Betraying BSL By Ermin Garcia Jr.   THE two hearings of Dagupan City sanggunian’s Blue Ribbon Committee on the complaints I filed have so far yielded two common denominators. First, there are no denials but explanations of the complained irregularities.  Second, the officials concerned pointed to Mayor Benjie Lim’s policies…

Expose hitmen’s faces By Ermin Garcia Jr.   THE hitmen and thieves riding in tandem are on a roll. They know too well that our officialdom, especially our police, are at a loss on how to keep their activities in check.  Between their speedy getaway using ordinary-looking motorcycles and their…

Vindication By Ermin Garcia Jr.   WE, in the PUNCH, feel fully vindicated by the decision of the Pasig City assistant prosecutor dismissing the libel complaint filed by the Citystate Savings Bank (owned by businessman Antonio Cabangon Chua) against eight of PUNCH staff (and Mr. Jojo Liwag of Decorp) over…

Decorp’s dubious business policy By Ermin Garcia Jr.   THE continuing impasse in the handling of the Dagupan City government’s order to the Dagupan Electric Corp. (Decorp) to terminate its service contracts for the meter lodged at the MC Adore hotel building, is showing a pattern of lack of responsibility…

Embarrassment  By Ermin Garcia Jr.   THE Citystate-Decorp-City Hall imbroglio rages on. It’s been almost 20 days since Dagupan Mayor Belen Fernandez ordered the Dagupan Electric Corp (Decorp) to terminate the service contract for the electric meter lodged at the MC Adore hotel building, and as some had predicted, Decorp…

What can stop HRIT? By Ermin Garcia Jr.   HAVEN’T you noticed anything about our politicos recently? The responses of our political leaders to crimes that government has been unable to contain range from the sublime to the ridiculous! First, there was the suggestion of DILG Sec. Mar Roxas to…

A crisis summit By Ermin Garcia Jr.   THE signs are ominous and these are written all over the world’s wall of resistance and denial! Between the destruction of properties and lives wrought by super typhoon Yolanda in the Visayas and the unprecedented toll on lives caused by the arctic…

Crunch time By Ermin Garcia Jr.   IT’S crunch time for the Belen Fernandez administration. After Mayor Belen proved her detractors wrong when she managed the city’s fiscal crisis that she inherited from her predecessor, creditably well, she must now attend to festering issues that test her political mettle. Will…

Unfinished business By Ermin Garcia Jr.   AS we end the year, getting ready for the next, I drew up a list of what I believe are pending public issues, or the “unfinished business” in the province and in Dagupan City that I would like to see resolved, accomplished and…

The good old days By Ermin Garcia Jr.   “DO you remember the old days how we celebrated our Christmas and fiesta in Dagupan?” It was one question (in Pangasinan) I overheard when two “seniors” seated behind me were talking animatedly while on board a bus headed for Cubao last…