CALL ON SUPREME PONTIFF - Eighty-two year old Monsignor Rufino Magliba (center), supreme pontiff of the Crusader of the DivineChurch of Christ, still hale and healthy, receives House Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. and Vice Gov. Oscar Lambino in his palace in barangay Magliba, San Fabian. The CDCC is now 50 years old with 700 branches nationwide and 20 overseas. - (Punchphoto by Ray Zambrano)

KITES MADE FROM CHINA-The sale of colorful kites, reportedly imported from China, of different sizes, colors and shapes, along the Judge Jose R. de Venecia highway in barangay Lasip, Calasiao has been brisk with motorists snapping the kites at P50 each. - (Punchphoto by Butch Uka)

HEAVY VEHICULAR TRAFFIC NOTED

63 exhibitors join first street bazaar

THE ‘Tinda’y Labi’ in Dagupan City pushed through on Friday and Saturday as scheduled despite a fuss in the city council with only a temporary permit granted to organizers by Acting Mayor Alvin Fernandez.

At least 63 exhibitors joined the activity which however created a long queue of slow-moving vehicles in major streets, virtually trapped in bumper-to-bumper situation.

Fernandez granted the permit when the city council failed to meet in a special session Wednesday in order to approve a draft ordinance proposed by Councilor Nicanor Aquino authorizing and regulating the project.

The special session was scheduled when the council suspended its discussion on the proposed edict during its regular session on Monday after assessing that the share of the city from the night market income was quite low.
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IT will be a non-working holiday in Pangasinan on Monday, November 13, to commemorate the 110th birthday of the province’s foremost son, the late Speaker Eugenio Perez.

This is provided for in Republic Act No. 6721, signed into law on March 20, 1989 by then President Corazon Aquino, declaring November 13 of each year as special non-working public holiday in the province.

RA No. 6712 was authored by the late Rep. Fabian Sison of the third district of Pangasinan and co-authored by Reps.Oscar Orbos of the first district, Antonio Bengson III of the second district, Jose de Venecia Jr. of the fourth district, Conrado Estrella Jr. of the fifth district and Conrado Estrella III of the sixth district.

Speaker Perez was born in 1896 in sitio Ubong in the former barrio of Basista (now a municipality) in the municipality of San Carlos. After graduating with a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of the Philippines, Perez became a councilor of San Carlos.
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TAYUG - Four Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) agents from the Cordillera Autonomous Region (CAR), who were recently charged for kidnapping and illegal possession of dangerous drugs, have been slapped with another administrative case before the Internal Affairs Service (IAS).

Chief Superintendent Leopoldo Bataoil, Ilocos regional police director, relayed this to The PUNCH through a text message and added that he has also directed Superintendent Noli Taliño, deputy provincial police director of Pangasinan for operations and provincial intelligence officer, to get records from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) as two of the suspects have reportedly been charged previously for a similar offense.

The IAS is an independent investigative body for administrative cases against policemen.

San Quintin town police filed on November 6 the illegal possession of dangerous drugs case against the four PDEA agents. This was on top of the kidnap for ransom case filed Friday before the provincial prosecutor’s office here.
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BINMALEY - Second district Rep. Amado Espino Jr., who has been included in the shortlist of candidates for the next secretary of the Department of National Defense, has received the backing of the touted Northern Luzon Alliance in the House of Representatives who believe the post is “tailor-made” for him.

Espino, a former police and military man who received several citations for his successful fight against insurgency, told The PUNCH that he felt proud and honored to be one of the nominees to the said post and expressed willingness to help President Gloria Arroyo’s thrust to eradicate terrorism and insurgency problems in the next three years, should he be lucky to get the Defense secretary post.

        The expression of support of the lawmakers for Espino, contained in a letter addressed to President Arroyo dated Nov. 8, was signed by 31 congressmen from regions 1, 2 and the Cordillera Administrative Region led by House Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. and Deputy Speaker Eric Singson of the second district of Ilocos Sur.
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The First Pangasinan Microfinance Bank that would lend no-collateral loans to small borrowers and entrepreneurs will be opened in Dagupan City next month, according to House Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr.

De Venecia turnedover to the officers of the bank his own P16.5 million as the bank’s seed capital. The Pangasinan Catholic Cooperative is also contributing P1 million.

Patterned after the very successful Graamen Bank of Bangladesh that has a high  repayment rate of 98%, the microfinance bank will extend loans to small borrowers, like market vendors, jeepney and tricycle drivers, farmers, fishermen and others so that they can start their livelihood projects.

       The Graamen Bank, founded by Muhammad Yunus, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize this year.
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THE Lyceum Northwestern University (LNU) hailed the decision of the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) to segregate first time takers of licensure examinations from repeaters.

Dr. Irmina Francisco, LNU director for academic affairs, said the move would pave the way for a more realistic and fair measurement of the performance of private schools in a particular licensure examination.

In a letter to Dr. Caesar Agnir, president of the Northern Christian Colleges in Laoag City, PRC chair Leonor Tripon-Rosero said her office and the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) have agreed to segregate examinees into three categories: (1) First timers/Fresh graduates; (2) First timers/Previous graduates; and (3) Repeaters.

Earlier, the Coordinating Council of Private Educational Associations (Cocopea) raised concerns over the continued use of the present formula, which lumps first timers with repeaters, in computing a school’s passing percentage in licensure examinations.
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DOES ANYONE IN CALASIAO CARE? —The dump of garbage by the Jose R. de Venecia Highway in barangay Lasip, Calasiao near the Marusay River that flows into Pantal River in Dagupan City has become a regular sight in the town. When it rains, the garbage is washed out into the river and fortunately gets caught in fish pen nets in the river close to the Lingayen Gulf. – (Punchphoto by Ray Zambrano)

CONFRONTATION between members of the city’s Anti-Hawking Task Force and ambulant vendors could either worsen or lessen with the effectivity of a city ordinance increasing the fine for ambulant vending to P1,000 per offense from the previous P200.

Butch Gutierrez, head of the task force, is optimistic that with the harsher fine that took effect last Tuesday, there will be fewer vendors peddling in side streets and along sidewalks and the constant tug-of-war between members of the task force and the ambulant vendors would soon be minimized.

On the other hand, persistent vendors, who rely solely on their street trade as a means of living, may also be expected to resist harder.

“It’s like a tug-of-war between the vendors and our men, and when they get hurt holding on to their confiscated wares, they accuse us of deliberately hurting them,” said Gutierrez.
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