Power Tripping Congressman

By Mortz Ortigoza

While waiting for the big pizza and the buffalo chicken wings at S&R- Calasiao last night, I saw a friend at the other table.

We exchanged notes when I told her that in one of the towns in the district of the province the Congressman and the candidate for the prestigious presidency of the Liga Ng mga Barangays (former Association of Barangay Captains whose winner automatically becomes an ex-officio member of the law making body) chipped - in by buying each of most of the Kapitans of the town at P100, 000.

She retorted to me that the solon I mentioned looked a sissy to her Congressman.

"Why?" I posed and was intrigued.

"E nakialam si Cong sa district namin at umabot ang bilihan ng P250, 000 kada Kapitan sa ABC doon sa mga bayan sa amin!" she retorted.

Sanamagan! I quipped.

A barangay Captain, err, Chairman earns between P20,000 to P30,000 a month in many Pangasinan towns and cities.

If there are 30 villages in a town and the Kap and the solon procured 16 of them to win the diadem of being called Councilor at P250,000 that would be a staggering P400, 000!

Too much price to a thankless post that gives a P25,000 a month emolument.

This only shows that the Congressman in the district is showing to all and sundry that he is the power broker thus the ostentatious display of wealth through pakurong (the locals word for vote buying).

Butch Wins ABC Prexy in a Close-Shave Vs. Jonas

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

Kapitan Butch Merrera won a closed election contest against rival's Kap Jonas Rosario for the presidency of the Liga ng mga Barangays in the acrimonious political town of Binmaley where Butch's Mayor brod Pete and Jonas' Vice Mayor father Sam are bitter political nemesis.

Malindong Brgy. Chairman Butch Merrera (left photo) and rival for the Liga ng mga Barangays Presidency Jonas Rosario.

In the December 15 election Butch Merrera got 17 votes while Jonas Rosario settled for 16 votes.

Together with the mayor's six Councilors' allies (who defected from the Vice Mayor) , the opinionated and pugnacious Butch becomes a new member of the Sangguniang Bayan (lawmaking body) against the three opposition solons and Vice Mayor Sam Rosario. Rosario is a former three-term mayor of the first class coastal town of Pangasinan.

He is seen to duke-out for the mayoralty against Mayor Merrera in the 2025 electoral derby. Merrera trounced out his son's Jonas in the May 9, 2022 election.

***

Wife of outgoing ABC (Association of Barangay Captains - the precursor of the Liga) President Rolly Abalos of Mangaldan decked out the brother of Region -1 Medical Center Roland Mejia by 18 to 12 votes for the Presidency of the League of Barangays known too as ABC Presidency. Winner here becomes an ex-officio councilor of the law making body.

Mejia son's Vice Mayor Mark Stephen de Venecia-Mejia is seen by political kibitzers to challenge the reelection on May 2025 of Mayor Bona Fe D. Parayno.

***

Jong Caburao wins the presidency of Liga ng mga Barangays against Ramon Subido in closed competition where Jong and Ramon settled for 10-9 votes among the Kapitans of Sual - the richest LGU per capita in Pangasinan. Subido - the Kap of the Poblacion - is former ally of the Arcinues that turned coat to Mayor Dong Calugay and later turned coat to the Celestes.

***

According to my source who asked for anonymity, in one of the elections for the Liga each of the voter-Kapitan had received P100 thousand pakurong or was bought for his vote by the candidate.

"P50 thousand galing sa kandidato, P50, 000 galing kay Congressman dahil ally ni Cong si Kap," he told me.

SM AND THE MEDIA

 In a huddle during the Christmas Party with SM Northern Luzon's public information big boss Rain Cervantes (extreme right and clockwise are:) Philippines Star's lensman and reporter Cesar Ramirez, Manila Times reporter Ging Cardinoza, Philippines Daily Inquirer's photographer Ray Zambrano, Philippines Daily Inquirer's lensman Willy Lomibao and Northern Watch Editor Mortz Ortigoza.

SM Super Malls sponsored recently a Christmas Party to the members of the fourth estate held at SM-Rosales in Rosales, Pangasinan. (Photo credit: Prisco de Guzman) 

Sual, Dagupan, Binalonan P’sinan Richest LGUs on PCI

By Mortz C. Ortigoza, MPA

At first blush, the present and the proposed budget for 2024 of the following local government units (LGUs) in Pangasinan mentioned below showed that those with bigger budgets are the richer than those with the others.

They are not true however.

 Dagupan City (P1.3 billion 2023), Sual (P520 million proposed 2024 budget), Bayambang ((P699,218,002 (2022 budget), Malasiqui (P503 million proposed 2024 budget), Mangaldan (P430 million proposed 2024 budget), Lingayen (P408, 222, 843 proposed 2024 budget), Binalonan (almost P400, 000, 000 proposed 2024 budget), Calasiao (P380, 000,000 plus proposed 2024 budget), Binmaley (P324, 360, 000 proposed 2024 budget) and Manaoag (P268 million proposed 2024 budget).

MAYORS of rich local government units in Pangasinan. From left photo and clockwise: Sual Mayor Liseldo D. Calugay, Dagupan City Mayor Belen T. Fernandez and Binalonan Mayor Ramon Ronald V. Guico, IV.

The newspaper used the data of 2023 for Dagupan and 2022 for Bayambang because of the lack of information for the following years’ budget.

If we based on the per capita income (PCI) where income of each of the LGU is divided by its population the miniscule demographically first class towns Sual and Binalonan could eclipse all of the towns mentioned above.

Here the rank and computation of the 10 richest LGUs in Pangasinan by PCI from the highest to the lowest:

1)      Sual                            P13, 302 PCI

2)      Dagupan City                  7, 458

3)      Binalonan                       7, 094

4)      Bayambang                     5, 419  

5)      Mangaldan                      3, 515

6)      Lingayen                         3, 789

7)      Calasiao                          3, 782

8)      Binmaley                         3, 733

9)      Manaoag                         3, 524

10)    Malasiqui                         3, 515

Sual (P520 million divided by 39, 091 (2020 Census) equals P13, 302 PCI); Dagupan (P1.3 billion (2023 budget) divided by 174,302 (2020 Census) equals P7,458 PCI); Binalonan (P400 million divided by 56,382 (2020 Census) equals P7, 094 PCI; Bayambang (P699,218,002 (2022 budget) divided by 129,011 (2020 Census) equals P5, 419 PCI); Mangaldan (P430 million divided by 113,185 (2020 Census) equals P3,799 PCI); Lingayen (P408, 222, 843 divided by 107,728 (2020 Census) equals P3,789 PCI); Calasiao (P380 million divided by 100,471 (2020 Census) equals P3,782 PCI); Binmaley (P324, 360, 000 divided by 86,881 (2020 Census); Manaoag (P268 million proposed 2024 budget); and Malasiqui (P503 million divided by 143,094 (2020 Census) equals P3,515 PCI)

 

Bayambang then Mayor Cezar T. Quiambao told this newspaper in 2019 that one of the sources of the LGU’s revenues came from the P80 million yearly taxes his family controlled corporations like Stradcom pay to the coffer of the municipality.

Sual has its monolith San Miguel Corporation runs 1,200 megawatt coal power plant that pays more than half of its yearly budget.

When this writer asked Governor Ramon “Monmon” Guico, III – the former three-term mayor of Binalonan - during the State of the Municipality Address of the Mayor of Mangaldan if the town’s local El Dorado comes from the business tax of the renowned Japanese owned Sumitomo North Philippines Wiring Systems Corporation, he instead said that it was the University of Eastern Pangasinan (UEP).

He cited that the 11,500 population of the college are beneficiaries of the hundreds of millions of pesos yearly from the national government.

Binalonan piggy backed on Republic Act 10931 otherwise known as Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act. The law provides that all eligible Filipino students enrolled in courses leading to a bachelor's degree in state universities and colleges (SUCs), local universities and colleges (LUCs) and technical-vocational schools will be exempted from paying tuition and other school fees. They are also exempted from admission fees and fees for the use of library, laboratory and computers

All of the towns and city above have no tertiary institution like UEP that becomes the goose that lays the golden eggs for Binalonan.

The governor said that the NTA – the successor of the internal revenue allotment (IRA) – of Binalonan is P191,264,614.00 while it has a bigger collection of P201, 289, 386 from the local taxes and revenues.

When this writer asked decade ago Urdaneta City former mayor Amadito Perez, Jr. why the eastern Pangasinan city was almost neck and neck with the annual budget of Dagupan City, the seasoned politician – a former congressman and ambassador – cited the LGU owned Urdaneta City University that gave the public coffer the golden eggs.

His son Mayor Bobom Perez told this writer in 2014 that one-third of the P600 million budget of the previous year came from the tuition fees collected from the 15, 000 students of the UCU, the others come from the local taxes and the allotment from the national government.

The other LGUS like the highest populated Dagupan have their goose cooked because of their leaders lack of initiative to spike their revenues unlike what the visionary then Binalonan Mayor Monmon Guico had done to the eastern Pangasinan's town.

As governor of the gargantuan province, Guico is opening anytime from now the provincial government owned Pangasinan Polytechnic College (PPC) to cater to poor but deserving students of the province.

Can one imagine how hundreds of millions if not billions of pesos’ revenue this new tertiary institution could churn-out and buttress the yearly provincial budget (proposed 2024 appropriation is P5.73 billion)?

Mayor Bona Denies Non-Invitation of Veem, Dads on SOMA

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

Mangaldan Mayor Bona Fe D. Parayno vehemently denied to this writer that she did not invite Vice Mayor Mark Stephen de Venecia Mejia, Councilors Juvy Frialde (my student in college), Christopher Romero and Joel Meneses on her crowd filled State of the Municipality Address (SOMA) held at the Public Auditorium in November 30.

It coincided with the Herzoner natal day.

MANGALDAN Mayor Bona Fe D. Parayno (left photo and clockwise), Vice Mayor Mark Stephen D.V. Mejia and Councilor Joel Meneses.

“Hindi toto iyan! Rose pakidala mo dito iyong mga signatures ng nakatanggap ng invitation natin,” she ordered Dr. Rose Ramirez – Hulipas – the Cooperative Officer and her speech writer.

 On the list of the luminaries from the Sangguniang Bayan (lawmaking body headed by Mejia), those who were invited to the significant event were of Mejia, Frialde, Romero and Meneses and the corresponding signatures of those who received the invitation and their respective dates.

These four have been seen by the media as opposition to the Parayno Administration.

The non-invitation brouhaha of these folks cropped up when I bumped into a staff of Vice Mayor Mejia who told me that those people were not invited by Parayno.

“Bakit wala sila Vice Mayor at tatlong Councilors noong SOMA,” I posed to him.

“Hindi sila inimbita Mayor,” he told me in the vernacular.

The SOMA that was jam-packed with the local officialdom, private luminaries, the Kapitans – that included the newly elected – on their immaculate white barongs -, and folks from the 30 villages.

Governor Ramon “Monmon” Guico, Jr was the lone official from the provincial government that attended the shindig.

Photo below is the list of those invited in the lawmaking body to the Mangaldan SOMA and the corresponding signatures of those who received the invitation:

SM Treats P'sinan Mediamen with a Xmas Party

 SM AND THE MEDIA. In a huddle during the Christmas Party with SM Northern Luzon's public information big boss Rain Cervantes (extreme right and clockwise are:) Philippines Star's lensman and reporter Cesar Ramirez, Manila Times reporter Ging Cardinoza, Philippines Daily Inquirer's photographer Ray Zambrano, Philippines Daily Inquirer's lensman Willy Lomibao and Northern Watch Editor Mortz Ortigoza.

SM Super Malls sponsored recently a Christmas Party to the members of the fourth estate held at SM-Rosales in Rosales, Pangasinan. (Photo credit: Prisco de Guzman)

HIYAS NG PILIPINAS 2023

 

 

HIYAS NG PILIPINAS 2023. Basista, Pangasinan Mayor JR Resuello (3^rd from left) poses for posterity with this year’s pageant winner of Hiyas ng Pilipinas when they made a courtesy call to the office of the chief executive in the rustic town. The local government treated with a motorcade the beauties because one of them - second runner-up’s Vanessa F. Baraquio (2^nd from left)– is the town’s present elected member of the Sangguniang Bayan (lawmaking body). (Texts by Mortz C. Ortigoza)