GOV. ESPINO INSPIRES PMA CLASS OF 2016.  Governor Amado T. Espino, Jr. (left photo) inspires PMA Class of 2016 “Gabay-Laya” during a fellowship activity held at the Sison Auditorium on November 16. The PMA graduating class visited the province from November 16-18 for their Cadet Immersion Program: Aksyon at Gawaing Bayanihan (CIPAG Bayanihan) 2015. Governor Espino (in right photo) presents the Pangasinan history book “Pinablin Dalin” and Kurit Panlunggaring Anthology Book to PMA Class President Kristian Dave Abigui. Witnessing the ceremonial turn-over were: (from left) Joey dela Cruz, PMA’s Community Development Course Director and Maj. Manuel Kalang-ad. /Photo by MSadim

Lingayen – Health officials of Oriental Mindoro expressed admiration and intent to replicate Pangasinan’s local health care delivery system, best practices and innovations in health programs and services on their visit to the province.

This came up when Dr. Normando Legaspi, Provincial Health Officer II of Oriental Mindoro, led a group composed of health officers from their provincial local government unit (LGU) and others from municipal and city LGUs in Oriental Mindoro in a study tour in Pangasinan on November 18.

The group was welcomed by Governor Amado T. Espino, Jr. during a conference held at the Capitol Resort Hotel where Provincial Health Officer II Anna. Maria Teresa De Guzman presented to them the local health care delivery system, best practices and innovations in health programs and services of implemented by LGU – Pangasinan.

Dr. De Guzman said that the provincial administration puts priority to health care in the province as she noted that among the 10 development thrusts of Governor Espino, Quality and Affordable Health Care is second to Peace and Order.

Under the Espino administration, De Guzman noted that budget for the health sector in the province increased with 26 percent from 275 million in 2007 to 712 million in 2014, surpassing the required budget of the Department of Health for health care programs and services.

It was learned that the Pangasinan Provincial Health Office (PHO) is the first and only health office of a provincial Local Government Unit (LGU) in the entire country that was awarded the ISO (International Organization for Standardization) 9001:2008 Quality Management Certification. Pangasinan PHO received its ISO certification on January 23, 2014 while the Pangasinan Provincial Hospital (PPH) had its ISO certification in May 12 of the same year.

Dr. Legazpi, who serves as the President of the Provincial Health Officers Association of the Philippines (PHOAP), admitted that they were amazed with Pangasinan’s health care delivery system and said: “Through our interactive discussions, we have learned many things that we could adopt in Oriental Mindoro.”

“Kami po ay walang masabi sa laki ng budget nyo sa health,” Dr. Legazpi said as he indicated that the said budget allocation for health is reflective of the provincial administration’s goal to further improve the health system in Pangasinan.

Earlier, the group from Mindoro visited the Health Office of Urdaneta City and the Urdaneta District Hospital, a community hospital owned and managed by the provincial government.

The group was also accorded a heritage tour within the Capitol Complex right after a briefing with Pangasinan health officials.

Lingayen – Hundreds of townsfolk from Bani and Sison towns had a close-up view of Pangasinan’s socio-cultural renaissance under the administration of Governor Amado T. Espino, Jr. during the ‘Pasyar na Pangasinan’ heritage tour program of the Provincial Tourism and Cultural Affairs Office (PTCAO) held on November 16-18.

Governor Espino led provincial officials in welcoming Bani and Sison residents, mainly members of Kalipunan ng Liping Pilipina (KALIPI) and other women organizations along with senior citizens associations in those towns.

“The softest part of my heart belongs to my mother,” Governor Espino told the senior citizens and the women present at the Sison Auditorium, stressing that his love for his mother is similar to his love for all senior citizens in the province.

Owing to the vital contributions of senior citizens in the community, Governor Espino likewise asked the elders to continue teaching the youth moral values in life which will guide them as they grow old.

Vice Governor Jose Ferdinand Calimlim, Jr. told the women association and community elders that the present provincial administration has “levelled up the dignity and pride of being a Pangasinense” as he urged them “to love Pangasinan unconditionally.”

Speaking on behalf of barangay captains in the province, Board Member and Liga ng mga Barangay Provincial President Amado “Pogi” Espino, III, noted that “all things done by provincial leaders today is not for the present generation anymore, but for the next generations to come.”

“Iti anos, iti bannog ken iti sakripisyo tayo ket para kadagiti annak tayo,” (Our patience, efforts and sacrifices are for our children), the young Espino, a three-term chief executive of Bautista town said.

Townsfolk of Bani were accompanied by former Mayor Marcelo Navarro, a close friend and classmate of Governor Espino at the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) while Sison residents were escorted by 5^th District Board Member Danilo Uy.

Also present during the series of pasyar were: Executive Assistant IV Ramon Morden, Provincial Sports Director Modesto Operania as well as some incumbent and former councillors and barangay leaders of Bani and Sison.

Part of Pasyar na Pangasinan, the Bani and Sison townsfolk had an opportunity for a ‘spiritual experience’ at the Minor Basilica of Our Lady of Manaoag before they were treated for a heritage tour around the Capitol Complex, visiting the Capitol building, Urduja House, Narciso Ramos Sports and Civic Center (NRSCC) and the Sison Auditorium

Lingayen – Ninety (90) athletes of Team Pangasinan are now undergoing in-house training and conditioning at the Narciso Ramos Sports and Civic Center (NRSCC) provided by the provincial government in preparation for their participation to the forthcoming Batang Pinoy (BP) national games slated on November 27 to December 2 in Cebu City.

The Pangasinense athletes – 16-year-old and below – won in their respective sporting events during the BP – Luzon Leg held last July in Malolos City, Bulacan.

Athletes who will compete in the national finals of Arnis, Athletics, Cycling, Boxing, Chess, Karatedo, Lawn Tennis, Sepak Takraw (girls), swimming, taekwondo, volleyball (boys), basketball 3/3 (girls) and wrestling will undergo in-house training from November 14 – 22.

‘Team Pangasinan’ which taps the best athletes from various towns and cities in the province was conceptualized by Governor Amado T. Espino, Jr. to become the official delegation of the province in Batang Pinoy, a grassroots development program of the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) for the Filipino youth.

Provincial Sports Director Modesto Operania said that Governor Espino released the marching order for the conduct of the training to assure that Team Pangasinan will field competitive and well-conditioned contenders in the BP national games.

In a briefing before the training, Operania told 31 coaches and trainers from various DepEd schools divisions in the province: “We aspire to maintain or level up our over-all performance in the national finals, so we must double our efforts in preparing our athletes.”

Over the past four years, Team Pangasinan was able to improve its performance in the regional, Luzon leg and national games in a field of hundreds of participating delegations.

Team Pangasinan’s exemplary performance in the national games has been reflective of its placements in the over-all ranking from 2011 (18^th place), 2012 (15^th place), 2013 (11^th place) and 2014 (9^th place).

Governor Espino is expected to lead the send-off ceremony of Team Pangasinan on November 22, 9AM at the Health and Wellness Center within NRSCC.

Lingayen – “Give respect to your competitors because they bring out the best in you,” thus stressed by Board Member and Liga ng mga Barangay Provincial President Amado “Pogi” Espino, III to athletes during the opening program of the 2015 DepEd Pangasinan 1 Meet held at the Narciso Ramos Sports and Civic Center (NRSCC) gymnasium on November 12.

Speaking before 2,000 athletes, coaches and school heads from three congressional districts of DepEd Pangasinan 1, BM Espino, who represented Governor Amado T. Espino, Jr. as guest of honor and speaker, said that respect is vital in every game and must always be accorded to everyone.

The young Espino, who served for three terms as Mayor of Bautista town before he was elected as board member, likewise asked the young Pangasinan athletes to refrain from doing things which might lead them to bad direction.

“As you compete, you not only carry the banner of your respective schools and municipalities or cities, but also, you take pride in hoisting the banner of the province of Pangasinan,” BM Espino said.

Meanwhile, Schools Division Superintendent Ma. Celia Fernandez noted that athletes must change the obsolete perception about competition which is ‘competing with others,’ and added that a player must struggle and compete against himself to surpass his previous performance.

An athlete competing individually, Dr. Fernandez added, enables himself to break borders that limit what he can achieve further.

The schools division superintendent has also asked the teachers and coaches to remain supportive to their players as involve in agreeable things and procedures during the tournament.

Athletes representing their respective clusters will vie for dominance in various sporting events to earn a chance to represent the schools division on the forthcoming Region 1 Athletic Association (R1AA) Meet.

SUPPORT TO FARMERS AFFECTED BY TYPHOON LANDO. Governor Amado T. Espino, Jr. (4th from left), Department of Agriculture Regional Dir. Valentino C. Perdido (3^rd from left) and Provincial Liga ng mga Barangay President Amado “Pogi” I. Espino, III (2nd from left) lead the distribution of farm inputs and planting materials to farmers affected by Typhoon Lando on November 12 at the Sta. Barbara Provincial Nursery as part of the rehabilitation effort of the DA and the provincial government.  With the Governor is Provincial Agriculturist Dalisay Moya.  MVSadim

LINGAYEN — The provincial government under the stewardship of Gov. Amado T. Espino, Jr. opened three more agricultural facilities to further improve the productive capability of local farmers.

The facilities which include a rehabilitated farmers’ pavilion, a mushroom culture research and production center and nursery seedling propagation and grow-out project, were inaugurated during the massive distribution of certified seeds to farmers whose crops were devastated by the recent super typhoon “Lando” on November 12 at the Provincial Agriculture Office in Tebag in Sta. Barbara, Pangasinan.

The funding of the newly rehabilitated farmers’ pavilion came from the P4 million prize incentive received by Pangasinan as a National Rice Achievers’ Awardee to which the province has been elevated to the Hall of Fame for being among the best provinces in the country in rice production for three consecutive years from 2012 to 2014.

Expressing concern over the plight of the farmers and fishermen sector, Gov. Espino said the facility is intended mainly for the farmers’ use and their families.

He said the building will serve as venue for activities and gatherings of farmers and groups in the agricultural center.

The Provincial Mushroom Training Center, on the other hand, will be used to train the various rural-based groups in Pangasinan who are interested to venture in mushroom production as additional source of income.

The Plant Nursery Seedling Propagation and Grow-Out Project is intended to boost the province’s existing project in the production of seedlings to be planted in watershed areas, eco-parks and school compounds.

Following the blessing of the new facilities, the governor and Dr. Valentino C. Perdido, the OIC Regional Executive Director of the Department of Agriculture-Regional Field Office I, distributed farm inputs and planting materials to the typhoon Lando affected farmers as part of the rehabilitation effort of DA-RFO I and the Pangasinan Provincial Government.

Gov. Espino and Perdido distributed 30,365 bags of seeds composed of 15,584 bags of certified inbred seeds and 15,051 bags of hybrid seeds.

The governor said the volume of seeds available from DA will only satisfy the seed requirement of 30,635 hectares out of the 37,150 hectares, but Gov. Espino has assured the farmers that the province will augment the lacking seeds to complete the seed requirements.

Assorted vegetable seeds and mungbean seeds were also distributed during the event where Perdido said at least 4,725 kilogram of mungbean seeds were given to farmers including some 300 cans of red onion seeds and shallot seeds for farmers of Bautista and Bayambang while cans and packs of assorted vegetable seeds were provided to farmers from 31 municipalities of Pangasinan.

Meanwhile, Gov. Espino told the farmers that in line with the mitigation of the anticipated El Nino, the province will start next week the repair of communal irrigation system and construction of some 183 shallow tube wells around the province as he assured to upgrade the facilities in the coming year upon the approval of the P50 million budget proposed for the project.

He also urged the farmers to seek the help of the provincial government and DA for their farming needs so that they can help provide their needs to improve their productivity as the province remains to be a farming community in the next 30 to 50 years.

Perdido likewise called on the farmers to give importance to the assistance they are provided and use them well towards the upliftment of their living conditions as he expressed admiration to the able leadership of Gov. Espino who has willingly provided help to his people in distress. /ADV

CONG. ROBREDO PAYS COURTESY VISIT ON GOV. ESPINO. Camarines Sur Representative Leni Robredo, Liberal Party (LP) Vice Presidential candidate (3^rd from left) pays a courtesy visit on Governor Amado T. Espino, Jr. (2^nd from left) shortly before meeting with a crowd of 7,000 incumbent barangay and local officials in Pangasinan for a dialogue held at the Narciso Ramos Sports and Civic Center (NRSCC) gymnasium on November 11. Cong. Robredo was escorted by 2^nd District Congressman Leopoldo Bataoil (4^th from left) during the courtesy call. Also present are: (from left) Vice Governor Jose Ferdinand Calimlim, Jr., Board Members Raul Sison, Nestor Reyes, Liberato Villegas, Angel Baniqued, Jr, Danilo Uy and Amado ‘Pogi’ Espino , III. /Photo by MVSadim

Lingayen – Camarines Sur Representative Leni Robrero, Liberal Party (LP) Vice Presidential candidate, hailed Governor Amado T. Espino, Jr. for his transformative leadership that is made evident with the conferment of the Seal of Good Housekeeping (SGH) award, now upgraded as Seal of Good Local Governance (SGLG), by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) to LGU – Pangasinan earlier this year.

In her visit to Pangasinan today, November 11, for a dialogue with about 7,000 incumbent barangay and local officials from various districts of the province led by stalwarts of the Partido na Pangasinan (PnP), Cong. Robredo said: “receiving the SGH/SGLG award reflects the kind of leadership of a leader.”

“Nakukuha lang po ‘yun ng mga magagaling sa pamumuno,” Cong. Robrero said as she recalled what her late husband, former DILG Secretary Jessie Robrero, told her about the exemplary leadership of Governor Espino. It was the former DILG secretary who started SGH award.

Cong. Robredo likewise stressed three key elements in good governance which include accountability, transparency and people’s empowerment and noted that engaging ‘the ordinary people’ in governance would resolve more problems faced in the community.

Earlier, 2^nd district Cong. Leopoldo Bataoil escorted Cong. Robredo in a courtesy call on Governor Espino at the Capitol building.

LGU – Pangasinan romped off with 2015 SGLG award from Department of the Interior and Local Government after the province met all the criteria of core components (good financial housekeeping, social protection and disaster preparedness) and essential components (business-friendliness and competitiveness, environment management and peace and order) of the seal.

The provincial government also bagged the SGH in 2011 and 2012 in recognition of its good performance in internal housekeeping, particularly in local legislation, development planning, resource generation, allocation and utilization, customer service and human resource management and development.

For receiving said SGH/SGLG awards, the provincial government received Performance Challenge Fund (PCF) cash incentives which were utilized for the construction of various infrastructure projects and school buildings in the province.

It was learned from Cong. Robredo that by next year barangays would engage in Bottoms Up Budgeting (BUB). This, she said, will be implemented through activating Local Poverty Reduction Team (LPRAT) which will determine recipient barangays of projects that will be funded by the national government.

Other PnP stalwarts present during the dialogue held at the Narciso Ramos Sports and Civic Center (NRSCC) gymnasium were: Vice Governor Jose Ferdinand Z. Calimlim, Jr.; Board Members Amado ‘Pogi’ Espino, III, Nestor Reyes, Raul Sison, Angel Baniqued, Jr., Liberato Villegas and Danilo Uy; incumbent municipal and city Mayors, Vice Mayors and councillors.

After the dialogue with local officials and presscon, Cong. Robredo held a separate dialogue with TODA officers also in Lingayen.

Lingayen – Provincial officials present during the 2^nd Youth Leadership Summit held at the Narciso Ramos Sports and Civic Center (NRSCC) gymnasium on November 10 exhorted about 4,000 youth leaders from various schools in Lingayen to “instil among themselves the vital virtues of discipline, love and respect as foundations of their life.”

In his keynote speech as guest of honor and speaker, Governor Amado T. Espino, Jr., emphasized to the participants that discipline must be learned and preserved to harmonize with four factors that shape the well-being of an individual which include the family, the community, schools and the church.

“All that we do now as your leaders are not for us anymore, but for you and the future generations,” Governor Espino said as he pointed out that discipline is the key instrument that made the incumbent provincial administration attain positive developments for Pangasinenses in terms of health care promotion, and peace and order, among others.

Citing the youth as ‘future of Pangasinan,’ the provincial chief executive likewise asked them to live up with their aspirations in life, saying: “Huwag kayong humintong mangarap sapagkat libre ‘yan… parang hangin na ating hinihinga.”

            The youth leadership summit conducted by the Lingayen District Hospital (LDH) led by Chief of Hospital Athena Marie Merrera served as an avenue for the youth to learn insights on the leadership styles undertaken by present-day leaders which they can emulate as youth leaders in their respective schools.

Vice Governor Jose Ferdinand Z. Calimlim, Jr., on the other hand, reiterated to the young Pangasinenses “to love their respective communities and the province of Pangasinan, value education, and refrain from the ill-ways of living, including peer pressure for illegal drugs.”

“Ito ang pagbubukas at pagpapamulat sa inyong papel sa pagsulong ng mga magagandang adhikain para sa kinabukasan ng Pangasinan,” Vice Gov. Calimlim said.

Meanwhile, Board Member and Liga ng mga Barangay Provincial President Amado ‘Pogi’ Espino, III, asked the students to give due respect to the efforts and sacrifices of their parents and relatives, and teachers who help them develop a good character, and live with self-respect.

The young Espino, who has been a public servant for 14 years, likewise urged the youth “not to rush on things which might lead them to the wrong direction.”

“In due time, your parents will be proud with whatever you will achieve. But for now, start the change within yourselves and lead by example,” BM Espino said.

Messages were also delivered by invited resource speakers during the summit. They were: PSSupt. Rolie Saltat, Officer-in-Charge of Police Provincial Office (Pangasinan Cares… for your safety), DepEd Pangasinan 1 Schools Division Superintendent Maria Celia J. Fernandez (Pangasinan Cares… for your education), Provincial Health Officer I Cielo Almoite (Pangasinan Cares… for your health) and BM Espino (Pangasinan Cares… for your future).

Participating youth leaders were from Pangasinan State University Lingayen Campus, Pangasinan School of Arts and Trades, Pangasinan National High School, Lingayen 1 Central School, Magsaysay Elementary School, Adelphi College and Lingayen Technological Institute.