RESURGENCE CONFIRMED

CIDG task force nabs 36 collectors

LINGAYEN - The illegal numbers game called ‘jueteng’ has resurrected in Pangasinan, using lotto or even the Small Town Lottery (STL) as cover.

This was gleaned from various arrests conducted by the anti-gambling task force of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) which was tasked to validate the return of jueteng not only in Pangasinan but also in La Union, Ilocos Sur and Ilocos Norte.

In Dagupan City, Mayor Benjamin Lim has issued a memorandum to Police Chief Edgar Basbas to maintain his vigilance against jueteng and any other form of gambling, especially hataw.

Dagupan is among the few places in Pangasinan where jueteng has not resurfaced. Read more

In a bid to downplay the ill effects of the presence of coliform bacteria in the city’s rivers, city officials continue to issue clarifications.

 The latest is from the City Health Office. It said fecal coliform tends to affect humans more than it does aquatic creatures.

City Health Officer Leonard Carbonell made his own clarification citing his recent technical and epidemiological study regarding coliform.

“Fecal coliform bacteria are naturally-occurring organism that is passed out of the body with fecal wastes from human livestock and wildlife,” Carbonell explained.

He added that if the fecal coliform counts are high, this may cause cholera, hepatitis A, typhoid fever, dysentery and acute gastro enteritis as he explained that the reservoir hosts of   fecal coliform and human  pathogen  are warm-blooded animals and not cold-blooded animals, like fishes. Read more

The Dagupan City government recently attempted to demolish four rest houses of known affluent families, mostly non-city residents, found squatting along the shoreline in Bonuan Gueset, near the MacArthur Park.

But the demolition was blocked by Bonuan Gueset’s Barangay Captain Rico Mejia who protested what he described as a discriminatory policy of the government. He asked why the four are being targeted when there are other squatters similarly situated.

He volunteered to effect the demolition within 15 days not only of the four identified rest houses whose owners are known to be his good friends but of also other houses that he claims are clearly squatting on government land. 

         Mejia stood in the way of the demolition team spearheaded by City Engineer Virginia Rosario and escorted by members of the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team of the police and the Public Order and Safety Office and angrily protested their failure to coordinate the planned demolition with him. Read more

THERE will be no jueteng in Dagupan.

      This was the city mayor’s standing order to the city’s police station.

“There is no place for jueteng and other kinds of illegal gambling like hataw in Dagupan City,” said Mayor Benjamin Lim as he reiterated the city government ‘s position vis-à-vis jueteng campaign and other illegal gambling activities.

Lim clarified that “jueteng” has been totally eradicated in the city as validated by police authorities.

Records bared that since April 2005, no jueteng operations have been reported at the Dagupan Police Station.

The mayor attributed the city’s success to the cooperation among the police, community and local government units. Read more

DAGUPAN CITY - While international media groups and the Arroyo Administration debate the true state of Philippine media, Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz has made known his own assessment.

“The Philippine media is facing the “ABC curse”: Anxiety, Bribery and Corruption,” was how he described the media environment.

Cruz, himself a regular hot copy in the media for his critical statements on various issues particularly jueteng and other forms of illegal gambling, noted that the Philippine media continues to be in a formidable struggle to remain free.

Citing the vulnerability of many of the media practitioners, the lack of material resources, absence of visible protection from constant attacks on their integrity, and being declared “enemy of those in power and influence,” he said it was not surprising to find many who succumb to the “ABC curse”. Read more

The city government’s Oplan Zero-Drowning implemented along the beach of Bonuan Tondaligan Park during the recent observance of the Holy Week season and Pista’y Dayat was a success. No single drowning incident was reported.

“No untoward incidents happened during the influx of big crowds of people that came to the beach,” Dino Zabala, Tondaligan Park Administrator, reported happily.

According to Zabala, the success of the anti-drowning operation was achieved through the tight watch conducted by four professional Red Cross certified lifeguards who were stationed at their respective high look-out towers from 7:00 am to 7:00 pm equipped with binoculars, megaphones, ring buoys and whistles.

STO. TOMAS - It’s a long way from Sto. Tomas, Pangasinan to Mission Hills in California, USA but cyberspace has made it possible for communities to reach out to each other regardless of physical distance between them.
Anacleto Arciaga, a retired US Navy personnel now working part-time service officer in the American Veterans Association, and a native of this town who is now residing in Mission Hills, proved it.
When he found out from Marlo Mirano,another kabeleyan from Sto. Tomas and now a resident of Hawaii that their native town is in dire need of some medical equipment, he lost no time in communicating with Sto. Tomas Mayor Vivien Villar how he could help.
Then he turned to the internet that he knows can connect him to thousands in an instant. He posts an SOS message at the www.pangasinan.org. hoping that other Tomasians would read it and respond.
And respond they did. Read more

LINGAYEN - While the police are beginning to believe that the EZ-2 and STL are partly responsible for the resurgence of jueteng in the province, Vice Gov. Oscar Lambino still maintains that the Small Town Lottery (STL) is the best alternative to jueteng.

“Jueteng can be put permanently to an end if the Small Town Lottery is permitted to operate,” Lambino said.

He said STL is a legal numbers game sanctioned by the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office and can provide employment for the displaced jueteng collectors when jueteng grounded to a halt for months.

Like the police, Lambino observes that jueteng is gradually coming back in some  areas of the province although its operations still remained  the guerilla-type. Read more

BINMALEY - A town councilor is hard put in explaining his absence during the voluntary drug-testing for officials and employees.

“I am not evading the drug test conducted last week,” said Councilor Michael Angelo Fernandez. “I was not in my office that day due to some appointments in line with my duties and responsibilities.”

He was reacting to insinuations made by an official of the PNP Drug Laboratory based in Urdaneta City that he deliberately avoided the drug test.

The surprise voluntary drug testing was initiated by Mayor Simplicio Rosario in order to detect any personnel who might be taking illegal drugs. Read more

CASES have been filed against six persons for theft of communications cable in two occasions in Dagupan City, according to the police.

Sr. Inspector Onofre Tabangin, chief of the PNP investigation division, said four of the suspects were arrested last April 20 and two others last May 5.

In the latest incident, the two suspects stole a submerged cable line of the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company below Quintos bridge.

The suspects were arrested while in the process of extracting the copper wire from the cable line inside the old Pantranco compound.

Tabangin said the high price fetched by copper wire in the market is what encourages the series of theft cases of communications cable line. Read more