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Cities in the Province of Pangasinan: Alaminos City || Dagupan City || San Carlos City || Urdaneta City
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Pangasinan News

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Contents

First elected woman mayor to give Dagupan hope, reforms

(PNA), LAP/LVM/LVMMICUA/RMA

DAGUPAN CITY, May 20 (PNA) -- A fresh wind of hope and change is now blowing in the Dagupan City Hall shortly after the election of a first woman mayor who will rule the city of more than 150,000 for the next three years.

Many are now pinning their hope on Vice Mayor Belen Fernandez to institute the necessary reforms in the structure and complexion of Dagupan City since after pulling a surprise victory over incumbent mayor Benjamin Lim in a one-on-one duel.

The battle for the mayorship in Dagupan City was dubbed as the "battle of the malls" as the two contenders are owners of malls with branches in some key towns and cities of Pangasinan and in adjacent provinces.

Fernandez is the president and chief executive officer of the City Supermarket Inc., owner of a chain of malls in Pangasinan, La Union and Ilocos Sur. Lim's family owns the Magic, which similarly own malls in places where the rival company operates.

A candidate of the ruling Liberal Party, Fernandez promised transparency and good governance and a graft-free Dagupan City where the money of the people will be accounted for up to the last centavo.

She relied on her performance as vice mayor for two terms and councilor for one term to help her win the mayorship. On the other hand, Lim was general manager of the Duty Free Philippines, became congressman for one term and mayor of Dagupan for three terms.

However, despite Lim's edge in experience, Fernandez won the race by 4,140 votes, more than the vote margin registered by Lim three years ago when he beat the once vaunted former Mayor Alipio Fernandez Jr. by some 1,700 votes.

Her campaign program "Pag-asa at Pagbabago" (Hope and Reform) made more impact on the voters of Dagupan than the program presented to the electorate by the incumbent mayor who ran for reelection with no less than his son Brian as his running mate.

The small people longing for reforms, who included members of the urban poor, senior citizens, jeepney and tricycle drivers' groups, displaced fishermen and others voted for Fernandez.

To them, she was found to be more approachable and hands-on official than the incumbent Lim. They think Lim is elitist and is hard to approach in public and even in his office.

A workaholic, Fernandez barely had sleep during the campaign as aides said she would leave their home, sometimes alone, to campaign as early as 5:00 a.m. and calls it a day in the wee hours the next morning.

"I had to double time in campaign knowing that I was fighting a giant in politics," Fernandez said after she won the race and proclaimed by the City Board of Canvassers.

A daughter of one of the early Chinese pioneers of Dagupan, Fernandez continued the business founded by her late father in order to see all her siblings through college so that they can improve their lives.

During a campaign rally in Sitio San Gabriel, Bonuan Boquig, she confessed to her audience that one of the good advices left by her father Jimmy to her children was "Never, never steal". She won by landslide later in the whole of Bonuan Boquig.

She won in all three Bonuan villages whose combined population comprise less than hall of the total population of Dagupan, and prevailed even in her opponent's bailiwick Pantal and Malued. She likewise won in all the island barangays of Dagupan, except in Barangay Carael.

Fernandez prevailed in her own precinct in Barangay I where her opponent Lim and his wife are also registered voters.

As a businesswoman, she won the franchise to put up the CSI Market Square on a lot owned by the Dagupan City government to help resuscitate the economy of Dagupan after the city stumbled from the great 1991 earthquake.

With her at the helm of the family company, their business soon expanded to other parts of Pangasinan and in other provinces, such as La Union, Ilocos Sur and Baguio.

She first entered politics in 1995 as a city councilor and was appointed by then Mayor Alipio Fernandez Jr. to chair the executive committee of the 50th charter anniversary of Dagupan City.

It was there where she first showed to Dagupan people she can manage and organize a big city event. In her first term as vice mayor, she was appointed by the mayor as permanent chairperson of the Dagupan Bangus Festival which she steered well with much successes for three successive years.

Nursing from from her first set back when she failed to win the vice mayorship the first time around in 1998, she rested in politics for six years and concentrated on her business.

When then Mayor Alipio Fernandez Jr. wanted to come back as mayor of Dagupan after a stint as undersecretary of the Department of Interior and Local Government and as Immigration Commissioner he tapped Belen Fernandez to be his running mate.

That was an easy sailing for the Fernandez-Fernandez team in the 2007 polls. But in 2010, only Vice Mayor Fernandez won her reelection as Mayor Fernandez was beaten by come-backing Benjamin Lim after one year term break of his mayorship.

In the just concluded election, Fernandez went to the people mouthing the campaign slogan "Pag-asa at Pagbabago" up to the remotest villages of Dagupan to assure the less-fortunate people of Dagupan that now is the time to effect the needed change to give back Dagupan its better days.

She won by scoring the biggest upset ever registered in Dagupan political history.

A riverine venture in Pangasinan

By Amadís Ma. Guerrero (Philippine Daily Inquirer)

The town of Binmaley in eastern Pangasinan lies near the capital of Lingayen Gulf, surrounded by 16 rivers and fishpens. In fact, three quarters of the town are wetlands, brimming with bounty from the sea, rivers and fishpens.

In town recently with a group of media colleagues for Pangasinan Day, one came across a restaurant with a sense of space and scale: Bangsal is a “lechon (roasted pork) and seafood restaurant.” The style is somewhat reminiscent of a big mountain log cabin.

It is managed by Armi J. Bangsal-Lorica and her mother Carmelita. The restaurant was founded in 1975 by Armi’s late father, Loreto Bangsal.

“It started with one table and one lechon … in one corner of the lot,” Armi says. “Every Sunday we would have roasted pig.”

Soon, she recalls, they started serving lechon every day, “and the table grew from one to twenty.”

Construction on the building started in 1978, and then it slowly grew through the years and decades.

Her father was “conservative,” according to Armi, and he used the earnings from the growing restaurant to expand the building.

Today the property is known as Bangsal Suites & Restaurant, and the complex has a hotel, bakeshop, spa and music lounge.

The suites occupy two stories and have all the amenities. Prices range from P2,500 to P4,500. The property is now owned by Armi’s sister, Marissa Bangsal-Cerezo and her husband, Lorenzo Cerezo, mayor of Binmaley.

The spa is called “Nature’s Bless” and prices for the services range from P300 to P1,800.

The specialties of the house are “a feast for four or more”: Sigay (Pangasinan for harvest) Boodle, P999, ad Chinese Boodle (P1, 299).

Sigay Boodle consists of rice with salted dilis (small fish) served on banana leaves, hito (catfish), boneless bangus (milkfish), shrimps, salted egg, okra and tomatoes.

Slightly heftier is the Chinese Boodle with crab rice in a pot, crispy hito, butter chicken or spare ribs, seaweed with century egg, minced pork and lettuce wrap.

“Medyo nagtitipid ang mga tao ngayon (people are somewhat frugal these days),” Armi notes. So, to drum up business, Bangsal has gone into catering, while hosting weddings, debuts and parties.

“So we give affordable prices, combi, eat all you can, from time to time,” she adds.

Also, she promotes the restaurant and its affiliated features in government offices, NGOs, and events and sportsfests like the Palarong Pambansa and the Prisaa meet.

Business, according to her, is “modest, unlike before. People are very selective. We are really selling Pangasinan to tourists, domestic and foreign. Pero kulang pa … papunta na kami (there are not enough tourists … but we are getting there).”

Business for the complex as well as for the province is expected to improve with the Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway (TPLEX), which will be ready by next year or 2015.

One heartwarming anecdote about Bangsal Restaurant is that couples who patronized the place in the 1980s now bring their grandchildren to dine there. And they would tell the kids: “You know, your lolo used to court me here, and we got married and had our wedding reception here…”

Armi may be reached at (0917) 5087379.

Poultry, livestock expo set in Pangasinan May 23-24

(PNA), JBP/LVM/RMA

LINGAYEN, Pangasinan, May 18 (PNA) -- The country's biggest poultry and livestock expo and goat congress will unfold in Pangasinan from May 23 to 24 with the convergence of various local backyard raisers from different parts of the province.

The two-day expo, which is a joint partnership scheme of Pilmico Animal Nutrition Corporation and the provincial government of Pangasinan thru the Provincial Veterinary Office and Tourism Division, promises to be a spectacular event for backyard animal raisers.

Several activities will highlight the grand expo such as seminars on hog-raising which will be held at the Sison Auditorium on May 23.

Discussions on poultry-raising, on the other hand, will be conducted on May 24 at the Pangasinan Training and Development Center (PTDC).

John Paul Pangilinan, Pilmico Marketing Manager, said the expo will not only cater to local backyard raisers but will likewise delight cockpit aficionados as a different kind of aerial "sabong" (cockfight) will be experienced on May 24, from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Capitol beachfront.

Aside from this, pig show and chicken show will be featured on the first and second day, respectively.

The pig show which is slated on May 23, 6:30 p.m. at the PTDC will showcase the 10 healthiest hogs being raised and fed with Pilmico products.

Moreover, the chicken show scheduled on May 24, 6:30 p.m. also at the PTDC compound will feature some 50 chicken of most beautiful layers coming from the 150 layers that were earlier distributed to local raisers in time for the expo.

The hogs as well as the swine/poultry will be auctioned to public after the show.

Pangilinan said that the scheduled expo in Pangasinan is actually the second installment of the first-ever event held in Cebu last November 2012.

He said Pilmico chose Pangasinan to be the venue of this summer event since the province is considered as the biggest backyard market for swine in Luzon.

A fiesta atmosphere is expected during the two-day expo with food kiosks on deck at the specified area.

Solon vows to perk up Hundred Islands

(PNA), PDS/LVM/LJOHANNE MARGARETTE R. MACOB/RMA/EBP

LINGAYEN, Pangasinan, May 17 (PNA) -- Reelected Pangasinan Rep. Jesus Celeste (1st District) on Friday vowed to help in the preservation of the Hundred Islands National Park, Pangasinan's top tourist destination located in Alaminos City.

Celeste said that unlike before, "this will soon be possible" since his brother Arthur Celeste is the new elected mayor of Alaminos City.

“Before, we were hands off in the Hundred Islands. It is different now as my brother is the newly elected mayor,” remarked Celeste, predicting that more tourists will go to the place once it undergoes full-scale development.

He vowed to clean and generally improve the state of the once prime national park in the whole country. "We will improve the Hundred Islands,” he added.

Meanwhile, when asked of his plan on the unfinished Hundred Islands International Airport, he said he will talk to experts to find out from them what exactly should be done to the site.

“We cannot imagine how an airport could be positioned in the middle of two mountains ” he explained. "Perhaps, we can better turn it into a farm to grow grains".

Celeste regretted the funds already spent for project which up to this day is not operational.

The congressman likewise vowed to maintain the services being given to all the villages in the first district as well as his tree-planting activities and other tourism-boosting projects.

Pangasinan Tupig-makers reveal the secret to a successful community enterprise

(PNA), FPV/DOLE/EBP

MANILA, May 16 (PNA) -- In the Municipality of Balungao in Pangasinan, tupig has been known to be the town’s best delicacy. Such homegrown product not only tickled the tastes of Filipinos, but also the tourists who visit the great attractions of the North.

The booming venture of tupig production inspired the 25 members of the Tupig Makers Association of Balungao (TMAB) to turn their simple homespun tradition into a community enterprise.

In 2009, the DOLE Regional Office No. 1, together with the local government of Balungao as the accredited co-partner, awarded a total of P144,300 to the group as they jumpstart their tupig-making livelihood.

The 25 TMAB members underwent project management training, simple bookkeeping/financial management and values orientation.

The LGU of Balungao also provided the tupig-makers with technical and marketing assistance.

Tupig-maker Marites Camba recounts that producing 500 to 1,000 pieces of tupig daily would mean a take home pay of P500.

But Marites and the rest of the members of TMAB did not stop in dreaming big for their chosen livelihood venture. The DOLE Regional Office shared their aspiration of making tupig as a world-class product.

Creating a ripple effect to ensure the sustainability of tupig production, the DOLE awarded P498,069 financial grant for the Tupig Livelihood Enhancement and Integrated Agricultural Production, which benefitted 100 persons, including the 25 members of TMAB.

The assistance also benefitted 35 rice farmers, 25 banana planters, and 25 charcoal makers as the DOLE supported the allied livelihood activities related to tupig-making such as the production of glutinous rice and banana and charcoal briquetting.

“Through the DOLE’s Integrated Livelihood Program-Community Enterprise Development, we envision a more sustainable community enterprise through the infusion of more funds and services in the local industry, thereby assisting individual workers and community groups in developing livelihood activities right in the communities” DOLE Regional Office No. 1 Director Grace Ursua said.

“Convergence is the key. Through the DOLE’s convergence with other partner agencies, we move in providing more worker-groups with productivity improvement services to enhance the enterprises’ competitiveness,” she added.

The convergence of DOLE and the Municipal Agriculture Office of Balungao paved the way for sound agricultural practices in glutinous rice production.

The Department of Trade and Industry introduced the beneficiaries to product quality and competitiveness, packaging and labeling, marketing and linking assistance through trade fairs.

Technology for better productivity alongside with environmental consciousness was also instilled among the beneficiaries of the charcoal briquetting project through the assistance of the Department of Science and Technology.

Access to social protection schemes was also afforded the beneficiaries through the Social Security System and PhilHealth.

Through the power of convergence, the project underwent full-blown transformation in terms of tools, product quality and competitiveness, productivity and returns/profits.

From the open grill on which they used to cook the tupig, their cooking equipment now has a roof and a stainless steel body with glass display compartment.

Even the native delicacy itself has been “dignified” with its appealing packaging and labeling, a total make-over from the usual old newspaper which was traditionally used as wrapper.

Marites shares that she and her colleagues have also diversified the flavors of the tupigs. Consumers can now select among peanut, cheese, and the original young coconut flavor.

“Now, our tupig is marketed not only in the country, but reaches as far as HongKong, Singapore, Spain, Canada, and the US,” Marites said.

With their improved and increased tupig production, Marites proudly remarks that TMAB’s production has increased to 1,500-3000 pieces daily. Consequently, each member’s income doubled, making it decent enough for a family’s daily subsistence.

For Marites, her income from tupig-making allowed her to send one of her child to college and two to high school.

Espino in landslide win as Pangasinan governor

(Rappler.com)

PANGASINAN, Philippines - The provincial board of canvassers proclaimed on Wednesday morning, May 15, re-electionist Gov Amado Espino Jr as the winner in the heated Pangasinan gubernatorial race.

Espino of the Nationalist People's Coalition (NPC) won his third term as governor of the vote-rich province with 809,165 votes. His Liberal Party rival, Alaminos City Mayor Hernani Braganza only got 280,967. Braganza lost in his own city.

The board has canvassed at 71% of the total votes cast in the province.

Although NPC is an administration ally in the senatorial slate, the ruling LP fielded Braganza to challenge the incumbent governor.

Espino leads by wide margin in Pangasinan gubernatorial race

By Rouchelle Dinglasan/KBK (GMA News)

Re-electionist Pangasinan governor Amado Espino Jr. is leading the gubernatorial race in the province despite the accusations hurled against him last year, a television report said Tuesday.

With 58.62 percent of votes tallied, GMA’s Eleksyon 2013 count showed that Espino garnered 530,923 votes compared to the 191,389 votes of Liberal Party bet Hernani Braganza.

Last December, Mayor Rodrigo Orduña of Bugallon, Pangasinan, filed a plunder complaint against Espino with the Office of the Ombudsman for allegedly earning around P800 million a year from the illegal numbers game jueteng.

Espino, who ran under NPC/BISKEG, has denied the accusation, saying the filing of the case was politically motivated and connected to the May 13 elections.

According to a television report aired at GMA News Tv’s “Balita Pilipinas,” about 31 towns and three cities or 70.83 percent of towns and cities in Pangasinan have transmitted their municipal votes tally to the provincial board of canvassers.

The other nine towns had problems with defective compact flash (CF) cards, the report said, adding that local election officers have already requested the National Support Center of the Commission on Elections to deliver CF cards in problem areas.

The report said Pangasinan maybe able to fully transmit its certificates of canvass by Wednesday.

2 Reps, 7 mayors enjoy unopposed election candidacy in Pangasinan

(Venus May H. Sarmiento/PIA-Pangasinan/Media Ng Bayan)

PANGASINAN, May 13, (PIA) – Two Congressional representatives and at least seven town mayors in Pangasinan enjoy unopposed election fight today.

Leading the walk in the park are re-electionist representatives Ma. Rachel Arenas (third district) of the Liberal Party and sixth district Rep. Marlyn Primicias of the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC). Arenas, in December, withdrew her candidacy and was substituted by her mother, Rosemarie Arenas.

For the mayoralty race, seven candidates are unopposed: Ricardo Camacho (Bayambang), Silverio Alarcio Jr. (Laoac), Robert de Vera (San Jacinto), Timoteo “Dick’ Villar (Sto. Tomas), Mina Joy Pangasinan (Sison), Eldred Tumbocon (Umingan) and Amadeo Gregorio Perez IV (Urdaneta City)

The luckiest candidates are in Santo Tomas town where mayoral candidate Villar, vice mayoral candidate Willy Pescador and the eight councilors are assured of winning their posts as they have no opponents.

The elections will just be a contest among the Santo Tomas council candidates on who will get the highest number of votes.

Provincial Election Supervisor Marino Salas said the unopposed candidates need just at least one vote to ensure their win.

The province of Pangasinan has 1.6 million voters and at least 2,364 PCOS machines are being used here today.

NPC to hold own quick count in Pangasinan

By Carmela Fonbuena (Rappler.com)

LINGAYEN, Pangasinan - Nationalist People's Coalition (NPC) re-electionist Gov Amado Espino Jr has mobilized poll watchers to do the party's own quick count of the poll results on Monday, May 13.

One poll watcher will be assigned to each of about 2,000 polling precincts in the province. They will SMS the results as soon as the PCOS finished counting and before it is transmitted to the canvassing center located at the Capitol.

It's a security measure, said provincial administrator Raffy Baraan.

Espino is running against administration bet Alaminos City Mayor Nani Braganza. It is one of the provinces that Malacañang eyed this elections. President Aquino visited Pangasinan at least twice to campaign for Braganza.

(READ: Braganza, Espino and a divided clan)

The Braganza camp, on the other hand, accused the Espino camp of massive vote-buying.

"We have been receiving reports that vote-buying operations are taking place in all areas of Pangasinan 3 days before the actual election day," said LP spokesperon Oscar Lambino, a former vice governor, in a statement on Sunday.

Lambino talked about political operators supposedly setting up "mobile buying stations" like "sari-sari stores and buses, where the cash are handed out together with the sample ballots."

He claimed that votes are bought for as low as P200 to as high as as P10,000 per family.

Voter's registration of some bishops 'deactivated'

(FP/Sunnex)

MANILA -- A number of Catholic bishops may not be able to vote in the May 13 midterm polls as their registrations have been deactivated.

A check on the precinct finder system of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) website, www.comelec.gov.ph, showed that Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) president Archbishop Jose Palma, whose full name is Jose Serofia Palma has been deactivated due to reactivation without biometrics.

Comelec Spokesman James Jimenez explained that the reason why the Cebu prelate's name was not in the list might be because he was not able to complete the registration reactivation process.

Likewise, the registration records of retired Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales and retired Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz could not be found in the precinct finder.

"I was surprised when I found out about it but at the same time I won't be surprised if I'm already deactivated since I was not able to vote twice," Cruz said.

The Archbishop Emeritus of Lingayen-Dagupan added that he was in Rome during the May 2010 polls and was not able to participate in the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan polls the same year.

On the other hand, Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle and Lingayen Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas have active registration records.

The Manila Archbishop is a registered voter of Imus, Cavite while Villegas is a registered voter of Dagupan, Pangasinan.

Jimenez noted that their precinct finder is just a guide, as he advised voters to verify their status from their local election office.


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