ON ASPHALT-OVERLAY PROJECTS

Lim-JdV feud heats up

THE Department of Public Works and Highways district office belied charges of the Dagupan City government that it did not coordinate with the latter before implementing P29 million worth of asphalt overlay projects in the city.

Second Highway District Engineer Rodolfo Dion showed two letters that his office sent to Mayor Benjamin Lim, dated April 4, 2006 and May 11, 2006, which were duly received by the latter’s office.

In his April 11, 2006 letter, Dion informed the city government of receipt of a sub-allotment advice dated March 17, 2006 released by the Department of Public Works and Highways under a Special Allotment Request Order dated Feb. 16, 2006 in the amount ofP29,625,000.

He indicated that it was for the repair/maintenance of national roads called preventive maintenance on the asphalt overlay of carriageways and road shoulders of the Lucao-Tapuac section, Mayombo section and Tambac-Bolosan section of the national highways. Read more

DAGUPAN CITY - The law purportedly aimed at eliminating jueteng is inutile since it is not being enforced.

Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz, chairman of Krusada ng Bayan  Laban sa  Sugal, said Republic Act Number 9287, the law increasing the penalties  for the illegal numbers game called jueteng, “proved futile and inutile” after  it was signed.

He described the law which was made effective April 18, 2004, as gravely offensive to the common welfare.

He said the premise and rational for the law appeared comprehensive and all-encompassing listing fines and imprisonment for operators all the way down to the collectors and even penalizes the bettors.

 “But there it stops. The law was dead the moment it was signed,” Cruz said. Read more

JDV’S SPECIAL GUEST — Equatorial Guinea President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo ( L) greets Dagupan Vice Mayor Alvin Fernandez during his tour of the 24-hectare National Integrated Fisheries Technology and Development Center in Bonuan last Sunday, accompanied by House Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. Also seen welcoming the visitor are San Fabian Mayor Mohamito Libuna, Dr. Jesus Canto of the Region I Medical Center and Vice Gov. Oscar Lambino (partly hidden). - CSR

DAGUPAN CITY - A visibly impressed head of state left the province with novel ideas etched on his mind for his implementation in his own country.

President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, who made his historic visit here Sunday with a fun-filled day tour around the aquaculture projects at the 24-hectare Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) center in Bonuan Binloc this city, was the special guest of Speaker Jose de Venecia.

President Obiang, accompanied by Speaker de Venecia, arrived in the  city last Sunday and was welcomed by Pangasinan leaders led by Governor  Victor Agbayani, Vice Governor Oscar Lambino, Immigration Commissioner Alipio Fernandez Jr, Pangasinan fourth district mayors (except Dagupan City Mayor Benjamin Lim), Vice Mayor Alvin Fernandez and fourth district Board  members John Agerico Rosario and Manuel Ancheta.

The president was the first foreign head of state that visited Pangasinan, this city and the BFAR center. Read more

ALAMINOS CITY - An Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) who came home last May 6 seriously injured and paralyzed finally died Thursday in their home in barangay Bisocol here.

Thus, ended the struggle of Jennifer Perez, 24, to survive from the injuries she suffered when she fell from the second floor of the house of her employer in Ibrid, Jordan on her very first day of work.

However, her death only strengthened her bereaved family’s resolve to continue seeking justice from the Jordanian government.

Perez, a teacher by profession but employed as a domestic helper, suffered severe spinal cord injury when she was allegedly pushed from the second floor of her employer’s residence by her female employer on July 20, 2005. Read more

Dagupan Vice Mayor Alvin Fernandez said the Sangguniang Panlungsod cannot and will not enact an ordinance that will ban fraternities in the city.

“The people’s right to form lawful associations or societies is clearly enshrined in the Bill of Rights of the Constitution,” Fernandez said.

The vice mayor reacted to a resolution from the Peace and Order Council of the city based on the representation of a university official that the city council is ignoring a request to pass such an ordinance.

Dominador “Boy” Rayos, director for student affairs of the University of Pangasinan, went to the SP during one of its regular sessions to ask for the enactment of an ordinance that shall expel students misbehaving in the city’s colleges and universities.

“Right then and there, we specifically told Mr. Rayos that we cannot adopt such an ordinance. The SP has no business making university policies,” Fernandez said.

The vice mayor pointed out that it is the responsibility of the schools to adopt and enforce stricter policies to ensure the safety of their students. The “No ID, no entry must be enforced by the security guards in schools any unwanted element in school must not be allowed to enter the campus,” he said.

He added that students involved in criminal activities within the campus must immediately be arrested by the campus security and turned over to the PNP. Read more

DAGUPAN CITY - The fact- finding mission formed by Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) to probe the gunslaying of its secretary-general in Pangasinan on May 16 showed that the assassination was part of widespread political killings being perpetrated in the country.

      Jose Doton, 62, of San Nicolas town who was Bayan’s secretary-general in the province, was laid to rest after a necrological service was held by the farmers’ federation.

Fr. Tery Revollido of the Aglipayan Church and chairman of Bayan in Pangasinan told reporters here that while the fact-finding mission has not established anything substantial, it had determined the “basic facts” about Doton’s death.

He echoed the claim of the Commission on Human Rights that it was part of a grand plan to carry out massive political killings, “that there’s really a trend of killing progressive leaders in different parts of the country”. Read more

Jose Ceralde
mainit@verizon.net
29 May 2006

Alex,
I was reading this article about medicine and the government of Thailand’s subsidy in the following source;

MANILA BULLETIN SOCIETY 28 MAY 06
Bangkok: More exciting than ever
BY RIKKI AFABLE JIMENEZ
Last sentences in the article.

“Lastly, I discovered that medicines are far cheaper in Thailand than in Manila because the government subsidizes it.
I bought my Coversyl 4 mg. at R22 only (which are sold at R36.75 in Manila) and Norvasc 5 mg. at R26 (which is R44.75 in Manila).”

Since you are the subject matter expert on medical product and the distribution thereof, do you think this is legal without repercussion of trade practices on free trade and investigations from WTO?

STA. BARBARA - Some 2,000 hectares of rice lands in twenty-four towns in the province are found to be zinc-deficient which explains the 25-30 percent decline in annual yield.

Provincial Agriculturist Jose Almedares said that a study made by the  Bureau of Soil and Water Management revealed that the towns being closely  observed and treated are farmlands in Natividad, Tayug, Laoac, Balungao, Sta. Barbara, Basista, Urbiztondo, Bayambang, Binmaley, Labrador, Burgos and Bolinao.

He said the problem surfaced five years ago.

Since then, as much as 20 kilos of zinc sulfate have been applied per hectare to solve the problem. The normal dosage is pegged at 5 kilos.

Tagged as medium areas are Urdaneta City, Villasis, Rosales, Sta. Maria, Malasiqui, Bugallon, Aguilar, Mangatarem,  Infanta, Alaminos City, Agno  and Mabini. Read more