DAGUPAN CHRISTMAS EVE SHOCKER

Police say robbery was motive

Can anything ever justify the violent deaths of three hotel staff on Christmas eve over the hotel’s P44,000 cash?
The bloody scene in the lobby so shocked the city that the Dagupan police worked overtime to solve the case and eventually led to the filing on Thursday of charges of multiple counts of murder, one frustrated murder and robbery against a security guard, a laundry boy and one John Doe in connection with the gruesome murder of three employees of the Floren Hotel on Rizal Street and battering of another on Christmas eve.

Charged were Victor Dalisay, reliever-security guard employed by Sampaguita Investigation and Security Agency; Jhun-Jhun Romero, laundry boy; and another man tagged by the police as mere John Doe.

Both Dalisay and Romero were presented by Supt. Edgar Basbas, chief of police, during a press conference on Wednesday attended by Police Regional Director Chief Supt. Leopoldo Bataoil, Police Provincial Director Alan Purisima, Mayor Benjamin Lim and Dagupan City Health Officer Dr. Leonard Carbonell.
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HOTEL KILLINGS SOLVED — Two of the three principal suspects in the grisly triple murder and one frustrated murder at the Floren Hotel in Dagupan City on Christmas eve, Victor Dalisay (left) and Jhun Jhun Romero, are escorted by members of the SWAT team of the Dagupan Police shortly before they were presented to the media. - (Punchphoto by Ray Zambrano)

THE debate over the controversial Magsaysay Park deal will continue in the city council and in other venues even if the resolution granting authority to Mayor Benjamin Lim to sign a contract with Metrostate Realty Corporation had already been approved by  a vote of 8-3 during  a special session last December 19.

This was gleaned from the press statement issued by Councilor Alex de Venecia who was absent during the December 19 special session, saying he was not informed officially and in time for the special session.

Councilors Farah Decano, Jose Netu Tamayo and Michael Fernandez were the only ones who voted ‘ no’ to the draft resolution sponsored by Councilors Nicanor Aquino and Vlad Mata. Both Decano and Tamayo are lawyers while Fernandez is a graduating law student. (Note: The PUNCH erred when it reported last week that Fernandez abstained).

Tamayo had also complained of not having received any notice about the holding of a special session last December 19 but arrived nonetheless but could not fully manifest his objection to the resolution.
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DagupeÑos finally had the opportunity to hear opposition Congressman Alan Peter Cayetano of Taguig-Pateros say in person what they only read, hear and watch on national media.

Speaking Wednesday during the Barangay Night of the Dagupan City fiesta, Cayetano expressed his disgust over the determination of the Arroyo administration to push for charter change.

He said those pushing for ‘cha-cha’ at this time are obviously only thinking of their own selfish interest and greed for power and not the welfare of the Filipino people.

He clarified, however, that he has nothing personal against House Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr., the architect of the proposed charter change either by People’s Initiative or the Constituent Assembly, and pointed out that “there are many good people in the administration.” But the only problem with them he said is that they often blindly follow their leader, obviously referring to President Arroyo.
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Garci forever

By +Oscar V. Cruz D. D.

There are times when there is uncertainty whether people should jump for joy or cry shamelessly in the presence of a given reality. This is precisely the case of the Garci phenomenon that is once again given prominence in the national consciousness of the country. That is why there are those who rejoice for the dismissal of a case against a person. Yet, there are also those who lament much the justice system in the country.

There are those happily gearing up for the alleged candidacy of a person. At the same time, many are those who are sadly reminded of the workings of still the same COMELEC. Certain politicians are eagerly looking forward to have a person in their ticket. But there are certain groupings and entities that more and more annoyed by the transactional politics in the country.

It is not really a question of a person but the issue of a system. It is neither a matter of who are voting for whom, but why and how shall the votes be again counted—or discounted. The Garci issue is very much bigger than a person. It is fundamentally the serious matter of the legitimacy of the present national leadership—not to mention its big lost of credibility before the serious and thinking populace.
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TAYUG — A big group of hog raisers from Pangasinan has called on President Gloria Arroyo to revive the Presidential Anti-Smuggling Task Force and finally stop the rampant smuggling of pork from China (and Hong Kong) to save the country’s P120 billion hog industry from total collapse.

The call was made by members of the Pangasinan Hog Raisers Cooperative (PHRC) headed by Dr. Rodolfo Custodio of Tayug, who are alarmed by the increasing rate of smuggling of pork particularly from China even as he warned that these are not free from Food and Mouth Disease (FMD) virus which might spread in local hog farms and might cause an all-out epidemic in the country again

To date, China is not an FMD-free country.

Custodio, also former vice president of the National Federation of Hog Farmers  Associations of the Philippines (NFHFAP),  said the revival of  the task force, originally composed of members of the government and private sectors, is  necessary to ensure better surveillance on all imported food.
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BOLINAO - People residing along the coastal villages in the province, particularly in the western area, panicked Tuesday night and quickly evacuated to upland areas after an alert was sounded about a possible tsunami hitting the area.

Chief Inspector Mario Estrada, police chief of this town, told The PUNCH that Mayor Alfonso Celeste ordered him from around 10 p.m. Tuesday night to alert the people living along the coastal barangays about a possible tsunami that might hit Philippines after CNN reported the earthquake that hit Taiwan and the warning about a tsunami going in the direction of western Luzon. 

There are seven coastal barangays located in Santiago Island and another seven in other coastal areas.

Estrada was coordinating with the barangay captains and resort owners about an orderly evacuation when residents panicked and rushed to the upland barangay of Liwa-liwa.
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BEATING THE COMELEC DEADLINE—Voters crowd the office of the Commission on Elections at the City Hall in Dagupan City last December 29 for a last chance to register or transfer their registration that will enable them to vote in the May 2007 national and local elections. All Comelec offices throughout the country are opened till December 31 to admit last-minute registrants. (Punchphoto by Ray Zambrano)

Year of the Pig

Fighting back

MORE THAN half of the 45 reporters, columnists, editors and publishers, the First Gentleman, Jose Miguel Arroyo, has sued for libel have filed a media class civil suit against him last December 28.

The first of its kind in the Philippines, it is a civil as well as class action suit. The 23 journalists/respondents have been joined by other journalists and media and journalists’ organizations, i.e., the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility, the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, and The Daily Tribune.

The class action suit is asking for damages for the anxiety, loss of income, and other inconveniences Mr. Arroyo’s libel suits have allegedly caused. But it also argues that the suits have not only caused the respondents sleepless nights; they also have a chilling effect on press freedom.

The class action suit does not dispute the right of Mr. Arroyo to file libel charges against anyone he believes has wronged him through a libelous imputation. Journalists are also aware that libel suits are part of the media territory. But the sheer number of suits he has filed (10 against 45 respondents) suggests that these are primarily intended to intimidate the press and silence criticism.
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