LINGAYEN GULF TRANSPORT LINK

Mayors confident that project will be viable

ALAMINOS CITY–The first tri-ferry service across the Lingayen Gulf will soon be a reality following the slated signing of the memorandum of agreement for the project by the three Local Government Units (LGUs) that joined hands for the project.

City Mayor Hernani Braganza said he will sign the MOA in Dagupan City with Mayors Alipio Fernandez Jr. of Dagupan and Pablo Ortega of San Fernando by the first week of March.
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STO. TOMAS–Local folks here gave high fives, thumbs-up signs, wide smiles and cheers to each other following the successful staging of their 4,938-meter corn grill on February 10 in celebration of the town’s Corn Festival and centennial anniversary.

Officials and residents expressed optimism that their corn grill will make set a new record in the Guinness Book of World Records for the longest corn barbeque.

Mayor Vivien Villar said visitors, including the media, were impressed with the show of unity and discipline of the residents of this smallest town in eastern Pangasinan.
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URDANETA CITY– Fourth District Board Member Jeremy Rosario, a medical doctor, is set to present a resolution that will set guidelines on the authorized and proper use of government ambulances.

Rosario denounced how local officials and employees have been using ambulances for personal and other functions other than responding to medical emergency situations in their communities.
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VALENTINE’S DAY

ALAMINOS CITY—With the majestic Hundred Islands serving as a backdrop, 158 couples tied the knot in a mass civil wedding here at sunset on Valentine’s Day.

This now annual event is Alaminos City’s own way of legitimizing unions of couples sans the benefit of a wedding ceremony and also to promote the Hundred Islands as a top tourist destination in the country.

Mayor Hernani Braganza officiated the mass civil wedding held at Lucap, the jump off point to the Hundred Islands.
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Broadband technology expert Jose de Venecia III will lead speakers at the two-day 2008 Regional Information and Communications Technology Congress in Dagupan City on February 26 - 27 at the Don Alipio Fernandez Sr. Astrodome.

Aside from De Venecia, the other speakers are ICT Commissioner Monchito Ibrahim, Philippine Association of Colleges and Universities president Gonzalo Duque, Commission on Higher Education Director Evelyn Pascua, Globe Philippines Vice President Jones Campos, Department of Trade and Industry Director Florante Leal, Bitstop Communications Chief Operations Officer Wilson Chua, and Philippine Society of Information Technology Educators (PSITE) president Reynaldo Jay Hidalgo.
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Still feeling bitter about her husband’s, Rep. Jose de Venecia Jr., ouster as House Speaker, Gina de Venecia celebrated her February 15 birthday this year quietly in contrast to her usual big parties. 

Speaking during a radio program on Aksyon Radyo, Mrs. De Venecia said she opted for a “quiet” celebration “with people who really matter to them”.

She tagged the recent political setback of her husband as an act of “vendetta of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s congressman-sons”.
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SAN CARLOS CITY—Construction of the new Calvo Bridge in Bayambang is well under way, with a quarter of the work already completed.

This was the observation of Third District Rep. Rachel, who worked out the P50 million funding for the bridge from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), after she conducted a site inspection Friday with some engineers.

She also visited four other ongoing bridge projects and school classrooms.
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THE planned construction of a Riverside Boulevard by the Dagupan City government drew a barrage of criticisms from landowners by the bank of the Pantal River.

A letter received by The PUNCH from a concerned citizen entitled “Greed for Power” described the project as something that “smacks of arrogance”.

The proposed Riverside Boulevard will start from behind the Star Plaza Hotel and end at the back of the Land Transportation Office.
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SAN CARLOS CITY–The aborted fiesta coronation night last year marred by violence, will finally take place.

They will take center-stage again in this year’s fiesta celebration.

Mayor Julier Resuello, son of slain Mayor Julian Resuello who was gunned down in April last year during the town’s fiesta which was also the height of the campaign period for the May elections, said the city government has decided to crown last year’s  Ms. San Carlos pageant winners during this year’s fiesta celebration.
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URDANETA–The widening of the Maharlika Highway here is now almost complete except for the southern approach to a newly constructed bridge. The government cannot proceed to construct it.

Mayor Amadeo Perez Jr. blames a resident who owns the land where the bridge’s southern approach is located, who does not want to give the right of way unless he is paid higher compensation for his property.
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