Playing with Fire
Pangasinan ‘history committee’ at work
By Gonzalo Duque
FRIDAY morning, we had an engaging exchange with Pangasinan historians and scholars who have been busy locating exactly the historic founding day, month and year of our beloved province of Pangasinan.
We thank Gov. Amado Espino Jr., alyas Spines, for all this bother so that we are able to tell exactly the year and if possible the month and date when the province was founded.
We wish to thank the historians’ group for electing us chairman of the “history” committee that is surely playing a role in charting the future of our beloved province. We shall not belabor the clamor for undertaking this, but we’re sure most if not all of you would consider this effort an important one.
And so from this day forward, up to probably, December when the committee shall have finally finished its work and submit its findings to the governor and the provincial board.
Allow us to say a few good words about our Manong Alfie Bince who has impressed us with his scholarship and a devotion to this simple but admittedly meaningful and significant work.
We commend Board Member Alfie, whose eyes are glued to the post of vice governor (mind you, he is most fit for it, if not in fact, over qualified), short of endorsing him for his desired post, for going through all the motions so that the project which, by the way, this column has espoused, would become a reality.
We thank most of all, the governor for appointing us chairman, probably due to our being “very noisy” about it. Why not since it’s been too unthinkably long that we have been in the dark regarding our history.
Ang dami nga diyan ng kung ano anong date ang sinasabi nilang Pangasinan Day. Not long way back, we took for granted the birthday of the late Speaker Eugenio Perez, which is November 13, was Pangasinan’s foundation day. Walang nagkwekwestion and so, ipinalagay na ng lahat na yon na nga.
For so important and vital a matter is, we instinctively put our foot down on guesswork on Pangasinan’s history. There ought to be an effort to fix the date, since no one, no historian of note, has ever come out with that much needed data.
We felicitate, aside from Guv Spines and next (?) Vice Gov Bince, some of the stout souls who are putting their hearts and minds on tha matter, like Dr. Perla Legaspi, Prof. Arabela Arcinue (president of the Pangasinan Heritage Society), newsman Ging Cardinoza and the others who braved last Friday’s rain in order to attend the meeting.
There will be another meeting on July 9, and then another one on July 31, and hopefully, a final one on Sept. 11, when the signature of the governor would have been secured on this.
By December this year, the project is expected to be brought to the Provincial Board and the Governor.
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