Why Many LGUs Envy Dagupan, Mangaldan

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

Many residents of the towns and cities in Pangasinan are green with envy after Dagupan City and the burgeoning first class town of Mangaldan purchased a multi - million pesos shuttle buses to serve their constituents.

Salamabit, they are the only local government units in Pangasinan probably aside from the provincial government that have buses to show case to all and sundry.

These people in the cities of San Carlos and Urdaneta and the towns of Calasiao and Villasis have similar grumbling appreciations about the brand new air conditioned 51 - seater bus and the shuttle bus bought recently by the Bangus City and its neighboring town Mangaldan.

VISIONARY MAYORS - Dagupan City Mayor Belen T. Fernandez (left) and Mangaldan, Pangasinan Mayor Bonafe D. Parayno.

The brand new bus and the three motorcycles in Dagupan cost, according to Mayor Belen T. Fernandez, the local government coffer eight million pesos while the brand new coaster in Mangaldan worth P3.652 million to support the tourism programs of Mayor Bona Fe D. Parayno.

“Ang ating 2017 SGLG or Seal of Good Local Governance cash prize na two million pesos ay dinagdagan po ng local na pamahalaan ng P1.652 million pesos mula sa Capital Outlay para makabili ng coaster na suporta sa ating mga programang pang turismo,” cited by Mayor Parayno in the recent State of the Municipality Address (SOMA) held at the public plaza.

Aside from the shuttle bus bought under the Fernandez Administration, this most populous city in the gargantuan province of Pangasinan bought countless vehicles worth tens of millions of pesos.

They were the following: 10 new dump trucks delivered last March to haul wastes from the 31 barangays as the city prepared for its citywide program “Solar Ko Linisan Ko”.

 Also in March last year, the city bought a fire tanker, a fire truck with 9,000-liter water capacity, and a rescue truck to augment the existing firefighting equipment of the city.

These put to 11 the number of fire trucks operated by the city which include three from the city government, two from the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), four from Panda, one from Star Plaza and one from CSI.

In April last year, four brand new vehicles purchased by Mayor Fernandez for the Dagupan City Police Station.

In November 2018 a new fire and rescue truck with a water capacity of 2,000 liters arrived in Dagupan City to be used by the city’s Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP).

This city has a P1.10 billion annual appropriation budget (AAB) this year while the Pindang (thin sliced  dried cured carabao meat) famous town of Mangaldan has more than  P300 million AAB this year making her one of the few highest funded local government units (LGUs) in Pangasinan if not in Northern Luzon.

 Last year its AAB was P281,691,059.55.

Not to mention the thriving businesses around the town, Mangaldan’s  bustling economy was due to its abattoir where 50 carabaos, 30 cows, and 400 hogs are slaughtered EVERYDAY, son of a gun, based on the interview of GMA-7 Balitang Amianan last December 21, 2018 with the slaughter house head Veronica Junatas.

The water buffalo, er, carabao meats particular are served as pigar-pigar by restaurants in Mangaldan and nearby Dagupan City  to the insatiable appetite of the people inside and outside the mammoth province thanks to the food delectable delicacy.

Everyday is market day in Mangaldan, declared to the reporters by Mangaldan proud mayor Parayno to show to the public how the town under her administration makes raves and waves economically.

Both Mayors Fernandez and Parayno seek their last term in office in the May 13, 2019 election.

Surveys recently for both the mayors, according to a source who asked for anonymity, by a national party showed that they will win the polls hands down if election was to be held during the time of the surveys.

One of the major factors credited for their winnability were the dizzying projects and performances they show cased before the eyes of their constituents.

As what I cited above on the kinds of projects they have brought to their LGUs, I could only refer to a Latin quotation: Res Ipsa Loquitur  (The Thing Speaks For Itself) and its up to the voters to weight if they want to vote for Mayor Belen and her challenger Vice Mayor Brian Lim and Mayor Bona and her challenger Marilyn Lambino.

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(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)