PARTY EVENTS HERE

PCSO gives hope to a baby who needs heart surgery

It was gearing up to be an ordinary day for the young couple Aries and Shilet Cabildo as they lined up at the Nueva Ecija High School (NEHS) gym to receive their free medicines from the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO)’s medical and dental mission.

 

YOU'RE IN GOOD HANDS BABY USHER    PCSO General Manager Alexander Balutan assures the couple of financial assistance for their baby's heart surgery during the agency's medical and dental mission in partnership with Class 1977 Alumni Association Inc., on April 14, 2018 conducted at the Nueva Ecija High School gym in Cabanatuan City.

Unknown to the Cabildo couple was the presence in the multitude of PCSO General Manager Alexander Balutan and neither him knew the couple and what was coming his way.

Aries and Shilet are the parents of 1-and-a-half-year-old Usher, a seemingly happy and active infant, but who is suffering from tetralogy of fallot, a congenital heart disorder. And they have been worrying about his heart surgery for months now.

“Nakakaawa po ang aming anak kapag sobrang iyak o sobrang saya, nangingitim ang mga labi at kuko at nahihirapan na agad huminga,” Shilet said. 

Will Duterte call a Senate’s Special Session for poll’s extension

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

When we reporters jostled and shoved to throw our queries to Senator Cynthia Villar during the first day of the recess of Congress last March 24, she answered my question that the May 14, 2018 election will push through despite its being passed by the House of Representatives.

“Tapos na ang Senado, tapos na ang Kongreso. Wala na kami, e (inaudible). Tapos na iyong barangay election,” Senator Cynthia Villar cited the recess of the members of the Houses of Senate and Representatives where they would be returning back to their jobs at the August Chambers a day before the May 14, 2018 polls.

I did not pose my second follow up not because I was cut by fellow reporter to throw my other question but I was hit by mental block, salamabit, by asking the two words’ S-p-e-c-i-a-l  S-e-s-s-i-o-n found at Section 15 Article VI in the Constitution.

Village Chairmen of Alcala, Pangasinan preparing to board the airline that would ferry them from Davao City to Manila. The guy at  the right side with stripe dress is retired police Inspector Aquino who used to be a cop in Dagupan City. 

I should be posing to the diminutive solon what if President Rodrigo Duterte will ask a Special Session to compel the Senate and the Bicameral Committee to pass another extension of the poll.

***

When I entered last Tuesday afternoon the terminal of the Davao International Airport, the place was teeming with Special Weapons & Tactics (SWAT) personnel and several dark, hugely built, tough looking guys queuing at the airline ticket booths for Luzon.

“Are these guys hoodlums or hijackers thus the presence of cops?” I asked myself.

Then I heard chatters in Ilocano and Pangasinenses from various lines and those who were idly waiting at the sidelines near the edifices’ glass walls.

I was stupefied for a moment. “When did the time the Tower of Babel relocate at the Durian City,” I muttered.

“Bakit andito kayo Mortz?”somebody spoke at my back.

When I turned around I saw Retired Dagupan City Police Inspector Aquino.

“Oy Sarge, bakit kayo andito? Taga Dito ako sa Mindanao nag bakasyon lang,” I retorted.’

Aquino told me that after retirement in 2013 he ran and won the punong barangay post in Alcala, Pangasinan.

“We are here for the convention of barangay captains in Region 1,” he said.

At the Gate 4, as I was looking for a vacant seat where I could encode my column on my laptop, I saw San Quintin, Pangasinan Mayor Clark Tiu , his wife and village chiefs of the Eastern Pangasinan town.

He told me that the main speaker was Under Secretary for Barangay Affairs Martin Dino of the Department of Interior & Local Government.

We had a brief chat on the politics of his town and his town mate and Ninong Police General Marlou Chan.

With San Quintin, Pangasinan Mayor Clark Tiu inside the terminal lounge of the Davao City International Airport.

Then I bumped into the 18 Punong Barangays of Urdaneta City, Pangasinan where one of them told me that Duterte did not show up but Dino promised them that election could be postponed through the president calling a special session.

*** 

But with candidates for the SK and Village polls jostle in filling their candidacies as I wrote this article, do you think it will be popular for President Duterte to call a special session of the Senate to extend in some other time the May 14 village’s race?

Son of a gun, mukhang nabola ni Under Secretary Dino ang mga kapitanis where many of them are gullible.

READ:

How a P5M funds transformed an SK Prexy into a BM

 (You can read my selected columns at mortzortigoza.blogspot.com and articles at Pangasinan News Aro. You can send comments too at totomortz@yahoo.com)

Gumarang drops bid for Kap, bowed to Bumanglag

SUPREME SACRIFICE

DAGUPAN CITY - "All's well that ends well!" quipped by this biggest village here former punong barangay Angel Gumarang by quoting English poet, playwright, and actor William Shakespeare  after some personalities prevailed over him to forego his plan to reclaim his former post.

ENDS WELL - In  photo are (from left to right) Owen Tan, Kagawad David Raguindin, Gumarang, Village Chief's bet Noel  Bumanglag, Mayor Belen T. Fernandez, Jasper Ong,  and Councilor Lino Fernandez.

                                                  
    In a meeting attended by Mayor Belen T. Fernandez, Punong Barangay's bet Noel Bumanglag, and others at a high end coffee house here, Gumarang said he would back- up Bumanglag against the long reigning village incumbent  chairman Rico Mejia
Gumarang said he withdrew his supposed filling of candidacy in a probable three-cornered fight in the roughly 15,000 vote - rich village for the sake of unity and love of country.

He cited that Bumanglag can best implement the various programs for the progress of Bonuan Gueset as he will be fully supported by his sister-in-law Mayor Belen Fernandez.

"I will just focus my time, resources and effort taking care of my Sister Myrna, who is fighting a battle with Leukemia". The withdrawal I defined as Supreme Sacrifice".

The poll in Bonuan Gueset is considered by political spectators as a battle royal since Mejia will be facing a financial juggernaut.

READ: How a P5M funds transformed an SK Prexy into a BM

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Study says no air pollution in Sual

SUAL, Pangasinan – A recent study shows air quality in this coastal town remains at normal level despite the presence of the 1,218 megawatt coal-fired power plant.

The study was conducted by AECOM PHILIPPINES, Incorporated,  an established and reputable  international research and consultancy  firm whose mother unit is listed in the Fortune 500 list.

With a generating capacity of 1,218 megawatts, the Sual Power Station is the largest and most cost-effective coal-fired power plant in the country. It was built in 1996 to ease the country’s energy crisis back then.

It was conducted based on the guidelines set by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources which mandated regular environmental monitoring in this first class municipality which hosts the biggest coal-fired power plant in the country.

AECOM Philippines conducted the study in eleven critical receptor sites around the municipality based on Administrative Order No. 2000-81 Air Standards and Guidelines of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and those standards set by the National Pollution Commission pursuant to the National Ambient Air Quality Standards.

Air samplings were taken pertaining to Total Suspended Particles (TSP), Particulate Matters (PM), Gaseous Pollutants such as Nitrogen Di0xide, Sulfur Dioxide and Coarse Particulate.

These samplings usually are the result of burning fossil fuel like coal, fuel oil, diesel and gasoline, as well as different kinds of dust carried by the wind.

Among the monitoring areas were Sitio Longos in barangay Pangascasan where the coal power plant is located,  Resettlement Area in  Poblacion, Pangascasan Integrated School, Ash Disposal Area of the power plant, Bangayao Point, Cabalitian Pier, Cabalitian Amianan, Masamerey, Baybay Elementary School, Napo-Logolog Elementary School,  and  Baybay Sur.

 “All stations are within the standards set by Department Administrative Order No. 2000-81 or the National Ambient Air Quality Standards, and in terms of Total Suspended Particles concentration, the air quality in the ambient air quality monitoring stations is good based on DAO 2000-81,” the study said.

 Mayor Roberto Arcinue said this development is a welcome news among residents here who are supporting the construction of a second coal-fired power plant that is expected to generate an additional 1,000 megawatts.

Aside from providing hundreds of jobs and millions in extra revenues, a second power plant would ensure stable power supply that is conducive to economic progress and sustainable growth, he added.

“With stable and cheaper electricity we will be able to invite more investors to put up projects and business ventures in Sual and anywhere else in Pangasinan that would mean more jobs and income for our people,” Mayor Arcinue stressed.

He said there should be no problem about pollution as the proponent, Korean Power Electric Company-Philippines, is investing about two billion US dollars and would use the state- of the art technology called the ultra-super critical coal-fired power plant which  at present is considered as a “High Efficiency Low Emission (HELE) Technology” and as a “green technology”.

Its high efficiency can reach of up to 45% which substantially cut its GHG emission by 30% compared to its predecessors or older coal fired power plants having efficiencies as low as 33% only.

Arcinue said this will boost and stabilize the power supply for the Luzon grid to do away with frequent power interruptions.

The construction of the second coal-fired power plant, he added, dovetails with the pronouncement of President Duterte who stressed the need to put up more coal-fired power plants to avert another power crisis owing to ballooning population and influx of investors.

Duterte said he sees nothing wrong with the government’s plan to put up new coal-fired power plants to boost power supply in the country.

How a P5M funds transformed an SK Prexy into a BM

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

Now that the Sangguniang Kabataan (Youth) Election is included in the May 14 Barangay Sangguniang Kabataan Election (BSKE), does it mean that the poll should be insulated from the maneuvering of the moneyed politicians and the parents of these candidates who compete for the presidency and membership in the  Pederasyon ng  Sangguniang Kabataan or Council.

For the uninitiated, a winning SK President can become an ex-officio councilor of a town or a non-component city and becomes an ex-officio Board Member of the province.

The position as lawmaker commands the same respect, emoluments, and pork barrel distribution from the power- that- be in the province.

The parents and politicians zealously bankroll and see their bets win so they can either becomes a councilor or a board member and “flaunt” the “Honorable” title appended before their names.

***

Here’s how monies played a role for the victory of these bets:

Candidate X, 16, was a relative of a successful businessman and politician. After winning the burgeoning town’s SK poll overall federation presidency, the politician wants the kin to become an ex-officio member of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (Provincial Board).

“I and my family gave P50,000 to the mayor, P50,000 to the SK town president,” he told me their strategy to buy the loyalty and vote of the town ex-officio councilor.

“Why gave P50,000 to the mayor, it’s  a waste of monies. The SK will vote for the provincial SK Federation President,” I posed perplexed.

The seasoned politico explained that even they bought the loyalty of the ex-officio councilor; the mayor can still influence him to vote for the other candidate.

“Ang mayors ang nagbibigay ng projects sa each of the councilors. Puwede silang ma deprieved pag sinuway nila si mayor,” he insinuated about the S.O.P or cut from the contracts given to a loyal and submissive solon that runs to hundreds if not millions of pesos just like what members of Congress get from the pork barrel given by Malacanang.

Among the eight congressional district’s province, his kin lost to four of the districts to the son of a mayor.

“Why?”

He answered that the congressmen, the governor, two billionaire businessmen interfere to influence the voters to vote for the mayor’s son.

But unlike the village chief in a city who sued his fellow kapitans who took his P50,000 bribe but instead vote for the candidate of a mayor for the  League of the Barangays presidency or an equivalent of a councilor in the City Council, the businessman-politico told the mayor and the parents that they have to retain the monies he gave.

“It’s yours. Our family maintains the principle that what we gave we don’t  take it back”.

He said a day before the election they have “kidnapped” (a bastardized word for “billeted) at their rest house the  towns and cities’ SK Presidents where they dined and wined them until the D-Day at the polling stations.

“One of our unforgettable experiences in that race was a candidate who was asked by his shrewd father to go in another province so he can bid the highest price from me and the mayor (whose son ran for the post)”.

I asked him why he was too focused on the enterprising father.

“The match was neck-and- neck. The opponent’s family got four districts while we got four, too, we don’t have to lower our guards”.

He said the opponent’s father offered P100, 000 to the father but he would not acquiesce.

“I told the father my last offer was P200,000 that he immediately took it”.

As a result of the intelligent maneuvering, his kin narrowly won the election for the ex-officio post in the SP with a lead of three votes.

A very expensive election where his family spent roughly P5 million to a position that gave only a salary of P70,000 monthly.

The politico credited the power of monies in winning the tight race.

“Without it, we lost the election!”

***

I could not, son of gun, agree more. It only takes a lots of monies and the bribes to vulnerable Filipinos to make election in this country not only exciting for the moneyed bets but for the effin’ voters.

To those parents who egg their children to become a councilor or a BM through the SK poll, remember: It’s not for the fainthearted. SK Polls, just like the presidency of the League of Barangays, Councilors League, and the regular elections for the council, mayorship, governorship, congressional, senatorial, and presidential need the power of wherewithal.

“Ano ang wherewithal, sir?” my errand boy Galman Torres, who was unlettered, posed.

“Ah, wherewithal, paano ba e explain iyan sa iyo. Ah, gamot iyan!  Nabibili sa drug store”.

READ: THREE - CORNERED FIGHT FOR KAP RACE IN THIS HUGE BRGY

 (You can read my selected columns at mortzortigoza.blogspot.com and articles at Pangasinan News Aro. You can send comments too at totomortz@yahoo.com)

Battle Royal for Kap race in Dagupan’s Biggest Brgy

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

DAGUPAN CITY – Expect a battle royal in this most populated village here after majority of the Barangay Council’s members and a very influential person endorsed their bet that will challenge the formidable long reigning incumbency of Bonuan Gueset Punong Barangay Ricardo C. Mejia.

The source, who asked for anonymity, said he was part of the meeting of the mentioned personalities when they met last Tuesday to map out the candidacy for the village chief of Nelson Bumanlag.

Bumanglag is the brother-in-law of this city’s mayor Belen T. Fernandez.

THREE-CORNERED FIGHT: (From left to right and photo below): 
 Nelson Bumanglag, Rico Mejia, and Angel Gumarang.

Those in the closed door meeting at the house of Bumanlag  were Barangay Bonuan Gueset’s Council Members Ramil Soy and David Raquindin, Fred Ramos,  former Council Member Albert Gregorio, and others.

---

“Majority ng members ng mga kagawad kay Noel na!” the 
source quipped.

Those who supported Mejia are Kagawad Sonny “Banjo” Vidal Manuel, Ferdinand Soy, and Segundino “Durong” Ayson.

But former Barangay Chairman Angel Gumarang disputed the information given to this paper by the source.

After reading the article posted at the internet, he said only Ayson and Nan Soy will go for Mejia while Councilmen Ramil Soy, Manuel, Ramos, Raguindin, Ayson, and Renato Castres will support Bumanglag.

He said Raguindin and Susette Pal who were rumored to challenge Mejia on May 14 poll have been won over by the camp of Bumanlag for them to forego their plan.

Gumarang however said that it would not be a one-on-one contest between Mejia and Bumanglag as he will be filling his candidacy for the chairmanship anytime of the day before the April 20 deadline.

"I'm being convinced by a wealthy kin in Cagayan to give another try for the chieftainship".
Gumarang, the adviser of Under Secretary for Barangay Affairs Martin Dino, tangled but lost to Mejia in a tightly contested race in 2010 and 2013 village elections.

Bonuan Gueset is the most populated barangay here with 15,000 voters to boot. It accounted for about 13.6% of the city's population. It is also one of the villages of which the famous Bonuan Boneless Bangus is found