SAN CARLOS CITY, Pangasinan—This city keeps its lead as the top mango producer in Pangasinan for the last 15 years and shows its supremacy through the holding of another year of the Mango/Bamboo Festival set this April 29.

Mayor Julian Resuello told local newsmen that San Carlenians have mastered the mango industry and in fact the skilled workers in mango farming including capitalists go to 13 other provinces in the country to share their skills and earn money by taking care of other mango farms in Cagayan Valley, Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya, Nueva Ecija, Zambales, Bataan, Pampanga, Tarlac, Ilocos Sur,
Ilocos Norte, among others.

“We have very sweet mangoes here perhaps due to our soil,” Resuello said. The city is known for its sweet carabao mangoes. Describing mango growing as “very profitable”, Resuello said each kilo of three pieces of green mangoes sells at P21 while ripe mangoes are priced at P40 a kilo.
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DAGUPAN CITY—Philantropist and “Patroness of the Arts” Rosemarie “Baby” Arenas made a sentimental comeback to her second home here after she was conferred for the first time Doctorate in Humanities honoris causa by the Lyceum Northwestern University (LNU) last week in recognition of her
charity works to uplift the lives of the poor in the country.

In her sentimental commencement speech, Arenas, who joined 648 other graduates, traced her tender moments spent in this city as a young girl in the company of her Auntie Celing Calimlim-Reyna, a cousin of Arenas’ late mother, Remedios Bosch Jimenez. Reyna was the wife of former Dagupan City Mayor Liberato Reyna who ruled here for long years, making himself referred to as “the mayor for life”.

Arenas said her family loved this place where they had their
vacations in the Reynas’ mansion which they fondly called as “the White House”.

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DAGUPAN CITY–Marital infidelity has particular relevance to those who hold power and influence, according to Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz.

Cruz said in a statement yesterday that marital infidelity appears to be becoming a non-issue among more and more individuals. For husbands and wives to engage in extramarital affairs seems to be a reality that is taken as a matter of course, he said.

He said provided it is kept discreet and it is not exposed, then the practice simply goes on.

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DAGUPAN CITY—A German-based group that helps 65 countries all over the world including the Philippines is set to expand its programs on civic education, vocational training, rural development, and giving trainings to administrators in the North after it has given about 26 million Euro ($33 million) since it started operating in the country for the past 26 years.

Dr. Rainer Gepperth, director and deputy general manager of Hanns Seidel Foundation based in Munich, Germany told local reporters here that they do not only give financial but also software aids to Filipinos for the necessary skills trainings especially in rural areas.

He said he first arrived in the Philippines in 1978 and comes to the country twice a year thereafter.
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MANGALDAN, Pangasinan—The Sigaw ng Bayan Movement spokesman spearheading the campaign for the shift to parliamentary form of government said he is “hoping
the opposition should not resort into argumentum ad hominem or the lowliest form of debate trying to associate the move to change the Constitution in order to benefit only the President”.
Lawyer Raul Lambino told local newsmen in an interview in
his residence in barangay Bari here town that “we would like to make a disclaimer (to what the opposition keeps on saying that Charter change (Chacha) is intended to benefit President Gloria Arroyo) because when we talk of charter change, what we have in mind is the welfare of the nation, the welfare of the future generations of the Filipinos”.
He added it is farfetched in their objective to give particular
benefit to an individual political personality such as the President or any of those who are in favor of shifting the form of government from presidential to parliamentary.
He added that the opposition leaders keep on saying that Chacha will benefit the President and certain personalities in the administration. “What they are not saying though is that the reason why they’re opposing this because if they are saying that this will benefit the administration, well, we can also lay claim that they’re opposing because they have plans of becoming senators, they have plans of becoming President, that’s the reason why they are objecting to this Chacha”.

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STO. TOMAS, Pangasinan—The Biskeg na Pangasinan (Strength of Pangasinan), a group of powerful political leaders, has been accredited by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) national office as a local political party.

Biskeg founder, Undersecretary for Local Governance Antonio Villar Jr told this writer that copy of the party affiliation was furnished him recently by Comelec Commissioner Romeo Brawner.

'This is history in Pangasinan because this is the first time that a local group of leaders was officially recognized as a local political party by no less than the Comelec,” Villar, former mayor for more than 20 years here, said.

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DAGUPAN CITY—The chief of the government-owned Region I Medical Center (RIMC) in this city is successfully implementing a “zero bungis (harelip)” all over Pangasinan until 2007.

Dr. Jesus Canto told this writer that since he assumed his position as RIMC director in 2003, he, together with some doctors, has served more than 500 patients who, for a long time, had suffered with harelip and could not afford to pay for their operation.

Canto said that he initially sought the assistance of International Band of Mercy based in United States that referred him to their local office in the Philippines in order to sustain his project.

He said this is in consonance with his slogan “Smile” during his tenure as hospital chief, saying that a smile cheers up any person, much more the sick people.

“These harelip patients now have the chance to smile again and be at ease in their community,” Canto said.

Others had cleft palate, a more difficult situation.

He advised parents, especially mothers of people who have harelip or cleft palate to bring their children to him so they can do operation on them anytime.

“The earlier, the better,” Canto said for patients who must undergo operation citing that their speech training could easily improve while they are still young.

He added that anybody is welcome to bring anyone with harelip or cleft palate and this is absolutely free until the patient is already well.

DAGUPAN CITY–The regional trial court (RTC) here has granted the petition of the Philippine Association of Colleges and Universities (PACU) to stop the implementation of Commission on Higher Education’s (CHED) two resolutions that would phase out programs of higher educational institutions which have
low passing percentage in licensure examinations.

RTC Judge Rolando Mislang of branch made this move in his 15-page decision dated March 29 regarding the petition for certiorari, prohibition and damages with prayer for temporary restraining order and/or preliminary injunction by
the University of Luzon (UL) as petitioner and PACU as well as Lyceum Northwestern University (LNU) as petitioners-intervenors.

Both UL and LNU are based in this city.

Mislang said “public respondents (CHED through Dr. Carlito Puno, Dr. Saturnino Ocampo Jr, Dr. Ma. Cristina Padolina, Dr. Hadja Luningning Umar, Fr. Rolando de la Rosa, Dr. Willima Medrano and Dr. Catherine Castañeda) and all or any of their agents are hereby enjoined from implementing Resolution No. 475-2004 and Resolution No. 120-2005 and from issuing further statement
in media print or radio or television or through internet or in any forum that is derogatory or damaging to the petitioner/intervenors”.

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DAGUPAN CITY—House Speaker said it would be good if those opposing the people’s initiative to amend the 1987 Constitution will go to the Supreme Court so that the issue will be clarified once and for all.

De Venecia told local reporters in his Bonuan Binloc residence here the other day that,” I think they will go to the Supreme Court. And it would be good if they go to the Supreme Court”.
He added,” we encourage them to go to the Supreme Court so that this issue will be clarified once and for all”.

He said he doesn’t think this will delay their timetable for Charter
change where they hope that the country will have an interim parliament by July.

“How can the Supreme Court issue a TRO ( temporary restraining order) e yong TRO against the Filipino people? Against the powerful forces of public opinion? Of the citizens movements all over the Philippines?”, he said.
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DAGUPAN CITY—Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz gave this reminder to the First Gentleman’s lawyer on why he is now “silent” on former President Joseph Estrada’s jueteng involvement: Juetengate I is past, Juetengate II is still ongoing.

Cruz, whose exposes triggered Senate jueteng probe that involved jueteng payola that allegedly benefited some members of President Gloria Arroyo’s family, told this reporter yesterday in a phone interview that,” While I don’t wish to give serious attention to the observations of the good Atty Jesus Santos, it might be good however to clarify some concerns”.

He said it is “ a rule of good manners and right conduct that when someone is already down, it would be highly improper to still kick him still”.
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