By Leonardo V. Micua

DAGUPAN CITY — A first of its kind drug treatment and rehabilitation center is set to open here by October this year to cater to drug patients not only from Pangasinan and Region 1 but also the whole of Northern Luzon.

Dr. Elmer Punzalan, assistant secretary for special concerns of the Department of Health (DOH), said the facility is part of the program of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who is anti-drug czars in the country, to stump completely out drug use.

He said the drug rehabilitation hospital will be a big boon to parents since they have already an institution close to them where they can bring their drug dependent kin for treatment and rehab.

The Administrative building of the drug rehabilitation hospital is now undergoing the finishing touches of its construction on a seven-hectare lot in barangay Bonuan Binloc.

The site used to be the location of the old Dona Teodora Manaois Children’s Hospital which has ceased operations since almost half a century ago.

The center will be placed under the DOH’s Special Concerns Division but will be placed under the Region 1 Medical Center (R1MC) headed by Dr. Roland Mejia, under the overall supervision of Regional Health Director Eduardo Janairo.

Punzalan, who inspected the project on Saturday, revealed that to be opened first is the administrative building of the center to cater to outpatients.

There will two dormitories yet to be constructed, one for males and another for females.

The administrative building, which is now nearing completion, costs P40 million while the dormitories are expected to cost another P40 million, funding of which is yet to be released.

Construction of the administrative building is set to be completed by the end of September and immediately, it can be used by outpatients seeking treatment.

Punzalan said the center can accommodate up to 300 patients who, after undergoing treatment and rehab, will be placed in after-care process.

“We have drug treatment and rehabilitation centers all over the country and this one is the first of its kind under the DOH in Region 1,” Punzalan confided.

He told newsmen the plan for the staffing of the hospital, including technical support that would be given, are already in place even if the facility is still under construction.

Councilor Jesus Canto of Dagupan City, formerly director of the Region I Medical Center, said it was during his watch that plans for the establishment of a drug rehabilitation was drawn.

Canto acknowledged that the initial funding of P40 million used in the construction of the project came from Congressman Jose de Venecia, Jr. of the fourth district of Pangasinan.

“Our original request before was P150 million but of the amount, P40 million was already released with the next P40 million is expected yet,” he added.

Punzalan said the security aspect of the drug rehabilitation hospital was already embedded in the project, assuring the community in barangay Bonuan Binloc that they have nothing to worry about.

He said the staff of the hospital will be trained to increase their capability and the know-how on how to run a drug rehab center.

There is nothing to worry about, he said, adding that it should instead make Dagupenos proud because they will soon have an institution where they can bring their drug dependents for rehab.

“I believe that the drug rehabilitation hospital is a big boon for the whole Ilocos Region,” Punzalan said, adding that the center may also accommodate patients from adjacent regions.

According to Canto, the drug rehab center in Alabang is actually located in the middle of a commercial center and that some of these are in fact located in big subdivisions in Metro Manila.

The lot on where the planned drug rehabilitation hospital is being put up is more than enough location for the center.

Mejia, said consultation and treatment in the center is being offered for free. (PNA)

By Danny O Sagun

Dagupan City  – The provincial government is putting in place two hard infrastructures to include the planned seaport in Sual town, a board members said Wednesday in a media forum.

Board Member Von Mark Mendoza said that the province is securing a P900 million loan with the Land Bank to finance its various infra projects. Out of the amount, P200 million would serve as the province’s counterpart fund for the seaport project. The national government thru the Department of Transportation and Communication and the Philippine Ports Authority has pledged P200 million while Sual town is allocating P100 million to complete the needed P500 million.

The other hard infra is the planned airport which may be funded by the national government or thru a private investor under the build-operate-transfer scheme.  It will be recalled that President Macapagal-Arroyo mentioned the airport project in her State of the Nation Address in 2007.

Mendoza said that Pangasinan badly needs a seaport considering that 40 percent of transactions at the nearby Poro Point in la Union are intended for Pangasinan. “Pasok sana ang revenues na yan sa ‘tin,” he said.

Defending the P900 million loan applied with the bank, Mendoza said that all projects to be funded by the loan are specific. “Sa tagal ko ryan sa provincial board, ngayon ko lang nakita na specific ang mga proyektong pag-gastusan,” he replied when asked during an interview why the province was securing such a big loan while it has yet to fully repay the P600 million loan earlier acquired by the previous provincial administration.

He said the projects to be funded by the new loan include rehabilitation of government hospitals, farm to market roads, agricultural facilities and purchase of new road equipment. He said that the trucks and equipment purchased during the Orbos administration were now mostly under state of disrepair due to long use.

Meanwhile, Mendoza denied being a defender of Gov. Amado T. Espino, Jr. Guesting at the weekly Engkwentro forum at the Lenox Hotel Wednesday, he said he was only speaking for the facts being part of the official family. He also said that the governor is a party-mate at Kampi during the last elections along with three other board members.

He said that he and former Gov. Victor E. Agbayani, now second district congressman, were never party-mates. But he clarified that he had supported Agbayani in his endeavors although he (Mendoza) was with the minority during that time. “Di naman kami nag-away at ibinaon na namin ang  anumang away ng pamilya namin,” he said referring to the reported feud between his father,  Chris, who served as congressman, and Victor’s father, Aguedo , a former governor. Both are deceased.

He said that there was one thing clear that came out of the attacks and counterattacks coming from the camps of Espino and Agbayani, who reportedly confirmed already his plan to run for governor. “Ang nagawa ni Victor sa siyam na taon ay nagawa na ni governor sa loob lamang ng dalawang taon,” he pointed out. (PIA Pangasinan)

AFTER the embittered battle for Speakership which resulted in the dismal oust of Speaker Jose de Venecia, and the election of Mindanao’s Rep. Nograles, many Pangasinenses are left wondering why three of Pangasinan’s five congressmen voted the way they did. Whey didn’t the five vote as one solid group the way the “Mindanao Bloc” voted for Mindanao’s son? Not that their three votes would have overturned the results, this time, but hey, where has the “Pangasinan Spirit” to fend for one’s own, gone?

According to historian Miguel de Loarca, “the people of Pangasinan were industrious. They were spirited and a proud race of men and women, and such materials in other’s hands would form the foundation of all that is good and excellent” failed to express itself when given the chance in Congress to do so. The materials to form the foundation was there in the good congressmen and women of Pangasinan. But alas, politics is more complicated and involved than a mere historian’s observation. And few would admit that, yes, it is not as simple as supporting someone just because that person is from the same province especially if philosophies and political views differ. However,  one tends to believe that when one is projected to the national scene and is expected to defend “homeland” one’s choices are limited especially if that choice, that vote, is not a deciding factor anyway in the outcome.  What’s the point of rubbing it in? Read more

I GAVE Nostradamus, the French soothsayer who clearly saw tomorrow, a run for his Euro money when I accurately predicted that our Pambansang Kamao Manny “The Pacman” Pacquiao would bring Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez to his knees in the first few rounds of their super featherweight fight in Las Vegas last Sunday.

While Marquez drew the first blood by dominating the first and second rounds, Pacquiao shocked the entire planet in the third round when he knocked down the “Dynamite Fighter”, battering and hobbling him physically.

Marquez survived the onslaught of Pacquiao’s volley of punches when the bell came to his rescue, but managed to win the fourth and fifth rounds.

The PACMAN lost rounds 6, 7 and 8 to Marquez as he absorbed a nasty cut on his right eye that came as a handicap for the Pinoy brawler as he draws the killer punch form his left hand.

Again, Manny proved he was a hell of a talented ring strategist when he changed his styl from an aggressor to a counter puncher – a TACTIC that paid off as the judges chose him as the winner of round 11. Read more

MALASIQUI, Pangasinan – President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo brought cheers to some 10,000 people of the third district of Pangasinan, including Dagupan City, when she brought here bundles of services from various government agencies.

Arriving here at 12:00 noon enroute to Baguio City, President Arroyo – accompanied by Governor Amado Espino, Jr. and Pangasinan third district Rep. Rachel Arenas – launched the Day Care Food-For School Program that would soon be adopted nationwide.

She was accompanied by Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, Education Secretary Jesli Lapuz, Social Welfare Secretary Esperanza Cabral and Trade Secretary Peter Favila. Read more

MALASIQUI, Pangasinan – There will be no rice shortage in the Ilocos Region this year, an official of the Department of Agriculture field regional office said.

DA Field Regional Director Cipriano Santiago said weather permitting, the region will be able to harvest its target of 1.7 million metric tons of rice in the coming wet season.

He said the 1.7 million metric tons will be the region’s contribution to the nation that could help boost the country’s rice stockpile.

Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap earlier mobilized the DA field office to motivate farmers to expand their production areas and to plant the hybrid rice varieties. Read more

MALASIQUI, Pangasinan – Rep. Rachel Arenas of the Third District of Pangasinan has appealed to the Department of Public Works and Highways to speed up the construction of the Calvo Bridge in Bayambang.

A vital link from Bayambang town to Bautista, the Calvo Bridge underwent construction by the third quarter of last year but appeared the work is not making any progress at all.

Arenas was informed that the people are now getting impatient over the sluggish pace of construction of the Calvo bridge. Read more

DAGUPAN CITY – The present city administration aims to bring back Dagupan to its old first class status, according to a list of programs released by the office of City Administrator Alvin Fernandez.

Fernandez, speaking for his father, Mayor Alipio Fernandez, Jr., said local revenues here must meet the requirements of a first class city.

At present, Dagupan is a second class city just like San Carlos, Urdaneta, Alaminos and the other Ilocos Region cities. Read more

Sen. Escudero adopted son of La Union

SAN FERNANDO CITY, La Union – Senator Francis Joseph ‘Chiz’ Escudero was adopted son of La Union by virtue of a resolution enacted by the provincial board.

Resolution No. 009-2008 was presented to Senator Escudero by Governor Manuel Ortega, Vice Governor Eulogio Clarence Martin de Guzman III and members of the provincial board on March 2 when the senator was the guest of honor and speaker during the 158^th La Union Foundation Anniversary celebration.

The resolution stated that Senator Escudero has endeared himself to the people of La Union due to his unending support to the different projects and programs of the provincial government. Read more

SAN CARLOS CITY, Pangasinan – A newly enacted ordinance by the city council enforces a strict no smoking ban inside public utility vehicles.

Ordinance No. 07-08 authored by Councilor Samuel Millora slapped a fine of P200 to the violator and in place of fine, the offender will be forced to render community service for three days of eight hours each.

Approved on February 26, 2008, the ordinance was sought by City Health Officer Dr. Pablo Mondok III.

The ordinance was aimed at protecting citizens who inhale the second hand smoke coming from the smoker inside public utility vehicles.

Records showed that all over the world, many non-smokers are dying by inhaling smokers’ smoke. (PNA)