Bataoil awaits outcome of public hearing on "Redistricting"

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

DAGUPAN CITY – A Pangasinan congressman awaits the conclusion of the public hearing being undertaken by the provincial board if Pangasinenses want additional congressional apportionment in addition to its present six congressional districts.

Rep. Leopoldo Bataoil (2nd District, Pangasinan) (extreme right)
 explains to the media his takes on the pork barrel issue, the police,
 and the additional congressional districts in Pangasinan.

Rep. Leopoldo Bataoil (2^nd District, Pangasinan) said he and fellow Pangasinan congressmen wait for the consultations being done by the Sanggunian Panlalawigan (provincial board).

“Ano ba ang gusto ng taong bayan? Gusto namin malaman. Sa amin iyong personal namin we would keep within our heart. But we will abide by the people’s will. So we have to wait for the result of the public consultation of the Sanggunian Bayan (town council) and Sanggunian Panlalawigan which will be endorsed later on by their congressman,” he stressed.

Bataoil has an answer when asked that it should be the congressmen and not the board members, as the latter duplicate the function of a congressman, who should lead the public consultation and file a bill in congress for the “redistricting” as mandated by the Constitution.

“Let’s clarify it. It is being undertaken by our provincial government and it was initiated at the Sanggunian Panlalawigan it was deliberated, public consultation, and they came up with various functions that are still under study and under scrutiny”.

He said after that he and fellow congressmen in Pangasinan will discuss the merits of the apportionment.

“We have to do it one step at a time. Meanwhile, let the undertaken be done by the Sangguniang Panlalawigan”.

In the hearing that ensued at the provincial board in July this year, the proposed new two districts would be taken on either of the following towns and cities:

San Carlos City, Bayambang, Basista, and Urbiztondo or Bautista, Alcala, Santo Tomas, Malasiqui, Rosales, and Villasis or Sison, Urdaneta City, Asingan, Binalonan, Laoac, and Pozorrubio or Balungao, San Manuel, San Nicolas, San Quintin, Santa Maria, Tayug, Natividad, or Umingan.

Pangasinan sends relief fund to Bohol quake victims.

Board Member Clemente Arboleda, Jr. (left) turns over P2-million worth of cheque to Bohol Gov. Edgar Chatto (2^nd from left) for victims of 7.2 magnitude earthquake that struck Bohol province on October 15. The donation was made possible through Provincial Resolution No. 184-2013 authored by BM Arboleda which authorized Gov. Amado T. Espino, Jr. to source the relief fund from the province’s calamity fund.  (PIO/Photo courtesy of BM Arboleda’s Office)

Pangasinan determined to further lower poverty

LINGAYEN- There's no time to be sluggish.

This was the idea as the provincial government through the Provincial Planning and Development Office (PPDO) spearheaded their fourth quarter meeting  to assess accomplishments and to make plans to further pull down the poverty incidence rate.

"Though we don't really have the tool to assess the poverty incidence, the National Statistics Coordination Board (NSCB) has the said data. And as can be taken from the latest data, we are on the right track," said PPDO Chief Benita Pizzaro during the said meeting held at the Capitol Resort on November 6, 2013.

The poverty incidence rate of the province has continuously been declining as Pizzaro recalled that for the year 2006, it was at 26.5%; 19.5% in 2009; and 17% in 2012.

She added that the province targets to further lower poverty incidence below 10% in the following year.

The said meeting was attended by concerned agencies, various departments of the provincial government, and different towns that form part of the Provincial Poverty Reduction Action Team (PPRAT).

"I think Pangasinan is the only province in the country that involves all local government units in the poverty reduction planning, so as to come up with an integrated effort as we understand each town has different needs," explained Pizzaro. (Arian Bermas)

Camacho to respect DepEd on fate of Central School

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

BAYAMBANG – The mayor of this robust town said he would respect the final decision of the Department of Education (DepEd) in Manila on the fate of the gutted by fire Bayambang Central Elementary School.

Mayor Ricardo Camacho said he would bow to the DepEd in Manila incase it decides that more than 500 students in Grades 1 and 2 who are dislocated by fire that razed eight Gabaldon type classrooms should remain at the gutted building.

The school was razed by fire at the wee hour of June last year that saw students attend class every school day into two shifts.

“Kasi ang ginagawa ko talaga  lang iyong concern ko ngayon ang health ng mga bata wala ng iba kung hindi ang kapakanan ng mga bata. Sana maintindihan ako ng mga tao,” he stressed after he filed a mandatory temporary restraining order to the court for School Division Superintended Ruby Torio of Pangasinan 1 of the Department of Education and personnel to heed for the transfer of students in a new school building with a gymnasium built by a certain William Chua.

Chua was reported to eye the central school as a venue of a shopping mall.

Camacho said the 20 days mandatory TRO that took effect last October 7 was prompted by the sad plight of the students at the 100 year-old Central School who bear the flood whenever there is a downpour.

In the TRO, RTC -56 presiding judge Hermogenes Fernandez ordered Torio and Bayambang Central School principal Danilo Lopez not to stall the transfer as it would work injustice and prejudice to the students.

 “Nakita natin may basis tayo health nagka-problema sa bata dengue case during heavy rains suspended na ang klase ng two days hindi conducive for learning. At isang reason diyan dahil nasunog ang Gabaldon Building nagkaroon ng shortage sa classrooms. Kulang talaga at marumi,” he explained.

Trouble ensued after the lapsed of the TRO as some teachers, parents, and pupils, morally supported by some media outlets in Dagupan City, went back to the old school building.
But in October 31, Judge Fernandez issued a writ of preliminary injunction ordering all concern to remain at the new school buildings.

Camacho said incase the Department of Education in Manila favors his administration to transfer the students at the new school buildings he would donate all the facilities there.

“Ibibigay namin iyan infavor sa DepEd including iyong ownership ng lupa and lahat ng facilities na natapos. Tu-turn-over namin iyan so maganda ang intention namin.”

Camacho lauded the intention of the private investor when asked that the gutted Central School will be converted into a shopping edifice.

“Hindi natin matatawaran iyan kasi being the chief executive tinitingnan ko ulit kung paano umasenso ang bayan economically isa sa mga priorities natin dito. Kasi kung pababayaan natin, wala tayo initiative na aasa na lang tayo sa IRA (internal revenue allotment from the national government). Lumalaki ang population ng bayan gusto natin mag develop, gusto natin lalong umunlad”.

Incase a shopping mall rises on the gutted central school it would compete with the nearby CSI Mall owned by Dagupan City mayor Belen Fernandez.

Camacho said he aggressively campaign for more collection so he could fund more vital and ambitious projects as he ends his third term in 2016.

This town has a proposed budget of P186 million next year - an amount considered one of the highest among first class towns in Pangasinan.

P186M Bayambang Budget to fund Big Projects

BAYAMBANG, Pangasinan - Move over first class towns of Pangasinan! This burgeoning town is coming with a mammoth P186 million 2014 annual budget appropriation.

The proposed budget, one of the biggest among the 44 - town province, waits final review at the Sanggunian Panlalawigan (provincial board) in Lingayen town after Mayor Ricardo Camacho signed it into law when the Sanggunian Bayan (town council) endorsed it to his office for signature.

“Ang IRA (Internal Revenue Allotment) namin umaabot ng P150 million tapos iyong local revenue collection  namin estimated amount (this year) umaabot ng P36 million kaya nag proposed tayo ng P186 million”.

Camacho explained that the factors used to boost this town's allocation from the IRA from national government are its huge area and its robust population.

The budget of this town this year is P165 million.

“That IRA has been good as it funds a lot of improvements in our town,” he said in the vernacular.

The huge appropriation jibes to the different ambitious projects and programs Camacho prepares for next year.

“Marami kaming gagawin doon sa Annual Investment Plan like livelihood and celebration of 400 years (as this town used to be a revolutionary capital of President Emilio Aguinaldo during the Filipino-American War). Siempre kailangan natin ang malaking pondo iyong highlights ng celebration natin sa Malangsi Festival”.

Camacho said the leadership of the Guinness World Records (GWR) has just confirmed the bid of this town for an eight (8) kilometer longest grill in the celebration of its Malangsi Festival on April 8-14, 2014.

“To break the world record na hinahawakan by Turkey na umabot ng 6.2 kilometer. Hindi ito dapat more than the recent effort. Ang aming gagawin ay medyo madugo. So far we are already in the planning stage. Pini-prepare namin kaya medyo maraming dapat ihanda and ni-prepare”.

In the past Dagupan City in Pangasinan broke the world record in the GWR in 2003 with its almost 1.8 kilometers longest grill where 10,000 pieces of milkfish placed simultaneously on 1,000 units of grills measuring one meter long each.

This town will be grilling fresh water fishes for its GWR attempts.

Camacho said the progress this historic town savors under his administration since he became the mayor here in 2007 was due to the cooperation of his constituents.

He cited the plaudits this town reaped for two consecutive years after the Department of Interior & Local Government awarded it with the Seal of Good House Keeping.

“Hindi namin nakuha iyan ng two consecutive years kung hindi maganda ang pamamalakad natin sa pagpapatakbo ng local government kaya marami tayong improvement and development dahil sa pag-aayon at pagamit ng pondo ng bayan sa tamang proceso,” the soft spoken Camacho stressed. (MCO)

How SWAT-Team Dagupan Nabbed Fil-Am Assassin

By MORTZ C. ORTIGOZA

One of the members of the Special Weapons and Tactics team who apprehended in a gun chase Calasiao hit man Arnulfo Calaunan lauded me for posting their pictures in my article “Fil-Am Assassin Nabs after Shooting 3 Persons“ that can be accessed at http://wwwmortzcortigoza.blogspot.com/2013/10/fil-am-assassin-arrested-after-shooting.html.

ASSASSIN: American Citizen Arnulfo
Calaunan

I reciprocated his appreciation with the following:

“I doff my hat with you guys. I was impressed not only by your operation but your contraptions of Kevlar helmet and bullet proof vest. Just like your Malaysian and Singaporean counterparts you bested the Special Forces and the Marines who contented themselves with their Kevlar Helmet sans the flack jacket in the Zamboanga siege recently,” I told him in the vernacular.

He confided to me they bought personally these gears.

“Iyong Kevlar binili ko iyon sa taga- abroad ng P15 thousand, iyong flack jacket P5 thousand”,

I posed to him why one of their companions wore a child’s bicycle helmet probably borrowed from his elementary grade son.

“Kayang butasin ng Indian Pana ni Boy Pana iyong helmet niya?”

“Baka wala pa siyang budget pambili ng Kevlar or sadyang komedyante lang iyong kasama namin,” the SWAT guy retorted to my humor.

Searching for the Culprit

He said when they were frantically searching Calaunan in the grassy and wet area at the back of the palatial house of Sta. Barbara Mayor Lito Zaplan at Gabon in Calasiao, Pangasinan their joker colleague (just like Joker of the flick “Full Metal Jacket”) humored them by standing nonchalantly at the sideline popping his cigarette while his companions were extra cautious that Calaunan, who just shot three persons, was just lurking somewhere to pounce on them.

How the SWAT Discovered Calaunan

“How did you find the killer?. “ I asked the SWAT guy.

He told me one of their companions (in my earlier article, the Joker told me it was their team leader who found the suspect) had a hint already where was Calaunan, a U.S resident, when they were combing the wild grasses as tall as four feet.

“He saw paved grasses that betrayed someone had stepped on them”

He added that their team leader used psychological warfare to prevent Calaunan to fire at them.

“Habang sinusundan iyong dina-anan niya na damuhan, sumisigaw ang kasama namin na alam na ng SWAT kong nasaan siya. Sinasabihan na siyang sumuko na siya”

He said his companion found Calaunan lying on the watery ground aiming his 45 caliber hand gun.

Between these seconds of dangerous stand-off between the full battle geared menacing SWAT team leader and the suspect the latter blinked and surrender his handgun to the former as other SWAT members rushed  up to the scene.

“Magaling din (Calaunan) alam niya ang sitwasyon niya. May 45 (caliber hand gun) nga siya naka (Baby) Armalite naman kami. Pumutok siya hindi tatagos ang bala niya sa helmet o vest namin pero alam niya na kayang butasin ng Armalite ang vest niya”.

He said that if Calaunan was an ordinary criminal he already shot the SWAT guy because of nervousness.

“After we handcuffed him he begged us that we just kill him”.

But High Ranking Policeman wants him Alive.

I told the SWAT friend that as they were searching Calaunan I overheard a high ranking police official  talking on his phone at the scene of the crime (yes Virginia, I was 30 minutes late after Calaunan fatally shot in the head and shot in the foot two of the body guards of Longos Barangay Chairman Muja Dave Mesina whom he shot too at the right side of the body at the "putohan (white cake) stalls of Calasiao, Pangasinan) ordered the SWAT not to kill the suspect.

“Make him lived. We need him to squeal who were his companions  and master mind,” the official said in Pilipino.

During the interrogation of Calaunan he said he was monitoring the movements of Mesina since August after he arrived from the United States. He was remorseless of what he has done to the barangay chairman and his companions,” the source said.

"They killed my brother and nephew"

 Earlier on that fateful day, Mesina and candidates of the town’s 24-strong villages for the October 28 barangay polls attended a peace covenant in the nearby Catholic Church before Calaunan shot them at the fruit stalls near the town plaza.

The incident, where the police were seen frantically searching for gunmen at each stalls, was seen on television as media men have just emerged from the church where the peace covenant was held.

But the suspect insisted he carried the dastardly act alone against the trio when he coincidentally saw them buy fruits after they disembarked from Mesina’s van.

“The Mesinas have killed my brother and wounded my nephew. My other relatives have migrated to Manila because we heard that the Mesinas wanted to exterminate all of them,” the police source quoted Calaunan, who was still dripping with water after he was "fished out" on the watery part of the grassy area.

For a more detailed reading of this bloody family war in Pangasinan you can accessed http://wwwmortzcortigoza.blogspot.com/2013/10/bloody-family-war-in-pangasinan_25.html.

(Please comments at totomortz@yahoo.com)

Police chief bemoans unfair media reporting in village polls

By MORTZ C. ORTIGOZA

DAGUPAN CITY – The chief of police of this city lamented the irresponsible reporting of some media men in the recent village polls that no policemen have been seen manning some polling centers.

Dagupan City's chief of police Superintendent Christopher
Abrajano enumerates to a TV reporter the preparation
of the Philippine National Police in All Saints' Day.

Superintendent Christopher Abrajano said the Philippine National Police has deployed its personnel to guard all the precincts here to ward off any eventualities that could disenfranchised the voters' rights of suffrage.

“Sa media iyong iba na observed natin, report katabi iyong police, sasabihin na walang police doon sa polling precinct where in fact ang mahigpit na tagubilin ng regional police office at ni provincial director (Superintendent Marlou Chan) ay maglagay at least two police officers doon sa ordinary polling precinct and polling center. Paano pa iyong area of concern  like iyong (Barangay Bonuan) Gueset na area of concern naglagay tayo hindi lang two police officers pero binuhos pa natin iyong quick reaction team, army, at  (police) public safety company so paano nila sasabihin na wala silang nakikitang police?,” he deplored.

Pangasinan Provincial Director Marlou Chan strictly
ordered all his chiefs of police to designate two
PNP personnel in every ordinary poll center in the
last generally peaceful village polls in the humongous
province.. 

 Aside from this city's regular forces of 160 police men here in the October 28 election, Abrajano said he deployed four teams where each of them has eight men.

He said two teams came from the public safety company and the other two teams came from the Philippine Army.

Abrajano cited the village polls here and the province of Pangasinan were not “generally peaceful” but “peaceful with an exclamation point”.

“Iyong preparation natin, iyong mga plano natin did not fail us until the last barangay official has been proclaimed walang naging significant violence naganap sa Dagupan City,” he stressed.

He said that there were no shooting incident and firearms confiscated from those who were not allowed to carry during the gun ban period imposed by the Commission on Election in this city.