(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.

FULL STORY

The following article was published in the January 30, 2008 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

By Gabriel Cardinoza, Inquirer Northern Luzon 

URDANETA CITY – To the Urdaneta City government, honoring an illustrious son was never too late. And on his 123rd birth anniversary on Jan. 18, city officials and residents gathered at a park to unveil a memorial for the late Sen. Pedro Ma. Sison, Pangasinan’s first senator.

Mayor Amadeo Perez Jr. said the one-hectare park, now known as the “Balikbayan Park,” would be renamed after Sison. A life-size bronze bust will also be erected there.

This will be the first time that a public place in Pangasinan will be named after the late senator. “Personally, I’m both sad and happy [about the memorial],” said lawyer Luis Sison, the senator’s grandson.

“[I’m] sad because it’s only now that we are coming out with a tribute for our grandfather. I’m happy because Mayor Perez gave us this opportunity to erect a memorial for Senator Sison,” he said.

Like many people in the province, Luis said he did not know much about the life of his grandfather because even in their family, they did not talk much about him. It was only when he read a book written by an uncle, Pedro Ma. Sison Jr., that he learned about the senator’s accomplishments as a public servant.

“I only learned of what he accomplished [from the book] and how his peers regarded him. In fact, [then Senate President Manuel] Quezon himself was a very close friend of Pedro Ma. Sison’s,” Luis said.

Well-known lawyer

He said his grandfather was a practicing lawyer before he joined politics. “He was very well known as a lawyer. He served indigents, those who could not afford to hire lawyers. That’s why he was a pauper,” he said.

The late senator also served in the provincial government as assistant treasurer during the American occupation.

Historian Rosario Mendoza Cortes, in her book “Pangasinan 1901-1986: A Political, Socioeconomic and Cultural History,” said Sison was first elected assemblyman in the 1912 elections, representing Pangasinan’s fourth district that included Urdaneta, his birthplace.

With the passage of the Jones Law in 1916 that created a bicameral, all-Filipino legislature, Sison ran for a Senate seat and won, making him the first senator from Pangasinan. He was reelected in 1919 and served until 1922.

Local historian Restituto Basa said Sison was one of the only two senators then who traveled to Washington D.C. to lobby for early Philippine independence. The Philippines then was an American colony following the defeat of the Spaniards.

Luis said his grandfather was among the first legislators who fought for women’s suffrage in the halls of Congress. It was only in 1937 that Filipino women were allowed to vote.

Sison town

One of the memorable legislations that the late senator sponsored was the merger of the two Spanish townships of Alava and Artacho into what is now known as Sison town (pop: 40,955) in northeastern Pangasinan.

But how the town got its name had conflicting historical accounts. According to Cortes, the town was named after Perfecto Sison, the first Pangasinan governor under the American regime.

The official websites of the provincial government (www.pangasinan.gov.ph and Sison town), however, said that when the resolution was approved by Congress, then American Governor General Leonard Wood “decreed that the fusion be made on May 1, 1918 –and the town was named Sison after its sponsor, Senator Sison.”

But according to Luis, other documents will prove that the town was named after his grandfather. He said former Vice Gov. Nancy Sison, now in her 80s, had executed an affidavit saying Sison town was named after the senator.

“When my grandfather died [on June 12, 1938], one of those who spoke in his funeral was then Pangasinan Gov. Servillano de la Cruz. And he mentioned in his speech that Sison town was named after Sen. Pedro Ma. Sison,” Luis said.

Youngest daughter

Only the late senator’s youngest daughter, Gracia Ayers, attended the Urdaneta celebration on Jan. 18. Her only living brother, Jesus, is now bedridden. The late senator had nine children.

Luis said no one among the senator’s descendants followed in his political footsteps. Three of the senator’s sons, including Sison’s father, Carlos, became lawyers. Among the grandchildren, only Luis became a lawyer.

“I’m the last lawyer in the Sison line and I don’t have a child who is a lawyer. I’m old, I’m already 65, so when I die, there’ll be no lawyer in our lineage,” Luis said.

The late senator was also Mayor Perez’s grandfather. Perez’s grandmother, Doña Trinidad Sison, was the senator’s sister.

Supreme Court Chief Justice Reynato Puno was in town last Jan. 26. He was generous enough to share his precious time with the local media in a breakfast press conference at the Jam Sweet Jam Restaurant. The center of discussion that ensued was the circular he issued that advised judges nationwide to impose fines instead of prison terms to persons convicted of libel. Following is an excerpt of the press conference:

Chief Justice Puno: Indeed, yesterday, after addressing the financial executives of the Philippines, I was ambush-interviewed. And one of the questions asked was whether the Court has approved that kind of a circular. And so, I confirmed to them that last Tuesday in the en banc meeting of the SC, the entire membership of the court agreed to have that kind of a circular issued by the Chief Justice.

But let me give the background why that circular was issued. A few days ago, or perhaps a week or so, the National Press Club through Roy Mabasa, its president, wrote to the SC specifically requesting the court committee on the revision of the rules of court to revisit some of these rules involving the implementation of our libel law. The National Press Club had two requests: 1. That the members of the media be exempted from posting bail in cases where they are the accused in criminal cases, and 2. To look at the probability of asking the judges to impose fines instead of imprisonment in cases where the Court would convict a member of the media in libel cases.

On the first request, the Court decided to turn it down, precisely on the ground that if you craft a rule which would only be distinct and applicable to members of the media they come into conflict with the doctrine on equal protection of the law. Moreover, that may need an amendment of the some of our substantive laws like the revised penal code and it is familiar knowledge that the Court cannot amend a law enacted by congress.

On the second request, however, the Court, upon recommendation of the committee, agreed with the National Press Club. And so, the Court approved that request to the effect that in cases of libel, where the circumstances so demand, the judge may in the use of his or her wise discretion, can opt to impose the penalty of fine instead of imprisonment.

Question: And these are questions that appeared to have been raised by some officials of the executive department. For instance, if the news accounts are correct, the Presidential Legal Counsel, as well as the Secretary of Justice, says that in doing this, the Court, specifically the Chief Justice, may have impinged on the power of Congress to make laws. With all due respect, there is no such impingement on the substantive power of Congress to make laws.

What is the law that is concerned here? It’s the law on libel, more specifically, article 355 of the revised penal code. You look at article 355 of the revised penal code, Congress deemed it wise to impose the following penalty in libel cases: the penalty of prision correccional in its minimum and medium period, that is the imprisonment penalty and/or fine of P2,000 up to P6,000. In other words, the courts have that discretion to impose either imprisonment or to impose fine or to impose both penalties. That is the law on libel.

Now, in various cases, starting 1996 up to 2006, the SC has already handed down decisions holding that in some cases where the exigent circumstances so demand, the penalty that should be imposed on those accused/convicted of libel should not be imprisonment but only fine. In other words, this is not by any means new jurisprudence. This ruling has been handed down by the Court way back in 1996.

Let me refer to some of the cases: First, the case of Sazon vs. the People of the Philippines. Here, the court modified the penalty upon the petitioner, the accused, who was an officer of a homeowners’ association, for the crime of libel from imprisonment to a fine only of P3,000. Why? For the reason that the accused wrote the libelous article merely to defend his honor against the malicious messages circulated against him in the subdivision. So, that was the circumstance that was used by the Court in order to change the penalty from imprisonment to fine. And that was in 1996. Was there any objection on the part of the Solicitor General, who represented the People of the Philippines in that case? There was no objection. There was no motion for reconsideration. In other words, there was agreement even on the part of the executive department represented by the Solicitor General in the change of the penalty from imprisonment to fine because of that particular circumstance.

Then you have another case, Quirico Mari vs. the People of the Philippines. Here the crime is slander. Again the SC modified the penalty on the accused. The accused was an ordinary government employee. So, he was sentenced to imprisonment. On appeal, the SC said, you just impose a fine of P1,000. What is the reason for the change of penalty? The ground used by the SC is that the slander, the offense, was committed in the heat of anger and in reaction to a perceived provocation. That case was rendered in 2000. Again, there was no objection from the Solicitor General. There was no motion for reconsideration.

Then, in 2004, this is a more familiar case, the case of Roberto Brillante vs. People of the Philippines. Brillante is the political opponent of Mayor Jejomar Binay of Makati. So, Brillante was convicted of libel. He was sentenced to suffer imprisonment. He was convicted in five cases of libel. But on appeal to the SC, the justices held that instead of imprisonment, Brillante should just pay the corresponding fines. What is the reason for that? The Court held that these offenses were committed during the election period in 1988 in Makati where passions ran very high. And the Court said that this must have agitated the accused into writing these open letters to the people of Makati. Letters, which contained these libelous statements. Again, there was no motion for reconsideration from the Solicitor General.

Lastly, this is a relatively new case, decided in 2006, the case of Buatis vs. the People of the Philippines. The accused here was a lawyer. He was convicted of libel; the penalty imposed was imprisonment. But again, on appeal, the penalty was changed from imprisonment to fine. What is the justification? The Court said that this was the first offense of the lawyer and he was motivated purely by his belief that he was exercising a civic and moral duty when he wrote the defamatory letter to the complainant. Again the Solicitor General did not file a motion for reconsideration protesting the change of the penalty from imprisonment to fine.

In other words, you look at the trend of these cases: There is that emerging rule of preference. That in libel cases, where circumstances so justify, the judges, the courts, need not necessarily impose imprisonment but only a fine. And that is specifically allowed by the libel law that was enacted by Congress. In other words, there is no violation of the policy laid down by Congress in enacting the libel law.

So, in light of that, we issued this circular. But let me read to you the dispositive portion of the circular after laying down those premises:

1. This administrative circular does not remove imprisonment as an alternative remedy for the crime of libel under article 355 of the revised penal code. And so, the Court never usurped the power of Congress to make laws or to impose penalty. The circular is precisely in accordance with the libel law, allowing the imposition either of the penalty of imprisonment or the penalty of fine.

2. The judges concerned may, in the exercise of sound discretion in taking into consideration the peculiar circumstances of each case, determine whether the imposition of a fine alone would best serve the interest of justice or whether for bearing to impose imprisonment would depreciate the seriousness of the offense, court violence on the social order or otherwise be contrary to the imperatives of justice. In other words, the circular allows the judge elasticity in what penalty should be imposed. There is no strict order for the judge to impose only a fine. The circular defines in black and white the parameters, the standards that should be taken into account in determining whether imprisonment should be imposed or only a fine.

3. Should only be a fine be imposed and the accused be unable to pay the fine, there is no legal obstacle to the application of the revised penal code provisions on subsidiary imprisonment. In other words, let us say the judge imposes a fine and the accused is unable to pay the fine. Then in that kind of a situation, the accused will be imprisoned for failure to pay the fine. In other words, the circular has not abolished the penalty of imprisonment.

I think our friends from the executive department were too quick in reacting to the circular issued by the Court. The reactions were given even before the circular was issued. But with the block letter provisions in the circular, I would not think that there could be any complaint that this circular constitutes a usurpation of the power of the Congress.

Of course, there is that other objection that this circular unduly favors the members of the media. Again, that is a baseless objection. The circular applies to all accused in libel cases, whether you are a member of the media or not, you are accused in a libel case, you can benefit from this circular. So, there is no basis for the objection that this circular violates the principle of equality. It does not treat only the members of the media.

Let me also stress that this circular likewise takes into consideration the nature of a libel offense. A libel offense is not a heinous crime. That is why the revised penal code penalizes the crime of libel only with imprisonment, even if it is imprisonment but only imprisonment of prision correccional, meaning 6 months to four years. In other words, it is not serious an offense.  Or look at the range of the fines imposed on the libel law. It is only P200 to P6,000.  So this is a minor offense.

But I may grant that this will do a great favor to members of the media. But what is wrong with that? Don’t we consider freedom of speech and of the press as enjoying a preferred status in our hierarchy of rights under the Constitution? So if that privilege is given to the members of the media, that is in accord with the letter and the spirit of the Constitution, which gives a preferred status to our freedom of speech and of the press and this is consistent with the unyielding jurisprudence of the Supreme Court. That when it comes to violations of freedoms of speech and of the press, we will always adopt that highest standard in examining whether there is such a breach of freedom of speech and of the press. So, this is in accord with the architecture of the constitution on freedom of speech and of the press.

. . . . .

Every freedom, every right can be abused. But the possibility of abuse is not per se a justification for the curtailment of a constitutional right. The fear, I’d like to submit, is without any basis. The crime of libel would still be in the statute of books. The punishment as conceived by Congress will still be there. The punishment of imprisonment or fine or both. And so, if you have a situation, if you have case where the freedom of speech and of the press has really been abuse then the Court can impose an imprisonment on the accused and not only imprisonment but both imprisonment and fine. So, the safeguards are there. They have not been removed by the circular.

. . . . .

As I said, the comments of presidential legal counsel Apostol were obviously given before the circular was issued. I take it as off-the-cuff statements. So, I suggest that he read, study very well the circular. It is very clear that the circular did not usurp the power of Congress to make laws; the power of Congress to declare what ought to be the penalty of a particular crime. … So the circular is well within the powers of SC when SC stated that the judge can opt for the penalty of fine when circumstances so demand. So, I do not see why there could be a basis of a complaint for impeachment. But if we will be impeached for protecting the rights of the people, so be it.

I had a chance to cover President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in La Union last Sunday. It was one of the rare assignments I would get from from the bureau. Oh well, I got the assignment only because the first person the editors asked to be there could not make it.

As I was told, I should be in San Fernando City at 4 a.m. because the President would be there at exactly 6 a.m. With Cesar Ramirez of the Philippine Star, I drove all the way to La Union using the old Nissan pick up of Aksyon Radyo Pangasinan. We arrived there at about 4:10 a.m. and most of the streets there were already barricaded and manned by policemen, leaving drivers and early morning commuters no choice but to take the detour roads off the main highway.  

The first thing I did was to look for a parking space close enough to the venue but easy for us to leave once the coverage is over. I found Jollibee as an ideal place. Then Cesar and I roamed around the city plaza to find where the media will be positioned and to look for personnel from the Philippine Information Agency to ask for accreditation. They were nowhere to be found.

As we sat on the edge of one of the concrete plant boxes adorning the well-lighted city plaza, we could hear old people’s complaints about the street closure. Because for them to reach the church to attend the first mass, they had to have a long walk. Others, who were not going to the church, had to move three or four blocks away to wait for buses or jeepneys to take them where they would want to go.

The President did not arrive as I was told. What we witnessed instead were six busloads of cadets from the Philippine Military Academy, who will give the President arrival and departure honors. Cesar and I were smiling to see those cadets rehearse in their gray jogging pants and sweatshirts. The all looked untidy and harassed and unglamorous in those outfits.

As sunrise came, still, people from the PIA were not around. We were already starving and no fastfood chain or eatery was open at that time. We settled for a scoop of taho for our breakfast.

Then, employees from the different government agencies started to pour in. Apparently, they were all required to be there to be the crowd. The PMA cadets that all vanished like thin air also returned, now in their uniforms, making them look elegant and honorable men.

When PIA personnel finally appeared, we did not get our much-needed accreditation because they said, they have already ran out of the sticker. We were, however, able to get security tags for our recorders and cameras from the Presidential Security Group.

When the President finally arrived, it was already 7:51 a.m. She was in an aqua-green pantsuit and she looked elegant during the arrival honors as she and Gen. Hermogenes Esperon Jr. trooped the line of PMA cadets. I watched in amusement my media colleagues, especially the photographers and cameramen, as they jostled for position everytime the President moved.

After the wreath-laying and departure honors, I sighed with relief, because the coverage is already over. We can finally have our breakfast and return to Dagupan.

Another difficult Presidential coverage.

Did you know that the Communist Party of the Philippines was born in Alaminos City 39 years ago? CPP founding chair Jose Ma. Sison confirmed this in an interview.

The following story was published on the front page of the Dec. 26, 2007 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

Joma Sison recalls birth of CPP in Alaminos

By Gabriel Cardinoza
Philippine Daily Inquirer

ALAMINOS CITY, Philippines–The Communist Party of the Philippines marks its 39th anniversary Wednesday, but few residents of this bustling coastal city in western Pangasinan know that the CPP was born in one of their upland barangay or villages.

Mayor Hernani Braganza, a former member of the Kabataang Makabayan, a leftist group that went underground when martial law was declared in 1972, said he learned about this fact only in 2001. He was then the agrarian reform secretary and member of the government panel engaged in peace talks with the CPP’s political arm, the National Democratic Front (NDF).

Braganza said it was CPP founding chairman Jose Ma. Sison who told him about it during a meeting in the Netherlands, where the latter has lived in self-exile since the late 1980s.

Sison, the chief political consultant of the NDF, confirmed in an e-mail to the Inquirer that it was in a “barrio” in Alaminos where the CPP “congress of reestablishment” was held on Dec. 26, 1968.

According to Braganza, that barrio is the remote Barangay Dulacac at the tri-boundary of Alaminos and the towns of Bani and Mabini.

Full story

I received more than a hundred text messages on Christmas eve and on Christmas Day. I am posting here a few of them. Some messages were outright funny; others were serious and still others were inspiring. Instead of texting them all to you. let me just share them in this corner.

This Christmas season, may you be showered with girls, or showered by girls, or with girls in a shower …

It’s Christmas! Rejoice, for God is with us Praise and thank God for the everlasting gift of Christmas! Indeed, ‘Man will live forevermore because of Christmas Day!’ A blessed Christmas to you and your family! God Bless!

Maalab na Pasko at Mapagpalayang Bagong Taon po sa inyo at sa inyong mga kasambahay at katoto!

I want too keep three things: the sun, the moon and my friends. The sun for daytime, the moon for nighttime and my friends, for lifetime. Happy holidays, my friend! God bless.

Our merriest Christmas wishes for you and your loved ones. May we all have peace in our hearts as we reflect on the true meaning of the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

May you and your family enjoy a meaningful, joyous celebration of the child Jesus! A safe and peaceful night ahead! Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! May the Lord reward each thoughtful deed you do and hear each prayer you say. May He bless you and your family with His graces all through your life.

Fulfillment doesn’t merely mean achieving your highest dreams in life, but also living a life that has made the lives of others worth living. Merry Christmas!

By Gabriel Cardinoza
Inquirer Northern Luzon

DAGUPAN CITY — Somewhere in cyberspace, Pangasinenses around the world converge. 

Pangasinan Online (www.pangasinan.org) has allowed them to connect and interact with their loved ones, find long lost friends, and organize help for the poor in their hometowns.

Thanks to Fernando Mariñas, a San Diego-based network system administrator of a US government agency, who created the website six years ago. Mariñas is from Tayug town in Pangasinan.

“This site is dedicated to the people of Pangasinan, Philippines and those who trace their roots, or who have studied, worked, lived in there or just simply love the place,” said the website’s home page.

To date, Pangasinan Online is the most visited Pangasinan website in the World Wide Web. Its hit counter has registered more than 3.3 million visitors.

“Many more are going through the backdoor, meaning they create a shortcut going straight to their hometowns or school pages, by-passing the site’s counter,” Marinas said.

According to Alexa (www.alexa.com), a website that provides web traffic information, Pangasinan Online visitors far exceeded those that visited the Pangasinan provincial government website (www.pangasinan.gov.ph), which was launched in 1997.

‘Bridging the distance’

Marinas said he started the website in 1999 as Tayug.com, a site “with the sole purpose of bridging the distance” that separated his town mates around the world.

Inspired by the growing Internet technology in 2001, Marinas said he created Pangasinan Online that included all towns of Pangasinan. He adopted a simple, easy-to-navigate web design.

“We don’t have flying, roaring or disappearing images…but if you are looking for your friends, relatives, former classmates or just simply want to view some photos of your town, you are on the right place,” he said in the home page.

The website features school pages, personal pages, news and links, message boards for each town, a discussion corner, a reunion page and even a poetry page.

First time visitors will be tempted to open their hometown’s page and browse its message board to look for familiar names. Or they could go to the personal pages, where weddings, parties and other activities have been posted.

But more than a venue for socialization, Pangasinan Online has also been successful in sending help to the poor back home. “It united our town mates in helping our kabaleyan (province mates) back home,” Marinas said.

Backpack project

The most popular of the Pangasinan Online’s projects is the “Backpack Project” which has benefited more than 15,000 grade school pupils in various villages in Pangasinan’s 44 towns and four cities.

The project, which began in 2003, was meant to help indigent parents buy the basic necessities that their children need in school.

“They can hardly afford to buy pencil, pad paper, crayons and other school supplies…Many children use plastic bags or bags made from used flour sack to carry their books and stuff,” Marinas said.

“We can help by sharing a little percentage of our blessings to these children,” he said.

But more than the backpacks, Pangasinan Online also rallied Pangasinenses to help in building classrooms, libraries and health facilities in the province’s depressed communities.

A fully equipped learning center has been built in Barangay Labuan in San Quintin town, an alumni building at the Luna Colleges in Tayug town and computer and science laboratories in other schools.

Other projects include repairs of parish halls, a lying-in clinic and livelihood projects.

Happy endings

Looking back, Marinas said he was touched every time he remembers “happy endings” that his website had made possible.

For instance, he said, two surfers met and ended up getting married.

“One [woman] even wrote she found her former boyfriend in high school. Now, they are seeing each other and soon they will be married. Many such stories in our message boards,” he said.

A U.S. Air Force family, who used to be stationed in Clark Air Base in Pampanga, was looking for their former maid that they love so much.

“They found her through this website; they ended up having a reunion in Pangasinan,” Marinas said.

According to Alexa, most of Pangasinan Online surfers came from the Philippines (37.5%), followed by the United States (26.9%), Qatar (26.0%), United Kingdom (5.8%), Australia (1.9%), Canada (1%), and France (1%).

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?  

That’s right! You can now send text messages to Aksyon Radyo Pangasinan from the US.

To Send a Text Message:
Text DWCM [SPACE] [YOUR MESSAGE] to 75712. Available to the following USA carriers: Cingular Blue, Cingular Orange, Verizon, Sprint, Nextel,Alltel, Dobson and Cellular One

To Make a Request:
Text DWCM [SPACE] REQUEST [SPACE] [YOUR REQUESTED SONG] to 75712. Available to the following USA carriers: Cingular Blue, Cingular Orange, Verizon, Sprint, Nextel,Alltel, Dobson and Cellular One