
BACKBREAKING JOB—Rice planting is never fun, but farmers like this one in Barangay Paitan West in Sual town do this backbreaking work to ensure that locally produced grains will be available in the market. The provincial government will soon begin buying newly harvested palay (unhusked rice) from local farmers. (Punchphoto…

BUSINESSMAN ON WHEELS—A tricycle-riding entrepreneur peddles all sorts of plastic household and kitchen wares—from storage box, chairs, brooms, pails, laundry tubs and bins, hangers, clips, etc., all stacked in his sidecar as he traverses the Aguilar-Mangatarem highway. (Punchphoto by Willie Lomibao)
Opinions
Editorial
The impact of political will
A new dawn is clearly in the offing. We have been receiving news reports on good governance in towns and cities that are initiatives of both reelected and newly elected mayors with visions. These are not programs worth millions of pesos, but programs that exemplify how political will alone can…
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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
A matter of accountability
By Gonzalo Duque A lot of things have been happening in Dagupan City lately. The determination of Mayor Belen Fernandez to bring the contractors of the former Lim administration to court is a case in point. It is good that today, the Sangguniang Panlungsod is composed of the allies…
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Random Thoughts
A sense of urgency at the new SP
By Leonardo Micua THERE’S a whale of a difference between the present and the past Sangguniang Panlungsod of Dagupan City. Firstly, there is no more dividing line that separates the majority and minority councilors, a first in the city, with an 11-1 composition. In contrast, the past SP was…
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G Spot
Things we don’t see
By Virginia Jasmin Pasalo LAST night, I waited for the rain. I knew it was coming our direction because the clouds blanketed the southern horizon, moving slowly towards the north, slowly deleting the sight of taller buildings. I miss the rain splashing on my face, my whole body, and…
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Andromeda’s Vortex
Konsehal Dada’s choice: A lone Wolf or a loser
By Farah G. Decano ATTY. Lorna Kapunan, awardee of Ten Outstanding Women of the Nation, is defending Atong Ang, a suspected mastermind in the disappearance of several sabungeros, allegedly buried at Taal Lake. This raises questions about why an abogada de campanilla would take on a case that could overshadow…
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Newsy News
Dagupan’s rainbow after the political storm
By Eva C. Visperas DAGUPAN City has seen better days— and worse ones too. But as we witness a fresh dawn under the renewed leadership of Mayor Belen Fernandez, one cannot help but draw inspiration from her journey. If there’s a story to be told here, it’s that of…
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Entre’acte
Going full circle
By Rex Catubig DURING the enrollment of incoming first year at the Dagupan City High School in 1960, the school officials headed by the erudite but stern Principal, Mr. Eduardo Q. Edralin from Lingayen, conceived the idea of grouping together all the honor graduates from the various public elementary…
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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 DEPARTMENT of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Region 1 office again recognized Dagupan City as the “best of the best” eco partners at the "𝗚𝗔𝗪𝗔𝗗 𝗞𝗔𝗟𝗜𝗞𝗛𝗔-𝗦𝗔𝗡" Philippine Environment Month 2025. The award is in line with the city government’s environmental protection programs, particularly the establishment of the foreshore…

ENGR. Lope Capua Catubig, Jr. of Hawthorne, CA, and Dagupan City, Philippines, joined his Creator on June 27th, just over a week after his 89th birthday. As a young Engineer in the 1960’s, he distinguished himself as a Project Engineer at the Pangasinan Public Works and Highways, supervising the building of…

THE Pangasinan Heatwaves asserted its supremacy after fending off the Valenzuela City Magic, 114-90, last July 11, 2025 at Imus City Sports Complex in Cavite. Pangasinan sizzled hot during the first quarter courtesy of Ralph Robin’s back-to-back triples, reinforced with the five points of King Gurtiza to secure an early…