THE BUREAUCRACY THAT KILLS. My teeth are gnashing and I feel sad over the loss of one precious life and the misery suffered by 25 others, and still counting as of press time, after they ate tahong (mussel) in Bolinao town. Why is the government so slow in disseminating information?…

SPOKESMAN’S LOAD PROBLEM. Never his kind again as spokesman, please. Thank God, the self-styled spokesman of a very important government agency that deals with peace and order in Pangasinan will finally be given a new assignment in the fifth district very soon. Many reporters, yours truly included, feel negative vibes…

GO, MANGO, GO! I agree with the decision of the Department of Agriculture Regional Field Office 1 to choose mango as the top commodity to be developed under the Philippine Rural Development Program. Our very own mangoes are comparable to that of the sweet variety of Guimaras. And Region 1…

ENTERPRISING MADAM. This “power couple” pays real properties worth millions of pesos in cash, not cheques. For instance, the wife, who holds a juicy position in a national government agency in Pangasinan, paid in cold cash more than P29-million for a vast land previously owned by a general in a…

English Language in Sessions. I wonder who started it all, using the English language during sanggunian sessions when they should be promoting our national language for the benefit of their constituents who listens and for one, their colleagues who have difficulty expressing themselves with the universal language. A neophyte councilor…

WHAT P10- M BLACK SAND EXPORT? Maybe. Or maybe not. I wonder what was the basis of the Ombudsman for claiming that magnetite sand valued at P10,750,000 was exported to China. Even the complainants themselves have attested that the black sand stockpile has remained untouched since year 2011. So how…

UNTOUCHABLE? Atty. Julius Cesar Peralta, chairman of the Board of Directors of Pangasinan Electric Cooperative (Panelco) III untouchable? He is always a no show every time he and his fellow Panelco III officials are invited to a Question Hour of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan. Last Monday, he again snubbed the provincial…

AFFIDAVIT OF DESISTANCE. The story about the theft case filed against suspected thieves but was eventually dismissed after the complainant filed her Affidavit of Desistance had me wondering about how people view our justice system. If the affidavit of desistance was made in all honesty, that indeed it was a…

DEPARTMENT OF POOR HIGHWAYS. What’s with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) nowadays? Instead of fixing roads, it seems it is wasting a lot of the taxpayers’ money by destroying newly paved roads only to build new ones but ignore those that badly need repair. A mayor in…

ENTERPRISING SCHOOL OFFICIALS. Pity the teachers for they can’t say no to their big boss. A school superintendent in one city in Pangasinan offers a decent proposal to neophyte teachers. How? By using his insurance coverage business to anyone who needs his OK to get the appointment for a teaching…