They are going down. . . down! By Ermin Garcia Jr. Something really rotten must have happened to the “transaction” for the planned P84- million Magsaysay Park Tourism Complex. Judging from his recent actuations, I cannot but sense a sense of desperation on the part of my favorite mayor Benjie…

Joe de V, no longer “Mr. Nice Guy” By Ermin Garcia Jr. Well, well, it looks like the stakes in the political poker game in Dagupan City and in the fourth district have more than doubled. My favorite mayor Benjie Lim’s earlier bets (or bluff?) are being “called” and “raised”…

Campaigning for Ping Lacson By Ermin Garcia Jr. In the spirit of transparency in the paper, I have to confess I have been asked to manage the re-election campaign of Senator Ping Lacson for the May elections. If you are wondering how this promdi got into the picture, it’s not…

Absentee Guadiz is back to “work” By Ermin Garcia Jr. Our report about the insistence of Mr. Roberto Sison, the favorite contractor of my favorite mayor Mr. Benjie Lim, to invoke his right not to comment on the missing steel bars and trusses on abandoned Bugnay commercial center only serves…

My favorite characters in action By Ermin Garcia Jr. What appeared to be a simple confusion over a seemingly normal business transaction inside the city hall now appears to be the tip of an iceberg that’s about to thaw and flood the city officials’ rooms. I am talking about the…

What’s in it for young leaders? By Ermin Garcia Jr. If Alaminos Mayor Hernani Braganza makes good on his word to quit public life once and for all, then he will make it to the Guinness World Record as the first and youngest Filipino public official to give up politics…

Wanted: the “first” to howl on landgrabbing By Ermin Garcia Jr. In his “open letter” to me (which I know has already seen print in other publications and discussed in some radio stations) in reaction to my column item two weeks ago, Mr. Nicanor O. Melecio, who styles himself as…

What’s Mr. Lim up to? By Ermin Garcia Jr. First, what’s Dagupan City Mayor Benjie Lim up to in the election front?             He is having fun giving the impression that he will push both Speaker Jose de Venecia and Immigration Commissioner Al Fernandez to make a run for their…

The wheeling, dealing and lying at the city council By Ermin Garcia Jr. I was given a copy of the minutes of the December 18, 2006 special meeting of the Dagupan City Council, the day the conspirators met to deliver on the deal on the Magsaysay Park project. It made…

Keeping up the fight for good governance By Ermin Garcia Jr. I have no doubt in my mind that Dagupan City Mayor Benjie Lim and his ilk already find his vice mayor to be pesky, troublesome, irritating, a total asshole and an ingrate. But Vice Mayor Alvin Fernandez should take…