BAYAMBANG DECLARES STATE OF CALAMITY

AFTER ASF INTRUDED 7 BRGYS

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

BAYAMBANG, Pangasinan – The local government unit of this central Pangasinan town declared a State of Calamity after hogs in several villages here have been inflicted by the African Swine Fever (ASF).

Of the seven barangays suspected scourged by the dreaded global epidemic, four villages were inside the one kilometer radius.

Authorities here said that the number of barangays affected by ASF will increase after the 1-7-10 protocol is implemented.

The protocol, according to the D.A, means that all hogs in the one kilometer radius should be killed and buried while the owners will be compensated by the government. Movements of the swines in the seven kilometers outside the one kilometer radius would be monitored by authorities while in next ten kilometers radius the owners report to the government any symptoms of the pigs.

Through the State of Calamity, officials of the LGU here could easily extend financial and technical help to the beleaguered hog raisers especially those whose swines were culled.

Recall that 300 pigs were killed in Barangay Apalen here after 30 of them were found in a random testing by the personnel of Agriculture Region-1 Executive Director Lucrecio Alviar to be infected with the African Swine Fever.

The D.A gives P5000.00 for each of the cloven hoofed animal killed while Mayor Quiambao’s office allocates one sack of 50 kilos rice to each of the recipients.

“As a matter of fact puwede na na-approve na iyong resolution noong Monday. Puwede na iyong ayuda basta totoo na iyong kanilang baboy ay pinatay talaga at ibinaon,” he told reporters.

VG Mark Lambino for Governor?

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

While Manila based tabloid writer the still athletic septuagenarian Erning Cayabyab and I were partaking our lunch last Monday at one of the food stalls in the Capitol Compound in Lingayen, Pangasinan, Erning told me to turn my head because there was a towering figure behind me walking to another stall.

Son of a gun, it was nonpareil reporter, broadcaster, and the dark media working horse Atong Remogat. 
The warm blood is “Man of the Hour” and the “Newsmaker” what with three pretty actress Barretto sisters and a niece not only “emotionally” linked to him but scuffled by pulling each other hair, kicking stunts, and one slapping incident that involved Marjorie Barretto that ensued in front and near President Rodrigo Duterte.

MY FIRST VISIT at the chic office of Pangasinan Vice Governor Mark Ronald Lambino (center) at the Capitol Compound in Lingayen, Pangasinan. I posed here for posterity with (from left) Radio Commentator Manny Celso, me, Lambino, 5^th District Board Member Louie Sison, and nonpareil reporter, broadcaster, and the dark media working horse Renato “Atong” Remogat.

That fracas continued at the boob tube and the social media as the kin ripped each other’s reputation to the glee of the Filipino nation.

“Atong!,” I shouted  with zeal while I beckoned him to join us. But he just nodded nonchalantly and proceeded to the restaurant to order his meal sponsored by the office of 6th District Board Member Dong Perez. Perez, just like his father former mayor Badong, is Atong's close pal.

“To’, lika dito!” Atong, who was already sitting, shouted at me using the Ilonggo endearment title of “Toto” for a male who hailed in the southern part of the country and not the rock band “Toto” or the toilet bowl brand with the same name tee-he he he!

“You eat again because I saw Atong ordered another set of lunch while I video interview him because he is unprepared that will make the footage scintillating to the viewers,” I told Erning, whose eyes wondered what does the word’s scintillating mean.

“Hinde na ituro ng editor ko sa Manila iyan, To’ ah!” Erning, a half-Bacolodnon and Pangasinense just like our kabaleyan Larry Henares, told me in Ilonggo as he went to Atong.

Sual folks welcome another power plant

SUAL, Pangasinan – Residents here welcome the entry of another coal-fired power plant after they received assurance from the project proponent that it will not cause pollution in the area.

A group dubbed as Sual Pro-Progress cited the previous public  hearing the municipal government held to take the pulse of the public over the proposed plan to put up another power plant in addition to the existing 1,200-megawatt Sual Coal-Fired Power Plant in barangay Pangascasan.

During the public hearings, officials of Korean Electric Power Corporation or KEPCO assured the residents that they will be using the latest technology in producing electricity called the ultra-super critical coal technology that considerably reduces green gas emission.

They said that majority of the residents favored the idea of constructing another power plant that would provide jobs and additional income for the people and the municipality.

Fossil Power Plant.

Mindanaon is LGUs’ Engr. National Prexy

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

BAGUIO CITY – A municipal engineer of the local government unit (LGU) of Mlang, Cotabato Province was elected as president of the prestigious City and Municipal Engineers Association of the Philippines (CMEAP).

Armando “Mandy” Jaromay told this newspaper that members of the national board of the CMEAP he headed will serve from January 2020 to December 2021.

The election was held recently during the association’s 12^th National Convention at Newtown Plaza Hotel in Leonard Wood Road here.

CHANGE OF GUARD. Incoming City and Municipal Engineers Association of the Philippines (CMEAP) President Mandy Jaromay (left photo) and outgoing CMEAP President Jane Rosario. The latter is the City Engineer of Dagupan City while the former is the Municipal Engineer of M’lang, Cotabato Province.

Jaromay, the first municipal engineer of M’lang, said that he is presently the acting president of the CMEAP after its chair Maria Virginia V. Rosario was on a vacation leave in the United States.

Rosario, the City Engineer of Dagupan City, will be retiring on November 11 this year according to Jaromay.

He will update this newspaper about the programs he and his national board will undertake before they assumed office in January next year.

Projects' Bidding in DPWH’s Districts are Fixed

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

 A former mayor and an official of a congressman said that all government projects being bidded at many districts of the Department of Public Works & Highway are fixed.

The officials, who speak on condition of anonymity, cited that those projects have been given to the favored contractors of the solon at the district in Pangasinan where the projects are intended.

“Ako ang tirador ni congressman noon. May pre-qualification bid iyan ayon sa R.A 9184. Mahabang proceso. May pass –fail criteria pa iyon documents mo. My post – qualification pa. It’s sad to say all bidding in public works lahat fixed iyon,” the aide of a solon stressed to this writer.

Republic Act 9184 is Modernization, Standardization and Regulation of the Procurement Activities of the Government.

Money exchanges hands between a contractor and a corrupt government official.

Based on his experiences those projects intended for a district need the imprimatur of a congressman who decides whom it can be awarded in a bid.

“Takot ang D.E ng DPWH sa congressman,” he said.

D.E is District Engineer or the top honcho of the DPWH in a selected number of local government units that include a city and towns or purely towns only.

Tax man to hunt those errant shop owners

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

After I posted the mall’s brouhaha that became “viral” (a Facebook’s parlance means “quickly becomes very popular”) that major radio commentators feasted, a lawyer - friend reported to me how one of the stalls in a new business establishment in Dagupan City violated the tax law of the country by not issuing an official receipt (O.R) of the Bureau of Internal Revenue.

“Mahaba ang pila namin sa sikat nila na “drink” ng mapansin ko na binabawi ng attendant iyong recibo na binigay niya sa harap ko na customer. Noong ako na ang nagbayad sinabi ko na kailangan ko ng O.R ng BIR. Binigyan ako pero binabawi rin niya,” the lawyer, who declared on condition of anonymity, told me.

When he introduced himself as a lawyer and lectured her that the store violated the tax law of the land, the attendant, who felt those lectures were “Greek”, told him they don’t have the O.R.

“Imagine they have been operating for more than a week without issuing receipts from the BIR. They should have shut down their shop.” He told me.
He called his friends at the BIR and reported the matter.

I know another store there that did not have an O.R but did not open to business afraid that it could commit infraction, according to its staff.

“We are still waiting for our official receipt,” he told me.

Authorities shut down a big time Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) provider in Quezon City, complying with the Finance chief’s ordered crackdown on gambling sites that refuse to pay taxes. Extreme right is Bureau of Internal Revenue Deputy Commissioner Arnel Guballa. (FILE PHOTO)

When I narrated the incident last Tuesday with BIR Revenue District Office No. 4 Chief Ernesto I. Mangabat, who oversees two cities and 13 towns in central Pangasinan, and Taxpayer Assistance Unit Lee Caday, the point man of BIR Region-1 Director Thelma S. Milabao who was out –of-town, they were alarmed.

Group cite more benefits from second power plant in Sual town

 SUAL, Pangasinan – A multi-sectoral group of residents here that includes senior citizens and womenfolk, is urging the new leaders to support the second power plant because of the numerous benefits the residents of Sual could get from the project to be constructed by a multi-national company based in South Korea.

Calling themselves as Sual Proprogress, the group said they support the development thrusts of the municipal government headed by Mayor Lizeldo “Dong” Calugay, particularly the construction of the Sual International Seaport which could draw in more investors.

However, they said, the frequent power interruptions in many parts of Pangasinan could disrupt the flow of investors that could generate additional revenues for the province as well as job opportunities for the people.

In welcoming the entry of another power plant in their locality, they listed several benefits that the municipality of Sual and its residents could derive from the project:

1.       The proposed power plant project would provide more than one thousand jobs for local folk that would mean higher purchasing power and standard of living for Sual residents;