Mayor Lim emphasized that disaster awareness and preparedness are everybody’s concern.
 

Lim, Vice Mayor Alvin Fernandez, and other city officials, led various government agencies, civic organizations, non-government organizations, and educational and medical institutions during the opening program for the observance of “Dagupan City Disaster Consciousness Month” on July 18 at the city plaza.
 

“Disaster preparedness is not a sole responsibility of the local government units,” Lim said even as he added that “the people, themselves, should be responsible and alert all the time.”
 

The mayor pointed out that the undertaking marks the intention of the city government to create awareness among people on disasters and significance of preparedness so as to minimize the damages the disasters can bring.
 

Lim encouraged the citizenry of Dagupan to be alert as the Mayon volcano in the Philippines and volcanoes in other parts of the world are active, and if eruption happens, an earthquake may occur afterward.       
 
Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Special Concern and Inter-Agency Affair Undersecretary Manuel Gerochi, delivered a speech in behalf of DENR Secretary Angelo Reyes.   
 

Gerochi said the most important measure that has been considered crucial to minimize the impact of disaster is community participation in disaster management.
 

“This means we are not helpless against natural disasters. We can prevent loss of lives and properties if we are prepared to cope with disasters and emergencies,” he explained.
 

Gerochi stressed that there is no time to rest in terms of consciousness for disaster and that preparedness for a calamity should be a part of everybody’s life and habit.
 

Hoping that the celebration will result in public awareness, he averred that people should know what to do, whom to alert, when to contact for immediate assistance, and where to evacuate when calamity strikes so that there will be less panic, less confusion, and less loss of lives and properties.    
 

Office of Civil Defense-Region I Assistant Director Melchito Castro said that in trainings and seminars that OCD has conducted and attended, the office has always preferred the experience of Dagupan City in attaining almost zero casualties every time there is a disaster. “If Dagupan City can achieve this trail in disaster preparedness, the other areas in the country can do it,” he noted.
 

Sr./Supt. Nicanor Casaclang, regional disaster coordinating council deputy regional director for administration, urged every Dagupeño to consider everyday a readiness day against disaster, be it natural or human-made.   
           
A well-attended parade around downtown was held prior to the program. (Sunshine D. Robles)

Displaying leadership by example, Councilor Jose Netu Tamayo apologized and paid the monetary fine when he was apprehended by a member of the community monitoring and enforcement team (COMET) for throwing a cigarette butt to the canal at the City Hall complex.
 
A COMET member approached Tamayo on July 17 at around 6:40 p.m. when he saw the councilor throwing a cigarette butt. After he was reminded by the COMET enforcer, Tamayo immediately expressed apology and asked how much the penalty would be. Read more

Dagupan City celebrates Nutrition Month this July which focuses on the vital role of proper nutrition in rearing a bright child.   
 

Anchored on the theme, “Kumain ng right para maging batang bright,” this year’s celebration features activities involving the 31 barangays and all public schools in the city.
 

Nutrition Officer IV Leah Aquino, who heads the nutrition division of the city mayor’s office, described a bright child as one who is mentally alert, physically healthy and active, emotionally secure, socially competent and capable of all intellectual and psychosocial abilities expected at the child’s age level.          
 

“A child who is given proper nutrition and health care, good education, love, and social support will surely have a bright future,” Aquino underscored.
 

To address the problem of malnutrition in the barangays, the activities staged are nutrition and diet counseling for mothers, supplementary and complementary feedings for children who weigh below normal, growth monitoring, food demonstration on the preparation of simple but nutritious snacks, and selective food production where parents are encouraged to plant crops rich in nutrients.
 

In public schools, there are various activities, such as nutrition quiz bee, poster-slogan making contest, search for healthy and bright pupil, launching of feeding programs funded by non-government organizations and private individuals, and a cookfest.    
 

Aquino said that the information-education drive on nutrition is intensified with the help of the local media.
 

She added that with the support of Mayor Lim, the cooperation of the barangay officials and families, the unwavering dedication of the barangay nutrition scholars, and unrelenting support of government and non-government organizations, and civic and religious groups, the city’s claim for a Bright Batang Dagupeño will be achieved in a few years time.
 

The nutrition month celebration is spearheaded by the National Nutrition Council and the city government. (Sunshine D. Robles)   

Dagupan City celebrates Nutrition Month this July which focuses on the vital role of proper nutrition in rearing a bright child.   
 

Anchored on the theme, “Kumain ng right para maging batang bright,” this year’s celebration features activities involving the 31 barangays and all public schools in the city.
 

Nutrition Officer IV Leah Aquino, who heads the nutrition division of the city mayor’s office, described a bright child as one who is mentally alert, physically healthy and active, emotionally secure, socially competent and capable of all intellectual and psychosocial abilities expected at the child’s age level.          
 

“A child who is given proper nutrition and health care, good education, love, and social support will surely have a bright future,” Aquino underscored.
 

To address the problem of malnutrition in the barangays, the activities staged are nutrition and diet counseling for mothers, supplementary and complementary feedings for children who weigh below normal, growth monitoring, food demonstration on the preparation of simple but nutritious snacks, and selective food production where parents are encouraged to plant crops rich in nutrients.
 

In public schools, there are various activities, such as nutrition quiz bee, poster-slogan making contest, search for healthy and bright pupil, launching of feeding programs funded by non-government organizations and private individuals, and a cookfest.    
 

Aquino said that the information-education drive on nutrition is intensified with the help of the local media.
 

She added that with the support of Mayor Lim, the cooperation of the barangay officials and families, the unwavering dedication of the barangay nutrition scholars, and unrelenting support of government and non-government organizations, and civic and religious groups, the city’s claim for a Bright Batang Dagupeño will be achieved in a few years time.
 

The nutrition month celebration is spearheaded by the National Nutrition Council and the city government. (Sunshine D. Robles)   

Dagupan City is paving the way in the successful implementation of project PROMISE (Program for Hydro-Meteorological Disaster Mitigation in Secondary Cities in Asia) among the implementing 5 cities in Asia.

This was bared by N.M.S.I. Arambepola, director and team leader of Urban Disaster Risk Management (UDRM) and program manager of PROMISE during a meeting with the members of the technical working group of the City Disaster Coordinating Council (CDCC) yesterday (July 12).

“I am not wrong if I say that out of the 5 project areas in Asia which I have visited, you have shown most enthusiasm and initiative in carrying out the project,” Bangkok-based Arambepola said.

“You have done so much that you can be proud of,” Arambepola pointed out even as he disclosed that the activities in the other Asian cities are behind the initial accomplishments of Dagupan City.

He stated that the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC) made a right decision when it chose Dagupan City as the project site in the Philippines not only because of its flooding situation, but also because of the eagerness and initiative of the city government.

Arambepola, a Sri Lankan, bared the plan to develop a case study featuring the implementation of Dagupan City even as he invited representatives from the city to share their experience in the execution of the project with other countries during the forthcoming seminars to be staged by the ADPC.

Because of the hard work and enthusiasm of the city, Arambepola guaranteed all the support that the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the funding agency, and ADPC can give.

City Administrator Rafael Baraan assured that the city will exert more effort and improve on whatever labors the city put into the project.

Baraan stressed that disasters are surely inevitable, but through project PROMISE proactive measures can be undertaken to reduce disasters’ damage to people and properties.

Baraan said that the project opens the door for other funding agencies interested to implement projects and research on the project development activities in the city.

As a token, Baraan and the members of the TWG presented Arambepola a symbolic key to the city, a NanDAraGUPAN book and a complete documentation of the Community-Based Disaster Risk Management Workshop undertaken covering the 8 pilot barangays. (Sunshine D. Robles)

Various activities that will underscore disaster awareness and disaster preparedness will be staged on July 17 to 21 as part of the observance of Dagupan City Disaster Preparedness Day and National Disaster Consciousness Month.

The Sangguniang Panlungsod declared, through Resolution No. 5469-2006, July 16 of every year as Dagupan City Disaster Preparedness Day. On the other hand, the National Disaster Coordinating Council declared every July of the year as National Disaster Consciousness Month.

“The various activities strengthen our goal to minimize the adverse effects of hazards and disasters in a community,” said Robert Erfe-Mejia, City Disaster Coordinating Council civil defense officer.

City Agriculturist Emma Molina said the initial activity done in line with the observance was the radio hopping of the core members of the Technical Working Group (TWG) on June 5 and 6 for the project PROMISE (Hydro-Meteorological Disaster Mitigation in Secondary Cities in Asia).

To highlight the affair, Department of Education officials, teachers and security chiefs of various schools will acquire information on disaster management and safety measures during a forum on July 17 together with the members of the TWG.

A mangrove revegetation day will be held on July 18 in coordination with the universities and colleges in the city. The NSTP students of these educational institutions will help plant mangroves along the river.

On the same day, there will be a citywide parade of slogans to be spearheaded by DepEd, Waste Management Division, and Tourism Office.

On July 19, an Academic Olympics on oration, essay writing and poster-making will be held at the People’s Astrodome with high school and college students as participants. The activity is in coordination with the JCI-Dagupan Bangus Jaycees.

An awarding ceremony and a short program will follow with Department of Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Angelo Reyes as guest.

An earthquake and evacuation drill day, a DepEd project, will be staged on July 21 at the Dagupan City National High School to inform the students of safety precautions during an earthquake.

Molina said that aside from the drill at the DCNHS, similar activity will be simultaneously held at the elementary and high school institutions located in the 4th district. (Sunshine D. Robles)

Dagupan City is selected among the 21 dream cities by the Institute for Solidarity in Asia (ISA) which is undergoing series of consultative and working sessions on public governance system (PGS).

A second consultative meeting on PGS was staged yesterday (July 6) at the City Museum which highlighted the significance of good governance and responsible citizenship in order to further attain the visions for the city.

City Administrator Rafael Baraan led the department heads and city executives in the consultative session facilitated by the Institute for Solidarity in Asia (ISA).

ISA is a center of and for citizens committed to ethics, social responsibility and good governance in all aspects of life. It aims to contribute to raising the standards of public governance in the community and in the country.

The city government, led by Mayor Benjamin S. Lim has always noted the importance of the cooperation and commitment of the citizenry in making the visions for Dagupan City come true.

“Good governance is a shared responsibility between public officials and responsible citizens,” said ISA executive director Christian Zaens even as he noted that ISA’s approach is improving local governance.

PGS is a governance process and a system that is used to highlight the performance functions of strategy and policy formulation and at the same time connects those functions directly with monitoring and accountability. It uses scorecards to monitor and track progress, mainly as a positive instrument to improve governance and performance.

He said that Dagupan City was selected because Mayor Lim has been mentioned consistently by the ISA team.

Zaens noted that it is important to set the departments in the city hall to link to the roadmap of the city because each contribution of the department can be translated into a scorecard.

Nick Fontanilla of ISA explained that scorecard links vision and strategy into action.

Fontanilla explained that the city should not be the only one to have its scorecards but also the various sectors. He said, however, that these scorecards should be clearly connected and value adding to the scorecards of the city.

Fontanilla said that PGS translates strategy into measures that communicate the vision to stakeholders even as he stated that through PGS Dagupan can be a dream city.

After the discussion, the participants performed a workshop in developing a city roadmap. They were divided into four major sectors namely: economics, social services, economic support and finance.

Other cities in Luzon similarly undergoing the process of PGS are Marikina, Naga and San Fernando La Union. (Sunshine D. Robles)

Municipal officials from Burauen town in the province of Leyte visited Dagupan City on July 5 for a lakbay-aral tour to benchmark the city’s solid waste management programs and aquaculture industry.

The 29-member municipal officials, composed of sangguniang bayan members and department heads is headed by Mayor Juanito Renomeron.

“We acknowledged the fact that Dagupan City is one of the best cities in the entire country in terms of its innovative and exceptional methods of governance. With this, we would like to absorb some of the best ideas and in turn replicate those in our municipality,” Mayor Renomeon said.

Upon arrival, the lakbay-aral group immediately toured the one –stop business center, Mayor’s Office and some other offices of the Dagupan City Hall.

Afterwards, the group then proceeded to the material recovery facilities (MRFs) of Barangay IV and Barangay Herrero-Perez to observe their implementation of R.A. 9003 or the solid waste management act.

According to Renomeron, he plans to replicate in his municipality the city’s MRFs with butterfly garden and communal nursery after their visit in the two barangays.

The group also toured the city’s major river systems in barangays Pantal and Calmay where city agriculturist Emma Molina discussed about the zonification and regulation of fish pens and fish cages in the city.

City tourism officer Dea Que, city agriculturist Emma Molina and waste management division chief Reggie Ubando served as the tour guides.

Before departing Dagupan City, Mayor Renomeron thanked the city government for the warm reception and hospitality extended to his group.

Burauen, Leyte is the seventh lakbay-aral group to visit the city this year alone. The first six were Sasmuan, Pampanga; Pilar, Capiz; Santiago, Isabela; Zamboanga City; Lakewood, Zamboanga del Sur; and Bayog, Zamboanga del Sur. (CIO/Leziel T. Cayabyab)

Public order and safety office (POSO) chief Robert Erfe-Mejia met with the different chapter presidents of the Metro Dagupan Tricycle Operators and Drivers Association (MDTODA) on June 23 to explain Ordinance No. 1863-2006 or the Revised Tricycle Fare Ordinance.

According to Coun. Vlad Mata, author of the ordinance and chairman of the committee on public utilities, the new tricycle fare matrix is in response to the petition for fare increase of tricycle drivers and operators due to the continuing escalation of oil price, the cost of spare parts and other maintenance expenses.

In the new tricycle fare matrix, regular fare is P7, P15 for special hire and P28 for midnight fare for the first four-kilometer distance. For every kilometer in excess of the first 4 kilometers, an additional P2 will be charged for the regular fare and P1 for both special hire and midnight fare.

However, senior citizens and students will still enjoy the usual fare discount in compliance with R.A. 7432.

Erfe-Mejia said that a fare matrix sticker carrying the driver’s LTO license plate number and windshield sticker number will be posted on the inside front windshield of every passenger cab to be easily seen by the passenger.

He warned that non-posting and tampering of the sticker will be penalized accordingly.

Under the ordinance, unscrupulous acts of tricycle drivers, such as overcharging, refusal to convey a passenger, and non-posting of sticker will be penalized.

For the 1st offense- P500 for the owner/operator and P200 for the driver, 2nd offense- P1000 for the owner/operator and P500 for the driver while the 3rd offense is the immediate cancellation of franchise.

“It is mandatory. Whether they like it or not, they have to follow the ordinance,” Erfe-Mejia asserted.

He advised the riding public to report overcharging and discourteous tricycle drivers through the POSO hotline which can be found in the fare matrix sticker.

Aside from the city’s traffic enforcers, Erfe-Mejia said that members of the Expanded Bantay Dagupan Task Force are also on the look out for violators of the ordinance.

The ordinance was passed on joint motions of councilors Vladimir T. Mata, Luis M. Samson Jr., Ma. Librada Fe M. Reyna and Nicanor D. Aquino.

There are about 3,000 tricycles operating in the city at present. (CIO/Leziel T. Cayabyab)

With dedication and sincerity, various non-government organizations vowed to render their voluntary services in keeping Dagupan a happy and safe community.

The Expanded Task Force Bantay Dagupan, created to help prevent and suppress criminality in the city, was formally launched during the 59th Agew na Dagupan commemorative program on June 20 at the city plaza. The memorandum of understanding was also signed by the concerned parties.

Public order and safety office (POSO) chief Robert Erfe-Mejia said that the task force is tasked to focus its volunteer service network so as to enhance intelligence gathering and emergency response capability within the community by rendering “on call” volunteer assistance to the police authorities, the city disaster coordinating council (CDCC), peace and order council (POC) and POSO with focus on traffic and crowd control, and rescue and relief operations during emergencies and special events.

“Expanded Bantay Dagupan shall now include sectoral membership from active non-government organizations representing the media, professional and business groups, women and education sectors and the civic groups,” Erfe-Mejia explained even as he called the members of these volunteer groups as “day-to-day unsung heroes.”

Mayor Lim had previously created the original Task Force Bantay Dagupan through executive order no. 34 series of 2001 with the Dagupan Practical Shooting Association Inc. (DPSA) as the core partner of the city government.

As a civilian anti-crime task force, Task Force Bantay Dagupan has been an effective and efficient force multiplier of the local police force. The task force expansion was based on E.O. 162 series of 2006 and Sangguniang Panlungsod resolution no. 3501 with Coun. Joey Tamayo as the author.

Erfe-Mejia emphasized that the undertaking is a result of a collective and cooperative effort initiated by active civic groups and NGOs based in the city which are institutions and vanguards of public order and safety dedicating their time and effort to make Dagupan a safe place to live in.

The volunteer group-members of the Expanded Task Force Bantay Dagupan is composed of the members of PANDA, Delta Communicators, Inc., Dagupan SPECTRUM Communications Inc., DPSA, Philippine Guardians Brotherhood, Inc.-Bayang Dagat chapter, Philippine Guardians Brotherhood Inc.,-Bayang Bangus chapter, Bangus Riders of Dagupan, Inc., Rotary Club of Dagupan East, Rotary Club of Dagupan, Kabalikat Civicom, Assistance Communication Traffic Information Inc., the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints-Dagupan Phil. Stake, Pangasinan Tri-Media Association, Kabayan Action Group-Dagupan Chapter, Riders Association of Dagupan Inc., Police Hotline Action ng Bayan, and Scooter Riders of Dagupan. (Sunshine D. Robles)