The sloppy cowards By Ermin Garcia Jr.   FIRST of all, I must apologize for the blunder of my staff that appeared in our last issue. I refer to our headline story about Rep. Amado Espino Jr.’s manifestation to abide by the Sandiganbayan’s suspension. Horror of all horrors, when I…

More questions than answers By Ermin Garcia Jr.   THANKS to Dagupan’s new City Legal Officer Atty. Vicky Cabrera, finally, we heard from the city legal office about the fate of illegal fish pen owners, something that never happened since Mayor Belen Fernandez assumed office. I can only agree with…

Non-negotiable enforcement By Ermin Garcia Jr.   THE idea of Dagupan Mayor Belen Fernandez to have some POSO traffic enforcers deputized by the Land transportation Office is a move in the right direction. Motorists in the city agree with her that discipline in the city’s streets can be had if…

Misplaced outburst By Ermin Garcia Jr.   MAYOR Belen Fernandez perhaps felt justified in her angry outburst before the city hall employees in reaction to news and opinion published in The PUNCH about the continuing open defiance of the city’s ordinance and national law by illegal fish pen owners. I…

Defying city hall is easy By Ermin Garcia Jr.   FOR a while we were heartened by the report that Mayor Belen Fernandez, City Legal Officer Vicky Cabrera and City Assessor Roland Suni were finally in agreement last week that there is no legal justification whatsoever to exempt illegal fish…

2,000 EJKs? Not by police By Ermin Garcia Jr.   THE Senate inquiry called by the committee on public order and dangerous drugs chaired by Sen. Panfilo Lacson, into the killing of Mayor Rolando Espinosa of Albuera, Leyte, confirmed to me what I thought were the true facts behind the…

CAO vs. CLO at city hall By Ermin Garcia Jr.   A SHOWDOWN between City Legal Officer Atty. Vicky Cabrera and City Agriculturist Emma Molina appears imminent over the fate of 63 illegal fish pens that remain operating in the city’s rivers and tributaries despite the order and the deadline…

When farmers lose P100-M By Ermin Garcia Jr.   HERE we go again. The national and local governments continue to issue statements, giving estimates about the millions worth of losses in agricultural products in the provinces battered by Typhoons Karen and Lawin. As usual, the reports were incomplete and inaccurate….

OMG, PDU30 will cut out USA! By Ermin Garcia Jr.   NOT a few, including relatives in US, have asked us about our thoughts on the recent dramatic and unprecedented, ‘unpresidential’ statements of PDU30 while in China. The questions were mostly apprehensions about possible consequences, if indeed, PHL cuts ties…

Insatiable greed? By Ermin Garcia Jr.   WHEN the cat is away, the mouse will play! Figuratively, that’s exactly what happened last week at the Dagupan Sangguniang Panlungsod again. The minority councilors (Luis Samson Jr., Nicanor Aquino and Guillermo Vallejos led by Minority Floor Leader Redford Erfe-Mejia) pulled a fast one…