades ago.

Provincial Engineer Divinia de Leon said the two-lane boulevard was rehabilitated during Gov. Aguedo Agbayani’s term as shown by a 1974 photo.

“What the father did, the son is also doing,” de Leon said referring to what incumbent Governor Victor Agbayani is implementing.

About P11 million plus was contracted for the said project and another P15 million worth is being done by administration to save money. Read more

OVER P400, 000 in cash prizes and special awards are at stake in the grandest and most glamorous beauty pageant in Pangasinan, the Miss Magic 2006.

Twenty young ladies will vie for the title as they take the center stage of the Urdaneta Sports Center in Urdaneta City on May 13.

The ladies were presented recently to the Pangasinan’s tri-media at Magicclub in Dagupan City for the selection of the “Darling of the Press,” one of the special awards of the beauty pageant. Read more

Mayor Benjie Lim’s threat

By Ermin Garcia Jr.

READ the indignant reaction of a piqued Dagupan City Mayor Benjie Lim to two of PUNCH’s stories in last issue before you read this item to understand the context.

***

So, here’s my take on his reaction.

1. The PUNCH published the story on the presence of coliform bacillus in the city’s rivers as one might expect from an independent newspaper without malice but with only public interest in mind. The PUNCH truly regrets the misplaced reaction of City Mayor Benjamin Lim, for instead of acting on the alarming message that has serious implications on the environment and on the health of his constituency with dispatch, he chose to shoot the messenger.

But this typical knee-jerk reaction of a traditional politico does not surprise us anymore for it goes with the territory of making public officials account for their acts of negligence and abuse.

2. On his reaction to the “small party” story, the mayor found nothing wrong with facts cited in the story but evidently merely took offense with the use of the word “small” which he interpreted to belittle his efforts. Read more

Festivals at people’s expense

if one were to witness how fiestas and festivals are observed in Dagupan City, one would begin to wonder why anyone would make us believe that the country’s economy is in shambles. Between the earsplitting roar of engines of long motorcades that make a worsening oil crisis look like a big joke, and the wide array of colorful costumes donned by street dancers, to the showbiz galore and pop bands playing, the air is unmistakably full of the “live happily today” spirit like there is no tomorrow.

And one can see and feel the city hall bustling with activities, preparing for the grand party. (Alas, it’s the kind of excitement that one rarely sees when these same employees are tasked to deliver government services to their constituents).

Certainly, nothing can be wrong with a people that want to kick its heels and party all night long. Our people deserve to party every now and then and nobody can begrudge the city government for hosting one. Read more

Edwin Mercado
pangasinan60@yahoo.com
30 April 2006

Edwin, I like your energy and bravado in life. Please keep us in tune when you get to fly your own Lear Jet. You are an idol to us Pinoys who are still figuring out how to make our life comfortable.
Your name sake.

Chaotic Labor Day in M. Manila differs from May 1 here

By Gerry Garcia

FIRST day of May tomorrow, Labor Day, has for Metro Manila, as usual, another sinister if not irrelevant significance far removed from the day’s actual intent. That is, if we took at face value the words of the Armed Forces of the Philippines  (AFP) cited by news report to have “anticipated mass protest actions by extremist forces taking advantage of the Labor Day celebrations.”

Some trouble-makers bent on a “Final Talk 2″ on Monday are reportedly expected to oust Gloria and overthrow the government on May 1. Where? In Metro Manila siempre, where else?

Final Talk 2, Security officials say, is a sub-plot of “Oplan Hackle” documents of which were allegedly “seized from recaptured Magdalo officer Lt. Lawrence San Juan. Read more

Where’s the ‘punch’, Ermin?

By Jun Velasco

PANGASINAN, otherwise known as Agbayani Country, at summertime should easily run away with the prize title of the most fun-filled province in the islands.

The ballyhooed Pistay Dayat, traditionally celebrated  with aplomb, fiesta galore and  beauty pageants, unfailingly energizes  Pangasinenses’ and in Dagupan City dons international color  with the pompous entry of  its  Bangus Festival that  got into the roll of  the world’s  famed  Guinness Record for its kilometer-long grill.

Pistay Dayat’s raison d’etre is a people’s show of respect and gratitude to the Divine Creator for the bounty of the Lingayen Gulf and its tributaries.

Colorful tradition’s religiosity, however, is marred by man’s abuse of God’s gifts. What are those dynamites, chemicals and killer l fish-catch gadgets that bring death to the sea?  Pistay Dayat’s spirituality would only be gobbled up by multinational giant commercials that cash in on the Lingayen Gulf’s frolic.

Of course, Pangasinan does not monopolize summer frolic by the sea, as all coastal provinces throughout the archipelago have their summer time sagas, too. You have heard of Kalibo’s Ati - atihan, Cebu’s  Sto. Nino, Negros’ maskara, Antique’s Binirayan and many others. Read more

Philippine Star’s sense of fairness

By Gonzalo Duque

BELOW is our letter that appeared in the Philippine Star’s Wednesday, April 26, 2006 issue. We are reprinting it to give you an idea of how and why we and the Philippine Association of Colleges and Universities dealt with the libelous and damaging articles released by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and/or its minions.

“May we call attention to your editorial of April l0, 2006 with the head, “Upgrading Quality.”

We presume that the Philippine Star, in coming up with the editorial, had the noblest motivation of upholding quality education in the country — to which we must hasten to say, is also our founding principle.

“It’s sad that your paper swallowed hook, line and sinker and apparently without a modicum of investigation the CHED’s published warning against medical schools whose graduates keep flunking professional licensure exams.”

We hope The Star, which has a reputation for accuracy and commitment to public service, will consider this opportunity to be a genuine effort to serve the best interest of our educational system and the country in the final analysis.

Obviously, we are all agreed on that. Read more

‘Bangungot Pestebal’

By Al S. Mendoza

WHAT FESTIVAL are we talking about here? Are we all blind? Bangus Festival? What’s that?

Open your eyes.

Look around you.

Sniff the air.

What do you see? What do you picture? What do you smell?

You see a government that values parades which are nothing but charades.

You gaze at a painter’s canvas reeking of grime and stench signifying a dying city.

You inhale a stinking, foul-ridden whiff only a habitat on its death throes is capable of emitting.

There is poison in our midst and our city officials can still afford to dance in the streets?

From the mayor down to the councilor, when will we ever hear a voice - just one, single voice - in the name of Mother Nature? Read more

Labor Day

By +Oscar V. Cruz

There must be something very strong in a country when precisely during Labor Day, the laborers lambast the government instead of allow it to honor them. Today, we behold workers marching, rallying, protesting for being underrated, underpaid and underhandedly treated. And they are people who are still working somewhere somehow. One could just imagine what the millions of workless Filipinos feel during this Labor Day.

All employees, laborers and workers of whatever kind are mandated to pay bigger direct and indirect taxes, obliged to pay higher prices for basic commodities. At the same time, however, their salaries and wages—with all the usual deductions—remain strangely stagnant for many years. Time and again, they speak, they plead, they bargain. But time and again, government plays deaf, dumb and blind. Read more