By Gonzalo Duque   I first hesitated to write any topic under the sun, but the call of duty made me change my mind. What happened Wednesday in Northern Luzon, which was jolted by a powerful earthquake (Magnitude 5 in Dagupan, Magnitude 6 in La Union and Magnitude 7 in Lagangilang,…

By Gonzalo Duque   EVEN before President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. can deliver his State of the Nation Address,  his allies in Congress already started working. Even reelected Senator Sherwin Gatchalian is seeking the review of the K-to-12 programs – to see if there is a need to abolish it or continue…

By Gonzalo Duque   THE latest Pulse Asia survey on former President Rodrigo Duterte’s performance is not surprising at all. Despite being labeled by bashers as human rights violator by his detractors and the western press, PRRD consistently earned an incredible 83 percent performance rating throughout and finally an 89%…

By Gonzalo Duque   I attended the inauguration of the Dagupan Diagnostic Center in Barangay Herrero-Perez, led by Mayor Belen Fernandez last Wednesday morning. It’s a long overdue project of Mayor Belen that was ignored and abandoned by the Lim administration, simply because it was not his project. I was shocked…

By Gonzalo Duque   IT is our 75th year of cityhood and there has been no grand celebration to mark that important milestone in the history of Dagupan. In the absence of one organized by then outgoing Mayor Brian Lim, I believe we should celebrate our 75th year of cityhood…

By Gonzalo Duque   THE Sanggunian Panlungsod has passed a resolution expressing its profound gratitude to outgoing Mayor Brian Lim, commending him for his “sterling leadership  and competent management” of the city’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This is a positive move of the august body.  Recognizing the mayor’s awesome and…

By Gonzalo Duque   I was happy to learn that the 2022 annual budget as proposed by Mayor Brian Lim was finally approved by the Sangguniang Panlungsod. But the report that the office of the mayor initially did not like to receive the approved budget was worrisome. It appeared City…

By Gonzalo Duque   I congratulate the ascendancy of Congressman Conrad Estrella III of the Abono party list as secretary of the Department of Agrarian  Reform, a post once held by his late grandfather and namesake Conrado F. Estrella who was DAR’s first secretary for 16 years and also former…

By Gonzalo Duque   I am surprised by the unusual delay in the passage by the Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP) of the proposed 2022 budget of Dagupan’s  which the administration of outgoing Mayor Brian Lim wanted to fast track before the elections. Our earlier suspicion that the urgency to approve the budget before the campaign period was really meant for Brian’s political…

By Gonzalo Duque   I am happy that almost all the barangay captains of Dagupan filed their timely objection to the application for franchise of Pamana and its proposed water rate increase lodged before the National Water Resources Board. Atty, Jose Tamayo is right that if the NWRB grants the…