War contra epal By Ermin Garcia Jr.   WAR CONTRA EPAL. The recent ruling of the Ombudsman suspending Asingan Mayor Heidee Chua and Vice Mayor Carlos Lopez Jr . for being ‘epal’ should finally tell all elected officials, from the barangay kapitans, to councilors, mayors, board members, congressmen to the…

Wanted: Fastest Judge Alive By Ermin Garcia Jr.   WITHOUT speculating on how the ongoing preliminary impeachment proceedings at the House of Representatives (HOR) on the case of Supreme Court Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno will end, the discussions in the last two hearings pointed to the unchecked abuses of…

Failure of governance By Ermin Garcia Jr.   WHAT do Bayambang, San Carlos City, Malasiqui and Lingayen have in common? They have the highest incidence of dengue and diarrhea cases in the province! The implication here is their local governments are all seriously wanting in promoting health and sanitation in…

Stop that noise! By Ermin Garcia Jr.   IF there is one ordinance that is sorely needed in Dagupan City and in other cities in Pangasinan, it’s an anti-noise pollution ordinance that specifically addresses noise emitted by motorcycles, cars, jeeps, vans and buses, firecrackers, etc. Dagupan City Ordinance No. 1879-2006,…

Wanted: More ‘Oplan Sita’ checkpoints By Ermin Garcia Jr.   MORE families and communities are becoming more apprehensive with the drug situation in their villages since the PNP was pulled out from the war on drugs. While the Pangasinan PNP is set to recommend all barangays as drug-cleared, some residents…

Mega Dagupan City   By Ermin Garcia Jr. DON’T look now but the Dagupan City government is breaking barriers in governance. Who would have thought that after 4 years, the city’s P300-M budget would triple! Note that appointing figures for the budget cannot be whimsical; it must prove that it…

Woe is the next generation after this   By Ermin Garcia Jr. PERHAPS my fears for the future may be unwarranted and baseless but given what I am seeing today, the virulent hostilities being waged by and between ‘Dutertards’ and ‘Yellowtards’ in social media (and slowly finding their way into…

Wanted: More data on war on drugs   By Ermin Garcia Jr. WITH hopes of seeing Pangasinan possibly as the first province in the region to be declared drug-free, there are still questions that beg some answers from the Pangasinan PNP-PDEA to assure communities that these are now safe from…

Believe it or not, change is here By Ermin Garcia Jr.   OVER the past 15 months, I have been preoccupied with the political noise that polluted the air since PDU30 took over last July 1, 2016. Too preoccupied perhaps following the developments in the war on drugs that I…

War on Drugs, localized   By Ermin Garcia Jr. THE totally unexpected order of PDU30 pulling out the PNP from the war on drugs caught most everyone by surprise including the political opposition. What made him to do it? He’s obviously piqued, tired and mad as hell being described as…