DRAGON DANCE WINS PUTO DESIGN TILT — A Monarch Hotel staffer adds final touches to the hotel’s “Dragon Dance” entry in the Puto Construction and Design Contest, a highlight of Calasiao’s annual Puto Festival. The entry, symbolizing prosperity and strength, was declared the competition’s winner. (PUNCHphoto by Willie Lomibao)
POLICE operatives seized 67 grams of suspected shabu worth ₱455,600 and arrested a regional priority high-value target in a buy-bust operation shortly after midnight on December 7 in Malasiqui. Provincial and regional police units, the Malasiqui Police Station, and the PDEA–Region 1 conducted the joint operation. The 41-year-old suspect, a…
Opinions
Editorial
Bishops vs. nuclear power plants
RiISING electricity costs in the Philippines have become a heavy burden for millions, stifling economic growth and discouraging foreign investment that could create jobs and drive essential development. In light of this challenge, the government is considering nuclear power as a potential solution, particularly with a proposed facility in Labrador.…
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Punchline
Political Statesmanship
By Ermin Garcia Jr I don’t blame the new majority at the Sangguniang Panlungsod led by Vice Mayor Bryan Kua and Majority Floor Leader Michael Fernandez, for gloating over the “powerless” position that Councilor Dada Reyna, the only survivor of the 2025 massacre of the epaLiFe in the…
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Out of the fire
Manong Joe at 90, outlives most PH leaders
By Gonzalo Duque I have not written about Speaker Joe de Venecia for quite some time until I saw a personal invitation for his 90th birthday in Manila to be celebrated on December 28, instead of his December 26th birthdate. There are a lot of stories to be told…
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Random Thoughts
Nuclear power plant construction
By Leonardo Micua WE note about 2nd District Rep. Mark Cojuangco being passionate about the construction of a nuclear power plant in Labrador, same as what he’s doing for his two other mega projects— the Lingayen Gulf Seawall, and the conversion of the Lingayen-Binmaley Baywalk into a six-lane national…
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G Spot
Tunganga
By Virginia Jasmin Pasalo “TUNGANGA” has different meanings depending on the context of the person saying it. For example, when confronted with exceptional beauty, one is likely to say, “Napatunganga ako sa ganda!” (I was awed at the beauty!). That is the context of my late mother, who loved…
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Andromeda’s Vortex
Watered-down Anti-Dynasty Bill?
By Farah G. Decano THE intensifying legislative debate over regulating political dynasties centers on the proposed Anti-Dynasty Bill. The urgency has escalated, with numerous bills filed in Congress, even before the President's call to prioritize the measure. A recent proposal by Representatives Sandro Marcos and Faustino Dy III has already…
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Newsy News
Entre’acte
The Silew-silew
By Rex Catubig NOTE: The yearly Christmas lighting of the Quintos bridge has always bedazzled the holiday crowd. Yet just as fascinating are the stories behind the dazzle of Quintos and the other bridges in the city as well. Hopefully, the bridge lights shall cast some brilliance on these…
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Life with my lens
A PHOTO ALBUM OF “PROMDI” LANDSCAPES
Photos and short narrative by Art G. Valenzuela I would consider myself as one lucky guy as I am both a city boy and a “promdi” who has access to both city life (as in Dagupan City and Metro Manila) and rural-provincial life. Every week – coming from either Dagupan…
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Punch Forum
Greetings Mayor Belen Fernandez – My name is Victor Reyno Junio, a resident and a registered voter of Sitio West America, Bonuan Binloc, Dagupan City. I have now returned to Canada after my 5 months stay in our City. I am blessed and privileged to have 2 countries I call…
To further improve on the online security of our readers, recent changes have been made to the “x-frame-Options”; for the website https://punch.dagupan.com/ , that runs on the popular WordPress platform. (The “x-frame-options” HTTP header is used to control whether or not a browser should be allowed to render a page…
WEAKENED WAWA BRIDGE - A part of the Wawa Bridge, renamed Romulo Bridge, collapsed when two loaded dump trucks, one loaded with aggregates and the other fertilizer- crossed at the same time 3:17 p.m. last Thursday, halting vehicular traffic between Bayambang, Pangasinan and Camiling, Tarlac. (Punchphoto by Butch UKa)
Magandang araw po! Ako po si Christian Mark V. Rico, isang mag-aaral sa pampublikong paaralan sa Dagupan. Sumulat po ako upang ipaalam ang aking saloobin tungkol sa mga kaso ng COVID-19 dito sa ating bayan. Nakita ko po na mas dumadami ang gumagaling sa COVID kesa sa pagdami ng kaso.…
Dear Mr. Garcia; I visited your office Sunday Punch and got interested in your column (Punchline) about garbage of Dagupan City. There is a solution to solve this perennial problem of the city I had proposed this to the newly elected young Lim. Now, clearly my proposal will not…
UNLISERBISYO THE city government, in partnership with the Philippine Coconut Authority, marked the 39th National Coconut Week with a tree-planting activity on December 8, in One Bonuan. With support from the City Agriculture Office led by City Agriculturist Mary Ann Salomon, volunteers planted 300 coconut seedlings. They were joined by…
MARISSA Manipud Marquez, a Ms Dagupan title holder who worked her way up to become a Lieutenant Colonel at the United States Air Force (USAF) Reserves, is a recipient of the 2025 Outstanding International Humanitarian Award given by the Cyber Excellence Awards. The ceremonies will be held on November 8th at…
The Latinissimo Dancesport Team of Alejandro F. Oligan National High School delivered a commanding performance at the 2nd Urdaneta Invitational Dancesport Competition, harvesting 21 gold, 14 silver, and 6 bronze medals at the Urdaneta City Cultural and Sports Complex on December 6–7. Leading the gold haul were Almerald Lukban with…























