FOR THE LOVE OF MOMMY– Former First Lady Amelita “Ming” Ramos and sister Werlina Martinez McCabe receive the 308-page coffee table historical biography “Mommy: Life and Times of Josefa Jara Martinez, the pillar of social works in the Philippines” from book author Melandrew Velasco while former President Fidel Ramos and Senate President Pro-tempore Juan Flavier applaud.

TREE PLANTING - Officials of FarmOut Central Intouch Inc. and Barangay Bonuan Binloc join hands in planting 100 trees donated by FarmOut along the main road in Bonuan Binloc. Perla Molina, FOCI office administrator, Mon Melecio, FOCI team leader for Project Alpha, and Kagawad Rudy Clauna of Bonuan Binloc lead the planting of mahogany and mango trees last September 5, 2006. FarmOut Central (http://www.farmout.ph) is the only BOI registered Call Center in Pangasinan and the only TESDA accredited Training Center for Call Center Training in Region 1.

EVACUATION PLANNING — Participants from the eight pilot barangays listen to Mariz Palencia, disaster risk management consultant, as she explains how to improve the initial hazard and risk maps of the barangays during the Early Warning System and Evacuation Planning Workshop on August 29-31 at the City Museum.

ANTI-DENGUE CAMPAIGN –The battle against dengue goes into high gear as more groups organize their own information and educational campaign across the province. Dengue fever continues to claim more victims in Pangasinan while health authorities debate on whether to declare an epidemic or not. (Punchphoto by Butch Uka)

SILTED DRAINAGE BUSTERS - Workers of the Department of Public Works and Highways take advantage of the forecasted sunny days to de-clog silted drainage canals at the corner of Perez Boulevard and M.H. del Pilar Street which easily get flooded after every heavy downpour. – (Punchphoto by Butch Uka)

SAFER PEDESTRIAN CROSSING - Pedestrians are getting better courtesy and consideration from motorists after signs like this, donated by Councilor Alex de Venecia, were installed in every pedestrian lane in the downtown area of the city. - (Punch photo by Butch Uka)

IDLE DREDGE MACHINE- The dredging machine bought by the city government is floating idly in the middle of the Dawel River near barangay Pantal after a number of its crew were reportedly terminated as a result of the purge of “emergency workers” by the Dagupan City Hall. – (Punchphoto by Butch Uka)

A NEW TACK TAKEN

CITY Mayor Benjamin Lim has conceded that the financial report published by the Commission on Audit listing Dagupan City as a tail-ender in terms of savings among eight provinces in the Ilocos region for 2005 is true, but not in terms of performance.

“Kulelat ang Dagupan in terms of balance at the end of the year but it does not mean na kulelat tayo sa performance,” Lim told a local radio station last Thursday.

Last week, City Administrator Rafael Baraan publicly refuted COA’s findings and challenged it to a debate to prove the data wrong.

The mayor adopted a new tack to interpret the COA data and maintained that the performance of a local government unit is not measured in terms of its savings but on how it uses its money to improve the life of its people.

“We should see on how the money of the LGU is being spent,” he stressed.
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THE construction of the P7.8 billion Agno River Integrated Irrigation Project (ARIIP) in San Manuel town will be a big boon to the province of Pangasinan

This was disclosed by Reynaldo Mencias of the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) who was designated project manager of the ARIIP that will be built just below the spillway of the San Roque Multi-Purpose Project in San Manuel.

The project, known earlier as the irrigation component of the San Roque dam, was given a new concept as an ARIIP so that the facility can irrigate 34,500 hectares of farmlands in Pangasinan, northern Nueva Ecija and northern Tarlac.
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LINGAYEN- The Department of Education (DepEd) officials in the  province admitted that school principals received monies collected from parents ostensibly to cover costs of test papers but denied having done the collection themselves, and therefore, cannot be held liable for the collection.

This situation as described by the DepEd officials before the sangguniang panlalawigan absolved the latter from any administrative liability, at least in the eyes of the provincial legislators, even after the officials admitted nobody is being made to account for the monies collected. 

Lawyer Armando Aquino, schools division superintendent of Pangasinan 2 and Dr. Ruby Alma Torio, acting superintendent of Pangasinan division 1, vehemently denied collecting test papers’   fees from pupils and students in public elementary and high schools province-wide, saying the collections are made by Parents-Teachers Community Associations (PTCAs) in every school and pointed to PTCA treasurers as the ones collecting the money.
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