Sunset Valentine’s Day wedding

By Eva C. Visperas

The world-famous Hundred Islands here has been proven once more as the most romantic place in Pangasinan as 160 couples exchanged their sweet “I do’s” and made their own version of Lovapalooza on Valentine’s Day.

The brides wore white gowns while the grooms were clad in barong tagalog and together they marched slowly down the aisle while the song “Ikaw” of popular singer Martin Nievera was being played.

The beautiful sunset at the Lucap Wharf, the jump off point to the Hundred Islands, provided a romantic ambience for the wedding solemnized by Mayor Hernani Braganza.

The wedding ceremony, however, was interrupted for an hour, not because someone came forward to object but because of a “brown-out” in the area caused by the overloading of the transformer.
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Aggie, rural economy problems as a whole beset the rice sector

By Sosimo Ma. Pablico

The rice sector is beset by a microcosm of problems ailing agriculture and the rural economy as a whole that policy makers must understand in a comprehensive manner, according to Dr. Arsenio M. Balisacan and Dr. Leocadio S. Sebastian, respective executive directors of SEARCA (Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture) and PhilRice (Philippine Rice Research Institute).

In their book entitled “Securing Rice, Reducing Poverty: Challenges and Policy Directions,” they enumerated the following as ills of the rice sector: diminishing sources of agricultural productivity growth, slow growth of employment opportunities, and high population growth. 

The 352-page book was published jointly by SEARCA, PhilRice and the DA Bureau of Agricultural Research.
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Love

By +Oscar V. Cruz D. D.

Valentine’s Day in its genuine significance and sound implications is but a mere concrete expression of the commandment of love. Love is not an option. It is mandatory upon all. Nevertheless, the reality of love becomes more felt and expressed between a man and a woman. It is in this context that Valentine’s Day acquires its special significance and relevance.

Truth to say, the commandment of love is the flagship of Christianity. It finds its categorical reality in the composite mandate of love of God and love of neighbor. Neither simply one nor purely the other—but both. It is in Christ that divinity and humanity find their convergence. He is thus the incarnate testimony of the imperative of loving God and of loving neighbor.

The truth is that it is either delusion or danger to separate God from man, to divorce man from God. It is delusional for someone to exclusively focus on God with utter disregard for neighbor. This is divinism—a futile verticalism, a pitiful spiritualism. But is dangerous as well to give exclusive attention to neighbor with deliberate dismissal of God. This is humanism—a false horizontalism, a deceptive temporalism.
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The annals of Mangaldan bikefest

By Jesus A. Garcia Jr.

MARCH 14, 1974 was the day when the first Mangaldan town fiesta bikefest was held.

It was a project of the late Mangaldan hizzoner sports fanatic Atty. Macario G. Ydia, exclusively participated in by Pangasinan cyclists and dubbed as the “First Mangaldan Cycling Grand Prix.”

That memorable event was won by my former teammate Winselmo Baguio from Urdaneta. Yours truly placed second.

At the peak of my cycling career during the 70’s, I dominated the annual event in the next three years, especially the 1975 edition when four Mangaldanons-including this columnist- orchestrated a 1-2-3-4 finish despite the presence of the illustrious three-time Tour champion Manuel Reynante and others. This shocked the cycling aficionados but of course delighted my town mates. Romeo Perez came in close second, Eduardo Parino finished third and 1975 Tour of PICCA (Philippine Industrial Commercial Cycling Association) champion Samson Carino landed fourth.
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No Such Things

By Emmanuelle

Let’s talk about February 14. Postmen and drivers of mail delivery vans shout at the gates the names of lucky recipients of cards or flowers boxed in clear plastics and crimson ribbons. Red and pink roses sell as insolently as precious gems. So are the tables in pricey restaurants or smoke-filled, beer-smelly videoke bars. And so are the rooms where time is short though the waiting is long.

To the tired and the weary, the conscientious and the budget-conscious - simple is still the best. Most favored giveaways are the words of love. These come with a hug and a kiss on the lips or the cheek. Husband goes straight home from work for once, wifey serves a special home-cooked meal. They watch an old feel-good movie. His arm lazily rests around her shoulders. A mug of beer quietly sizzles on a side-table.

You think love scores big on this day? Nope. No such thing.
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CONTRACT OR MOA STILL MISSING

But it’s not yet off-the-hook

THE effort to determine if there was indeed a contract for the towing service in the city appears to have been foiled.

After feeling the heat from under its collar, JLD Motor Works and Towing Service made a hasty retreat from Dagupan City as gleaned from the company’s letter to the city government on Tuesday without clearing the air on how it came to be contracted as the official towing service company in the city.

A letter of the company received by the office of City Administrator Rafael Baraan conveyed the desire of the firm to terminate its towing service even as it is being asked by the city council to submit a report on its actual collection of towing fees from motorists violating the Comprehensive Traffic Ordinance of the city.

The proprietor of the company, Jaime de la Peña of barangay Sta. Maria, San Jacinto, ignored the invitation of the city council for him to appear in its session on two occasions to prove his company’s legitimate operations in towing and clamping vehicles, collecting towing fees of P1,100 per motor vehicle caught violating the ordinance.
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NIGHT club and bar owners in Dagupan need not worry about the newly-passed city council ordinance authored by Councilor Farah Decano if they are not peddling sex.

Councilor Decano clarified that Ordinance No. 0032, which provides supplementary measures against flesh trade in the city, strictly punishes only those who are peddling sex services to male customers.

Noting the night club and bar owners’ objection to the ordinance, “I asked them (club owners) if they are selling sex and they all answered ‘No’. So they need not worry at all about the ordinance,” she said.
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THE Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP) has turned down the request of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) that it be allowed to title the land that its office buildings are occupying at Tondaligan Park under its name.

Vice Mayor Alvin Fernandez said although the letter from the BSP was endorsed by the mayor’s office, the council cannot endorse the titling of the area because it is part of Tondaligan Park, which is covered under the law that parks and plazas are public property and beyond the commerce of man.

He also said the titling would serve as a bad precedent if the council endorses the request.

The BSP is not the only entity that occupies a large area of the Tondaligan Park. Other occupants inside the park are The Bulwagang Katarugan (Hall of Justice) as well as the PAGASA and the Area Vocational Rehabilitation Center of the Department of Social Welfare and Development.
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The official pressure is on.

Vice Mayor and Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP) presiding officer Alvin Fernandez said the city council has already received a letter from the Office of the City Mayor demanding for the passage of the resolution authorizing Mayor Benjamin Lim to enter into a contract with MetroState Realty Corporation, the supposed winner in the public bidding for the construction of the P54-million Magsaysay Park Development Project.

The letter from Lim’s office is an indication that the city government is keen on starting the project in a bid to avoid the election ban for public works projects that would take effect on March 13 this year.

Fernandez, for his part, said he is ready to sign the resolution once all the attached pertinent documents are properly validated.
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LINGAYEN– Provincial Administrator Virgilio  Solis has stressed that the relief of Police Provincial Director Senior Superintendent Alan Purisima is not politically motivated and is simply part of the Philippine National Philippine’s (PNP) policy of limiting police officers’ term of service in one area to just two years.

       Meanwhile, Purisima has confirmed with The PUNCH that he has already received his relief order, approved by the Commission on Elections (Comelec), effective February 12.

In a text message, Purisima said, “Salamat po sa inyo. Reassigned na ako sa Camp Crame. I will miss you.” 

Purisima’s stint is short by only four months to complete a two-year tour of duty in Pangasinan.
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