How a Poor Asian Country Defeated, Humiliated France

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

While pumping dumbbells and watching at the YouTube the black and white documentary of the Dien Bien Phu Battle between the French and the Viet Minh that erupted on March 13, 1954, two French soldiers digging a trench with their shovels and pickaxes in the North Vietnam mountain overlooking the country of Laos conversed with each other how the battle there could become.

The war was brought in the mountainous areas by General Henri Navarre, the commander-in-chief of French forces in Indochina (now Vietnam) and the strategist of the battle to end the insurrection of Ho Chi Minh and his journalist and teacher turned legendary Army General Võ Nguyên Giáp.

Cong. Eyes Senate Seat?

 By Mortz C. Ortigoza

Before my black bag -- with my valuables inside -- was left and lost in a cart at the parking lot and later returned to me at the Lost and Found Counter of S&R-Calasiao in the drizzling dusk last Thursday, I bumped into several political and public figures inside the Sol & Robert Price Membership Shopping.

Former bank manager Elmo Nilo and Cecile (the Man, er, Gay Friday on the cultural festivities of former Pangasinan provincial government First Lady Dr. Jamie Agbayani) have animated conversations with me about the members of the Rainbow Coalition (not President Fidel V. Ramos and Speaker Joe de Venecia vaunted Coalition but of the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender)) affairs where countless members are making raves and waves in the global, national, and provincial scenes.

Dagupan, Mangaldan in State of Calamity

 By Mortz C. Ortigoza, MPA

DAGUPAN CITY – This second class city and the first class town of Mangaldan have declared their State of Calamity (SoC) where fresh funds are funneled to those residents affected by the heavy monsoon rains aggravated by tropical cyclones Luis and Maymay that inundated with floods tens of millions of pesos’ properties and agricultural crops.

Dagupan City and Mangaldan through their lawmaking bodies and their mayors approved into law the SoC in August 10 and 11 this year.

U.S WARNS CHINA NOT TO BUILD BASE IN SCARBOROUGH

By Mortz C. Ortigoza, MPA

DON'T you know that in March 2016, former U.S. President Barack Obama directly warned Chinese President Xi Jinping during a meeting in Washington not to reclaim land or build a military outpost at Scarborough Shoal, treating it as a critical red line to prevent a strategic Chinese base close to the Philippines?

The Chinese have huge military outposts in the Spratly Islands and The Paracels all in the South China Sea.

Mangrove Avenue Opens for Business

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

DAGUPAN CITY – The cozy and snazzy newly constructed Mangrove Avenue (M.A) is now open for lease to businessmen to sell their merchandise and foods.

Located near the CSI owned Stadia and the ArmyNavy Burger + Burrito of the Rivergrove Lifestyle Center in Barangay Lucao and overlooks the serene bangus fishponds perched on natural marshlands and surrounded by mangroves and nipa ecosystem, the one story long commercial structure has countless of commercial spaces according to Dr. Lucia Cariño Tuliao --the Project Directress.

Fiscal Discipline, Transparency Fuel Calasiao’s Revenue Growth

 By Mortz C. Ortigoza, MPA

CALASIAO, Pangasinan – The fiscal discipline and transparency of the Caramat Administration earned it the “Zero Disallowance” citation from the Commission on Audit (COA) and award from the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) while it earned a significant revenue growth last year and the first quarter of 2026.

ZERO DISALLOWANCE

Mayor Patrick A. Caramat said that the Zero Disallowance given for the last year’s feat of the town showed that the taxpayers money collected by his administration was not squandered.

Mapandan to Borrow P45-M from LBP for Solar Panels, Others

By Mortz C. Ortigoza, MPA

MAPANDAN, Pangasinan – This town to borrow P45 million at the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) to fund its procurement and installation of solar panels for the municipal buildings, its purchase of information and technology software, and kiosk for automated transactions with its constituents.

Embodied in a Municipal Ordinance No. 3 Series of -2026 of the Sangguniang Bayan of Mapandan, Pangasinan, it was part of the Order of Business of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (Provincial Board) at the Capitol in Lingayen, Pangasinan last July 20, 2026. It was marked as Proposed Resolution No. 1486 -2026.