Giant Restos, Supermarket, Hospital in Bugallon to Snare Market Shares

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

WHILE  waiting for the hundreds of millions of pesos of business taxes the first class town could be collecting from the two energy providers whose solar power plants are still being constructed at the 1,200 hectares’ industrial lands, the administration of Mayor William Dy in Bugallon, Pangasinan has been frantic to host giant franchise fast food stores’ Jollibee, McDonald, and Mang Inasal and the supermarket’s Puregold.

The urgency, according to a source inside the town hall, is to snare the market in the eight municipalities 2^nd District.

Urdaneta Mayor Courts Suit In Case He Appoints 7 Dads

 By Mortz C. Ortigoza, MPA

DO the five remaining lawmakers of Urdaneta City and the newly installed mayor Blesildo "Doc Bles" Sumera considered the various legal scenarios I cited below why until now they still don’t have the five recommended solons for the Sangguniang Panlungsod for the mayor to appoint as mandated by the city’s 1998 Charter.

After former Mayor Julio “Rammy” Parayno III, Vice Mayor Jimmy Parayno, and Councilors Franco Paolo Del Prado Sr., Warren Andrada, Aurelio Agsalud, Franklin Villanueva, Jhan Hero Sumera and Alfonso Del Prado received on October 15, 2026 the order from the Ombudsman of their dismissal from the government service, perpetual disqualification from public office, and forfeiture of retirement benefits for Grave Misconduct (for the two Paraynos) and Gross Neglect of Duty (for the councilors) , I wrote on my blog:

U.S Pays Obeisance to “President Baste”

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

 U.S ​Ambassador to the Philippines Lee Lipton visited recently Davao City Mayor Baste Duterte. The envoy met there too Senator Robin Padilla – in a Muslim dress and an Indonesian Sonkok hat - and Senator Bong Go – all rabid allies of the Duterte family from former president Rodrigo Duterte, Vice President Sara Duterte, and the present Hizzoner of the Durian City. The Dutertes are friends too of America’s economic and military rival China in the Indo-Pacific Region.

PHOTOS BELOW from left to right: 

US Ambassador to the Philippines Lee Lipton (far left) visited Davao City on October 22 and shook hand with Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte at the Davao City Hall; Vice President Richard Nixon met with Cuba El Jefe Maximo (The Supreme Leader) Fidel Castro in April 1959; Cuban leader Castro, left, and Communist Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev hug at the United Nations in September 20, 1960.

Was Ambassador Lipton playing “Larong Pinoy Intsik” in the geo-military politics that shrouded the affairs since the Cold War? Playing “Intsik” in the Pinoyland means a Filipino-Chinese oligarch gives financial contribution to all the presidential rivals so he can still get the goodwill for his business of whoever wins the electoral derby.

The Dutertes are very popular before the eyes of the Filipino despite the pro-U.S President Bongbong Marcos and his cops sending the “Butcher of the Drug War” former President Digong Duterte to the slammer in the International Criminal Court in the The Hague because of the vitriol and seditious statements the ole’ man had ranted against the “narco addict” Marcos when he was still in the corruption besieged country. That was political survival for McCoy Jr. not to mention the warrant of arrest from the ICC against Duterte because of his Crime Against Humanity.

POPULAR

Vice President Sara got 50% against probable presidential rivals Naga City Mayor Leni Robredo (26%) and Senator Raffy Tulfo (12%) in the September 17 to 24, 2026 in the poll of Pulse Asia Research, Inc. Duterte allies like Senator Go led the vice-presidential race with 31% and followed by Sen. Padilla with 19% in the same survey outfit.

Did the Yanks accept the truth that despite the inevitable impeachment of La Sara, Baste can take over and become president of this forsaken country?

Were the Americans play chummy with the family they see as Manchurian candidate but could not do anything but to befriend them lest they could hail them to their side against the menacing power of the Sino in the region?

WILL HISTORY REPEAT ITSELF?

The Yankees had fallen to this pitfall when the friends they thought pivoted to the Soviet Union during the Cold War.

Nation leaders come to my mind: The rabble rousing Cuba’s Fidel Castro, the tall sartorially elegant western liberal former Lt. Colonel and Egypt’s President Gamal Abdel Nasser, and Somalia Major General Mohamed Siad Barre.

Let’s just talk about Fidel Castro – whom my bookworm military father once in a while cited to me in highschool how he duped U. S President Ike Eisenhower:

n  The United States immediately recognized Castro provisional government on January 7, 1959, just six days after he ousted the corrupt and brutal President Fulgencio Batista – a lowly Sergeant Stenographer who became an Army Chief of Staff, sanamagan! - who fled Cuba for his life.

n  During the revolution and the immediate months following his victory, Castro publicly denied being a communist. He framed his movement as a nationalist, democratic revolution meant to restore Cuba’s 1940 constitution and end corruption. He frequently invoked Abraham Lincoln and the U.S. Founding Fathers during his initial interviews. Susmariosep, I remembered my Bible teacher Mom Daisy telling her students at the Protestant college in rustic M'lang , Cotabato: "The Devil quoting the scripture from the Bible".

n  U.S. companies held massive investments in Cuba, dominating the island's sugar, cattle, utilities, and oil industries. The Eisenhower administration believed that promptly recognizing and working with the new government was the best way to safeguard those extensive economic assets.

n  Castro was a charismatic celebrity who enjoyed overwhelming support from the Cuban public and favorable coverage from the American media. In April 1959, he embarked on a wildly popular charm offensive tour of the U.S., speaking to journalists and meeting with Vice President Richard Nixon.

n  El Commandante Castro diplomatic "friendship" with the Gringos (Psst Americans!) was short-lived. Within months, relations soured as Castro began conducting summary executions of Batista loyalists, delaying promised free elections, nationalizing American-owned properties without compensation, and aligning Cuba with the Soviet Union. By late 1960, the U.S. responded with an economic embargo, fracturing relations completely until now under the gung-ho administration of Pres. Donald Trump.

Would Uncle Sam be conned again if a Duterte wins the presidential diadem in the 2028 election?  

What say you my dear readers?

______

WRITER is a political science and history professor.

P600M 2027 AIP for Mangaldan

 By Mortz C. Ortigoza

MANGALDAN, Pangasinan – The burgeoning landlocked town has P590, 417, 217.00 Annual Investment Plan (AIP) for the fiscal year of 2027.

The AIP is the one-year work and financial plan of a local government unit (LGU) in the Philippines that details the specific programs, projects, and activities (PPAs) to be funded in the upcoming annual budget. It acts as the mandatory precursor to the LGU's Annual Budget and Appropriations Ordinance. Public funds cannot be spent on items not listed in the plan.

P9.3B Badyet ng Prov’l Gov’t sa 2027

By MORTZ C. ORTIGOZA

LINGAYEN, Pangasinan- Nagpapanukala ang pamahalaang panlalawigan ng Pangasinan ng badyet na hindi bababa sa P9.3 bilyon para sa taong 2027, mas mataas ng 10.18 porsiyento mula sa higit P8.3 bilyon sa taong ito.

“Malaking bahagi ng ating budget ay para sa serbisyong pangkalusugan, habang maglalaan din tayo ng humigit-kumulang ₱600 million para sa paghahanda at pagtugon sa mga sakuna, kabilang ang banta ng Super El Niño,” ani Gobernador Ramon V. Guico III matapos niya maisumite noong Lunes ang panukala sa mga mambabatas ng lalawigan na pinangungunahan ni Vice Gov. Mark Ronald Lambino.

P1.07B Circum. Road to Ease Traffic in Dagup, Cal, Mangaldan

  By Mortz C. Ortigoza

DAGUPAN CITY - Travel time that takes one hour and thirty minutes from Calasiao, Dagupan City, and Mangaldan  will be shortened to forty minutes  next year after the final appropriation of P427,765,000.00 for 2027 has been provided to the Department of Publics Work and Highways (DPWH).

Are Celeste, Estrella Running Against Guv Monmon in 2028?

By Mortz C. Ortigoza, MPA

A seasoned politician (a former long reigning town mayor) told me on condition of anonymity two weeks ago that Pangasinan First District Cong. Art Celeste was being egged by somebody influential and moneyed to run against Governor Monmon Guico on the May 8, 2028 election.

“But how could he (Celeste) run against the Governor, the latter told me in July that he would pick as a tandem the congressman’s son and Alaminos City graduating mayor Arth Bryan as his vice governorship tandem in 2028,” I told the politician and now businessman.

4.3% Growth ng P’sinan Bigger Vs 2.2% ng Pinas

Ni Mortz C. Ortigoza, MPA 

DAGUPAN CITY – Nagtala ng 4.3% na paglago ang dambuhalang lalawigan ng Pangasinan noong taong 2025, ayon sa Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), habang mahinang lumago ng 2.2% lamang ang ekonomiya ng Pilipinas sa ikalawang quarter ng taong ito.

Ang gross domestic product (GDP) ng lalawigan sa hilagang Luzon ay mas mataas ng 2.1% kaysa sa pambansang paglago ng ekonomiya.

Ika-3 Tranche ng Rice Subsidy Ipinamahagi sa San Fabian

 SAN FABIAN, Pangasinan — Naipamahagi na ang ikatlong tranche ng Rice Subsidy Program para sa 2,083 benepisyaryo mula sa 34 na barangay ng San Fabian, matapos isagawa ang distribution ng alokasyon ng bigas kamakailan sa San Fabian Public Auditorium.

Kanya-kanyang kinuha ng mga kinatawan ng bawat barangay ang kanilang alokasyon para sa mga kwalipikadong benepisyaryo sa kanilang nasasakupan. Matapos nito, isinagawa naman ng bawat barangay ang pamamahagi ng bigas sa kanilang mga benepisyaryo.

Magnanakaw na Sen, Cong, Madaya na Kontraktor

Ni Mortz C. Ortigoza, MP

Bakit gumuguho ang mga road dike sa Pinas kahit kaunting ulan lamang?
Dahil ang sheet pile na 12 metro dapat na proteksyon ay ginagawa ng kontraktor na three - metro na lamang.

Bakit ginugulangan ng mga kontraktor ang taxpayers sa Pinas?

The Attack Dogs are Wrong, Guv Monmon was Right

By Mortz C. Ortigoza, MPA

THE trolls cum attack dogs are all sound and fury against Pangasinan Gov. Monmon Guico because they don’t know the law when they vilified him. The Governor required the mayors in the 44 towns and three cities province – in his Executive Order No. 0084 Series of 2026 -- to submit to his office at the Capitol in Lingayen after three days of implementation their executive orders for him to review them.

This ensure that such executive orders are within the powers granted by law and in conformity with provincial, city, or municipal ordinances. Not ultra vires as lawyers call them.

Ignorant Filipinos

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

I’VE been browsing lately on the comments of readers from all over the country in a national daily about the brouhaha brought by the GUICO-C (a medicine equivalent to Ascorbic Acid + Zinc like the ImmunoPro) given for free to the constituents of Governor Monmon Guico in Pangasinan.

Some of the scathing comments there anchored how the reelectionist governor “hijacked” the PhilHealth Konsulta (the precursor of the Yakap that gives P20,000 free medicines to a patient yearly) and how he pocketed P300 of the P1,700 allocated by the PhilHealth to each of the beneficiary. 

Those comments were virtually false from ignorant Filipinos!  

PHILHEALTH KONSULTA is a national health insurance benefit program, while GUICONSULTA is a local complementary project created by the provincial government of Pangasinan under Governor Ramon V. Guico III to help register residents and encourage them to use the national program. To solve the problem of residents missing out on checkups due to travel costs, GUICONSULTA provides localized barangay-based registration drives and financial assistance of P300 for food, transportation allowances, possible deduction of their daily pay because of their absence from the work site, and others per enrollee to help him/her visits accredited government hospitals and facilities. PHILHEALTH KONSULTA provides on the other hand P1,700 annual capitation rate per registered patient yearly.

Philhealth Vice President Dennis Adre said the P1,700 capitation goes to the member’s laboratory fees. It is also used for maintenance medicines of the member to include antibiotics, anti-diabetes, and hypertension medicines which is in contrary to what detractors claimed about reimbursements.

In February 2025 Governor Guico received the "Kampeon ng Kalusugan sa mga Komunidad" (Health Champion in Communities) award from the Department of Health (DOH) in recognition of the province's breakthrough primary healthcare initiatives, highlighted by the Guiconsulta or Government Unified Incentives for Medical Consultation program.

DOH exhorted the stakeholders in the rest of the provinces in the country to emulate Governor Guico on his phenomenal brainchild.

***

LET’S go back to the commotion brought by the GUICO-C.

Here’s a post I saw from the Facebook Page’s Ilocano Avenue:

“Sa gitna ng mga komento at alegasyong kumakalat sa social media, kasabay ng maagang pag-init ng usaping pampolitika kaugnay ng susunod na halalan, nanawagan ang Pamahalaang Panlalawigan ng Pangasinan sa publiko na maging mapanuri sa mga impormasyong kumakalat tungkol sa Guico-C.

Ayon dito, hindi dapat manaig ang fake news at black propaganda habang nagpapatuloy ang libreng pamamahagi ng FDA-registered na produkto sa ilalim ng GUICONSULTA program.

Sa isa sa mga lugar na binisita ni Gov. Monmon, personal na ipinaliwanag niya sa mga benepisyaryo ang Guico-C at ang libreng pamamahagi nito bilang bahagi ng programa.

“Ito po ay FDA-approved. Ang katumbas po nito ay Ascorbic Acid + Zinc, gaya ng ImmunoPro,” ani ni Governor Guico III.

Ayon sa gobernador, mas potent at mas mura umano ang produkto, ngunit libre itong ibinibigay sa mga benepisyaryo ng GUICONSULTA.

Nilinaw naman ng Pamahalaang Panlalawigan na donasyon ang Guico-C at walang pondong panlalawigan na ginamit sa pagbili nito. Ayon din dito, hindi umano maaaring i-procure ng pamahalaan ang Ascorbic Acid + Zinc bilang combination drug dahil hindi ito nakalista sa Philippine National Drug Formulary sa naturang kombinasyon”.

***

I hope you readers including those ignoramuses that perpetuate lies on the PhilHealth Konsulta and Guiconsulta are now enlightened.

KAP. MYLA IPINAGTANGGOL SI MAYOR BONA

 Ni Mortz C. Ortigoza

TAMA si Malabago Kapitana Myla Muyargas hindi naintindihan  ng vlogger na si Kuya Jay-R na ang annual appropriation budget ngayong taon sa Mangaldan na ₱539,035,706.00 ay sobrang laki at sapat para gamitin sa pagpapagawa ng drainage system na magpapagaan o lulutas sa pagbaha sa ilang mga mga barangay doon. Itong mahigit na isang buwan na mga pagbaha ay hindi limitado lamang sa central Pangasinan town kundi ito’y dala ng malakas na Habagat na bumayo sa buong Metro Manila, Southern, Central, at Northern Luzon, at Cordillera Region.

Tawag dito ay Force Majeure.

Laos ang Pinas Kaya Napag-Iwanan Na!

 Ni Mortz C. Ortigoza, MPA

Ang Pilipinas ay nahaharap sa lumalaking problema sa kumpiyansa ng mga mamumuhunan habang ang mga tagapamahala ng pondo sa ibang bansa ay patuloy na lumilipat ang atensyon sa ibang lugar. Isa sa mga nangungunang ehekutibo sa pamumuhunan sa bansa ang nagbabala na ang Pilipinas ay halos naging "hindi na mahalaga" o "negligible" sa paningin ng ilang pandaigdigang mamumuhunan.

“𝐇𝐀𝐋𝐎𝐒 𝐖𝐀𝐋𝐀 𝐍𝐀 𝐓𝐀𝐘𝐎𝐍𝐆 𝐇𝐀𝐋𝐀𝐆𝐀”? Nagbabala ang Presidente ng BDO Capital na si Ed Francisco habang iniiwan ng mga dayuhang mamumuhunan ang Pilipinas."

State of Calamity sa Pangasinan

 Ni Mortz C. Ortigoza, MPA

LINGAYEN, Pangasinan – Nagdeklara ng State of Calamity (SoC) ang malaking lalawigan ng Pangasinan kung saan ilalaan ang mga bagong pondo para sa mga residenteng naapektuhan ng pinalakas na hanging habagat. Halos isang buwan nang binabayo ng mga pag-ulan ang lokal na pamahalaan ng apatnapu't apat na bayan at tatlong lungsod, kung saan mahigit kalahating bilyong piso na ang halaga ng mga nasirang ari-arian at produktong agrikultural.

“Ang Lalawigan ng Pangasinan ay opisyal na inilagay sa ilalim ng State of Calamity simula noong Agosto 31, 2026 sa pamamagitan ng Provincial Resolution No. 985-2026. Ang deklarasyon ay ginawa kasunod ng malawakang pinsala sa agrikultura, imprastraktura, at mga komunidad na dulot ng magkakasunod na bagyo at patuloy na malalakas na ulan,” ayon sa opisyal na website ng lalawigan na nag-post ng deklarasyon ngayong umaga.

Bugallon Recipient of Big Ticket Projects from the Gov’t, Investors

THANKS TO COJUANGCO-DY COLLABORATION

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

BUGALLON, Pangasinan – This thriving first class town is a beneficiary of big ticket infrastructure projects from the national government through the aggressive lobbying of its congressman and the decisions of giant solar plant investors to pour their capitals here.

P55-M 3-STOREY SCHOOL BLDG

Recently, the office of Mayor William K. Dy lauded Pangasinan 2^nd District Rep. Mark O. Cojuangco for interceding at the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) for a P55 million three-storey public school building to be constructed at the Bugallon Integrated School (BIS).

SP Reviews Basista’s Adoption of Solo Parents Welfare Act

 By Mortz C. Ortigoza, MPA

 BASISTA, Pangasinan – The members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) of Pangasinan are currently reviewing the Ordinance passed by the officials of this town strengthening the “Solo Parents Welfare Act”.

Known as Republic Act No. 8972 as amended by Republic Act No. 11861, Mayor Jolly “JR” Resuello and the members of the Sangguniang Bayan passed Ordinance No. 259 Series of 2026 adopting the national law here.

San Carlos, Dagupan Most Populated LGUs in P’sinan

 By Mortz C. Ortigoza

Based on the latest 2024 census of population released on August 21, 2026 by the Philippines Statistics Office (PSO), the chances of the cities of Dagupan and San Carlos, Pangasinan to be a lone congressional district are still dimmed.

Article VI, Section 5 of the 1987 Philippine Constitution mandates that a city that reaches a population of at least 250,000 is entitled to a legislative district and can elect its own representative.

IP Rep. Add’l Member of the Sanggunian

 By Mortz C. Ortigoza, MPA

LINGAYEN, Pangasinan – Sanggunian (legislative council) all over the country will be seeing their members debating, compromising, and passing laws with a member of the Indigenous Peoples (IP) based on the instruction of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) that an IP representative will be part of the legislature.

“Based on the national policy nagbigay ng kautusan ang national government and the different national agencies with regards to the implementation of the installation of an I.P sector or sectoral representative not just sa sanggunian panlalawigan even the sanggunian bayan when applicable. Kaya ang utos po ngayon ng national government, of course, the sanggunian panlalawigan would follow the guidelines,” said by Pangasinan Vice Governor Mark Ronald Lambino.

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.