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Gov. Ramon Guico III on Wednesday inducted into office the newly-elected officers of the Lady Local Legislators’ League (Four-L) – Pangasinan Chapter Officers lead by its President and 1st District Board Member Apolonia Bacay at the Urduja House Ceremonial Hall in Lingayen, Pangasinan.

In his message, the governor expressed his support to the organization, saying there should be a representative of the Four-L Pangasinan Chapter in the regional and in the national levels.

“I hope makatulong tayo sa inyo, at magtulungan tayo, kasi marami pong mga pwedeng i-promote, maraming mga talents sa atin, maraming artistically inclined. Not that hanggang bagoong, asin tayo. I think there is more, and, tingin ko mga kababaihan yong makakatulong diyan. There is something that we can do to actually promote some products,” Governor Guico said.

Governor Guico also urged Four-L officers to push for livelihood programs for women as well as the production of better products that can be sold internationally.

The organization proposed establishment of Center for Women in provincial government hospitals.

Along with BM Bacay, other inducted officers were San Nicolas Councilor Maricon Vindy Operana, vice president, Board Member Marinor De Guzman, secretary, Alaminos City Councilor Carolyn Sison, treasurer, Alaminos City Councilor Dahlia De Leon, deputy treasurer, Umingan Vice Mayor Chris Evert Leynes, auditor, and San Fabian Councilor Kimberly Bandarlipe, public relations officer.

The Board of Directors are Alaminos City Councilor Apple Joy Tolentino and Sual Councilor Apple Joy Mendoza (District 1), Board Member Haidee Pacheco and Mangatarem Councilor Andrea Cruz (District 2), Board Member Shiela Marie Baniqued and Alaminos City CouncilorVerna Rabago (District 3), San Fabian CouncilorMarieta Cuaresma and Mangaldan Councilor Lovely Lian Maramba (District 4), Board Member Rosary Gracia Tababa and Asingan Councilor Athena Ira Chua (District 5), and Tayug Councilor Magdalena Mangelen and Asingan Councilor Marivic Robeniol (District 6).

Vice Governor Mark Ronald DG Lambino and 3rd District Board Member Vici Ventanilla also graced the occasion.

(PangasinanPIO)

LINGAYEN, PANGASINAN — Gov. Ramon Guico 3rd has asked the officers of the Provincial Government Employees’ Multi-Purpose Cooperative of Pangasinan (PGEMPCOP) to consider offering a housing loan in its loan packages to enable its members to have their own houses.

“I think you should study offering this loan package because we will soon have a housing program for our employees. I think many of you want to have their own houses,” said Governor Guico after he swore into office the new set of PGEMPCOP officers at the Urduja House last Monday.

Janette Asis, provincial human resource management and development officer and PGEMPCOP general manager, said that at present, the cooperative only offers salary and other short-term loans.

Asis said that the cooperative’s grew from a measly P400,000 to P26 million in the last eight years, and from more 300 members, the cooperative now has 1,400 members consisting of regular employees, casuals, consultants, and job order workers of the provincial government.

“I encountered some of our job order workers, who have been here for 15 years, 20 years. I asked where they lived and they said they were informal settlers somewhere. So, that is I think what we need to provide,” said Governor Guico.

At present, he said, the province needs 17,000 thousand houses a year.

This is one of the reasons, Governor Guico said, why he had asked the conversion of the Provincial Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Center into a housing authority that will map out and build more houses for Pangasinenses.

“Anyway, what I’m only asking is for you to have a commitment to your work. I’m very considerate but when it comes to work, we have to be serious,” Governor Guico said.

“I have never worked so hard as I am doing right now,” he added.

Governor Guico said that the cooperative should also focus on gaining more members to increase its present membership.

“We have 6,000 employees (in the provincial government). So, I think that you should have a more active campaign to entice them to join this cooperative,” Governor Guico said.

“So that should be your objective: To gain more members. Show them the benefits. But I hope you will attach this cooperative to housing eventually. I think you have enough funds for those who seriously want to acquire a house of their own,” he added.

(PangasinanPIO)

LINGAYEN, PANGASINAN — Gov. Ramon “Mon-mon” Guico III may be the only Pangasinan governor who has visited twice the mountain village of Malico in San Nicolas town in a span of nine months.

Governor Guico first traveled to Malico as governor on October 19, 2022 to dialog with village residents there after he spoke at the Ilocos Region Indigenous People’s Summit.

Last March 20, Governor Guico returned to the village to inaugurate its Barangay Disaster Operations Center. The inauguration coincided with the first out-of-town session then of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan led by Vice Gov. Mark Ronald DG. Lambino.
“The governor’s visits were clear affirmation that Malico is part of Pangasinan,” said provincial administrator Ely Patague.

Malico, which sits on top of the Caraballo Mountain, is a one-hour drive via Pangasinan-Nueva Vizcaya Road or Villa Verde Trail from San Nicolas, is being claimed by Nueva Vizcaya as part of its Santa Fe town.

It is called “Little Baguio” because its cold climate is similar to Baguio City’s, although it has higher elevation than the country’s summer capital.

The Pangasinan-Nueva Vizcaya Road, which crosses the Caraballo mountains, is the newest direct link of the Ilocos Region to the Cagayan Valley. The other one is the Maharlika Highway, which connects Pagudpud town in Ilocos Norte province and Santa Praxedes town in Cagayan province.

But despite Nueva Vizcaya’s territorial claim, the mountain village contiunues to benefit from the services rendered by the Pangasinan provincial government.

In addition to the Barangay Disaster Operations Center, Patague said the provincial government will also establish a tourism office and a barracks for the Philippine National Police.

To prepare village officials to effectively respond to a disaster, the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) conducted a Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation –Disaster Risk Reduction and Basic Life Support Training in the village last December.

At least 40 barangay officials and health workers in the village participated in the training.

After the training session, the PDRRMO distributed 300 family food packs and 50 health kits and vitamins. The Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office also gave special gifts to the village’s elders.

For the longest time, the Malico National High School and Malico Elementary School belonged to the Pangasinan II division of the Department of Education, a proof that Malico is a part of Pangasinan.

During a meeting at the Governor’s Office here last year, Malico barangay captain Jaime Segundo said that Pangasinan was the only province to which his village belonged.

Segundo, 61, says that it was in that mountain village of Pangasinan where he was born and where he grew up, and he has always been proud of San Nicolas as the town of his birth.

(PangasinanPIO)

LINGAYEN, PANGASINAN — The provincial government of Pangasinan is holding its first ever Pangasinan IT Challenge for Youth With Disabilities on June 21 at the Pangasinan Training and Development Center I here.

Hosted by the Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office (PSWDO) and Persons With Disability Affairs Office (PDAO), the competition is open to youth with disabilities aged 13 to 24 years old, who are recently enrolled in either public or private schools.

“In line with Gov. Ramon Guico III’s vision of making Pangasinan a premier province of great opportunities, the PSWDO through its PDAO ventured into ICT competition to bridge the gap in the digital divide and enhance the information and communication technology (ICT) capabilities of young individuals with disabilities,” PSWDO Annabel Terrado Roque said.

According to Jennifer V. Garcia, head of PDAO, the event will encourage the youth to explore ICT tools and skills, fostering inclusivity for persons with disabilities.

The competition will be divided into three categories: eTools (Excel and PPT), eLifeMap, and eContents. Participants will showcase their proficiency in these areas, highlighting their technological skills and creativity.

Prizes at stake are: first place, P5,000; second place, P3,000; and third place, P1,500.

Garcia said winners in the provincial level will compete in the national competition in the last week of June in Metro Manila and will have a chance to represent the country in the Global IT Challenge to be held in Abu Dhabi, UAE in October 2023.

To prepare the participants for the challenge, an orientation of the contest package will be conducted on June 13 through an online platform. Subsequently, participants will undergo practice and training from June 14 to 20, to hone their skills and familiarizing themselves with the competition requirements.

Interested participants can register through
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf1yRYRDPVr4lKVuBTN563NC_vsWF86BzVgWIKSCz03BixwUg/viewform?usp=sharing on or before June 10, 2023.

“We are advocating inclusivity for persons with disabilities, and this event will serve as a platform for them to engage with their peers, learn from experts, and gain valuable experiences that can contribute to their personal and professional growth,” Garcia said.

The PSWDO-PDAO has partnered with the National Council on Disability Affairs, DICT Pangasinan, Local Government Units, DepEd and the Local Youth Development Office to make this event possible.

(PSWDO-PDAO/PangasinanPIO)

LINGAYEN, PANGASINAN — The town of Dasol in the western part of Pangasinan, is still the province’s top salt producer.

In 2021, Dasol produced 24,000 metric tons (MT) of salt from its more than 10,000 banigan (salt beds) located in 13 of its 18 villages, according to the data gathered by the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist (OPAg) here.

A banigan measuring 5.5 meters (18 feet) by 6 meters (20 feet) produces about 30 sacks of salt, each sack weighing 60 kilograms.

Dasol’s production that year was 37.4 percent of the province’s total production of 64,156.36 MT.

Dasol’s salt farms are located along the Maasin River, one of the rivers cutting through the town that flows to the Dasol Bay and to the West Philippine Sea.

Salt-making has been one of the town’s major sources of livelihood here in the last eight decades.

Next to Dasol is the town of Bolinao, which produced 12,240 MT of salt from its salt beds in the villages of Victory, Pilar, and Zaragoza.

But 98 percent (12,000 MT) of the town’s salt production that year came from a 473-hectare salt farm operated by Pacific Farms Inc. in Barangay Zaragoza.

The salt farm, which was the country’s largest salt producer, has stopped production after the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) shut it down in 2021 because its foreshore lease contract had long expired.

Nestor Batalla, assistant provincial agriculturist, said that by October this year, the farm will start producing salt again after the provincial government took over its operations.

Last December, Gov. Ramon Guico III signed a memorandum of agreement with the DENR for the “interim management” of the area for salt production and other related activities, such as bangus production.

Salt production usually takes place during the dry months from November to May. It is during this period when salt farmers take advantage of the sun’s heat to produce salt.

Through the heat, the salty water allowed to flood the salt beds in the morning, evaporate and leave behind salt crystals, which are harvested and stored in warehouses for processing.

Other salt producers in western Pangasinan are Alaminos City (5,208 MT), Bani (4,617 MT), and Anda (3,750 MT).

The town of Infanta produced about 9,622.8 MT of salt in 2021, but not from salt beds. The salt was produced by boiling leached brine, a salt production method that is also practiced in the towns of Anda, San Fabian, and Mangaldan.

At present, Batalla said, Pangasinan salt farms’ total area is 1,432.4 hectares, and about 1,034 individuals are engaged in salt production.

(PangasinanPIO)

SP allows Governor Guico to sign MOA with DOH for the implementation of aid to indigent patients program in five provincial government hospitals

The Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) on Monday authorized Gov. Ramon Guico III to enter into a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the Department of Health Center for Health Development 1 (DOH CHD 1) for the implementation of the Medical Assistance to Indigent Patients (MAIP) program in five provincial government hospital .

In her resolution, SP Member Shiela Marie F. Baniqued said the MAIP program will be initially implemented at the Pangasinan Provincial Hospital in San Carlos City, Lingayen District Hospital in Lingayean, Bayambang District Hospital in Bayambang, Urdaneta District Hospital in Urdaneta City, and Pozorrubio Community Hospital in Pozorrubio.

The MAIP program is a DOH program intended to provide support to indigent and poor patients seeking medical examination, consultation, treatment and rehabilitation, and patients confined in government hospitals.

Board Member Baniqued said that for this year, the DOH CHD-1 allocated P21,658,000 for Pangasinan.

The breakdown of the fund for the five hospitals is as follows: Pangasinan Provincial Hospital, P11,564,000; Lingayen District Hospital, P490,000; Bayambang District Hospital, P1,470,000; Urdaneta District Hospital, P7,154,000; and Pozorrubio Community Hospital, P980,000.

Vice Governor Mark Ronald DG. Lambino said that the MAIP program will eventually cover all 14 provincial government-run hospitals in the province.

He also said that Senator Bong Go has committed P28 million to the province to be given to all 14 government hospitals as soon as funds will be downloaded to the regional health office.

(PangasinanPIO)

LINGAYEN, PANGASINAN — After more than two years, the 473-hectare salt farm in Barangay Zaragoza in Bolinao town will finally start producing salt again.

But this time, the provincial government will be operating it, not the Pacific Farms Inc., whose foreshore lease contract had expired in 2002 and was not renewed by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

The salt farm, which was shut down in February 2021, used to be the country’s largest salt producer, contributing up to 25,000 metric tons (MT) a year to the country’s total salt production.

“By July this year, we will start our preliminary activities in the farm so that by October, we will already start harvesting salt,” said Nestor Batalla, assistant provincial agriculturist.

Last December, Gov. Ramon Guico III signed a memorandum of agreement with the DENR for the “interim management” of the area for salt production and other related activities, such as bangus production.

“We have a crisis in salt, and with this development, we are able to respond to the call of the President (Marcos) to contribute to national food security,” said Governor Guico.

Last year, industry experts said the country imports 93 percent of its salt requirements of 600,000 MT per year.

Pangasinan, whose name is derived from the local term for salt (“asin”), is the country’s largest salt producer.

In 2021, the province produced 64,156 MT from its 1,432.4-hectare salt farms located in seven towns and Alaminos City, according to the data collected by the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist.

Governor Guico’s special assistant and former Board Member Von Mark Mendoza said that the provincial government will be introducing innovations to increase the volume of  salt produced at the Zaragoza farm.

For instance, plastic-roofed tunnels will be built over the salt beds to enable them to continue producing salt even when it is raining.

Mendoza learned of this salt production technology during a recent benchmarking visit to Indonesia, where the tunnel system in salt farms is widely used. He said that the tunnel system increased salt production by up to about 30 percent.

He also said that instead of installing tiles on the salt beds, high-density polyethelene will be used for higher yield and to produce better quality salt.

“One thing unique in Indonesia is that they have a salt production area that is state-owned. But through the initiative of the Governor, the provincial government itself is now venturing into salt production,” Mendoza said.

Mendoza was with Batalla, Board Member Philip Theodore Cruz, Engr. Amadeo Veras of the Provincial Engineer’s Office, and Sydney Soriano of the Provincial Information Office during the five-day visit to Indonesia.

“With Divine intervention and our salt production will succeed, we can become trailblazer, we will be the leading LGU in the field of salt production,” Mendoza said. (PangasinanPIO)

LINGAYEN, PANGASINAN — Gov. Ramon “Mon-mon” Guico III on Monday asked the Bureau of Customs (BoC) to remove the ship loaded with more than a million liters of oil from Sual Bay, where it had docked since May 3.

“The ship should be moved to a safer location to protect the bay area from destruction, in the event the crude oil from the ship leaks into the bay,” said Governor Guico in an emergency meeting he called at the Urduja House.

 

Provincial Legal Officer  Baby Ruth Torre said she has written the BoC to formalize the governor’s request.

The ship, MV Veronica I, is now under the custody of the BoC office in Sual after the agency seized the ship when it failed to show the necessary documents for its cargo.

The ship carried 1.35 million liters of crude oil worth P54 million.

Sual Bay, which is a cove facing the Lingayen Gulf, hosts the town’s mariculture area where more than 800 bangus cages are located.

Sual, and the towns of Bolinao and Anda, supply about 80 percent of bangus produced in Pangasinan.

Pablo Costales of Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) extension office in Pangasinan said the ship was not issued by his agency a safety certificate and it should not have sailed.

Cmdr. Mark Theodore Valencia, chief of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) station in Pangasinan, recommended that MV Veronica 1 be allowed to temporarily dock at Sual Fish Port as safety precaution because a typhoon is expected to enter the country on May 26.

“As recommended by Commander Valencia, let us allow the ship to dock in the pier to prevent the possibility that it will be dragged. But it has to be ensured that the evidence, the contents of the ship will be guarded,” said Governor Guico.

Governor Guico also said that the docking at the pier is temporary, adding that the ship should be eventually removed from the bay.

For its part, the Deparment of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) suggested that spill booms be installed around the ship when it docks in the pier.

The DENR also suggested the installation of additional anchors in the ship to stabilize the vessel. The DENR said that their divers found out that the ship dropped its anchor on a muddy substrate.

Lawyer Catherine Regino, legal officer of Sual, said that there is already “an imminent danger or threat” because of the spillage of the oil coming from the ship.

However, laboratory analyses of water samples taken by the DENR near the ship indicated that there were no traces of oil spill in the area yet.

“But the danger remains,” said Governor Guico.

“Is there a way to legally remove the contents of the ship and then remove the ship from the bay and then account for the contents?” the governor asked.

Lawyer Emmanuel Laforteza of the Provincial Prosecutor’s Office said that a sample of the oil is only needed as evidence to be presented in court.

“And for the rest of the diesel products, we can remove that and put it in a safer place or a container as long as we can preserve the evidence by taking a sample. And we have to fasttrack the hearing of that case so we can dispose of this hazardous element,” Laforteza said. (PangasinanPIO)

LINGAYEN, PANGASINAN — Gov. Ramon “Mon-mon” Guico III on Sunday urged local government units (LGU) in Pangasinan to help him promote football in the province by setting up a football pitch in their town or city.

“We a have a bright future in football. That’s why let us promote this sports,” said Governor Guico, who formally opened the 10th Grassroots Football Day celebration at the Narciso Ramos Sports and Civic Center on May 21, 2023.

Among the guests were Philippine Football Federation (PFF) Youth Development head Tetsuya Tsuchida, and Referees Department head Allan Martinez.

The one-day event, where 31 teams from 17 football clubs in the province played, was Pangasinan Football Association’s (PFA) participation in the 10th Grassroots Football Day being celebrated by Asian Football Confederation (AFC) member associations this month.

PFA, which is headed by Governor Guico as its president, is one of the new frontier areas of the PFF, an AFC member association.

Governor Guico said that by June or July this year, PFF will be granting PFA a regular membership status.

“We waited for this for 14 years,” said Governor Guico, adding that the football club he organized at that time was only intended for his hometown Binalonan. “But we realized that it should be for the whole province,” he said.

Governor Guico said that when PFA finally receives its PFF regular membership status, there will be more football events in the province and training programs for coaches and players, which will be sanctioned by the PFA and PFF.

Leo Arnaiz, provincial sports coordinator and PFA secretary general, said that with the governor at the forefront in promoting football, each town and city in the province will already have a football team by the end of this year.

“The advantage of the governor as PFA president, is that he reaches every LGU. So, I guess many more will be joining us,” said Arnaiz.

“Hopefully, by the end of this year, each town will have a football team. It’s possible. As long as they understand the structure that they will have to be a  a member of the association in Pangasinan,” he said.

Arnaiz said that by the end by July, the PFF will be launching a program that will bring football to the schools.

“Bringing football to each school. You know, this is not new to us anymore because most of our schools have football teams. So, this is not difficult for us anymore,” Arnaiz said. (PangasinanPIO)

LINGAYEN, PANGASINAN — Increase in meal allowance. Regular medical check-ups. Conjugal visits twice a week.

These were just some of the initiatives that Gov. Ramon “Mon-mon” Guico III had implemented in the provincial jail here to improve care and treatment of persons deprived of liberty (PDL) in the facility.

Provincial jail chief Lovell Dalisay said that the meal allowance now of each PDL has been increased to P100 a day, P30 higher than the P70 a day that they used to have for years.

“As a result, we now have a menu cycle with corresponding dishes to be served to them,” said Dalisay, a retired police lieutenant colonel.

The provincial jail currently houses 270 PDLs,15 of them women.

Dalisay said that to ensure that their medical needs are attended to, Governor Guico had directed the Provincial Health Office to visit the provincial jail regularly to conduct medical check-ups.

To give the PDLs more time to be with their loved ones, the PDLs may now receive visitors twice a week, every Tuesday and Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The PDL’s can now also call their loved ones and talk to them for 10 minutes, instead of only 5 minutes previously allotted to them.

“We now also have a conjugal visit program to preserve the PDLs marriage,” said Dalisay. Conjugal visits are scheduled every Saturday and Sunday afternoon.

To avail of the program, Dalisay said that visitors must be able to show their marriage certificates with the PDLs, and Covid-19 vaccination cards.

As regards livelihood training activities, the PDLs participate in the training program conducted by the Pangasinan State University (PSU).

The skills training include wellness “hilot” massage, food and beverages, rag making, and nail care.

Dalisay also said that upon his assumption in July last year, he immediately reconstituted the provincial jail’s management screening and evaluation committee, which grants good conduct time allowance (GCTA) to PDLs who show good behavior.

Republic Act (RA) 10592, which was enacted in 2013, amended RA 3815 or the Revised Penal Code. The law increased the GCTA of PDLs to be credited in the service of their sentence.

To enhance the skills of provincial jail personnel in securing and safeguarding the PDLs and the facility, Dalisay said that he conducted a firearms familiarization training for the jail guards.

He said he also formulated a jail defense and fire plans to enable provincial jail personnel to know what course of action to take in the event of an enemy attack or destruction of the jail that will endanger the lives of PDLs.

“Because of the formulation of these plans, we now conduct quarterly simulation exercises in order to prepare our personnel in defending the PDLs, the visitors, and the employees of provincial jail from enemy attack, and protect them in case of fire,” Dalisay said. (PangasinanPIO)

The Pag-IBIG Fund has conferred a StAR Award to the Pangasinan provincial government for being a top government sector employer in north Luzon in 2022.

The award was received by Special Assistant to the Governor and former Board Member Von Mark Mendoza during the Pag-IBIG Fund’s Stakeholder’s Accomplishment Report held at SMX Clark in Pampanga on May 12, 2023.

The Pag-IBIG Fund StAR is a semi-annual event conducted in five major regions of the country to recognize top developers and employers for their significant contributions to the continued growth of the Fund.

Pag-IBIG Fund CEO Marilene Acosta thanked the north Luzon stakeholders for their contribution in sustaining the agency’s strong performance in 2022.

The Pag-IBIG StAR Awardees in North Luzon for 2022 were:

Top Employer Government Sector

-Provincial Government of Pangasinan

-Cagayan Valley Medical Center

-Ilocos Training and Regional Medical Center

Top 10 Developer

1. Fiesta Communities, Inc. & Hausland Group
2. Westchester Realty Corporation
3. Borland Development Corporation
4. Innova Homes Realty Corp. & Innova Homes North Inc.
5. Prima Casa Land & Houses Inc. & Affiliates
6. 8990 Housing Development Corp. & Affiliates
7. The New APEC Development Group
8. P.A. Alvarez Properties & Development Corp. & Affiliates
9. Kirkwood Development Corporation
10. J and LG Citihomes, Inc.

Top Employer Private Sector

-Sitel Philippines Corporation

-3CS Industrial Staffing Solutions Inc.

-Yokohama Tire Philippines Inc.

Top Collection Agency

S.P. Madrid & Associates

Special Awards

Best in Conversion: 8990 Housing Development Corp & Affiliates

Best in Performing Loans Ratio: P.A. Alvarez Properties & Development Copr. & Affiliates

Best in Performing Accounts Ratio: Borland Development Corporation