THE current data on the COVID-19 pandemic in Pangasinan is not at all alarming, not yet. However, given the nature of the coronavirus, the level of infection can still be murderous if it is not given the 24/7 attention it deserves. The sudden surge of the virus infection in China,…
ERMIN Erfe Garcia founded your Sunday PUNCH on July 5, 1956. He wanted a pocket-size newspaper (tabloid size papers were unknown then) that’d be easier for readers to handle. Today, aside from the changes in the paper’s physical dimension and page formats over time, your PUNCH has not digressed nor…
Your Sunday PUNCH at 66
GIVEN the vision of the province’s new governor, Ramon Guico III, who heralded doable plans to boost economic development of Pangasinan, it’d do well for mayors of our towns and cities to align their vision as well with his. The Guico agenda may be ambitious but definitely doable if given…
The Guico agenda
STARTING next week, our communities will be watching how our newly reelected and elected provincial and local officials will conduct themselves in the next 100 days. Here are some barometers uppermost in our local communities’ minds. Firstly, while it is safe to assume that the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic…
Post pandemic ‘First 100-days’ of local governance
IF there is one legacy that the Espino III administration will long be remembered for in its last term, it’d be the effective management not only of the COVID-19 pandemic but the upgrading of the services of provincial hospitals that provided quality health care for the poorest. Governor Amado Espino…
Guv Pogi’s COVID-19 legacy
PANGASINAN couldn’t be prouder of its son, Dr. Francisco T. Duque III, the country’s outgoing Health Secretary, he who single-mindedly led the nation’s campaign to beat the COVID-19 pandemic… and succeeded! As one of the key and most trusted cabinet members of the Duterte government, it was not surprising that…
Well done, DOH Sec. Duque!
THE national Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases has, of late, been downplaying the predicted surge in COVID-19 cases across the country. The provincial IATF is echoing the same. But the context of a surge continues to be about level of contagion, specifically numbers of mild,…
Quo vadis, COVID-19?
THE joint venture agreement (JVA) entered into by the Dagupan City Water District with the Pamana Water Corporation (PWC) which was facilitated by the administration of Mayor Brian Lim is turning out to be a classic case of betrayal of public trust. As attested to by 26 barangay chairmen in…
Betrayal of public trust
IT is no surprise that Philippines was tagged as the text capital in the world early on. The platform is custom-fit to Pinoy culture of friendliness bunded on strong family ties. But as texting is for bonding, the onset of social media scuttled all that we cherished with texting. Social…
Social media is hazardous to our mental health
COMMUNITIES everywhere in Pangasinan expected vote-buying spree in the last two days before May 9, everywhere except the Comelec offices. Despite all the threats of legal consequences in media by the Comelec officials, voters were up late nights and early dawn on the streets waiting for convoys to stop in…