Cash strapped mayoralty bet a congressional material now

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

DAGUPAN CITY – A mayor who ran then on a shoe string budget for a municipal office in Pangasinan and a recipient of hundreds of millions of pesos of infrastructure projects is being groomed to run for a congressional office.

OATH – Mayors in the 44 towns and four cities’ Pangasinan are sworn in on this photo to their new party PDP-Laban by Party Provincial President and Pangasinan 5^th District Representative Amado T. Espino, Jr. (Extreme Left)  (Photo Credit: Philippine Information Agency).

Greed of Filipino Congressmen Varies

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

 In a huddle with a government contractor in my last visit in Mindanao, he told me that congressmen there are given 10 percent each by a private builder on the entire cost of the project awarded to the latter.

“It depends upon the project. If they are school houses the SOP is much cheaper. 10 percent if it is a highway project”.

He cited that there are two kinds of a solon: The greedy and the less greedy.

 “A Solomon (slang of greedy in Tagalog) and a Solon,” I quipped.

The greedy, even if the contractor has to start the project, would already ask the builder to deliver for him some parts of the SOP or the illegal cut.

SUBSTANDARD - Then Assistant Secretary Tingagun Ampaso Umpa of the Department of Public Works & Highway measured a substandard width of a concrete highway in Lanao del Sur which he blamed on the corrupt DPWH’s officials and contractors in Region 8 (Northern Mindanao). Duterte sacked Umpa because he allegedly fleeced up to two percent commission in every project from a contractor. Umpa blamed his relief on the demolition job done by the DPWH Regional Director, corrupt congressmen, and private builders in the Region. 

Dagupan Mayor to help parolees, probationers

DAGUPAN CITY – The mayor here exhorted the more than a hundred members of the Probation and Parole Administration (PPA) in Central Pangasinan to just inform her office through the City Social Welfare Development Office if they need livelihood and scholarship for their children.

Probationers and parolees in the 4th Congressional District of Pangasinan flank the staff of the Probation and Parole Administration lead by  Audie Mar D. Ubaldo, Jonathan Ortega of ABS-CBN, Christina Reyes and her companion from the Volunteer Probation Assistants during the second rounds of the livelihood skills training on therapeutic massage held at the Mayor’s Pavillon in Brgy. Bonuan Gueset, Dagupan City.

“Sabihin ninyo lang po misis ninyo o kayo. Bukas po ang Dagupan City’s City Social Welfare & Development, handa pong tumolong sa inyo. Iyan po ang ilagay ninyo sa isip ninyo,” Mayor Belen T. Fernandez declared amid the rounds of applause by the members of the PPA who came from various towns and this city that is part of the Fourth Congressional District and two towns in the Third Congressional District in Pangasinan.

Audie Mar D. Ubaldo, the chief of the PPA in Central Pangasinan, lauded Mayor Fernandez’s gesture for the members of the PPA who attended the Brigada Eskuela at the public elementary school in Barangay Bonuan Boquig.

E- rollback ang excise tax sa produktong petrolyo – Senator Bam

Mismong si Pangulong Duterte pala ang umamin na mabagal ang takbo ng ekonomiya sa ngayon. Partikular na nababahala ang Pangulo sa mabagal na galaw ng ekonomiya sa mga lalawigan dahil sa mataas na presyo ng bilihin. Sinang-ayunan naman ni Sen. Bam Aquino ang pahayag na ito ng Pangulo.

Aniya, isa sa magpapasigla sa ekonomiya, lalo na sa probinsya at kanayunan, ay ang pagpapababa ng presyo ng bilihin. Subalit sinabi ni Sen. Bam na dahil nalulunod na ang Pilipino sa taas ng presyo, ramdam na ng mamamayan ang paghina ng ekonomiya.

 Kaya naman nanawagan si Senador Bam sa Pangulo na pakinggan ang daing ng taumbayan, lalo na ang mahihirap, ukol sa mataas na presyo ng bilihin at serbisyo dahil sa Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Law.

Sinabi ni Sen. Bam na sana makinig si Pangulong Duterte sa pakiusap ng taumbayan at suportahan ang kanyang panukala na i-rollback ang excise tax sa produktong petrolyo sa ilalim ng TRAIN Law.

 Isa si Sen. Bam sa apat na senador na bumoto laban sa ratipikasyon ng TRAIN Law. Ayon kay Sen. Bam, makatutulong ang pag-rollback ng excise tax sa produktong petrolyo sa pagpapababa ng presyo ng bilihin. Umaasa tayo na pakikinggan ng Pangulo ang panawagang ito ni Sen. Bam.

Senator Poe Humingi ng Subsidiya para sa Mahihirap

BADZ AGTALAO: Pinag-uusapan po sa balita itong sulat ninyo sa mga government agencies na humihiling po ng kasagutan kung nasaan daw po iyong mga tulong sa mga mahihirap po dahil po sa epekto nitong TRAIN law. Ano po ang latest po dito ma’am?

SEN. GRACE POE: Alam ninyo po, iyon ang nagiging problema dahil ang tataas ng mga bilihin ngayon, tumaas ang presyo ng mga gasolina, krudo at diesel, pati na rin ang bigas. Umaaray ang marami nating mga kababayan kaya sumulat ako sa DSWD, sa Department of Transportation, pati na rin sa Department of Finance na sinasabi, nasaan na ang kaakibat ng TRAIN law na tulong sa ating mga kababayan?

Senator Grace Poe. Photo Credit: Young Entrepreneurs Society Philippines

 Ano ang mga tulong na ito? Ibig sabihin subsidiya para sa public utility jeep, tulong sa karagdagan na apat na milyong pamilya sa unconditional cash transfer program ng gobyerno at kung anu-ano pa. Salamat naman at ang kanilang mensahe ay itong Hunyo ay ipa-finalize na ang listahan ng kwalipikadong makakatanggap nga nitong subsidiya o voucher sa mga drivers ng public utility jeep. Idadagdag din sa mga listahan ng mga kwalipikado sa unconditional cash transfer program, kasama na po diyan ang ating mga senior citizens na walang pinagkukunan ng kabuhayan, at iyong mayroon mga may kapansanan. Ang pinakamahalaga naman, maganda ang proyekto, marami nga tayong imprastruktura, mga kalsada, mga tulay pero kung nagugutom naman at kumakalam ang tiyan ng ating mga kababayan ay parang bigo naman tayo sa ating adhikain. Dapat talagang unahin natin ang mga nangangailangan.

SP hailed in shelving Labrador resolution

SUAL, Pangasinan – Officials and residents of this coastal town led by Mayor Roberto Arcinue hailed the move of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan which shelved the resolution cum petition of the Sangguniang Bayan (SB) of Labrador which rejected the planned second coal-fired power plant in Sual.

Members of the provincial board of Pangasinan in session with their resource speakers.

 

On April 23 this year, the Sangguniang Bayan of Labrador passed a resolution opposing the construction of another coal-fired power plant in Sual town because of its expected “ill effects” on the health of residents and the environment.

The resolution was forwarded to the Sangguniang Panlalawigan, particularly to the  committee on laws and ordinances and committee on environment, natural resources and energy chaired by SP Member Noel C. Bince and Liberator Z. Villegas, respectively.

Ano ang nangyayari sa Prov’l Board?

 By Mortz C. Ortigoza

Napapa-iling lang ako habang pinapakinggan ko ang mga batikang radio commentators sa lungsod at lalawigan natin dito na pinaguusapan ang Small Town Lottery (STL) at ang kanyang Authorized Agent Corporation (AAC) in the Province.   

Ani  Ruel Camba ng DWIZ-FM , tinanong kamakailan ng isang member ng Sangguniang Panlalawigan ng Pangasinan bakit ang franchisee na Speed Game Incorparated (SGI) ay hindi kumukuha ng business permit sa mga mayors sa province ng Pangasinan gaya  sa isang mga requirements na ini-impose nila sa ng mga traders bago sila mag negosyo.

Members of the Provincial Board of Pangasinan with their governor and vice governor. (Internet grabbed from the website of LGU Pangasinan).

Sinagot si BM ni Mrs. Remeliza Gabuyo, Assistant General Manager for Branch Operations ng Philippine Charity Sweepstake Office (PCSO)  na galing pa mismo ng Central Office sa Meynila.

 “Na meron na pong Supreme Court ‘s jurisprudence diyan,” ,” nasambit niya ayon kay Ka Ruel.

“Anak ng bakang dalaga!” Nasambit ko din ng madinig ko ang katanungan ni BM.

GRAFT BUSTER BAYAMBANG MAYOR

  A reporter of Northern Watch Newspaper interviews  billionaire Bayambang, Pangasinan Mayor Cezar T. Quiambao who disclosed that he paid P70 million of his taxes yearly from his businesses in the country to the coffer of his town. The tycoon owns Stradcom a hospital in the US, and other businesses. This year his first class town and one of the most populated local government units in the province has an appropriation budget of P420 million. He cited that the budget is loan free as he exhausted all his effort to collect the proper taxes from the people and fought corruption inside the local government to spike the collection.  MORTZ C. ORTIGOZA

 

 

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From Left: Political Columist Mortz C. Ortigoza, Mayor Quiambao, and Councilor Amory Junio.

Motibo ng Save Sual Movement kaduda-duda

Kaduda-duda diumano ang motibo ng grupong Save Sual Movement na sa una ay tutol sa pagtatayo ng  isa pang coal-fired power plant sa bayan ng Sual.

Balitado  na pansamantalang iniurong ng Trans-Asia Energy Development Corporation-PHINMA ang naturang proyekto at ito’y inaangkin ng Save Sual Movement na kanilang tagumpay.

Nagtataka ngayon ang mga residente ng Sual kung bakit walang humpay pa rin ang paninira ng naturang grupo sa liderato ni Mayor Roberto “Bing” Arcinue.

Matapos ang power plant project, tinutuligsa naman ngayon ng Save Sual Movement ang pagpapatayo ng pagamutan para sa mga mamamayan ng Sual, ang pagpapagawa ng municipal wharf at seaport, maging ang pamimigay ng libreng patubig, binhi at abuno sa mga magsasaka.

Notorious Dagupan Robbers Nab

DAGUPAN CITY – Two notorious robbers in this city who victimized unsuspecting nighttime pedestrians have been arrested recently by the police.

Ferdinand Policarpio Bambalan, 20, and Bandolf Sabangan Brumela were arrested by law enforcers at 11:00 pm last Sunday when they held up Michael Angelo Belen Flores, 26, while walking at the Magsaysay Bridge in the east direction where Victory Liner Terminal can be found.

Mr. Flores said that around 9:30 pm of the same day, the two suspects pounced on him from behind where Bambalan’s hand locked his neck with his one hand and pointed the sharp tip of his knife with his other hand to his lower torso.

“Pre, pre cellphone mo!, “Bambanan threateningly declared the robbery while his knife cut the skin of the victim.

ROBBERS - Ferdinand Policarpio Bambalan, 20, and Bandolf Sabangan Brumela, two notorious robbers in Dagupan City, are handcuffed after they were arrested by policemen who identified them through the footages of the security camera at the barangay hall of Barangay Pogo Chico when they were fleeing last Sunday night after they mugged Michael Angelo Flores, 26, at the Magsaysay Bridge in Dagupan City. 

The victim said that Brumela took his black Samsung Note 4 hand phone worth P15, 000 in the market and frisked him and took his wallet with P500 bill inside.

“Tumakbo na sila. Sinundan ko po silang tumatakbo sumisigaw po ako ng “hold up, hold up!”

Dagupan, Mangaldan Brgy Officials Sworn

SWORN TO OFFICE – Presidential Adviser on Political Affairs Secretary Francis Tolentino, who represented Presidential Assistant  Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go, swears in the newly-elected Barangay Captains of the city. Also present are Mayor Belen T. Fernandez (3^rd from left) and  Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) City Director Melinda Buada. Tolentino also officiated the oath-taking of Sangguniang Kabataan officials and the swearing in of “Manlingkor Ya Kalangwaren” by Mayor Fernandez during the celebration of the 71^st Agew na Dagupan. (CIO photo by Jojo Tamayo)

Presidential Adviser on Political Affairs Francis Tolentino (front row extreme right) and Mangaldan Mayor Bona Fe Parayno lead the oath taking of the new elected Barangay officials in Mangaldan, Pangasinan. Tolentino represented Secretary Bong Go in the swearing ceremony as the latter backed out in the last minute because of a more pressing work in the Palace.

Tri-ferry system proposed for Dagupan, Alaminos, San Fernando

DAGUPAN CITY – Mayor Belen T. Fernandez and Alaminos City Mayor Arthur Celeste joined a meeting with the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) and the Department of Tourism (DOT) – Region I at CSI Stadia on June 14, to discuss plans for a Tri-City Tourism Promotions Program.

A ferry boat in Guanabara Bay, Rio de Janeiro, State of Rio de Janeiro.

Also present were Assistant Secretary – Regional Development Office Mercedita Sombilla and Assistant Regional Director Donald James Gawi of NEDA, DOT Regional Director Martin Valera, Engr. Roland Suni of the City Assessor’s Office and members of the City Planning and Development Office headed by Engr. Josephine Corpuz.

Mayor Hermenegildo Gualberto of San Fernando City, who was unable to attend the meeting, was represented by their OIC City Planning Officer in that meeting.

Bong Go to swear Mangaldan’s new elective officials

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

MANGALDAN – President Rodrigo Duterte’s man Friday will officiate on Wednesday the oath taking ceremony of the newly elected barangay officials of one of the most prosperous towns in Pangasinan.

According to the program of the ceremony furnished to this newspaper, Secretary Christopher Laurence T. “Bong” Go will lead the pledge of office of the village officials of the 30 barangays of this town at 11 am on June 20 here.
These officers are the punong barangays (village chiefs) and their kagawad (council members) who won the last May  14 polls and who will assume their three years term of office on this coming July 1.

OATH - Secretary Christopher Laurence T. “Bong” Go and Mangaldan Mayor Bona Fe D. Parayno.

Go is the Special Assistant to the President for Southern Philippines.

Before the swearing of oaths, Mayor Bona Fe D. Parayno will lead Vice Mayor Pedro A. Surdilla, Jr., members of the Sangguniang Bayan, and heads  of departments in the awarding of plaque of appreciation to the guest of honor Secretary Go that will be held at the newly refurbished swanky function room of the 3^rd Floor of the municipal hall.

 Mayor Parayno will also welcome the other guest of honor Undersecretary Dale Cabrera of the Advisory Council for Southern Philippines.

Cabrera will have his special message to the village officials before the oath taking.

“An intermission number to be led by Ms. Dais Camile Maminta who is the Second Placer of the 2018 Ugnayan sa Pasko. Then I will introduce Secretary Bong Go before he swears the newly elected officials,” stressed by Helen A. Aquino the Chief Administrative Officer of the burgeoning town local government. 

According to Aquino, the presence of Secretary Go materializes through the intercession of the son of Pangasinan Underecretary Cabrera who hailed from Bolinao town but already resides in Mindanao.

PROGRAMME  

Presidential Adviser on Political Affairs Francis Tolentino (front row extreme right) and Mangaldan Mayor Bona Fe Parayno lead the Oath Taking of the new elected Barangay officials in Mangaldan, Pangasinan. Tolentino represented Secretary Bong 
Go in the swearing ceremony as the latter backed out in the last minute because of a more pressing work in the Palace.

 

Senador Bam Binira ang Panghu-Hostage sa Edukasyon

Iginiit ni Senador Bam Aquino na hindi dapat gawing hostage ng pamahalaan ang libreng edukasyon sa kolehiyo dahil kaya itong gastusan ng gobyerno kahit walang Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Law.
Ito ang sagot ni Sen. Bam sa patuloy na pananakot ng pamahalaan na maaapektuhan ang pondo sa libreng edukasyon sa kolehiyo kapag sinuspindi ang TRAIN Law. Isinulong ni Sen. Bam ang libreng edukasyon sa kolehiyo bilang principal sponsor noong panahon niya bilang chairman ng Senate Committee on Education. Kinuwestiyon ni Sen. Bam ang ginagawang pang-ho-hostage ng pamahalaan sa libreng kolehiyo, sa pagsasabing patuloy nitong pinapahirapan ang taumbayan na nalulunod na sa taas-presyo mula sa TRAIN Law.

Taxmen bewail inclusion of DPWH’s taxes in their goal

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

CALASIAO - Some Revenue District Office (RDO) chiefs deplored that the central government still included in their tax target this year the taxes of those contractors at the Department of the Public Works & Highway the Bureau of Internal Revenue’s central office had imposed to collect for itself this year.

Logos of the Department of Public Works & Highways and the BIR

RDO -4 based here has a tax goal this year of P4, 772, 404,000.00 compared to its last year’s target of P4, 015, 661,029.41.

It is a spike of P756, 742, 971 or 18.90% from the last year’s collection.

That collection in 2017 and repeated as target for 2018 still includes the DPWH taxes, a source at the RDO-4 that supervised the two cities and 13 towns’ Central Pangasinan.

“It’s tough for our RDO-Chief since we are no longer allowed to collect the DPWH taxes but they are included in this year’s collection,” a source, who asked for anonymity, at the BIR told this newspaper.

Another source at the RDO-6 based in Eastern Pangasinan said that despite its almost P2.3 billion tax goal this year had been reduced by P200 million because of the public works’ taxes, the office still faces a tall order because the reduction was only to the almost P300 million.

The P300 million was an increased from the almost P2 billion collection last year by RDO-6.

“Although the P300 million became P100 million or our present roughly P2.1 billion goal, we still have to collect a significant part of the DPWH taxes inside the P2 billion for this year,” the source lamented.

CELEBRATE FATHER’S DAY AT THE BODY SHOP

            Just in time for Father’s Day, The Body Shop introduces its first complete skin care and grooming range. It features four unique, natural origin ingredient combinations that have the power to help deliver what one’s skin needs. The fuss-free range is an efficient alternative to everyday skincare, made simple for the modern gentleman.

The entire Men’s Grooming Range is enriched with Community Trade ingredients, sustainably sourced from the most beautiful corners of the planet.

Father’s Day Treat. The Body Shop’s first complete and extensive Men’s Skincare and Grooming Range is specifically designed to help Dad cleanse, shave and protect. The entire collection is enriched with Community Trade ingredients, sustainably sourced from the most beautiful corners of the planet and 100% vegan. 

Both the Guarana and Coffee Energising Cleanser Guarana and Coffee Energising Moisturizer energize one’s skin with a blend of guarana seeds from Brazil and caffeine-rich coffee beans from Ethiopia. Enriched with matcha green tea leaves from Japan and zingy, zesty lemon from Italy, the Green Tea & Lemon Mattifying Mouturizer makes skin feel fresh all day long. 

Ph Town Fêtes its West Pointer

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

When a young Army First Lieutenant learned that I came from M’lang, Cotabato Province, he told his fellow officers who worked at the Tactics Office of the Philippine Military Academy in Baguio City in the late 1980s that the people there were dazzled  by a four digits military name tag sewed on the left breast part of their fatigue or khaki uniform.

For example:      Regla, JC

                         2LT  O-4321
(Note: "O" stands for Officer then the four digits)

“Iba doon bok, big deal sa kanila ang four-digit (Its different there classmate, four-digit was a big deal for them),” he quipped to fellow officers who are now mostly retired generals.

“Many Muslim mayors there would doff their hat when they saw a four digits battle weary Army Captain and his battle scarred soldiers who entered his village while chasing the rebels,” one of them retorted.

HAILED  - U.S Army 2Lt. Eli Eichenberger (USMA Class 2018) and his mother Fely graced the recent celebration of the country's Independence Day upon the invitation of M'lang, Cotabato Province Mayor Russel Abonado. Eli just graduated at the United States Military Academy in New York. His mother Fely Arzaga is a daughter of  the rustic town. PHOTO CREDIT: TAGGY TAYONG  

What’s the magic of the four digits that the knowledgeable, the machos, and the wide-eyed made a big fuss in Mindanao?

The four digits showed primorldially that the officer is a frigging graduate of the elite Philippine Military Academy and not some graduates of FEU or Faaralang Elementarya ng Ulongapo and PAMMA or Pangasinan Merchant Marine Academy who took an ROTC (Reserve Officers' Training Corps) course under the tutelage of inferior reserve military instructors and became a military official.

The four digits whose members were and are mostly graduates (some are non-PMYers but members of the regular force they derisively called “Sundalong Kanin (Rice Soldiers) like doctors) from the Long Gray Line in Barangay Kias, Fort del Pilar in Baguio City means not only being an officer and a gentleman but epitomize youth, vitality, and wisdom.

 When a son of a poor farmer, a businessman, a public school teacher, or a sergeant passed the tough PMA entrance examination that emphasized on mathematics, hurdled the three months beast barracks training at Camp Aquino in then Tarlac town (where I worked as a clerk there when it folded in 1989) and Fort del Pilar, and survived the almost four years (more if the cadet became a turn-back or repeater because of academics deficiency) rigorous academics and regimental trainings, folks in our town, overawed son of a gun, would talk highly about the cadet or the officer.

WEST POINTER

Cojuangco to Run Anew for Guv

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

Arenas Eyes Too the Vice Guv’s Post

DAGUPAN CITY – Former Congressman Mark Cojuangco will file his candidacy for the gubernatorial race of Pangasinan this coming October, a mayor of the huge province said.

“Ikaw ang unang pinagsabihan ko nito mayor (You’re the first person that I confided on this development mayor),” the chief executive, who asked for anonymity, of the town told this newspaper when the confidant of Cojuangco told him recently.

The mayor said that he expects Cojuangco will meet with his supporters soon to map up their strategy for the May 13, 2019 poll.

MARQUEE MATCH - Former Congressman Mark Cojuangco
 and Fifth District Congressman Amado T. Espino, Jr.

Another source said that the former solon had learned a hard lesson when he lost the 2016 gubernatorial bout with his rival when he spent hundreds of millions of pesos for the medical missions in various towns of the 44 towns and three cities’ province one year before the election.

“That spread and thinned out his electoral campaign fund few months before the election,” he cited.

He was then pitted with incumbent Pangasinan’s Governor Amado T. Espino, III.

A political observer said that in case Cojuangco, the son of Forbes 2000’s San Miguel Corporation Chairman Eduardo Cojuangco, Sr, attempts for the second time to conquer the Capitol he will either be matched with Fifth District Congressman Amado T. Espino, Jr. or his son and namesake the governor of Pangasinan.

The yonger Espino beat Cojuangco with a margin of 223,012 votes in the May 9, 2016. The former snared 736,909 votes while the latter settled for 513,897 votes.

Cojuangco was a nine years congressman of the Fifth Congressional District.
Moreover, some supporters of the former solon posted at social media Face Book his photos gracing the town fiesta of Rosales, Pangasinan last Tuesday. 

VICE GUV - Second District Representative Leopoldo Bataoil and Movie
and Television Review and Classification Board Chair Rachel Arenas.

Meanwhile, a former Pangasinan mayor said that former Third District Representative and Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) Chairperson Rachel Arenas will run in tandem with Cojuangco as vice gubernatorial bet.

If the information given by the former mayor will have credence, Arenas, the daughter of Third District Congresswoman Rosemarie “Baby” Arenas, will be pitted with exiting Second District Representative Leopoldo Bataoil. The former two – star police general has been telling some media men that he has a moist eye for the number two post of the gargantuan province.

READ: Espino Urges: Challenge the De Venecias, Arenases

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