LINGAYEN – It’s an unexpected victory for Hannah Sue Eming as she romped off with the Miss Solid North 2008 crown last night, February 20, at the Pangasinan State University (PSU) Convention Center in Lingayen vesting thirteen other candidates from various state universities and colleges in Regions I, II and the Cordillera Autonomous Region (CAR).

All of eighteen summers, Hannah is like a whiff of fresh wind as she smartly and confidently answered the final question tossed to the Magic 7 finalists capturing the nod of the jurors and spectators, as well.

A 3^rd year BS Education student of Apayao State University, this budding beauty did not swept any of the minor awards during the pageant night but ended up with the most coveted title, a proof that intelligence weigh more than physical attributes.

Meanwhile, Governor Amado T. Espino, Jr., represented by Board Member Nikki Boy Reyes, earlier welcomed this year’s Association of State Colleges and Universities (ASCU) delegations as they conduct their annual Sports Olympics and Cultural Festival at the Narciso Ramos Sports Center in Pangasinan.

The holding of such event he stressed, upholds unity, resilience, productivity and commitment through the showcase of academic, cultural and athletic potentials of the youth. Sports competition, literary-musical contest and the beauty pageant were among the highlights of the three day event.

First and second runner-ups for the Miss Solid North 2008 are Wendy Lucas of Cagayan State University and Rochelle T. Cayton of Nueva Vizcaya State University. (PIO/Ruby R. Bernardino)

ALL THE WAY by PHILAMER C. CELI

THE 20th Multi-District Conference of Free and Accepted Masons (F. & A.M.), under the jurisdiction of the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of the Philippines, will be held on August 25-26, at the Pangasinan Lodge No. 56 F. & A.M. Temple, Tondaligan Park, Bonuan Gueset, Dagupan City. Pangasinan Lodge No. 56, host this year’s confab, was chartered on December 16, 1918, and belongs to Masonic District No. R1-A (formerly No. 37).

Ample and viable preparations are underway to make this Masonic activity an eventual success. As expected, the two-day affair shall be attended by some 300 Master Masons, including the three great lights (top three officers; Worshipful Master, Senior Warden and Junior Warden) of each of the 16 Masonic Lodges, from the three districts: No. R1-A - Pangasinan and La Union; No. R1-A-CAR - Benguet and Abra; and R1-B-CAR - Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur. Read more

DAGUPAN CITY -  The Pangasinan Lodge No. 56, Free and Accepted Masons, will host the 20th Multi-District Convention under the jurisdiction of the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of the Philippines, on August 25-26, at its Temple, Tondaligan Park, Bonuan Gueset, Dagupan City.

Some 300 Master Masons, including the top three officers: Worshipful Master, Senior Warden and Junior Warden of each of the 16 Masonic Lodges, from the three Masonic District No. RI-A - Pangasinan and La Union, NO. R1-A-CAR - Benguet and Abra; and R1-B-CAR - Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur are expected to attend Lodge of the Philippines led by the Most Worshipful Grand Master Romeo A. Yu and Grand Senior Warden Pacificador Aniag.

During the two-day conference, Masons shall chart the course of the directins of the fraternity which has the purpose of creating in the world, a band of men to whom others may look for example and inspiration - men who others will say are men of honor, virtue and charitable feelings. Read more

DAGUPAN CITY - The officers of the Rotary Club (RCDD) and Innerwheel Club of Downtown Dagupan (IWCDD) held their joint induction program last August 4 at the Jech’s Restaurant in Calasiao, Pangasinan. The induction was led by Mike Graham and Atty. Virgilita Castillo, presidents of RCDD and IWCD respectively.

District Governor Florentino ‘Bishop’ F. Cinense was the Guest of Honor and Speaker, while President elect Rommel Partoza made the introduction. Other well known personalities present were Rotary Club District 3790 Past District Governor Mar ‘Un’ Ocampo III; PDG Ces Mendoza, PDG Macky Macabulos, PDG Nelson Yuchongtian; PDG J.P. Cadaing; DGE Owen Torres; PDC Nila Torres; Inner Wheel District Chairman Precy Nava. Read more

DAGUPAN CITY - “This year’s Dagupan City fiesta promises to be one of the most celebrated and best organized ever,” announced Councilor Librada Fe ‘Dada’ Reyna, the 2006 city fiesta hermana mayor.

Appointed by Mayor Benjamin Lim on June 14 to be this year’s fiesta executive chairperson, Reyna is tasked to oversee the celebration of the 2006 Dagupan City Fiesta and ensure the smooth flow of various activities.

“I highly appreciate the trust and confidence given to me by the mayor. This inspires me to do my best and maintain the tradition of excellence contributed by the past fiesta hermano mayors,” Reyna said. Read more

DAGUPAN CITY - There is really no stopping the hurricane herself in the legal profession as Atty. Katrina Legarda with her colleague, Dr. Bernadette Madrid came to Dagupan City to lecture on Child Abuse for the Five Pillars of Justice last July 14, 2006 at the Leisure Coast Resort, an activity organized by the office of Councilor Farah Marie G. Decano, the Women Lawyer’s Association of the Philippines (WLAP) Pangasinan Chapter and the Innerwheel Club of Dagupan.

Despite the floods all over Pangasinan and Dagupan City, the seminar pushed through and turned out to be very successful with an unexpectedly high turn out of attendance. All the invited dignitaries came incluiding Executive Vice President of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, Atty. Feliciano Bautista, who came from the inundated town of Sta. Barbara, Pangasinan, along with Atty. Joven Maramba, the president of IBP Pangasinan Chapter. Read more

MAPANDAN, Pangasinan - The town of Mapandan in central Pangasinan is seeking a place in the world map with the help of a tiny plant called ‘pandan’.

For four years now, under the administration of Mayor Jose Ferdinand Calimlim, son of retired General Jose Calimlim, the town is holding the ‘Pandan Festival’, now one of the biggest crowd drawers in the province of Pangasinan.

Just last April 6, the people of Mapandan paid tribute to ‘pandan’  once more when they held ‘Hapag Pandan’ which featured many food preparations using the plant’s aromatic leaves for flavoring. Read more

DAGUPAN CITY – One of the summer surprises in the city’s celebration of Bangus Festival 2006 is the staging of the five-day Beach Volleyball Championship Games that involves lots of action and spiking on the white sand on April 27 to May 1 at the City Plaza.
 

Mayor Benjamin Lim will lead the ceremonial serve during the opening ceremony at 8 am to formally open the competition.
 

According to Manny Gatchalian, chairman of the event, top-rate volleyball teams from universities and colleges in Manila were invited to participate in the event such as: the University of the Philippines, University of Sto. Tomas, Far Eastern University, Lyceum of the Philippines University, Colegio de San Juan de Letran, De La Salle – St. Benilde College, PATTS University of Aeronautics, St. Louis University and University of Cordilleras.
 

Gatchalian bared that movie actress Isabel Granada was invited to participate in the beach volleyball women’s division to represent PATTS University.
 

“We will give the beach volleyball competition a touch of summer in Boracay by bringing white sand at the city plaza,” said Bangus Festival 2006 chairman Nick Aquino as he noted that cash prizes at stake await the winning teams.
 

The winning team will receive a total of P15,000 cash prize, P12,000 for the second place and P10,000 for the third place. Each of the winning teams will also take home unique, bangus-inspired trophies as a fitting memento for their active participation in Daguapn City’s celebration of Bangus Festival 2006.
 

“The Beach Volleyball is returning to the scene, bigger as ever,” said Aquino after the enormous success of the said event during its first staging in the 2003 celebration of Bangus Festival. “This was organized in support of the City Government to promote, develop and improve beach volleyball as a serious sport especially for the aspiring volleyball athletes,” he added.
 

Gatchalian said that the panel of judges and referees are members of the Philippine Volleyball Federation. (CIO/Leziel T. Cayabyab)

By Restituto C. Basa 

COME May 1, the Pangasinan towns along the Lingayen Gulf will celebrate Pista’y Dayat, rather than Labor Day.  Pista’y Dayat started a simple fishermen’s thanksgiving mass along the beach in Barangay Pangapisan in Lingayen. The fisherfolk of Pangasinan held it every May 1, since ancient times. It is older than Labor Day.   In 1964, the governor of Pangasinan was Dr. Francisco Quimson Duque, Jr. The tourist trade was in its infancy. Governor Duque conceived the idea of making the Lingayen Gulf a tourist attraction.   He conceived the Pista’y Dayat. He based it on an ancient tradition of the fishermen of Pangapisan, Lingayen who held a thanksgiving mass at the beach every first day of May. 

I was a member of Governor Duque’s staff at the time. By that time, I had already several years experience as a newspaperman, although I held the position of Assistant Chief of Administration Division in the Office of the Governor. 

  Three months before the festival, we sent invitations to natives of Lingayen, who were residing in Metro Manila, Baguio and other parts of the country to visit their hometown on May 1 to join the first Pista’y Dayat. We publicized it in both the national and local media. 

  The response was very encouraging. They visited their old hometown by the families.   On May 1, 1964, the Lingayen beach was crowded with people. Every family brought its own food and had a picnic at the beach. The mood was festive. 

  There was a simple program which opened with a thanksgiving mass officiated by the parish priest of Lingayen. The town mayor delivered a welcome speech and the governor expressed joy for seeing old friends come to join the festival.   Mayor Liberato Ll Reyna of Dagupan City noticed the huge success of the Lingayen Pista’y Dayat. The following year, Dagupan also held its own version at the Bonuan beach. In the course of time, the other towns along the Lingayen Gulf joined the festival. 

  People from the landlocked provinces like Tarlac and Nueva Ecija now come by chartered buses to take a dip in the gulf.   What makes the sea so attractive to tourists is the belief that the salty water of the sea is medicinal. 

  Pista’y Dayat has become an established tradition.   Duque was governor from 1964 up to 1967. Before that, he was secretary of health for two years in the Diosdado Macapagal cabinet. He conceived of the Medicare to provide medical care to indigents. His son, Dr. Francisco Tiongson Duque III was appointed by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo as head of the Philippine Health Care Commission, formerly Medicare, and he is now holding the position of the Secretary of Health. 

   In Dagupan City, under Mayor Benjamin Saplan Lim, the Pista’y Dayat has become bangus festival. It promotes the native bangus industry, which is the backbone of the local economy.