Season for Sison

By Emmanuelle

Shhhhh. This is very confidential, my dear, just between you and me. 

And thousands of our readers, print or internet, here in the Philippines, and there in the USA, Canada, and the Middle East.

There was just that one dance during those five hours I was there. In a dreamy magic-bowl setting, with trees casting down puddles of shadows, she danced her birthday waltz with a man who was not her husband. Just the same, she held her high, she glided with proud strides. 

 It was a master act of diplomacy, a stroke of political genius. But it was more than tact. It was a very perceptive woman, so genteel a lady, reaching out a gesture of discernment, empathy, and foresight.
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GUADIZ SUES BARAAN

Lim won’t be spared

A NEW scandal has rocked the city government of Dagupan just as the local election is just around the corner, and this time, the complainant is no less than a close ally of Mayor Benjamin Lim.

Councilor Teofilo Guadiz III, who is reportedly seeking a high post at the Department of Transportation and Communication, has filed a complaint before the Ombudsman against City Administrator Rafael Baraan for alleged abuse of authority.

Guadiz said that only Baraan was named in his complaint but he will not be surprised at all if in the course of the investigation by the Ombudsman, Mayor Benjamin Lim would be included.
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They’re out of the race.

Retired Philippine National Police Chief Arturo Lomibao, who just two weeks earlier said he is 99.99% sure of competing for the congressional seat in the 4th district of Pangasinan, announced on Wednesday that he is no longer pursuing his political plan.

Meanwhile, Undersecretary for Local Governance Antonio Villar Jr., a staunch ally of President Gloria Arroyo and known as a kingmaker in the province, has decided not to run for governor in the May 2007 elections.

Lomibao, in a small gathering at a restaurant in his hometown Mangaldan, announced that he is setting aside his political plan “for the sake of unity”.

Lomibao recently resigned from as head of the National Irrigation Administration to prepare for his congressional bid.
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“IT’S the contractor’s own risk.”

This is the view of Vice Mayor Alvin Fernandez on the still continuing construction of a P84-million tourism park complex at the former Magsaysay Market, sans any notice to proceed from the Special Bidding and Awards Committee and building permit from the City Engineer’s Office.

Fernandez said he has personally verified from City Engineer Virginia Rosario that no permit was ever granted by her office to the contractor.

The contractor, he said, applied for a building permit but this could not be acted upon as it lacked the necessary documents.

Without a building permit, the contractor is violating the Building Code of the Philippines and therefore the construction could be stopped at any time by the City Engineering Office or by the Department of Public Works and Highways.
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CALASIAO– Oscar Orbos, who served as governor of Pangasinan from 1995 to 1998, is poised to reclaim his old position through an independent bid and without a line-up for other provincial positions.

Orbos is confident about staging a solo campaign, said Rafael Colet, the closest ally of Orbos and himself a former governor from 1987 to 1992, although they are not totally discounting the idea that “major occurrences” may happen within the week.

“He is putting his fate entirely onto the laps of the people. He believes that the people will respond if they believe that he’s going to be a better choice for Pangasinan,” said Colet in a news conference on Wednesday at the Regency Hotel here.
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A former mayor and a former councilor are formally back in Dagupan’s political arena.

Immigration Commissioner Alipio Fernandez Jr., who once served as the city’s mayor, and Belen Fernandez, a former councilor and currently the president and general manager of the local retail giant CSI Group of Companies, have been officially named as the standard bearers for the ruling Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats in Dagupan. 

The announcement was made during a fellowship hosted by Dr. Mac Arthur Samson, president of the University of Luzon at Inn Asia and who serves as convenor of the Lakas team in Dagupan City.

Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr., president of Lakas-CMD, was present during the fellowship and called the Fernandez-Fernandez tandem a “powerhouse team and a good winning combination”.
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A TOAST FOR THE FUTURE—Members of the Fernandez-Fernandez team raise a toast with Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. to seal their pact of cooperation during their fellowship at Inn Asia last March 18. Leading the toast are Immigration Commissioner Alipio Fernandez Jr., Belen Fernandez, Councilors Danilo Torio, Jose Netu Tamayo, Luis Chito Samson, Farah Decano, Michael Fernandez , Dada Reyna and Alex de Venecia; Dr. Jesus Canto and Dr. Alfie Fernandez. Not in attendance was retired Judge George Mejia. — (Punchphoto by Cesar Ramirez)