By Eva C. Visperas EVERY year, Villasis celebrates more than beauty — it celebrates promise. The Miss Villasis pageant unites the town’s most confident and purpose-driven young women. This year, 14 candidates proudly carry not only their barangays’ names but also the heart and hopes of the Villasinian community….

By Rex Catubig THE groundbreaking and construction of the new bridge that will span across the Calmay River, linking the city to its island barrios and becoming the modern gateway to the Western towns, has suddenly drawn flak and been subjected to defamatory innuendos. Yet, this project that no…
The Bridge Over Troubled Waters (1st of 2 parts)
By Gonzalo Duque A lot of events vis-a-vs disasters, e.g. typhoons, earthquakes, flooding, and volcanic eruptions, have been frequently visiting our country. These are all natural calamities. But the worst disaster that we have is the rampant graft and corruption in almost all levels of our government. The present…
Worst disaster
By Leonardo Micua WE heard that Dagupan City is hosting a Flood Summit this month to tackle the problem that has long been tormenting its people—flooding. This is one summit we should not miss. Believing that the solution to Dagupan’s frequent flooding lies in engineering and science, the organizers…
A summit for flood solutions
By Virginia Jasmin Pasalo THE weather bulletin from PAGASA announced that severe tropical storm Paolo (Matmo) is expected to make landfall over Isabela or northern Aurora today, Friday morning, October 3. Tropical Cyclone Wind Signal No. 3 was hoisted in several parts of Luzon as Paolo developed into a…
The music of the thunderstorm
By Farah G. Decano THE LNU College of Law is set to host a pivotal event focused on empowering citizens to become guardians of the justice system. Former Supreme Court Justice and current Acting Chair of the Judicial Integrity Board (JIB), Angelina Sandoval-Gutierrez, has been invited to deliver a…
Championing Judicial Integrity and Government Accessibility
By Eva C. Visperas “GOOD governance is not just about being seen, it is about being heard—and more importantly, being acted upon.” In Dagupan City, this philosophy now takes center stage with the launch of Bantay Dagupan, Sumbungan ng Bayan, an initiative of Mayor Belen Fernandez that puts the people…
Bantay Dagupan: The City’s New Voice

By Rex Catubig Note: Please allow me to indulge in some rumination to start my birthday month and await my upcoming birthday week. I am inspired by the AI photos created by my friends, Adams Ryan and Archimedes Fronda. Struck by the blurry image of hanging laundry in the…
Clothesline conversation
By Farah Decano ON September 21, I watched as Filipinos rallied across the country to protest government corruption — the kind of corruption that steals billions meant for something as critical as flood control. The rallies in EDSA and Luneta were supposed to be massive, a reflection of our…
Performative Empathy: A Disgusting Charade
By Virginia Jasmin Pasalo I am looking at “The Butt Song from Hell”, detail from Hieronymus Bosch’s 15th-century triptych, “The Garden of Earthly Delights”, depicting a hellish chorus singing a song while the devil is inscribing the notes on the buttocks of a tortured figure in the hell panel….