Dagupan unveils new seal

DAGUPAN CITY -- April 25 was a historical day for Dagupan as its new seal was unveiled in a simple ceremony held in front of the City Museum. The new seal was blessed by Father Raffy Cruz.

The occasion was led by Mayor Benjie Lim, the 12 councilors (including the two sectoral representatives), and the members of the Ad Hoc Committee led by City Council Secretary Jorge Estrada and Metro Dagupan Culture and Arts Council President Honorata Siapno.

"Mula sa araw na ito, ito na ang magiging simbolo ng Bangus Capital of the World," the mayor announced.

The old city seal was designed in 1948 by the late Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Mariano Madriaga.

However, the City Government discovered last year that the 62-year-old corporate seal was not registered at the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP).

Accordingly, Chad Baula, NHCP Research, Publications and Heraldry Division head, notified the mayor that of the four cities and 44 towns in Pangasinan, only Urdaneta City has a NHCP registered seal.

The City Government launched a corporate seal design contest late last year by virtue of Executive Order 41 issued by the mayor. It also created an ad hoc committee tasked to study, initiate, and supervise the redesigning and registration of the official corporate seal of the city.

PANGASINAN. The new seal of Dagupan City.

The winning design was created by Dr. Carmelo John Vidal of the University of Luzon and Philippine Red Cross-Pangasinan chapter. He received a P50,000 cash prize.

Second place was the design made by Yusof Ferrer, while the entry of Patrick Henry Bacolor placed third. They received P30,000 and P20,000, respectively.

The seal contains a shield; a highway and railroad track crisscrossing, a horseshoe magnet, the slogan "Sigue Dagupan," a bangus, seven waves, rising sun, gear wheel, and blazing torch, 31 stars, and the numeral 1947.

As explained, the shape of the shield is uniquely distinctive by itself and does not derive from the shield of the Province of Pangasinan, Dagupan being an independent component city.

The slogan "Sigue Dagupan" was part of the original seal, so are the highway crisscrossing the railroad track, city being the Pandarugupan or meeting place in the province. Also, trains used to be a major transportation in the city to Manila. The horseshoe magnet symbolizes the city's attractions that lure merchants and traders.

Bangus, which is the main fish product of city, was placed at the lower portion of the seal, particularly at the midpart of the seven waves representing the seven river tributaries here.

The rising sun, gear wheel, and blazing torch stands for hope and the Dagupenos' peerless optimism; the gear wheel symbolizes trade and commerce while the torch stands for education (and health care).

The city is actually known as the center of trade, commerce, education and with the most number of hospitals in Ilocos Region.

The members of the ad hoc committee were City Council Committee on Tourism and Culture Chairman Alipio Serafin Fernandez, City Schools Division Superintendent Alma Ruby Torio, City Administrator Vladimir Mata, City DILG Officer Rhoderick Dawis, Federation of Senior Citizens Associations of the Philippines-Dagupan City Chapter President Cornelia Español, retired city assessor Jose M. Sanchez, Dagupan Artists Circle President Patrick Fernandez and and Rufina Meneses, in-charge (Librarian IV), Dagupan City Library & Information Center.(Liway C. Manantan-Yparraguirre/Sunnex)

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/pangasinan/local-news/2011/04/26/dagupan-unveils-new-seal-152172

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Metro food plaza to open in July

NIGHTLIFE in Dagupan City is envisioned to get more exciting with the opening in July of the Metro Plaza complex in front of the city hall.

Mayor Benjamin Lim, speaking at the KBP Forum on Thursday, said the complex will house mostly food stalls and restaurants.

The project, set-up under the build-operate-transfer scheme, is expected to generate about 500 jobs and an estimated P5 million from rentals, business and real estate taxes annually.

“The income will make a substantial contribution to the city’s P560 million budget,” Lim said.

CONTROVERSIAL

Construction for the Metro Plaza started during the previous term of Lim, but was stopped under the administration of former Mayor Alipio Fernandez for lack of a building permit.

The complex is located on a portion of the Magsaysay Market, originally operated by Bugnay Construction and Development Corp. under a lease contract with the city, which was gutted by fire in September 2005.

After the fire, Bugnay asked that the lease contract be terminated without any obligation for unpaid taxes, damages and other claims.

Lim apparently agreed to the proposal.

But the sangguniang panlungsod during the Fernandez administration disagreed with the move, saying that Lim had no power to make such an agreement without authorization from the city council. (with a report from PIA-Pangasinan)

http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/2011/06/18/metro-food-plaza-to-open-in-july/

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BSL wants additional P14 M for garbage collection

DAGUPAN Mayor Benjamin Lim has appealed to the Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP) to immediately act on the proposed P14-million supplemental budget for garbage collection and disposal.

Lim said the approved P4 million budget, or about P300,000 a month, of the waste management division for its maintenance and operating expenses in the 2011 budget is not enough to cover the city’s waste disposal costs.

The supplemental budget is intended for the purchase of additional equipment and the repair of old ones.

SANITARY LANDFILL

Lim, speaking at the KBP Forum Thursday, also reiterated his plan to pursue the planned sanitary landfill project in barangay Awai in San Jacinto town.

He said the project can be pursued in tandem with neighboring towns to become a district landfill and operated by a private company.

Lim, however, did not clarify how the city can possibly regain the lot in Awai, which the city government under his administration bought but later lost as the land was determined to have been appropriated for land reform even before the purchase.

Both the city administrator and the city legal office remained silent on the status of the acquired-and-lost property of the city in San Jacinto for the failed sanitary landfill.

WARNING

Meanwhile, Lim and other officials of many towns in the province have already been given warning notices for failing to meet the requirements of R. A. 9003, or the Solid Waste Management Act.

Under the law, local government units are supposed to close all open or controlled dumpsites. Local officials are liable for failure to implement.

Lim also wrote off the option of using the newly-opened landfill facility in Urdaneta City, saying the cost of disposing garbage there would be enough to build Dagupan’s own facility.

He explained that the city would spend about P320,000 a day for its 80 tons of garbage or about P100 million a year.

“Puede na tayong magpatayo ng sariling landfill nyan,” he said. (With report from PIA Pangasinan/DOS)

http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/2011/06/19/bsl-wants-additional-p14-m-for-garbage-collection/

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Facebook NOT shutting down March 15

(Mashable) -- There's a silly rumor exploding on the Internet this weekend, alleging that Facebook is shutting down on March 15 because CEO Mark Zuckerberg "wants his old life back," and desires to "put an end to all the madness."

We have official confirmation from Facebook Director of Corporate Communications Larry Yu that the rumor is false.

We asked him via e-mail if Facebook was shutting down on March 15, to which he responded, "The answer is no, so please help us put an end to this silliness."

He added, "We didn't get the memo about shutting down and there's lots to do, so we'll just keep cranking away like always."

Let's think about this for a minute. Would Facebook decide to shut down the company just a few days after announcing a round of funding, consisting of $450 million from Goldman Sachs and $50 million from Russian investment firm Digital Sky Technologies, on a valuation of $50 billion?

The spurious report was started by a site to which we refuse to link, known for its reports of impending attacks of alien spaceships and false reports of a Michelle Obama pregnancy.

The fact that this absurd hoax spread so efficiently makes us wonder: Will people believe anything?

Source: http://edition.cnn.com/2011/TECH/social.media/01/10/fb.shutdown.rumor.mashable/index.html?section=cnn_latest

Dagupan City gets breather from fish pens

DAGUPAN CITY, Philippines—For at least a year, no new fish pens would be allowed in the city’s rivers.

Mayor Benjamin Lim ordered a moratorium on the construction of new fish pens after the city agriculture office completed last month the demolition of fish structures, which had mushroomed in the city’s river system since the 1980s.

“One year will give our rivers breathing space. This will also allow us to dredge our rivers without any delay,” the mayor said.

City agriculturist Emma Molina said the dredging will begin next week at the boundary of this city and neighboring Binmaley town along Dagupan River.

“We are now checking the river bed, especially in areas where the fish pens came from. We have to remove the nets, plastic bags and other debris that may have been left there so that these will not clog the dredger’s suction tubes,” she said.

Lim said with the moratorium, this city’s bangus (milkfish) production will decrease. “So be it. But we will now have quality bangus grown in fishponds,” he said.

Without the fish pens, he said, those who will benefit are fishpond owners. “With the fish pens around, they did not want to invest in their ponds because they often lost. The water that came in was polluted,” he said.

Molina said the average annual production of a well-managed fish pen is about a metric ton. She said without the fish pens, fishpond operation can now be maximized because the ponds will be getting cleaner water.

“In fact, together with the dredging operation is the plan to strengthen the fishpond dikes along the rivers,” she said.

“If we can convince all the fishpond owners to adopt this progressive approach, then we can cushion the shortfall by about 50 percent,” she added.

Mayor Lim said when the rivers were cleared of fish pens last month, some fishermen told him that they were able to catch more fish even using only ordinary fishing rods.

“In the past, they only made P150 a day. Now, they make P400 to P500 a day. This is because a lot of fish now come in from the sea,” he said.

Source: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/regions/view/20110106-312900/Dagupan-City-gets-breather-from-fish-pens

New Metropolis Rising in Pangasinan

In the province of Pangasinan, rising a new metropolis. The Dagupan Metropolitan Area or Metro Dagupan (DMA) is a metropolitan area in north central Luzon, encompassing the independent component city of Dagupan, and the towns of Binmaley, Calasiao, Lingayen, Mangaldan, Manaoag, Mapandan, San Fabian, San Jacinto, and Santa Barbara.

Dagupan City is the financial, commercial and educational hub in the entire province of Pangasinan and the Ilocos Region.

According to the 2007 Philippine census, Metro Dagupan is home to 775,561 people, larger than La Union or the Ilocos provinces.

Dagupan was identified in 2008 as one of the country's most competitive small-sized cities for doing business in an annual survey conducted by the Asian Institute of Management (AIM) Policy Center. It was ranked based on its respective costs of doing business; the dynamism of the local economies; human resources and training; infrastructure; the responsiveness of the local government units to business’ needs; and the quality of life of its inhabitants. The annual survey is a research undertaking of the AIM Policy Center that seeks to identify the best cities in the country in which to live, work and operate a business.

Dagupan have been named as one the most competitive cities outside Metro Manila in the Philippine Cities Competitiveness Ranking Project 2009 (PCCRP) of the Asian Institute of Management Policy Center. The study, which was launched Monday in Pasay City, used six criteria in ranking the 29 cities: dynamism of local economy, responsiveness of the LGUs to business, infrastructure, quality of life, and cost of doing business and human resource and training.Dagupan City is the most competitive among the emergent cities. It bested the cities of Angeles, Butuan, Cotabato, Lucena, Naga, Legaspi, Pagadian, Puerto Princesa, Ormoc, Iligan, Tagum, and San Fernando in La Union, Surigao, Tuguegarao, Tacloban and Santiago.

A metropolitan authority is being pushed by Mayor Benjamin S. Lim to harness the economic potential of the greater Pangasinan urban area.Currently there are moves to merge the city and the municipality of San Fabian to accommodate the expansion of Dagupan.


Metro Dagupan is the newest Philippine pride aside from Metro Manila, Metro Cebu and Metro Davao. Calasiao-Mangaldan-Dagupan growth area or simply called CAMADA was the original Metro Dagupan before the expansion began.

Dagupan City Today

Source: http://www.pbase.com/fireman230/dagupan_city

2nd Jimmy Fernandez Cup reels off January 7

EIGHT collegiate teams are participating in the 2nd Jimmy Fernandez Cup Basketball Championship which reels off on January 7 at the People’s Astrodome in Dagupan City.

Seeing action this year are Pangasinan Merchant Marine Academy (PAMMA), the defending champion; AIE-College, last year’s runner-up; Colegio de Dagupan (CdD); PIMSAT Colleges; Pangasinan State University (PSU-Lingayen, Pangasinan); University of Eastern Pangasinan (UEP-Binalonan, Pangasinan); University of Luzon (Team B); and University of Pangasinan-PHINMA (Team B).

Vice-Mayor Belen Fernandez will lead the opening ceremonies for the sporting event named after her late father.

The tournament will have a double round-robin with the top two teams advancing to the best-of-three championship games.

Seato Gonomil, league project director, said in case of a three or four-way tie in the top standings after the eliminations, the winner-over-the other rule and/or quotient system will be used in determining the top two contenders for the championship round.–Philamer C. Celia

Source:  http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/2011/01/01/2nd-jimmy-fernandez-cup-reels-off-january-7/

SM City Dagupan

IS Dagupan City opening its doors to SM, the biggest chain of malls in the country?

Mayor Benjamin Lim has confirmed that he has had talks with SM retail group president and director Hans T. Sy, who expressed interest in locating in Barangay Tambac here.

“I welcome them for as long as they comply with the rules and regulations for them to acquire a business permit here,” Lim said.

However, Lim admitted that SM’s target location falls under the category of a fishpond, an issue that the mayor himself has been rallying against, particularly the conversion of fishponds into commercial lots.

The mayor earlier rejected the application for the construction of a luxury hotel in Barangay Lucao by the family of Vice Mayor Belen Fernandez invoking a city ordinance that prohibits commercial development in identified agricultural areas.

Lim said he has urged Sy to submit a development plan for the city government’s approved and endorsement by the Sangguniang Panglunsod.

“I will recommend to the SP to conduct a public hearing para doon sa maapektuhang sektor sa lungsod, especially the retailers and the market vendors who will be the first one to be affected.” he said.

He added “SM will have to go through the process and we will evaluate the recommendation of the Sanggunian to the mayor’s office.”Lim stressed that the talk between him and Sy is not yet “a done deal.”

Lim said one of the considerations that the city government will look into is the income from taxes that SM can bring into Dagupan.

SM is currently operating a branch in Rosales town.

Source: http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/2010/09/12/sm-eyes-dagupan-as-2nd-branch/

Benjie Lim lauds "Bangus Festival", set to lead festival in 2011 as Dagupan mayor

Describing the Bangus Festival as Dagupeños' institutional contribution to the country's and province's tourism program, former Dagupan City Mayor Benjamin S. Lim congratulated the organizers for continuing one of the major and most exciting festivals in the Philippines.

Known as the father and founder of the Bangus Festival, Lim recalled that it was conceptualized in August 2001 during his year as city mayor and launched in 2002 as part of the annual Pista'y Dayat celebration.

The Bangus Festival was borne out of careful planning and tedious preparations, said Lim.

Harnessing his marketing and managerial skills, Lim made the Bangus Festival a global phenomenon when it earned the Guinness Book of record as the World's the Longest Barbecue Grill first in May 2003, thus earning for Dagupan the title "Bangus Capital of the World."

"Looking back, it was one of the shining moments of Dagupenos and the Bangus Festival united and made proud our citymates and even provincemates that all but restored and reborn civic pride," Lim said.

Asked about his mayoralty bid against incumbent Mayor Al Fernandez, Lim said, "it was common knowledge that I was enjoying myself as a private citizen after the May 2007 elections but due to the strong clamor of the Dagupeños, I have eventually accepted the challenge to go back to public service."

Known for his no-nonsense style of governance and managing the city that restored cleanliness, traffic, orderliness and discipline, Lim said that it's about time to stand up and be counted.

"It's up for the people of Dagupan to decide whom they want to be their next mayor — someone who will govern and lead 24 hours a day, seven days a week and not relegate major responsibilities to a proxy be cause Dagupeños deserve no less than full time and hardworking mayor," he said.

Judging from the warm reception and the avalanche of leaders, volunteers and supporters to his mayoralty bid, Lim is confident to regain his old seat as city mayor.

Asked about the latest survey results commissioned by his camp, he said that he is elated over the trend showing him steadily ahead of his rival even in initial surveys but added that he is not lowering his guard knowing fully well that he is up against a veteran political warrior.

"It will be destiny if that happens and it will also showcase the political maturity of Dagupeños," said Lim who has distinguished himself in local politics as an "outsider" who has broken the ceiling of established political clans that ruled the city and the district for many decades.

Source: http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/2010/05/01/benjie-lim-lauds-bangus-festival-set-to-lead-festival-in-2011-as-dagupan-mayor/

TV5 is Coming to Dagupan City

TV5 Executives (from L-R): Raul Dela Cruz, Provincial Operations Head; Bobby Barreiro, EVP AND COO and Percival Intalan, Entertainment and Creative Production Head

TV5, the country's fastest growing network is finally coming to Dagupan City and Pangasinan. This development is part of the network's expansions in programming, infrastructure and technology which is regarded as the greatest ever seen in the local landscape for the past decades.

TV5's plans include putting up a TV5 Dagupan office and a Baguio news bureau. Local news programs and variety shows are to be expected by the first quarter of 2011. TV5 will also prioritize the hiring of locals in the area. The expansion of its 92.3 News FM in the provincial areas would surely make TV5's regional presence felt even more. These were announced during the TV5 Regional Launch Press Conference held at Lenox Hotel, Dagupan City and attended by national and local mediamen and bloggers.  

One can observe the improved signal of Tv5 in its local channel 28 here in Pangasinan as state of the art transmitters have been put up particularly in Baguio City.

Source: http://whatsupdagupan.blogspot.com/

Hubris

THE smoldering enmity between Dagupan city hall and the city council has turned from bad to worse. Blame it on the propensity of Mayor Benjie Lim to push the envelope too far in his evident desire to show who’s boss in the city. 

From where I sit, it was plain hubris on his part that caused the city to operate on a re-enacted budget. The needless power play that he triggered by his decision early on to bar department heads from appearing in council sessions and investigative hearings in aid of legislation will likely result in more unwarranted inefficiency in governance.

Source: By Ermin Garcia Jr.

Dagupan launches search for new corporate seal

DAGUPAN CITY - The “Dagupan City Corporate Seal Redesigning Contest” was recently launched in a bid to change this city’s 68-year-old seal.

At stake for the winner of the search is P50,000 while second and third placers will receive P30,000 and P20,000, respectively.

The competition is open to bona fide residents here aged 15 and above. But city officials and members of the co-sponsoring non-governmental organizations are not eligible to participate.

Each contestant may submit at least two entries, accompanied by a duly accomplished entry form.

Each entry must be with a CD or DVD containing the proposed seal and a hard copy of the same; or an 8 ½” x 11” substance 20 bond paper in full color together with the detailed explanation of the symbols. 

Every entry shall have a "shield", which is the most important part of the corporate seal. It can be submitted from January 1 to 31, 2011 to the Ad Hoc Committee in the City Hall here.

City Council Secretary Jorge Estrada recommended that change of the city's corporate logo as the old one is no longer responsive to current realities

Estrada said entries should reflect the indigenous character of the city as a coastal government with a thriving fishing and aquaculture industry.

It shall feature either visual, abstract or natural emblems representing significant characteristics or aspects of the city’s geography, tourists sports or historical landmarks, economic or cultural aspects or events related to its history.

All the entries will be viewed and judged on February 18, 2011 at the Museu na Dagupan.

The contest is sponsored by the city government, the Pangasinan Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry and More-than-Conquerors Breakfast Club. (Liway C. Manantan-Yparraguirre)

Source:http://www.sunstar.com.ph/pangasinan/local-news/dagupan-launches-search-new-corporate-seal

Bishop defends youth attendance in Simbang Gabi

DAGUPAN CITY -- Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas defended the Filipino youth from criticisms that they are only attending the nine-day Simbang Gabi to meet new friends not minding the true meaning of Christmas.

“I would like to stand on behalf of the youths, and I would like to defend them from other adults who judge our youths so harshly,” he remarked Thursday morning.

“Our youths are there in the church for Simbang Gabi because they know that in the church they are going to meet Jesus. And when you meet Jesus, you don’t meet Jesus alone. You meet Jesus with your friends, because it is only in living for others that we can truly live for God,” he sincerely explained.

 “That is why Saint John said how can you say you love God whom you cannot see when your neighbor whom you can see you do not love. The new name of Jesus is OTHERS. When people go to church and meet friends, that is how it should be; because if you go to church and the person seated or standing beside you does not become your friend, Jesus would not be happy with your sacrifice because the mass should not only lead us closer to God, the mass should lead us closer to one another,” the Archbishop further said.

Meanwhile, he called on the Catholic parishioners not to take priests for granted.

“This Christmas, I invite you to reflect on the reality that Christmas would not be complete without the priests. How can you have Christmas without mass? How can you have Christmas without Simbang Gabi. How can you have Christmas without being blessed inside the church and receiving the Lord,” he remarked.

“We need priests because we need Jesus. And it is the duty of the priest, it is the privilege of the priest to give us Jesus. This Christmas, I invite you to say thanks to your priests and do not take them for granted. You say thank you to them that you are here because a priest is a sign that God loves His people; and a priest is a sign that God continuous to care for his people,” he added.

Archbishop Villegas noted that priests who are addressed as "Father" are also mothers. 

“Mother like the Virgin Mary because the priest gives birth to Jesus on the altar. The Blessed Mother gave birth to Jesus in the manger 2000 years ago; and everyday the priest gives birth to Jesus on the altar," he said.

“If we want to realize the song, sana araw araw pasko lagi, it is very easy. It does not mean partying everyday; it does not mean exchanging gift everyday. Araw-araw pasko lagi just means go to mass because every mass is Christmas. Ang bawat misa ay ang Diyos bumababa galing sa langit and embraces us,” he added.

Villegas reiterated his call to everyone that when they arrive in church, they should make a sign of the cross at the forehead of their son, nephew or grandchildren.

“You can tell them this is a blessing coming from Father Soc, the archbishop of Lingayen-Dagupan. Then after making the sign of the cross at their forehead, pakisabi sa mga anak ninyo, magpari ka. Sapagkat yong magkaroon ka ng anak na pari is the greatest blessing a mother can ever receive from the Lord. When your son becomes a priest, he is no longer only your son, he becomes Jesus for other people. And there is no honor, there is no dignity, there is no blessing and grace that can equal it,” he said. (Liway C. Manantan-Yparraguirre/Sunnex)

Source: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/pangasinan/local-news/bishop-defends-youth-attendance-simbang-gabi

The Beauty of Dagupan