FIRES hit the Cabanatuan City and Tayug, Pangasinan public markets and a residential house in Dagupan City.
No one was reported injured in the fires.
Probers said the two-hour fire that hit about one-fourth of the Cabanatuan City public market and a commercial building last Saturday was triggered by a wayward “kwitis.” Damage to property was placed at P8 million.
The blaze also burned four tricycles and an owner-type jeep parked near the area.
The blaze was put out by 17 fire trucks at 11 p.m.
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INFANTA, Pangasinan — “Madam President, please help us.”
This is the collective appeal of more than 200 fishermen from Barangay Cato here who had survived several days in the high seas after big waves destroyed their motorboats when they went fishing off the Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea last Dec. 16.
Charlito Manigo, Barangay Cato chairman, and Infanta Mayor Ruperto Martinez wrote President Arroyo through Undersecretary for Local Governance Antonio Villar Jr., a Pangasinense, on Dec. 30, appealing for financial assistance to (help the fishermen) start a new life.
Read full story in the Philippine Star
San Jacinto, Pangasinan — A giant Christmas tree inspired by the town’s main agricultural product — corn — stands imposingly at the heart of the plaza here contributing to the season’s festive atmosphere.
Called Christ-mais (corn) tree, the symbol pays tribute to the bayanihan spirit of the townsfolk who painstakingly put up the tree as part of the Lady’s Choice Christmasterpiece ng Bayan, officials said.
More than a thousand lady’s choice bottles, corn husks, sasao-silag and other indigenous materials made up the tree which took 55 days to make.
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DAGUPAN CITY — Two weeks after several fishing boats sank amid huge waves in the South China Sea, relatives of missing fishermen from at least six coastal towns of Pangasinan and Zambales have not given up hope their loved ones would return home alive.
Mayor Ruperto Martinez of Infanta, Pangasinan, where most of the fishermen came from, said residents in the town remained hopeful their missing relatives “are just out there, somewhere, waiting to be sent home.”
Read full story in the Philippine Daily Inquirer
An urban vegetable production seminar was held at barangay Herrero-Perez as part of the Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) and zero-waste programs of the city government.
The city government encourages the establishment of nursery gardens in the barangays where the composted materials can be used.
“This program is part of our undertaking to really lessen the volume of wastes being thrown on the dumpsite,” Mayor Benjamin S. Lim said in his message.
The mayor stressed that the city government is really serious in putting order in the disposal of wastes in the city.
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SAN FERNANDO CITY, La Union — Police Region 1 director Chief Supt. Leopoldo N. Bataoil reported yesterday that three of the 216 missing fishermen were found safe in China and 29 were found marooned at Scarborough shoal.
The 29 fishermen were still at Scarborough Shoal and had spent their Christmas Day on that island. He said they will be fetched soon by a Navy vessel. Government authorities gave them food provisions.
Bataoil said that so far 133 fishermen had been rescued and returned safely to their homes.
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DAGUPAN CITY – The search and rescue operations in the South China for missing fishermen from five coastal towns of Pangasinan and Zambales has ended on Christmas Day, a task force official said today.
Army Col. Gregory Cayetano, on-scene commander of Task Force Infanta, said that today, an Army light plane will have one last flight to scour the sea lanes off Zambales, while a Coast Guard ship will sail along the Ilocos coastline to the north to look for possible survivors and bodies.
“The search should now shift to the coastal areas and we will leave this to the local police,” Cayetano said.
At least 51 fishermen from the towns of Infanta, Agno, Dasol and Bolinao in Pangasinan and from neighboring Sta. Cruz, Zambales are still missing.
The fishermen were in a fishing ground 70 to 90 nautical miles from Infanta when strong winds locally known as “nortada (north wind)” whipped up giant waves and crushed their boats on Dec. 15 midnight.
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DAGUPAN CITY—Huge waves and strong winds in the South China Sea have slowed down the rescue operations for missing fishermen from five coastal towns of Pangasinan and Zambales, according to a task force official coordinating the search.
Army Col. Gregory Cayetano, on-scene commander of Task Force Infanta, said rough seas have significantly increased the sailing time of Navy ships and other vessels involved in the operations, preventing them from covering a wider area.
Read full story in the Philippine Daily Inquirer
DAGUPAN CITY— At least 29 fishermen were found stranded on the Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea, after their boats capsized in rough seas on Dec. 15, a task force official said on Friday.
Army Col. Gregory Cayetano, on-scene commander of the Task Force Infanta, said the fishermen’s presence on the shoal was reported by one of their companions who managed to return to Infanta, Pangasinan, on Thursday dawn.
“To verify his report, we immediately sent a Navy Cessna plane to the area and the pilot radioed us that indeed, there were people there,” Cayetano said.
He said their reports also indicated that three bodies, believed to be among those reported missing, had been found.
Read full story in the Philippine Daily Inquirer
DAGUPAN CITY—Forty-two more fishermen from five coastal towns of western Pangasinan and Zambales have been rescued from the South China Sea Wednesday, reducing the number of missing fishermen since Saturday to 68.
The Infanta government has declared a state of calamity and started distributing relief goods to the fishing village of Cato, where most of the fishermen live.
As of 11 a.m. Thursday, 42 fishermen from Infanta were still missing; four from Bolinao, five from Agno, 11 from Dasol, all in Pangasinan, and six from Sta. Cruz, Zambales, according to Infanta police chief Insp. Randy Maluyo.
Read full story in the Philippine Daily Inquirer
