The woes of the District Jail in Dagupan By Ermin Garcia Jr. I visited Dr. Raul Sabado, he who was arrested two weeks ago for being at the wrong place with the wrong person at the wrong time, at the Dagupan City Jail facility in Bonuan where he is detained…

The gang’s templates for corruption By Ermin Garcia Jr. Last week, we reported how the ‘chief miracle workers’ of former Dagupan City Mayor Benjie Lim were resurrected and recycled by the Espino provincial administration to wit, Raffy Baraan now as provincial administrator and Dindin Baniqued as provincial legal officer. (And…

Hail, hail the gang’s all there! By Ermin Garcia Jr. After that terrible political debacle suffered by former Mayor Benjie Lim (and his son) in the last elections, today a number of the mayor’s key officials have since been fully resurrected and recycled – Raffy Baraan, then the city administrator,…

Walking down PUNCH’s memory lane By Ermin Garcia Jr. IT’S SUNDAY PUNCH 52nd anniversary this month! My father, Ermin Sr., was at the helm for 10 years, from July 15, 1956 until he was shot by a politician in May 20, 1966.  Then my uncle Gerry took it on for…

When IRA is eyed for graft… By Ermin Garcia Jr. IS LANDBANK operating like a private bank where profits come first before development? Or is it out to lend to the effort to hasten the bankruptcy of the country? I ask these questions because LandBank has offered the provincial government…

It’s not all’s well that ends well By Ermin Garcia Jr. I welcome the news that residents of Sitio Camangaan in Barangay Mayombo in Dagupan finally relented and decided to help prosecute their neighbors who stole Dagupan Electric’s transformer that delivered electricity to their community. It took Decorp to see…

See no evil, get no electricity By Ermin Garcia Jr. THE thieves who stole Decorp’s 750 Kilovolt Ampere (KVA) transformer that weighs 300 kilos, off a fallen post in the middle of Sitio Camanggaan, Mayombo in Dagupan City must be laughing their heads off seeing how they have completely intimidated…

79% of mayors violating Solid Waste law By Ermin Garcia Jr. There is a monumental environmental and/or health crisis waiting to happen in the country, in general, and in Pangasinan, in particular. In year 2000, the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act was passed to preempt such a crisis. To underscore…

JDV, a loser or the next hero?  By Ermin F. Garcia Jr. Our indefatigable Joe De V has found himself in a sticky catch-22 situation in the unfinished business of the senate investigating the NBN-ZTE scandal. Seemingly, he will be damned if he testifies, damned if he doesn’t. But everyone…

We ain’t seen nothing yet By Ermin F. Garcia Jr. Typhoons come and go in Pangasinan. They have come with such regularity  that most of us have stopped being too overly concerned with each storm alert raised. “So how will this next typhoon hurt me?” is how we meet news…