200 COUPLES EXCHANGE I DO’S

200 COUPLES EXCHANGE I DO’S - At least 195 couples sealed their marriage vows with Mayor Belen T. Fernandez (center, first row), as solemnizing officer, in the city’s June Bride Mass Wedding at the People’s Astrodome on June 26. Standing as honorary sponsors were 4^th District Congresswoman Gina P. De Venecia represented by her daughter Carissa Cruz Evangelista (8^th from left, front row), Dr. Arlene Ann DG. Sanchez (6^th from right, front row), Councilors Jeslito C. Seen (2^ndfrom left. front row) and Alipio Serafin D. Fernandez. Also present were Doris Zafra (5^th from right, front row) of the Commission on Population in Region 1; City Councilors Marcelino Fernandez (5^th from left, front row), Joey Tamayo (not in photo) and Alvin Coquia (left); and the officers of the Inner Wheel Lions Club (right). (Photo by Jojo Tamayo)

MBTF SEEKS FREE MEDICINES FOR ALL INDIGENTS

DAGUPAN CITY – Indigent families here are set to avail of the expanded primary care package of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) in which medicines and drugs for selected medical conditions may be provided by PhilHealth-accredited drug outlets in the city.

The program is called Tsekup – Tamang Serbisyo sa Kalusugan ng Pamilya.

Mayor Belen T. Fernandez and City Health Officer Dr. Leonard Carbonell already made an initial negotiation with PhilHealth for it to make St. Joseph Drugstore as the first PhilHealth-accredited drug outlet in the city.

“This is another first in our city as we are the first Local Government Unit in the country through the initiative of Mayor Belen to avail of the services of the program by talking with St. Joseph Drugstore to be accredited by PhilHealth,” said Carbonell.

In giving the best medical care the government can offer to the city’s indigents, Mayor Belen recently signed a Memorandum of Agreement with Dagupan Doctors Villaflor Memorial Hospital (DDVMH) for the implementation of the “No Billing Policy” and “Point of Care” program.

YLANG YLANG FOR EXPORT: Job Generation Project of Rep. Bataoil

YLANG YLANG FOR EXPORT. Congressman Leopoldo Bataoil (2nd District, Pangasinan) shows 

recently the 120,000 ylang ylang seedlings at the mountainous area of Barangay Hacienda, 

Bugallon, Pangasinan. The perfume tree ylang-ylang known to originate in Philippines would be

 given to the hundreds of members of People’s Organization (PO) 

there for them to tend as their livelihood at a 120 hectares public domain provided by the 

Department of Environment & National Resources’ National Greening Program.

 What made Representative Bataoil projects unique is there is already an investor that 

would buy the fragrant leaves of the trees in case they started producing. The investor, Fred Reyes, would

 then export the Ylang Ylang leaves to the perfume makers in France. MORTZ C. ORTIGOZA

At the seedling areas of the Department of Environment & Natural Resources in Brgy Hacienda in Bugallon, Pangasinan. Seedlings here are those of 120,000 Ylang Ylang , 60,000 gimillina, and 1,500 coconut trees. Projects of Congressman Pol Bataoil (2nd District, Pangasinan) for the hundreds of members of People's Organization in the areas that would be benefiting on his pioneering and laudable project with the DENR. Iyong 120,000 Ylang-Ylang has a ready market in France for the perfume industry there. "Iyong Chanel 5 na perfume galing iyan sa Ylang-Ylang," an investor told us. It would be the Philippines in South East Asia that would start to export this product to France.

Riding a Pog-Pog or tractor or Kubota drawn trailer (background) was a rare experience as media men joined Congressman Pol Bataoil (2nd District, Pangasinan) and staff as they passed and trekked for more than an hour on the rough and tumble roads, creeks, rivers, and uphill areas to see the solon's laudable hundreds of thousands of Ylang-Ylang and other seedling projects so the people in Brgy. Hacienda, Bugallon will have employment in the planned export industry.

Rep. Bataoil and the perfume investor Fred Reyes - a Pangasinense and the solon's classmate at the

Pangasinan National High School in Lingayen, Pangasinan. 

Members of the People's Organization that the DENR and Rep.Bataoil organized. 
They would be the beneficiaries after the Ylang-Ylang bear leaves.

Personnel of the DENR checks the seedlings.

JDV hails Poe rise in polls, nixes Duterte’s dictatorship plan

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

DAGUPAN CITY – The person who created the “Rainbow Coalition” in Congress and the Build- Operate-Transfer that expedited government projects during the Ramos Administration lauded Senator Grace Poe for leading the latest presidential polls but scrubed the plan of Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte to create a revolutionary government once elected as president of the country.

ICAPP CHAIR GIVES HIS TAKES ON SPRATLY. Jose de Venecia, Co-Chairman of the prestigious
International Conference of Asian Political Parties (ICAPP), answers queries last Sunday from media
 men on the brewing issues between China and the United States and the claimant countries on the
disputed islands and reefs at the South China Sea. MORTZ C. ORTIGOZA

Jose de Venecia, a 5 – Time Speaker of the House of Representatives, said that even Poe eclipsed other presidential rivals at the latest Social Weather Stations and the Pulse Asia surveys it is still too early to celebrate since election is still far away.
‘Will there are the ups and downs of the polls. I congratulate her for her significant improvement in the rating, but these are early days, one year away is election. Situation is very fluid,” said last Sunday by de Venecia, a former presidential candidate, at his palatial mansion located near the coastal area of this city.

Government Internship Program

LINGAYEN – The Sangguniang Panlalawigan has authorized Gov. Amado T. Espino, Jr. to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Regional Office 1 for the implementation of the Government Internship Program (GIP) in the Province of Pangasinan.

Resolution author, Board Member Generoso D. Tulagan, Jr., said that Provincial Resolution No. 1386-2015 is in support of the national government’s goal of helping generate more jobs for the youth and reduce poverty in the countryside.

          The DOLE-GIP is a new program of the national government aimed at providing employment to the poor and indigent youth.

Tulagan said that the project would give an internship opportunity for Pangasinense applicants who are high school or tech-voc (technical-vocational) graduates and unemployed college graduates between 18 to 25 years old to obtain work experience in government agencies and offices at the local and national levels.

Provincial Employment Services Office Manager Alex Ferrer said that DOLE will be shouldering 75 percent of the of the worker’s salaries while the province pays for the remaining 25 percent.   /ADV

JDV on South China Sea’s row: Suspend Sovereignty

Recently, political columnist Mortz C. Ortigoza of Northern Watch interviewed former Philippines 5-Time Speaker Jose de Venecia on the pressing issues that  caused jittery to the world on the aggressive reclamation and arbitrary possession of islands and reefs by Mainland China  being claimed too by other countries at the South China Sea (SCS). De Venecia, known as a political connoisseur, is the founding chairman and co-chairman of the International Conference of Asian, Political Parties (ICAPP). Excerpts:

NORTHERN WATCH (NW): In the book of Bill Hayton’s South China Sea you mentioned at the 3rd Congress of the International Conference of Political Parties in Beijing in 2004 that “we should not allow regional differences” on the problems in the Spratly Islands.

It mentioned there that at your behest the Department of Energy under Undersecretary Eduardo Manalac signed with Mainland China a joint maritime seismic undertaking.

In case you became the Prime Minister on that time, do you think this crisis at the Spratly and Scarborough Shoals between China and the Philippines would not happen?

VIDEO: PH 5-time House Speaker and political connoisseur Joe de Venecia on South China Sea, China alienating U.S, Japan, Philippines,  Grace Poe as favorite Ph presidential bet, Rod Duterte as real package to salvage PH as economic basket case, etc. INTERVIEWER: PROF. MORTZ ORTIGOZA, Political Columnist.

JOSE DE VENECIA (JDV): We signed it already (chuckle). We signed already on the agreement and we had peace of normalcy on the South China Sea for three or four years!

NW: But if you are still with the government now do you think these brouhahas on the SCS would still be happening?

JDV: Well, first we should revived the agreement, continue with the seismic agreement, preparatory drilling of the hydro carbon potential there. And then after that even before that we agree on the equitable project sharing. “Philippines this is your share, China this is your share, Vietnam this is your share, Malaysia you’re farther away, Brunei you’re father away this is your share. Everybody agrees together with Taiwan - okay, let’s start drilling. During the time of drilling, we’ll invite the Americans to drill for us. We invite the Europeans to drill for us, or we can ask the Chinese, because they have so many oil rigs and some of the largest rigs in Asia and the world will ask China, you do conduct the drilling for us. So aside from your share and the hydro carbon, you will get another specific fee for the drilling the wells, which we will be paying anyhow to the Europeans or to the Americans.

NW: Like the German, Norwegian, and the British formula at Ecofisk in the North Seas?

JDV: Ya ya.

NW: In 2011, former Dagupan City Mayor Benjie S. Lim told me at his office that before the 2007 national election between you and him, people from the United States Embassy visited him at the mayor’s office encouraging him to run and defeat you for a congressional seat. He said the U.S is afraid you become Speaker and later Prime Minister (of the Philippines thru amendment of the Constitution JDV mulls on that time) because you’re too friendly with the Chinese. What’s your take on that?

JDV: That’s a complete nonsense. The U.S, the U.S in Vietnam during the war I was the (Philippines) economic councillor in Vietnam. Now, I’ve been invited to deliver speech in Washington DC.

NW:  Do you think the brinkmanship done by China at the South China Sea would have economic repercussion on her because it alienated Japan, Japan is militarily supporting the Philippines and Vietnam by giving armaments, Malaysia has been smarting on China, do you think someday these countries would no longer invest in China and would instead strengthened their trade relations with each other?

JDV: The continuing crisis is a minus definitely not a plus. It would lead to an explosion that we don’t want. Nobody’s want (that) just like the Cold War, you know. We can cite Europe, when the Berlin Wall fell you see the U.S and the then Soviet Union normalized quickly their relationship.

All of these can be worked out by complicated diplomacy. You give mutual respect to each other. You know we have a thousand years of friendship with China.

NW: What’s the game plan of China on her patent aggressiveness on reclaiming reefs and islets at the SCS? It offended the U.S, the South East Asian members that have claimed there, too, and Japan.

JDV: They have their own initiative for their own country. But at a certain point of time when diplomacy comes into play and be successful these structures where small airfields small naval stations (are built there) would become a tourism site, would become complexes. So it is like an island subject in the war in the Pacific in World War II all of them are tourism site. So ganoon lang iyon (that was it) because each country is too proud to say let’s sit down. But the Philippines should sit down. Let’s hold a ceasefire, let’s have back channelling where we should have formal dialogue.

NW: Now that the U.S and Japan – both first world countries – are aiding the Philippines, and assailed China’s intrusion of the SCS, do you think China would stop their reclamation and possession of islets and reefs at SCS and Scarborough Shoals?

Death Squad in my City

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

While attending the other day my libel case hearing at the Regional Trial Court in Dagupan City, I could not prevent to shake my head with a mixed of consternation and amusement seeing yellow clad inmates of the Bureau of Jail, Management & Penology handcuffed and herded to their special pews inside the court. Almost all of them were charged with possession or selling of the illegal drugs. Selling of the illegal drug in the Philippines, despite its number of gram, is a non-bailable crime if one is apprehended by peace officers.

Death Squad

Some of them used to be my students in a university and one was my village mate.
Since we were not allowed to talk lest we would be chided by the judge, I used a sign language, to ask them their crimes, by mimicking somebody who stabbed (my hand swung a knife to someone), robbed somebody (my hand opening a door knob with a key), pounded for several times on the chair my right index finger where a man raped a woman, or sell illegal drug’s shabu or methamphetamine hydrochloride (I opened my right palm and threw something). All of them reciprocated by opening their palm and threw something mimicking a shabu. It means, son of a gun, these putative culprits implied that they were charged in selling of the illegal drugs
****
It seemed the dreaded Dagupan Death Squad (DDS), that killed countless habitual delinquents in the past, struck again at 1 Pm of June 24 by shooting Maximo Aspric, an ex convict and notorious robber, when he was disembarking in a motorized tricycle at Barangay Malued in the city.
“A white legal sized bond paper with writing’s “Huwag ako tularan, tulak (shabu pusher), Snatcher ako – DDS, was found near his body,” a police text message said.
It was more than a year ago or two that a “recidivist” akyat bahay (burglar) in the same village was waylaid in the wee hour and was seen with a similar bond paper warning the public not to emulate his nefarious activities.
According to my source that has an alleged contact with the DDS, the group on their selective extra judicial killings missed only Rewel S. Bugayong alias “Kamote”, a habitual delinquent in Barangay Tapuac, Dagupan City.
A legal size bond paper with a warning was found too in the place where he was shot by two assassins wearing baseball caps while he was playing cards .
“Doon lang daw sila pumalpak kay Kamote,” he told me.
Here’s my report on that incident a day after he was shot:” Bugayong, a notorious robber whose mugging and house looting activities gave headaches to village officials and police for years, was confined at the intensive care unit of the Region I Medical Center, with a bullet ensconced at his jaw after alleged members of a death squad attempted to kill him on the night of May 20.
The same resident said he suspected that the hit man was part of a group that was behind the series of extra judicial killings of illegal drug pushers and robbers whose hog tied bodies pumped with bullets or with stab wounds were dumped like garbage along the national highways here.
The source said one of the two assassins surreptitiously went behind Bugayong and shot him three times but only one of the bullets hit him on the nape and penetrated his jaw”
Bugayong was also one the suspects in the failed assassination attempt of Tapuac village chieftain Jake Ignacio Reyes Jr  who was hit on his body by a volley of .38 bullets.
After that attempt Kamote absconded to Angeles City to spare his life from the DDS that was hell bent to “neutralize” him.
But in his new found city he could not get rid of his itch to mug. He tried to rob a car. “When he was inside the car he could not rev the engine that was when the police collared him and threw him at the calaboose there, another source told me.

(You can read my selected columns at http://mortzortigoza.blogspot.com and articles at Pangasinan News Aro. You can send comments too at totomortz@yahoo.com)

Jail breaker and binged killer shot dead

DAGUPAN CITY- A notorious carnapper and suspected ruthless binged killer who  killed his victims  was shot dead last June 21 in a police encounter at Barangay Pantal here.

Ronnie Cacho Zarate

Police Superintendent Christopher Abrahano, Police Chief here said Ronnie Cacho Zarate escaped from the Pangasinan Provincial Jail on June 1 this year. He was encarcerated at the provincial jail for multiple cases of Murder, Homicide, and carnapping. Police and jail officials have since launched a manhunt for the fugitive.

VIDEO: JDV on South China Sea, Grace Poe, Duterte

PH 5-time House Speaker and political connoisseur Joe de Venecia on South China Sea, China alienating U.S, Japan, Philippines,  Grace Poe as favorite Ph presidential bet, Rod Duterte as real package to salvage PH as economic basket case, etc. INTERVIEWER: PROF. MORTZ ORTIGOZA, Political Columnist.

Dagupan unveils tarp on BUB projects

DAGUPAN CITY –Mayor Belen T. Fernandez and Department of Interior and Local Government  Provincial Director Reggie Colisao and City Director Rhoderick M. Dawis unveiled last June 17 a tarpaulin listing down Bottom-up Budgeting (BUB) projects in Dagupan  in front of the city hall for the public  to  to see.

 

Joining them were Association of Barangay Captains (ABC) President and City Councilor Marcelino Fernandez, City Social Welfare and Development (CSWD) Officer-In-Charge Leah T. Aquino, City Agriculture Officer Emma J. Molina and members of the different faith-based organizations.

 

The BUB program is the initiative of President Benigno S. Aquino III of laying down the foundation for a more transparent, accountable and participative governance. It engages local communities, civil society organizations (CSOs) and other stakeholders to work with city and municipal governments in proposing projects to be included in the National Budget.

 

For 2015, the national government has allocated P21 billion under the BUB for the more than 14,300 locally identified projects in 1,590 cities and municipalities.

Dagupan, fire dept, Ched inspect boarding houses

DAGUPAN CITY – The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) Regional Office 1 has joined the Bureau of Fire Protection and the city government in conducting inspection and monitoring of apartments, dormitories and boarding houses here on June 16 coinciding with the opening of collegiate classes.  

 

The inspection was in line with the CHED’s Oplan Balik-Iskwela 2015 program to ensure the safety and welfare of college students enrolled in various colleges and universities in the city who are living   in boarding houses.

 

Dr. Geraldine Flor-Casipit, under the authority of CHED Region 1 Officer-In-Charge Cherrie Melanie C. Ancheta-Diego, joined  the team composed of Bureau of Fire Protection acting city fire marshal Inspector Romie J. Tungpalan; One Stop Business Center manager Randolph Ubando and Monette De Venecia; and officials of the Health and Sanitation Division of the City Health Office; City Engineer’s Office; and the Philippine National Police in inspecting   big dormitories on Arellano and Arellano-Bani.

 

“Inspecting and ensuring the safety and welfare of our students is part of our preparedness program. Soon we will conduct a regular disaster drill like fire and tsunami drills in all establishments and dormitories in our city to train and prepare everyone on how to act and respond to any form of disaster that befalls the city,” Mayor Belen T. Fernandez said.

 

Casipit was thankful to Fernandez for the support.

CITY WOMEN CENTER UP SOON

DAGUPAN CITY - A women center costing P3,497,341.61 will soon rise on Bonifacio Street in Barangay Poblacion Oeste here following the groundbreaking rites on  the proposed edifice on June 18.

Mayor Belen T. Fernandez led the groundbreaking ceremony marking the start of the construction of the center for women suffering from anxieties, depressions, post-natal depression and bi-polar disorder in line with the city’s program in promoting and protecting the rights of women in the city.

In her message  delivered by 2015 Manlingkor ya Kalangweran little mayor Anjanette Cayabyab  Fernandez said that the center will provide safety, shelter and support to women and their families affected by domestic violence, sexual assault and abuse and to facilitate their development.

She added that the center will also be home to all women who want to explore their potentials where various activities relating to livelihood skills and employment, personal development and education will be held.

“We want women in our city to feel that they are not alone. There may not be an easy answer but we shall have safe place for them to talk about their thoughts, feelings and options,” said Fernandez.

Fernandez said the  city’s programs are not just about illegal drugs and anti-bullying, but are  also against violence on women and children.

She said she wants zero violence on women and children in the city.

Kidney Care

KIDNEY CARE. Dr. Susan Jorge, program manager of Renal Disease Control Program (REDCOP) of the National Kidney Transplant Institute told some 300 participants from various sector in Dagupan City to take care of their kidneys by drinking water, and eating a balanced diet. The amount frequency of food intake must also be watched. Jorge led the REDCOP team in a medical mission at the Region 1 Medical Center to remind Pangasinenses of renal disease prevention. (photo by rolanaoe/PIA,1-Pangasinan)

Free Urinalysis and Blood sugar screening and consultation at the Region 1 Medical Center. More than 600 patients have availed of the free health services. REDCOP Program Manager Dr. Susan Jorge led the group to reach out to as many possible to inform them of renal health and disease prevention. (photo by rolanaoe/PIA,1-Pangasinan)

Warrant of Arrest vs. Binmaley’s dads looms

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

BINMALEY - Many incumbent and former councillors of the Sangguniang Bayan here are feared to be apprehended by the police after the Ombudsman denied their motion of reconsideration (MR) on a criminal charged filed by Vice Mayor Pedro Merrera.

UNDER SIEGE. The under siege members of the Sangguniang Bayan of Binmaley, Pangasinan where many of its incumbent and former members are feared to be arrested by the police after the Ombudsman denied their motion for reconsideration of the criminal charge filed by their Vice Mayor Pedro Merrera.

The arrest scenario could happen after the Ombudsman filed a resolution in court for the warrant of arrest of the eight active and former councillors who were sued with Usurpation of Authority or Official Function by Vice Mayor Merrera.

Merrera charged in September 21, 2012 Councillors Ellen F. Alipio, Jose Z. Carrera,Jr,. Urbano C. delos Angeles III, Jocelyn V. Bautista, Franco C. Francisco, Vismark V. Valerio, Jesus A. Aquino, and Harmielyn C. Cerezo .

The Ombudsman on its March 20 this year Order said the MR of Councillor Francisco Franco, a lawyer, been a rehash of its previous counter affidavit to Merrera’s complaint.

Usurpation of Authority or Official Function, according to the Revised Penal Code, has a penalty of prision correctional in its minimum and medium periods.

The controversy in this town ensued when Vice Mayor Pedro Merrera question the propriety of some members of the Council to continue the special session that he adjourned after it was requested to him by Councillors Jovito Castro and Edgar Mamenta.

It can be recalled that the respondents’ members of the Sangguniang Bayan (SB) wanted to comply the request of the Banko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) that aside from Resolution No.5, Series of 2012, a Municipal Ordinance should likewise be passed to make the P55 million loan applied at the Land Bank of the Philippines by the administration of former Mayor Lorenzo Cerezo valid.

“Pursuant thereto, the SB passed Municipal Ordinance No. 01, Series of 2012. Subsequently, the SB enacted Municipal Ordinance No. 02, Series of 2012 amending said Municipal Ordinance 01, Series of 2012, which in effect amended the list of the municipal projects and granting the Office of the Mayor anew 90-day period within which to submit the required documents,” quoted by the November 14, 2014 Resolution of the Ombudsman in Manila.

On August 18, 2012, in connection to the letter-request of the municipal mayor addressed to the vice mayor and respondents, a special session was held to deliberate Resolution No. 59, Series of 2012. During the deliberation, the documents required under Municipal Ordinance No. 02, Series of 2012 were submitted by the Office of the Mayor to the SB.

Mayor Ayoy Resuello turns 37

MAYOR TURNS 37. San Carlos City Mayor Julier Resuello celebrated last Friday 

his 37^th birthday with city hall’s workers. The mayor birthday bash should be on 

the following Saturday but he chose Friday so the local government workers who 

were on their offices could attend. Resuello, a last term mayor, is seen to run for

 the vice mayoralty in the 2016 election while his younger brother Joseres , 

the incumbent vice mayor, runs for the mayoralty. MORTZ C. ORTIGOZA

1000 news jobs in P'sinan

PRESS RELEASE

LINGAYEN – Over 1, 000 jobs will be opened to job seekers in Pangasinan as the Provincial Employment Services Office (PESO) holds another mini jobs fair next week.

            PESO Manager Alex Ferrer said the jobs fair will be conducted at the Pangasinan PESO, Alvear St., Capitol Complex here on June 23 with four companies who will recruit workers for local employment and one for overseas employment.

            Ferrer urges the people to inform interested friends, relatives and acquaintance to report on the activity date bringing their resume and credentials.

            The jobs fair is a regular activity of the provincial government through the PESO to help generate jobs for the unemployed.

            The following are the sets of job opportunities for those who wish to seek employment:

EPSON PRECISION PHILS.

Production Operators

·        Female: 18-30 years old

·        High school graduate/vocational/college level

·        Single/Married: No height requirement

IMMIGRATION NETWORK SERVICES (INS)

·        Accounting Staff

·        Marketing Staff

·        Marketing Officer

RURAL BANK OF MANGALDAN, INC.

·        Branch Manager (1)

·        Teller (1)

·        Bookkeeper (2)

·        Account Officers (2)

·        Janitor/Messenger (2)

·        Graduate of any 4-year course except for the janitor/messenger

·        At least 18 years old

SHERIDAN-GECO GROUP OF COMPANIES

Booking AndExtruct Professional Sales Personnel (5)

·        Male 5”5’/ Female 5”2’; not more than 26 years old

·        College Graduate/College Level with pleasing personality

·        With or without experience; with license no. 123 or Student Permit

Merchandiser (9)

·        Male 5”5’/ Female 5”2’; not more than 26 years old

·        College graduate/College level; with or without experience

Mechanic Driver/Driver (3)

·        Male 5”5’ in height; not more than 30 years old; College level; with experience