A meeting on the First North Luzon Agribusiness Quadrangle will take place in Leisure Coast, Dagupan City on August 17.

Presidential management staff (PMS) director general and designated champion for the North Luzon Super Region Arthur C. Yap will preside in the said meeting. Yap, whose mother is a Dagupeña, was the former secretary of the Department of Agriculture.

The meeting aims to discuss with local government units the commitment of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to develop North Luzon as an agribusiness quadrangle as announced in her 2006 SONA and determine various areas of cooperation.

During the affair, various government agencies will report on the status of on-going programs in the Super Region as well as discuss measures to ensure their effective implementation.

Dagupan City Mayor Benjamin Lim along with the city officials and other local executives are expected to attend the meeting and participate in the discussion of agribusiness projects.

The one-day meeting will tackle farm-to-market road projects, irrigation projects, post harvest facility, energy projects, airport projects, seaport projects and road and expressway projects.

Mayor Lim is expected to bring up for discussion the proposed Bangus Processing Plant, the flagship agribusiness program of the city. (CIO/Leziel T. Cayabyab)

Dagupan City Civil Registry obtained a national award for its efficient performance and delivery of service to Dagupeños and non-Dagupeños.

The City Civil Registry placed sixth, under the extra large category, “in the performance and delivery of its Civil Registration programs, activities and services” during the period of January to December 2004.

The award was conferred by the National Statistics Office (NSO) during the 3rd National Workshop on Civil Registration on August 8 to 10, 2006 held at the Garden Orchid Convention Center in Zamboanga City. The national workshop is being held every two years.

Civil registrar Lina Beltran said the extra large category is conferred to giant cities in the Philippines, but Dagupan, a small city, was included in the category because of the big volume of documents it submitted to the NSO.

“The timeliness and accuracy of our submitted documents contributed to the recognition of the NSO,” Beltran said.

Beltran pointed out that the office ensures the prompt submittal of documents to the regional office on a monthly basis.

She further said that the City Civil Registrar is leading in the implementation of special laws on civil registration, such as Republic Act 9048 or Clerical and Error law and R.A 9255 or Affidavit to Use Surname of Father by an Illegitimate Child, in entire Pangasinan.

Prior to the national award, the Dagupan Civil Registry was a recipient of various regional awards such as: Leadership award on excellent performance in all registration program, March 21, 1996, Teacher’s Camp, Baguio City; exemplary performance (2nd place), 3rd Northern Luzon Alliance Workshop, September 28, 2000, Tuguegarao City Cagayan; and performer of the Region for the period of January-December 2001, First National Workshop on Civil Registration, June 27, 2002, George Dewey Convention Center, Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority. (Sunshine D. Robles)

The Dagupan City government is moving towards creating highly clean and organized offices in the City Hall in order to improve workflows and public service.

The City Hall will soon implement the 5S, a popular method that originated in Japan which is now a common tool for improving workplace productivity and safety.

The 5S system stands for: sanitize, sort, sweep, systematize and self-discipline.

“This undertaking aims to make discipline and orderliness a habit for every City Hall employee,” City Administrator Rafael Baraan said even as he pointed out that 5S serves as the basis for eliminating waste, boosting productivity, and doing quality work.

The implementation of 5S is also in line with the city government’s undertaking to obtain an accreditation from ISO (International Organization for Standardization) as a local government unit, Baraan said.

Prior to the implementation, all employees shall undergo training and orientation on 5S, records management, personality development especially proper grooming and time management which will start on August 8.

There will also be an Internal Audit Team that will be the implementors and overseers in the progress of the implementation.

“The audit team will also undergo orientation and training with the Regional Development Council,” City Tourism Office head and concurrent Internal Audit Team leader Dea Que said.

Que added that all offices will appoint their respective leaders who will organize and monitor the implementation of the 5S program in their respective workplaces. The leaders will also coordinate with the 5S Internal Audit Team on all matters relating to its implementation.

She said that offices or workplaces will be classified into two: big and small offices. The size of offices is measured through workload, files, office equipment and fixture and workforce.

She bared that top five workplaces in the two categories will receive Barangay City Hall Star Linis award, commendation certificate and a cash prize.

Que noted that the implementation of the 5S will establish convenient work practices, remove clutters and unnecessary materials inside offices and empower employees to sustain their work area.

She said that 5S also simplifies work environment and improves employee moral and pride by creating a pleasant workplace. (Sunshine D. Robles)

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo led the groundbreaking ceremony on August 9 for the construction of Pantal Bridge, the only long-span bridge among the bridges to be built under urgent bridges construction project, Package III.

“The construction of the Pantal bridge will further boost the status of Dagupan as center of commercial, trade, investment and education,” the president declared.

The Pantal bridge, which will connect the almost 5-kilometer Dawel-Pantal-Lucao diversion road, measures 380 meter long.

Aside from spurring growth in the city, Arroyo said the infrastructure will increase the use of land area of Dagupan by one third.

Arroyo said that from the P8 billion project cost of the almost 200 bridge projects in the Philippines, P 800 million will be allotted to the Pantal bridge construction.

She added that the Pantal bridge project is one of the biggest projects under the Medium Term Public Investment Program of the national government.

Arroyo thanked the Japanese government and its people for their support in the Philippine development, noting that Japan is by far the biggest source of official development assistance to the Philippines.

The Pantal bridge, along with the other 199 bridge projects to be built under the Urgent Bridges Construction Projects for Rural Development, is funded by the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) through a concessional financing of 30 years with interest rate of less than 1%.

Before introducing the president for her speech, Speaker de Venecia, in his message, said that the new infrastructure will boost the commercial center status of Dagupan by 30 percent.

Dagupan City Mayor Benjamin S. Lim expressed his gratitude to President Arroyo and Speaker De Venecia for the Pantal bridge and Diversion Road project.

“Ito ay isang pangarap na nagkatotoo. Isang pangarap na maisasakatuparan na. Ang paggawa ng tulay na ito ay makakatulong hindi lamang sa lungsod ng Dagupan kung hindi sa buong Region I,” the mayor said in his welcome remarks.

Japanese Ambassador Ryuichiro Yamasaki said that the occasion is part of the year-long celebration of the 50th anniversary of the diplomatic relations between Philippines and Japan.

Yamasaki pointed out that the bridges construction project aims at contributing to the safe and efficient flow of people and goods and in turn, support the development of regional economies.

Other dignitaries present during the occasion were: Bureau of Immigration Commissioner Alipio Fernandez, Jr., Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane, JPIC chief Hiroshi Tugo, Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap, 3rd district representative Generoso Tulagan, 2nd district representative Amado Espino, Governor Victor Agbayani, Vice Mayor Alvin Fernandez, Mayor Jonas Castañeda (Lingayen), Mayor Mojamito Libunao (San Fabian), Mayor Napoleon Sales (Manaoag), Mayor Rolando Columbres (San Jacinto), Manay Gina de Venecia, Councilors Alex De Venecia, Joey Tamayo, Vladimir Mata and Eric Muñoz.

The Pantal bridge construction is set to be completed by September 14, 2008.

The idea of constructing a Pantal bridge was conceived way back during the term of City Mayor Liberato Reyna. It was further developed during the term of then City Mayor Alipio Fernandez, Jr., now Immigration Commisioner who made the project as part of the CAMADA (Calasiao-Mangaldan-Dagupan) plan.

It was during the first term of Mayor Lim when the diversion road, an integral part of the Pantal Bridge project, started.

He gathered all stakeholders and staged series of meetings attended by city government executives, fishpond owners and informal settlers affected by the project, DPWH engineers and Japanese consultants.

Some informal settlers have been relocated to the Gawad Kalinga-Bangusville site in Bonuan Gueset. The city bought the land at a special rate from the Samson family.

Some affected fishpond owners were also given tax credits by the city government for a road right of way.

The Pantal Bridge project is made possible by Speaker Jose De Venecia. The construction of the diversion road, on the other hand, comes from the Speaker’s Countrywide Development Fund (CDF). (Sunshine D. Robles)