Dagupan’s bursar hits on poor performance

Mayor Belen Fernandez

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

DAGUPAN CITY – A political kibitzer here lamented the poor tax collection efficiency under this city’s treasurer Romelita Alcantara.
 “Aside from her P40 million's deficit in the collection target of P612 million for this year, Dagupan has been dusted off by Urdaneta City,” the source, who asked anonymity, opined.
 Urdaneta City has a tax goal of P637 million excluding special appropriation this year.
 The source said this burgeoning city should be exceeding its tax target. “Alcantara lacks vision and imagination to boost the public coffer,” she quipped.
She proposed that aside from Mayor Belen Fernandez weeding out the excessive number of consultants, real and “ghost” emergency workers, and other dead woods hired by former Mayor Benjamin S. Lim, Fernandez should hire experienced financial consultants to advise her how to raise and collect more taxes. “She should get for instance savvy former treasurer Arturo Mandapat, Jr. who just retired as bursars of San Carlos City and Urbiztondo”.
 Mandapat, the source said, was responsible to the revenue turned around of San Carlos City and the classic tax spikes of Urbiztondo town.
“Mandapat was a perennial awardee of the Bureau of Local Government Finance after he exceeded his tax collection for several years. If Dagupan City reeled today on the P40 million deficits, San Carlos experienced  a tax surplus of P72.7 million under the chutzpah of Mandapat. Imagine what P72.7 million can do to the deficit-reeling administration of Mayor Fernandez,” the source posed.
Mandapat earlier opined in this paper how poor is this city’s in terms of tax collection. He said that Alcantara should have knowledge about the financial figures reported to her by business owners. “Normally business people do not report the correct amount of their income. Otherwise, they pay a lot of taxes,” he explained. He said most of businessmen do not have real books of accounts.
 Mandapat explained that despite of that adverse practice, there is a tool to detect it through “Presumptive Income Level (PIL)”.
 “Diyan sa PIL all kinds of business dapat meron siyang (Alcantara) experienced na magkaka -income usually how much the amount is derived from every kind of business”.
Mandapat said Alcantara should diligently conduct examinations of books of accounts. “She supervises her collectors in the field lalo na sa market. Mayayaman na iyong mga empleyado sa market! ”he stressed.
 A high official here said that the income derived from the “consignation” of aqua products at Magsaysay Avenue is not enough to pay the daily salary of market personnel who supervise the entrepot.
 “Dito sa amin (San Carlos City) iyong isang banyera (of fish) lang that is P100 ang tax nila dito. Ilang banyera ang nandiyan sa Dagupan ?” he posed.
 When the Department of Finance assigned Mandapat as acting treasurer of Urbiztondo, the tax collection effort of that town almost doubled. Some of his strategies were to oblige the Central Pangasinan Electric Corporation and Digitel to pay business taxes there. Even the water district there, the source said, pays now a 1% Water Sales Tax because of the pro-active intercessions of Mandapat.

Business plates anomaly in Dagupan discovered

By Alex Romeo R. Fernandez

 DAGUPAN CITY--First it was ATM (automated teller machine) cards, now it is business license plates.
 Mayor Belen T. Fernandez asked the Commission on Audit (COA) to make a thorough investigation after the city government unearthed last week another anomalous transaction at the City Hall this time involving the procurement of 3,000 business license plates from a firm that lost in an bidding.
 Fernandez made the discovery when she ordered an investigation following the attempt of a local firm called El John Company to claim payment for the plates.
 El John was reported to have been ordered to print the plates by Whatsitz Enterprises, which is owned by a certain Jason Estrada.
 Carmen Olpindo, head of the One-Stop Business Center (OSBC), which issues business plates, said the plates were delivered by Whatsitz Enterprises to her office last December 2012.
 The OSBC believing it was Whatsitz that won the bidding started issuing the plates, Olpindo said.
 However, further investigation disclosed that Whatsitz, in fact, lost the bidding conducted by Phil Government Electronic Procument System (PhilGeps). Olpindo said the OSBC stopped issuing the plates when they discovered the anomaly.
 Subsequently, the former administration conducted bidding for another set of plates last January. This time, it was RJS Techno Engineering Works, which won the bidding for 2,851 pieces of plates priced at P120 each. The Whatsitz plates were priced at P143 each.
 Both plates, however, will not be issued anymore, as they still bear the picture of former Mayor Benjamin Lim. That leaves the OSBC with a total of 5,369 unusable plates. “The anomalous transaction will undergo more thorough investigation,” Fernandez assured. (CIO/ARRF/080613)

Espino, Celeste Dismantle Illegal Structures at 100 Islands

Gov. Amado T. Espino, Jr. (in front) and Alaminos City Mayor Arthur Celeste (right) inspect the area around Quezon Island where dismantling operations on the illegal structures built within the island was conducted last August 3 at the Hundred Islands in Alaminos City. The activity is part of the Alaminos City government's effort to restore the natural beauty of the Hundred Islands defaced by the various illegal structures where Celeste sought the help of the governor in the restoration plans. Gov. Espino said he supports Celeste's plan of restoring the beauty, cleanliness and the pristine waters of the world-famous tourist spot. With the governor and the mayor are some of the provincial government department heads composed of Tourism Operations Division chief Malou Elduayan, Provincial Information Butch M. Velasco, Executive Assistant III Modesto Operana and Special Events Coordinator Marife Acerit. (PIO Photo)

SP directs NIA-AARIIP to submit a report on the status of irrigation projects in the province

Lingayen --- “Prepare a report and tell this august assembly what you’ve been trying to say with finality and totality.” This was demanded by Board Member Ranjit Shahani to Engr. Reynaldo Mencias, Project Manager of the National Irrigation Administration – Agno River Integrated Irrigation Project (NIA-ARIIP), during the August 5 regular session of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan, here. The move was necessary to determine the status of the irrigation component projects in the province and to further elucidate the funding of the Php3.8 billion re-regulating pond built at the estuary of the Agno river in San Manuel. The NIA-ARIIP opened on July 23 the west bank gate of a 68-hectare irrigation water reservoir below the San Roque hydro-electric dam and started releasing irrigation waters to more than 12,000 hectares of rice lands in central Pangasinan. The reservoir at the mouth of the Agno River was designed to hold 5.5 million cubic meters. The news media, however, reported last week that the east gate of the pond designed to divert water from Agno to eastern Pangasinan remained closed after the NEDA put on hold the release of funds for the building of a 10-kilometer main canal from the reservoir to irrigation canals going to eight towns in Shahani’s district. Relative to this, board member Danilo Uy asked Engr. Mencias to address problems resulting from road widening in Urdaneta City that affected irrigation canals in the city. “Bago kayo mag-road widening, dapat may gawin kayong alternatives sa mga daanan ng tubig papunta sa mga farmlands, hindi ‘yung tambak kayo nang tambak,” he said. In response, Assistant Project Manager of NIA-ARIIP Ceferino Sta. Ana said the DPWH is responsible on the road widening. The NIA-ARIIP is studying plans on how to restore the affected irrigation canals and drainage systems,” he added. Towards the end, BM Uy asked Mencias “to check on the irrigation canals in the districts under their management so that farmers may know which are functioning and not-functioning.” With the re-regulating pond which stores volumes of water discharged by the San Roque dam, the province is expected to at least double its rice, corn and vegetable production with irrigation water made available yearround.. Aside from Pangasinan, San Manuel and Moncada in Tarlac and Cuyapo, Nueva Ecija will get irrigated if the Lower Agno River Irrigation System under the ARIIP project will be completed. During the launching, Mencias told newsmen that in addition to the P420 million funds allotted to build the canal that sucks water from the east bank gate of the water reservoir that was suspended, the project will need another P2.2 billion more to irrigate another 12,000 hectares more in eight eastern Pangasinan towns, the towns of Bautista and Alcala in the third district and the towns in Tarlac and Nueva Ecija. BM Liberato Villegas also stirred the attention of Engr. Frida Nidoy, Chief of NIA in San Fabian, to check on reports that the structure of the line canals in San Fabian which were recently built but were said to be breaking down.(PIO/Mark Gerry Naval Oblanca)

SP directs NIA-AARIIP to submit a report on the status of irrigation projects in the province

Lingayen --- “Prepare a report and tell this august assembly what you’ve been trying to say with finality and totality.” This was demanded by Board Member Ranjit Shahani to Engr. Reynaldo Mencias, Project Manager of the National Irrigation Administration – Agno River Integrated Irrigation Project (NIA-ARIIP), during the August 5 regular session of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan, here. The move was necessary to determine the status of the irrigation component projects in the province and to further elucidate the funding of the Php3.8 billion re-regulating pond built at the estuary of the Agno river in San Manuel. The NIA-ARIIP opened on July 23 the west bank gate of a 68-hectare irrigation water reservoir below the San Roque hydro-electric dam and started releasing irrigation waters to more than 12,000 hectares of rice lands in central Pangasinan. The reservoir at the mouth of the Agno River was designed to hold 5.5 million cubic meters. The news media, however, reported last week that the east gate of the pond designed to divert water from Agno to eastern Pangasinan remained closed after the NEDA put on hold the release of funds for the building of a 10-kilometer main canal from the reservoir to irrigation canals going to eight towns in Shahani’s district. Relative to this, board member Danilo Uy asked Engr. Mencias to address problems resulting from road widening in Urdaneta City that affected irrigation canals in the city. “Bago kayo mag-road widening, dapat may gawin kayong alternatives sa mga daanan ng tubig papunta sa mga farmlands, hindi ‘yung tambak kayo nang tambak,” he said. In response, Assistant Project Manager of NIA-ARIIP Ceferino Sta. Ana said the DPWH is responsible on the road widening. The NIA-ARIIP is studying plans on how to restore the affected irrigation canals and drainage systems,” he added. Towards the end, BM Uy asked Mencias “to check on the irrigation canals in the districts under their management so that farmers may know which are functioning and not-functioning.” With the re-regulating pond which stores volumes of water discharged by the San Roque dam, the province is expected to at least double its rice, corn and vegetable production with irrigation water made available yearround.. Aside from Pangasinan, San Manuel and Moncada in Tarlac and Cuyapo, Nueva Ecija will get irrigated if the Lower Agno River Irrigation System under the ARIIP project will be completed. During the launching, Mencias told newsmen that in addition to the P420 million funds allotted to build the canal that sucks water from the east bank gate of the water reservoir that was suspended, the project will need another P2.2 billion more to irrigate another 12,000 hectares more in eight eastern Pangasinan towns, the towns of Bautista and Alcala in the third district and the towns in Tarlac and Nueva Ecija. BM Liberato Villegas also stirred the attention of Engr. Frida Nidoy, Chief of NIA in San Fabian, to check on reports that the structure of the line canals in San Fabian which were recently built but were said to be breaking down.(PIO/Mark Gerry Naval Oblanca)

More Pang'nan's congressional districts, more monies

Government project funded by the P70 million
Pork Barrel

By MORTZ C. ORTIGOZA

 Last July 29, I diligently observed the public consultation undertaken by the Sanguniang Panlalawigan (provincial board) on the implication of redistricting or legislative apportionment in Pangasinan.
 Many spectators were there, including some board members who did not make their home work, (like reading the two pages annotation of the Philippine Constitution by Lawyer Hector de Leon on apportionment vis-a-vis Section 5 (4) of Article VI), and who were still at a loss on the advantages and disadvantages of redistricting.
 To cut short my verbiage: Adding two more congressional districts in the humongous province Pangasinan has more advantages.
First, two legislative district means P70 million each from the Priority Development Allocation Fund or the controversial “Pork Barrel” or P140 million for Pangasinan from both of them;
 Second, striking out the more than 200 thousand populated city of San Carlos in the present aggrupation of towns like Bayambang, Calasiao, Malasiqui, Mapandan, and San Barbara in the Third Congressional District means Representative Baby Arenas’ PDAF can benefit more of her constituents in terms of school buildings, roads, books, scholarships.
 ***                       EXISTING AND PROPOSED LEGISLATIVE DISTRICTS

That’s why I ribbed a resource person, a distinguished member of the BAR who sported a coat & tie, after I bumped into him at the ground floor of the stately American era provincial Capitol.
 “Sir, I appreciated your being poetic by quoting an American adage “If ain’t broken, why fix it”. But we were not talking at the August Chamber about the already stable six congressional districts in Pangasinan .What we are in after are proportional representation and the advantages of an additional P140 million pork barrel for infrastructure in the province that has been abandoned by President Aquino (Read the SONA 2013) after his gubernatorial bet did not win in the poll".
 ***                      
                             EXISTING AND PROPOSED LEGISLATIVE DISTRICTS

Add caption

 Another member of the Board poses during the hearing of redistricting: “What will happen if two of the six members of Congress oppose the redistricting of the province?”
I cringed in my seat with broadcaster RJ - who thought that NICA (National Intelligence Coordinating Agency) and Wharton (School of Economics at Harvard University) of news scribe Orly Guirao and former Congressman Ranjit Shahani was a woman who has a tryst with Orly and the War Tones of his (RJ,s) cell phone.
 “That Board Member should know, as what students of political science know that Congress in general decides despite the opposition of congressmen in the province that would be affected by the redistricting,” I whispered to RJ of Home Radio.
 “Besides, before Congress can enact a law on legislative apportionment, Pangasinenses would ratify first if they want more redistricting,” another media man opined.
 “No, ratification is only for barangays or town that wants to be town or city respectively. Or towns that want to be a province,” I butted proudly by telling him that I read that on the papel na ginawang pambalot ng tinapa given by media man Harold Barcelona.

 ***
 After the session attended by political dignitaries like former congressman Mark Cojuangco, Abono Party Chairman Rosendo So, San Carlos City Mayor Ayoy Resuello, Mayors League President Noel Nacar, Calasiao Vice Mayor Roy Macanlalay, I met in front of the Capitol San Carlos City’s Vice Mayor Bogs Resuello who asked me:
 “ What will happen to the terms of incumbent congressmen affected by the reduction of the district?” I opined: Rep. Gina de de Venecia remains. She ends her term after she wins the 2016 post. The stricken-out town of San Jacinto that will be transferred to the Third Congressional District does not disturb Gina’s term. The same too with Rep. Rosemarie “Baby” Arenas in case she seeks reelection in 2016 and 2019 (that’s if daughter former solon Rachel make a comeback as I wrote in my earlier column) as her residence Malasiqui remains with the Third Congressional District. It’s a different story with Rep.Marlyn Agabas-Primicias, a resident of San Nicolas. In case she wins the 2016 election, she starts a new term Seventh Congressional District where San Nicolas was grouped in Option 1 with Balungao, San Manuel, San Quintin, Santa Maria, Tayug, Nativida, and Umingan, or grouped in Option 2 with Rosales, Balungao, San Quintin, San Maria, Tayug, Natividad, and Umingan.
 Iskol Bukol University named Atong Remogat asked.

                              EXISTING AND PROPOSED LEGISLATIVE DISTRICTS

“How about Board Members like Raul Sison and Nino Arboleda who whined that they do not want their towns (Urbiztondo for Raul, Alcala for Nino) whisked away from the 2nd and 5th congressional district because it would be a kiss of death in case they seek re-election in a district that they did not belong to in the past elections?” a professor from
“Siempri madali lang iyan, Raul and Nino can change their residence to the district where most of the towns of their old district belong.
The law says one year residence and registration as voter there qualifies one to become a candidate for an office there,” another professor of vulcanizing from Wanbol University opined.
(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).

Chan to hone gun skills of media men

Media man checks his hand gun

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

 LINGAYEN – After a series of assassination of media men in the country this year, the provincial police director of Pangasinan mulls to hold a police-media family shooting competition to improve the gun handling skills of reporters.
 Senior Superintendent. Marlou Chan said his office will provide experts to teach the members of the fourth estate about proper gun handling and accurate shooting.
 “Ang tawag doon “ tyro”, mga neophytes, first time,” Chan described a media man who has to learn for the first time firing a gun.
 The provincial director is known as one of the most media friendly provincial directors in Pangasinan.
 Chan, an alumnus of the Philippine Military Academy, led the introduction of new gun handling and shooting techniques he learned in the recent shooting competition at Clark Field in Pampanga.

Colonel Chan (R) with a media friend

He said the competition was participated by regional and provincial directors all over the country.
Despite conveying to the 48 chiefs of police the various shooting techniques by gun shooting experts brought by Chan, he said that shooting out with the malefactors would still be the last recourse by the police.
“Their skills can only be used as required. Discretion still plays a crucial role. (The competition) only gives them skill and competence,” he stressed.
The provincial director also planned to enjoin all the members of the PNP in Pangasinan from the top official to the lowest police patrol to harness their gun skills. “We intend to do it on a regular basis not only for chiefs of police. It is needed by provincial director down to the lowest police officer 1” on the ground especially sa PO1".
 He allayed the apprehension by lower ranked policemen about the expenses that would be entailed by a shooting competition considered by many as a luxury. “Merong binili ang ating regional director na re-loader (of spent shells). Ibig sabihin noon pag may re-loader ka cheaper (the bullets). Kasi ang presyo ng bala ay 40 percent or even 30 percent (less),” he cited.
 Chan plans that the expenses on the bullets in the incoming gun competition participated by all of his policemen could be subsidized by the provincial police office.