LP CONDEMNS GRENADE ATTACK ON WHISTLEBLOWER’S HOUSE

 

            The Liberal Party in Pangasinan today condemned the pre-dawn grenade attack on the house of Bugallon Mayor Rodrigo Orduna, the whisteblower who filed plunder charges against Gov. Amado Espino, Jr. for alleged involvement in jueteng operations.

            The Liberal Party, at the same time, called on law enforcement agencies in Pangasinan to intensify operations against private armed groups and other lawless elements who may be employed by politicians to sow terror on rival candidates.

            “We, in the Liberal Party, condemn the grenade attack on the house of Mayor Ric Orduna. We are asking the authorities to investigate this deplorable act and arrest whoever is behind the attack,” said former Vice Gov. Oscar Lambino, LP spokesman and vice-provincial chair.

            Initial police reports showed that an unidentified person hurled the grenade on Orduna’s compound on Bugayong street in Barangay Poblacion around 1:30 a.m. today.  No one was reported injured.

            Orduna is serving his last term as mayor, and is now running for vice mayor of Bugallon. He has joined the Liberal Party after severing his ties with Gov. Espino, whose son Jumel is now running for mayor of Bugallon under the Nationalist People’s Coalition.

            Orduna hogged the headlines last December after he filed plunder charges at the Office of the Ombudsman against Gov. Espino for allegedly pocketing more than P900 million from proceeds of jueteng operations in Pangasinan.

            Orduna, a former trusted political lieutenant of Espino, said the governor accumulated the ill-gotten wealth from jueteng operations since the time Espino was police director of Pangasinan in 1988.

            His statements at the Ombudsman were corroborated by Fernando Alimagno, alias Boy Bata, who confessed that he was one of the biggest jueteng operators in Pangasinan. Alimagno is now running for mayor of Candelaria, Quezon, under PDP-Laban.

            Alaminos City Mayor Hernani Braganza, the Liberal Party’s gubernatorial candidate for Pangasinan, called on the police to beef up the security of Orduna and increase police visibility in Bugallon and other election hotspots in Pangasinan.

            “We acknowledge the gains made by the Pangasinan police in curbing crime incidents, but our law enforcers should be on the look-out for lawless elements out to sabotage preparations for the May elections,” Braganza said.

            “The attack on Mayor Orduna deals a serious blow on efforts to ensure safe and fair elections in Pangasinan. Our law enforcement agencies should conduct more checkpoints and increase police visibility to prevent the outbreak of election violence,” he said.

“We also call on the authorities to intensify the crackdown on private armed groups in Pangasinan to ensure that lawless elements would not be used by politicians to terrorize

their rivals,” the LP gubernatorial bet added.

            Braganza said police investigators should also look into the possibility that the grenade attack on Orduna may be connected with the plunder charges that the mayor filed against Gov. Espino.

            “The investigators should explore all possible motives for the attack. Whoever is behind this insidious act is serious in silencing Mayor Orduna,” he pointed out.

            “But we will not let this incident cow us into submission. The Liberal Party stands side by side with Mayor Orduna in exposing the problems plaguing Pangasinan, and we will fight to the end so that truth and justice may prevail,” Braganza stressed.

LP MAYORAL BETS EXPOSE BRIBE ATTEMPTS FROM ESPINO’S CAMP

 

            Where is Pangasinan Gov. Amado Espino, Jr. getting all his money?

            This was the question raised by the Liberal Party in Pangasinan as their mayoral candidates exposed attempts by Gov. Espino’s supporters to bribe them into abandoning the gubernatorial bid of Alaminos City Hernani Braganza.

            The LP mayoral candidates revealed that Espino’s offer, which ranges from P100,000 to P500,000, was coursed through Provincial Board Member Ranjit Shahani.

            The candidates made the revelation in front of party officials who called an emergency caucus in Calasiao last Wednesday following reports that 17 LP mayoral bets have signed a covenant to support Espino’s re-election bid.

            “Shahani went to my house and initially offered P100,000 then raised it to half a million pesos as initial payment for me to support Espino,” said mayoral candidate Manny Tolentino of Alcala.

            But Tolentino and 11 other LP mayoral candidates who were present during the caucus denied having received any money in exchange for political support for Gov. Espino.

            “We wish to state on record that we never signed a covenant, or any document, supporting the re-election bid of Pangasinan Gov. Amado Espino, Jr.” said the LP mayoral candidates in a signed statement released after the caucus.

            “Together with our political leaders and supporters, we remain committed to President Aquino’s and the Liberal Party’s efforts to help elect Alaminos City Mayor Hernani Braganza as Governor of Pangasinan,” added the LP candidates.

            Gualberto Sison, LP mayoral bet for Agno, said he was also offered P100,000 in cash by Shahani, but he declined the offer out of respect for Braganza.

            “May isang salita po ako. Kung sino ang kandidato ko, iyon ang susuportahan ko,” Sison reportedly told Shahani.

            The LP mayoral candidates dismissed as “false propaganda” the reports that they have junked Braganza’s gubernatorial bid in favour of Espino.

            “Pawang kasinungalingan ang pinagsasabi ng kabilang kampo. Hindi totoo na iniwanan na namin si Mayor Braganza, ang aming kandidato sa pagka-gobernador,” said Douglas Soriano, the LP’s mayoral candidate in San Carlos.

            “Kahit ano ang mangyari, ipapanalo namin si Nani Braganza at ang lahat ng kandidato ng Liberal Party,” said Constante Agbayani, LP’s candidate for mayor in San Fabian.

            Three other LP mayoral bets from Western Pangasinan said they would never abandon Braganza, who had delivered millions of pesos worth of infrastructure and development projects as two-term congressman in the First District.

            “The First District of Pangasinan owes a lot to Nani Braganza.  Western Pangasinan will deliver the votes and elect him as our next Governor,” said Percival Mallari of Infanta.

            “We will never abandon Nani Braganza. The Pangasinenses are looking for a local hero and they found one in Nani,” said Romeo Boling of Mabini.

            “We have seen how Nani Braganza transformed Alaminos City into a progressive community free from drugs and other illegal activities. We want him to do the same in the whole of Pangasinan,” said Gerardo “Gerry” Rosete of Burgos.

            Two of the LP mayoral candidates in Eastern Pangasinan, on the other hand, noted that the people of the Sixth District consider Braganza as a native in the area.

            “Nani Braganza is a son of Asingan. He will never lose in this municipality,” said Benigno Robeniol of Asingan.

            “The Braganzas, Agsaluds, and Ramoses are well-respected in Eastern Pangasinan. This is Braganza’s bailiwick,” said Herminigildo Marzan of Balungao.

            Officials of LP-Pangasinan condemned the disinformation campaign being waged by Gov. Espino’s camp, saying these were part of desperate measures being undertaken by the governor to arrest the dwindling public support to his re-election bid.

            “The Liberal Party will continue to expose such dirty tactics, including attempts to sow intrigue and disinformation using the media,” the administration party said in a statement.

“The party also calls on the public to be always vigilant in order to frustrate the desperate attempts of Gov. Espino to make a mockery out of the people’s will and the electoral process,” it added.

The LP officials noted that Braganza is the only gubernatorial candidate who has the experience, track record and moral fortitude needed to transform Pangasinan into a bustling growth center and possibly, the most progressive province, in Northern Philippines.

            “We also believe that Mayor Braganza, if elected governor, will take the lead in erasing Pangasinan’s reputation as the laggard among the provinces in Region I in poverty, hunger, peace and order, education and health situation,” the party officials stressed.

“With Mayor Braganza as our provincial leader, we are confident that the Liberal Party would implement concrete programs and projects in Pangasinan anchored on the party’s “Daang Matuwid” policy,” they added.

Sa Debate sa Bomboy: GOB ESPINO NABAHAG ANG BUNTOT!

Hindi sumipot si reelectionist Gov. Amado T. Espino J.r sa pinakauna at pinakaaabangang debate sa Bombo Radyo Dagupan noong Sabado, dahilan upang umiskor ng malaking puntos ang kanyang mahigpit na kalaban sa pagka-gobernador na si Alaminos City Mayor Hernani Braganza.

Ang debate ay inorganisa ng Commission on Elections, Kapisanan ng mga Broadkaster ng Pilipinas, PPCRV at ng Bombo Radyo Philippines upang bigyan ang mga kandidato sa  Pangasinan at siyudad ng Dagupan ng pagkakataong iprisinta ang kanilang plataporma de gobyerno at sagutin ang mga maiinit na isyus na kinakaharap nila.

Marami sa mga Pangasinenses, maging ang mga organizers, na umantabay sa debate ay dismayado sa hindi pagsipot ni Espino ngunit nalugod na rin sa isang banda dahil kanilang narinig ang maliwanag na plano ni Braganza para sa tunay na pagunlad ng lalawigan ng Pangasinan.

PANGIT POINTS

Ayon sa mga mamamahayag sa radyo, TV, at pahayagan, isang malaking minus factor kay Espino  ang ginawang pag-isnab niya sa debate, dahil lumalabas na iniiwasan o hindi niya kayang sagutin ang mga mabibigat na isyung ipinupukol sa kanya.

Pangunahin dito ang umano’y pagkakasangkot niya sa iligal na sugal na jueteng, black sand mining sa Lingayen, at San Fabian at pagpatay kay Mayor Ruperto Martinez ng bayan ng Infanta.

“Mas naniniwala ngayon ang maraming mamamayan ng Pangasinan na mas mapagkakatiwalaang pinuno ng lalawigang Pangasinan si Braganza dahil mag-isa at direkta niyang hinarap at sinagot ang lahat ng mga katanungan ng mga panelista,” ayon kay aling Rosalinda Manuel, isang guro sa bayan ng Sison, Pangasinan.

PANGASINAN MUNA, HINDI BULSA MUNA

Umani naman ng maraming “Pogi Points” si Braganza sa kanyang maliwanag na development plan para tuluyan ng magtake-off ang lalawigan ng Pangasinan na ayon sa kanya ay “napag-iwanan na ng mga lalawigan katulad ng Cebu at Davao.”

Aniya mayaman ang natural at human resources ng lalawigan ngunit hindi ito napapakinabangang mabuti dahil mas inuuna pa ng gobernador ang sarili nitong pakinabang.

“Patunayan ni Espino na wala siyang nakaw na yaman, hinahamon ko siyang na sabay naming ilabas ang aming Statement of Assets and Liabilities (SALN) para makita ng aming mga kababayan kung sino ang nagpayaman sa posisyon.

GIANT PROJECTS, HINDI GHOST PROJECTS

Ipinagmalaki din ni Braganza ang ilan sa kanyang “giant projects” na aniya ay dahilan ng mabilis na pag-unlad ng Alaminos gaya ng mga sumusunod:

1.       Pangasinan State University (Alaminos City Campus)

2.       Gawad Kalinga Eco-Village

3.       E-Kawayan Factory

4.       Hundred Islands Services Complex

5.       Convention Center and Hotel

6.       Alaminos City Development Airport

7.       Computer Laboratories with free internet in all barangays

2 BILYONG PISO, UTANG NG LALAWIGAN

Ibinunyag ni Braganza sa debate na ang lalawigan ng Pangasinan ngayon ay may P2 Bilyon utang kaya ipinilit ni Espino at kanyang mga kakampi sa Sangguniang Panlalawigan na ipatupad ang 300 porsyentong pagtaas sa pagbabayad ng Real Property Taxes.

Noong tumakbo siyang gobernador noong 2007, binatikos niya ang 300 milyong pisong utang ng lalawigan sa ilalim ni dating gobernador Victor E. Agbayani. Ngunit sa kanyang panunungkulan, nagkaroon ng 2 bilyong pisong utang ang ating lalawigan, ani Braganza.

MORE PUBLIC DEBATES

Ayon naman sa isang iskolar na si Engelbert Maramba ng Calasiao, “katulad ng mga inaabangang public debates ng mga lumalabang pangulo sa Amerika, ang debate ang pangunahing batayan ng mga botante sa pagpili ng mahusay at tapat na pinuno.”

“Kung sa America ginanap ang debateng ‘yan at hindi sumipot si Espino, siguradong talo na siya sa eleksyon,” dagdag ni Maramba.

BRAGANZA DARES ESPINO: STOP HIDING AND FACE ME IN DEBATE

            Gubernatorial candidate Hernani Braganza today challenged his rival, incumbent Gov. Amado Espino, Jr., to stop hiding and face him in a debate to enlighten Pangasinan voters on their respective positions regarding the problems plaguing the province.

            Braganza, the Liberal Party’s candidate, issued the challenge after Gov. Espino unceremoniously skipped the debate sponsored by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) in Dagupan City and aired live over Radyo Bombo last Saturday.

            Gov. Espino initially agreed to attend the much-awaited debate, which was also-co-sponsored by the Parish Pastoral Council on Responsible Voting (PPCRV), but the governor backed out at the last hour for unknown reasons.

            As a result, the panelists who were supposed to grill the gubernatorial candidates on their respective platforms of government instead spent one-and-a-half hour interviewing Braganza on his plans to address the issues facing the province.

            “I am very disappointed that my rival chose to snub the invitation from the Comelec, PPCRV and Radyo Bombo. This should have been a great opportunity for the voters to choose the better gubernatorial candidate,” Braganza said.

            During the interview, Braganza scored Gov. Espino for his lackluster performance in the Provincial Capitol for the period of six years.

            “We have given Gov. Espino six years to improve the living condition of Pangasinenses. Everybody in Pangasinan knows that he has failed in this mission,” he said.

            Despite the province’s potential for growth and development, Braganza said Pangasinan has become a laggard in Region I in the areas of peace and order, poverty and hunger, health, and education.

            He noted that one out of four Pangasinenses, or about 25% of the provincial population, is considered poor and barely survives on a P48.5 daily budget.

            “We have the worst poverty situation among the provinces in Region I. This is unacceptable, considering the fact that Pangasinan is rich in agricultural and marine resources and we, Pangasinenses, are known as a hard-working people,” he added.

Braganza said 10 towns in Pangasinan have also topped the list of municipalities with highest poverty incidence in Region 1, as admitted by the provincial planning and development officer.

The Liberal Party’s candidate said Pangasinan has also the highest crime rate in the Region, with 7,333 crimes recorded in 2011. This represents 71.62% of the total number of crimes (10,239) committed in the Region.

            “Gov. Espino is a former police officer. How come Pangasinan turned out as the most crime-prone province?” he pointed out.

            Of the 7,333 crimes recorded in Pangasinan, Braganza said only 2,624 cases were solved. This represents 35.78% crime solution rate, which is also the lowest in Region 1.

            Compounding the peace and order problem is the fact that there were more than 270 cases of unsolved killings recorded in Pangasinan last year, Braganza said.

            “Most of these unsolved killings, perpetrated by gunmen riding in tandem on motorcycles, are politically-motivated,” he added.

            Braganza explained that Gov. Espino’s failure to address the issues of poverty and breakdown in peace and order would leave Pangasinenses with no choice but to look for an alternative candidate.

            “We, in the Liberal Party, are offering concrete programs of action based on good governance. These programs are geared for one purpose: improve the living condition of our people,” Braganza added.

LAKBAY PANGASINAN, LAKBAY PAGBABAGO

‘LAKBAY PANGASINAN, LAKBAY PAGBABAGO’

Braganza-Lomibao Team Kicks off Campaign with Barangay Sorties

Gubernatorial candidate Hernani Braganza and his running mate Arturo Lomibao formally kick off their electoral campaign dubbed “Lakbay Pangasinan, Lakbay Pagbabago” tomorrow (April 1) with barangay sorties and town hall meetings in the towns of Urbiztondo, Mangatarem and Bugallon, hoping to deliver their messages directly  to voters even in far-flung barrios.

Braganza, the mayor of Alaminos City, explained that the Liberal Party in Pangasinan would focus on grassroots campaigning as part of its effort to reach the greatest number of voters possible in the 45-day campaign period.

“We will go directly to the voters to listen to their concerns and to deliver our messages,” said the LP’s gubernatorial bet.

“We will attend the rallies organized by our local candidates in the town plazas, but we will devote most of our time interacting with our fellow Pangasinenses in the barrios,” he added.

Braganza noted that the barangay consultations would be interactive in character, enabling voters not just to see and hear the candidates but also giving them the chance to articulate their aspirations for a better Pangasinan.

Voters and residents will also be encouraged to become an integral part of the campaign in their respective barangays by spearheading a series of localized activities -- such as vote’s education-- aimed to promote the programs of the Braganza-Lomibao team to as many citizens as possible.

Braganza admitted that grassroots campaigning might be physically taxing on him and his running mate given the fact that Pangasinan has the biggest land area among the provinces with almost 1.6 million voters.

But Braganza noted that he and Lomibao, a former chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP), are prepared physically and mentally to undertake such a rigorous campaign schedule.

“Grassroots campaigning is the only way to counter the traditional use of guns, goons and gold by our political rivals,” said Braganza, a former student activist and an advocate of grassroots campaigning.

Braganza noted that his supporters from religious, civic and business groups would also campaign in the grassroots level, particularly in areas that he could no longer visit due to time constraints.

“Aside from the Liberal Party machinery, the organizations in the grassroots level have committed to campaign for our ticket and ensure the victory of Team P-Noy in Pangasinan,” he said.

“Our youth groups, on the other hand, have committed to campaign actively in the social media to reach voters in the cities and other urban areas,” he added.

Keeping within Comelec-prescribed limits, for a change

The barangay sorties and town hall meetings would also allow the Liberal Party candidates to spend for the campaign within the limit prescribed by law and the Commission on Elections (Comelec), Braganza explained.

Under the law, a local candidate is allowed to spend only PhP3 for every voter. This means that a local candidate in Pangasinan, which has 1.6 million voters, is limited to spend only PhP4.8 million during the campaign period.

“Traditionally, candidates are obliged to provide food and spend for transportation during big rallies. That, in itself, is a violation of election laws,” Braganza pointed out.

Braganza said he had also advised his supporters to follow strictly the Comelec guidelines in the printing and posting of campaign posters and other paraphernalia.

“I have advised them against printing oversized posters, banners and streamers. I also advised them not to post campaign posters outside the Comelec-sanctioned areas,” he added.