
REPORTING TO CALASIAO -- After delivering his first 100 days accomplishments, Calasiao Mayor Patrick Caramat announced in a press conference that the local government will form a Flood Management and Resilience Council that will be composed of experts from the private and public sectors, local government officials, and other stakeholders.…

TOWN HALL MEET ON NUCLEAR ENERGY -- Residents and representatives of various sectors in Labrador attend a town hall meeting on October 4, 2025 to discuss nuclear energy as an alternative and cheaper power source, and the possibility of the municipality’s hosting of a modern nuclear power plant. One of…

SHABU INVENTORY -- Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) agents conduct an inventory early morning of October 4, 2025 on the suspected illegal drug shabu worth almost P6 billion seized the night before during a search at a house in Barangay Laois, Labrador. The PDEA, along with the Philippine National Police…
Opinions
Editorial
Shabu from the sea
PANGASINAN once again found itself in the national headlines last week, and not for a good reason. Authorities seized a staggering 1,020 kilos of shabu valued at ₱6.9 billion in a warehouse in Barangay Laois, Labrador, on October 3. Lawmen believe that these are linked to the ₱850-million worth of shabu…
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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
Watching the PBBM circus
By Gonzalo Duque THE circus or spectacle thrown into the PBBM administration is now becoming an irritation. It is very clear that the organization of the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) was meant to render the investigation by the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee useless. As of press time, ICI…
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Random Thoughts
A budget way ahead of deadline
By Leonardo Micua THE 2026 budget of Dagupan City, amounts to P1. 83 billion, made history when it was passed during the regular session of the Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP) on October 14, 2025 – the earliest annual budget ever approved in the city’s history. Thanks to Vice Mayor Bryan…
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G Spot
Common Sense
By Virginia Jasmin Pasalo POLITICIANS often underestimate the common sense of ordinary citizens. To them, the public is there to give them votes, in exchange for their “little mercies” during elections and disasters, where their names appear on every donation they make, taken from the public’s collective taxes used…
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Andromeda’s Vortex
The Swift Enactment of The Budget
By Farah G. Decano WHEN former Mayor Al Fernandez, Jr. proudly presented to the public his administration’s annual savings, the astute political observer Atty. Gonzalo Duque offered a sharp counter: savings often resulted from unimplemented or poorly planned projects. Following this logic, we cannot help but question the recent narrative that the swiftness of passing the…
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Newsy News
Truth beneath the ground
By Eva C. Visperas IN a time when noise often drowns out truth, it becomes necessary to see things with our own eyes. And that is exactly what we did —a quiet, unannounced inspection of the Edades-Bernal Museum site in Dagupan City on October 7, 2025. What we found…
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Entre’acte
They burn bridges and dreams (2nd of 2 parts)
By Rex Catubig THE Franklin prevailed despite the predicaments that plagued its reincarnation. Despite its travails of survival, yet another daybreak came, and a silver lining appeared when the visionary Belen T Fernandez was elected Mayor. She had envisioned the Franklin as part of the grandiose plan to develop…
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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 FIFTEEN Child Development Center workers from different barangays were honored by the Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) Council during the October 13 flag-raising ceremony led by Mayor Belen Fernandez. City Social Welfare and Development Officer Irene Ferrer presented the Certificates of Recognition to the daycare teachers for their…

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 Pangasinan Heatwaves spoiled the Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards’ homecourt advantage in a gutsy finish, 86-85, during game 1 of the first round of Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) North Division Quarterfinals on October 15 at the Nueva Ecija Coliseum. Pangasinan scorched hot early on in the first segment, knocking down three triples led by Hesed Gabo’s…