Collateral damage in the city By Ermin Garcia Jr. THE contentious power struggle between the city hall and the city council in Dagupan is finally taking its toll on their hapless constituents. If one cares to look even more closely, it’s a battle royale for territorial and political control over…

All bets are off By Ermin Garcia Jr. THINGS are not looking good for Dagupenos. There is no doubt in anyone’s mind today that Mayor Benjie Lim is already inextricably at loggerhead with the city council headed by his arch-business rival Vice Mayor Belen Fernandez.

Political will vs. business interests By Ermin Garcia Jr. POLITICAL will vs. business interests The vaunted political will of Dagupan Mayor Benjie Lim is showing some results finally, particularly in the implementation of the city’s waste segregation campaign.

Right but not equal By Ermin Garcia Jr. IT’S finally happening. Dagupan City is beginning to see a political fissure, a battle of nerves between the mayor and the city council.

A new champion? By Ermin Garcia Jr. THAT was a refreshing image that Dagupan City Councilor Chito Samson cut when he finally took the floor at the city council to denounce the proliferation of illegal gambling in the city although I cannot but agree with Mayor Benjie Lim when he…

Citizens of the world By Ermin Garcia Jr. WASHINGTON D.C. JULY 28 – Finally, I had the opportunity to visit the Newseum last week and saw how my father, Ermin Erfe Garcia, was honored by the institution listing his name in the Journalists Memorial as among the press martyrs in…

Ineptitude and incompetence By Ermin Garcia Jr. CHICAGO, July 23 — I am appalled by the new tack taken by Dagupan City Agriculturist Emma Molina vis-à-vis the proliferation of the illegal fish pens in the city’s rivers and tributaries. She complains that there is no penal sanction prescribed for violation…

No buck-passing, please By Ermin Garcia Jr. BUCK-passing in a bureaucracy is the biggest loophole in our system that criminal minds exploit to this day. The case of the continuing reclamation at the city’s Calmay River along JdV Sr. Extension by 888 Dagupan Properties despite a cease and desist order…

Better days ahead? By Ermin Garcia Jr. IF the first days of Dagupan Mayor Benjie Lim are any indication, the city may, indeed, be headed for better days ahead.  The city streets are cleaner and the usual endless chaotic scene fronting the Malimgas Market is seeing some semblance of order…

The roads to a legacy and perdition By Ermin Garcia Jr. OK, guys and gals…there they go on their way to greatness or perdition. We’ve all heard heaps of stirring rhetoric from our new set of elected local officials on the day they took their oath. For many of us…