(The following article was published in the Feb. 1, 2008 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer.)
By Gabriel Cardinoza
Northern Luzon Bureau
STO. TOMAS, PANGASINAN – If Dagupan City grilled milkfish in 2003 and Villasis town barbecued eggplants in 2005, this small eastern Pangasinan town will broil corn ears on Feb. 10 in its bid to break the Guinness World Records’ longest barbecue.
Vice Mayor Timoteo Villar III, chair of the first Corn Festival here, said his town would build a 5-kilometer barbecue along the highway to break the world record held by Hermosillo, Mexico, when it built a 1,290.4-meter barbecue on Nov. 20, 2006.
The Mexican effort toppled Dagupan’s 1,007.56-meter record set during the Bangus Festival on May 3, 2003.
“With the outpouring of support from our town mates and residents of neighboring towns, we are very confident that we will achieve our goal and that is to make Sto. Tomas get a world record,” said Mayor Vivien Villar.
The longest barbecue event will be among the highlights of the town’s centennial celebration, which began on Feb. 1. Sto. Tomas was founded on Feb. 10, 1908.
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Posted on December 21st, 2007 by The Radioman |
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There has been a raging debate over Aksyon Radyo Pangasinan on the need to have a Pangasinan Day. Since time immemorial, Pangasinenses had not had a real Pangasinan Day celebration. A listener even phoned in to say that what he thought as Pangasinan Day was the Pistay Dayat.
Others said that what they thought as Pangasinan Day was the provincial non-working holiday every Nov. 13. Of course, Nov. 13 is Speaker Eugenio Perez Day. Historian Rosario Mendoza Cortez said Pangasinan became an alcaldia mayor in 1580. An article in the Wikipedia said Pangasinan was declared a province in 1611.
But to date, no official documents yet have been found that would indicate the exact date. Lawyer Gonzalo Duque has suggested that the provincial government should declare a temporaray date as Pangasinan Day until such time that the founding day of the province is finally established. Local historian Resty Basa agrees.
What do you think?
VILLASIS, Philippines — Presidential Chief of Staff Michael Defensor appealed to the Ombudsman on Friday to temporarily stop the suspension of local officials, who are facing various charges.
Defensor, who inaugurated the town hall here, said the implementation of suspension orders ahead of the May elections had been used by members of the opposition in criticizing the Arroyo administration.
“We do not intend to preempt the Ombudsman because it’s an independent body, but we hope they will see that we do not need these situations in the middle of an election period,” he said.
He said the suspension or dismissal of local officials had repercussions on the administration of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Read full story in the Philippine Daily Inquirer
LINGAYEN, Pangasinan — President Arroyo is now an adopted daughter of this capital town of Pangasinan.
The resolution officially making here an adopted daughter of Lingayen was presented to her yesterday by local officials during her visit.
Mayor Ernesto Castañeda Jr. read the resolution that embodies the adoption of the President as a daughter of this town during the inauguration of the Domalandan Bridge that coincided with the town fiesta.
Read full story in The Philippine Star
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will fly to Pangasinan on Saturday to inaugurate the newly-completed Domalandan bridge in Lingayen costing more than P700 million.
The bridge, a vital span between eastern and western Pangasinan across the Limahong channel that empties its water into the Lingayen Gulf, measures more than 600 meters and is one of the longest bridges in Pangasinan.
The new bridge replaced an old structure that was destroyed by a big flood in 1999 during the administration of former President Joseph Estrada.
However, construction of the new bridge started only in 2001 when President Arroyo took over with the funding coming from part of the yearly budget of the Department of Public Works and Highways.
Read full story in the Philippines News Agency website
DAGUPAN CITY — Every first day of January, it has been the tradition of residents of barangay Pogo Grande, this city, to meet the new year with a bang — and a big bang it is!
Dubbed as “Balon Kaaguan” (New Noon), residents donate and gather up unsold firecrackers and hang then up along the main barangay road. This snaking away of firecrackers is lit at the strike of 12 noon of January 1 with all the excitement of a fiesta.
More than a hundred meters of small and large firecrackers put together to build the longest Judas’ belt estimated to cost more than P100,000 never fails to draw people from all over the city to witness the event.
Read full story in the Philippine Information Agency website
ROSALES — Two new municipal halls in Pangasinan will be inaugurated this January. One is of historical heritage while the other is of ultra modern in architectural design. Both buildings are beauties or sights to behold.
On January 5, the restored Rosales Municipal Hall will be inaugurated. Mayor Ricardo Revita said the program will be held early evening after the sun had set.
The balikbayans and local residents will be serenaded by violinists who will be playing classical music at the verandah of the presidencia. To be invited are immediate heirs of former mayors in the town.
Read full story in the Sun.Star Online
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.
Read full story in the Philippine Information Agency website
Barangay captains and officials in the city were feted to an evening of fun and entertainment during the well-attended Barangay Night held on December 27 at the City Plaza as part of the celebration of the 2006 Dagupan City Fiesta.
Taguig-Pateros congressman Alan Peter Cayetano, Mayor Benjamin Lim and fiesta hermana mayor councilor Maria Librada Reyna spearheaded the activity with the presence of some local executives, city councilors, department heads, special guests and the local media.
Among them were vice mayor Alvin Fernandez, councilors Teofilo Guadiz III, Joey Tamayo, Alex de Venecia, Vlad Mata, Michael Fernandez, Nick Aquino and Farah Decano.
In his speech, Cayetano expressed gratitude to Mayor Lim and Reyna for inviting him as the affair’s guest speaker.
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DAGUPAN CITY — The annual Barangay Night, one of the city fiesta activities, held Wednesday evening at the city plaza was full of oddities.
Most conspicuous was the absence of Pangasinan Fourth District congressman and House Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr.
Also absent was beleaguered Liga ng mga Barangay (LB) president Eric Muñoz, chairman of Barangay Tambac. A seat that was allotted for Muñoz was given to a barangay councilman, who is his opponent in the barangay.
Read full story in Sun.Star Online
