Playing with Fire
Guv Spines keeps his promises
By Gonzalo Duque
IT will soon be April 5—our province’s founding Day!
Happy birthday, Pangasinan!
It’s also Bayambang’s Foundation Day!
Happy birthday, Bayambang!
This columnist has a historic stake in the province’s Founding Day. You, dear readers, you all who have followed how the province fixed that historic date would not miss how it all came about.
It has its amusing, funny, noble and historic beginnings.
How would you and us, for instance, know that a joke, nay, a “spirited” subject over 8 or so bottles of beer would result in fixing the founding date of the province?
It began in some unsung corner in Dagupan, our beer-drinking mate, our durable neighbor columnist Jun Velasco, when a question was raised over why Pangasinan Day was observed sometime in November timed with the birthday of the late Speaker Eugenio Perez.
It’s all right that we celebrate the late Speaker’s birthday—but we thought something more meaningful should be done to set a historic Pangasinan Day.
And so, we decided right then and there to precisely raise the issue in this our Sunday Punch column.
Yes, we wrote about it here.
The ever alert boys of Gov. Amado T. Espino Jr., — from Administrative Officer Raffy Howard Baraan to PIO Butch Velasco picked up the idea, snappily brought it to the Guv’nor’s attention—and pronto!
A series of meetings at the Capitol began, followed by the grouping of history scholars and others if only to find out exactly what date was the closest or nearest to the founding of the province.
There was even a draft-letter to the government of Barcelona, Spain in which a Pangasinan team of researchers was to undertake a study and research at its mammoth library.
But discussions reached a point when it was realized that there was no sense of wasting travel funds if only for this.
And so it took our group, the Pangasinan Historical Culture Commission, to storm every library and other reference materials to dig, dig, dig into files, yellowing or brownish, dust-gathering references, documents, etcetera to agree to fixing the date. Debates, exhaustive discussions, marked those meetings.
Since then, several activities, trainings, on Pangasinan culture and arts were held. We’re proud to say that it’s only under the governorship of Amado T. Espino Jr.—since time immemorial —that a serious, gargantuan, determined effort on the province’s history and culture was done.
Let’s give the credit to Guv Spines who has the grit and the determination to make it happen.
He appointed us chairman and shortly later, the annual ASNA Awards was conceived—and institutionalized!
We are about to finish the voluminous Pangasinan History book which, as planned, will be integrated in the school curriculum.
Everywhere now in the archipelago—and worldwide—April 5 is now known as Pangasinan’s Foundation Day—or plain Pangasinan Day!
Let’s party on April 5!
* * * *
By the way, we wish to re-state the mission of this column.
No, kayong mga naughty guys ha? Please don’t twist its meaning.
In column writing, “playing with fire” means putting the pursuit of truth on fire to make it shine and burn.
Kung may nasinit, bahala siya. So it’s advisable for people who aren’t prepared to face the truth to step aside. Only the brave and the pure in heart are encouraged to stay near the fire—or even play with it.
When he was young, our national hero as kid Pepe played with the moth that was dancing around the lamp. He saw, he was attracted, he taunted the fire light.
Look at what that game made of Pepe Rizal!
* * * *
In Dagupan, people are surprised how Bangus City was able to survive the bleak left by the past administration.
It’s easy for one to say that the new mayor Belen Fernandez is a “gifted” manager who, amid meager resources, and an unfriendly media—only 10% met laeng–, was able to turn things around.
That’s why we Dagupenos deserve the festive Bangusan atmosphere that the Kalutan ed Dalan is providing us.
If you go around the city, you’d see colorful gaiety that envelops the city. It’s inconceivable that the city has gone past its tattered and corrupt image. Everywhere we hear, ok pala ang hindi korap na pamamalakad ano? Ate Belen demonstrated it. Nag jumped ang tax collections by several notches. Ang mga dating loyalista ng past Administration ay kusang nagbabalik loob sa Belen Fernandez Administration.
Anto met ey? Malinis, transparent, you get what you see. Anto ni anapen yo ey? Pati trapik, mas okay. Say tindaan malinis.
Manoosilan so totoo ya ontolong ed Balong Dagupan. Mabuhay so Dagupenos!
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