BAGUIO CITY, Philippines — Mayor Mauricio G. Domogan here ordered local residents and visitors to exercise the lawful citizen’s arrest to effectively contribute in the successful implementation of the local anti-smoking ordinance in order to help reduce the increasing pollutants in the city’s air which triggers dreaded health diseases to proliferate.

Admitting that the city police force, numbering around only 500 personnel, is not enough to guard the rapidly growing population round-the-clock, Domogan said it is important for local residents and visitors to cooperate by exercising citizen’s arrest in order for the local government to succeed in its anti-smoking campaign. Violators of the local anti-smoking measure are penalized with a fine of P300 to P1,000 depending on the frequency of the violation committed. (Dexter A. See)

320-kilo dynamited fish confiscated

CAMP DIEGO SILANG, La Union — Police intercepted and confiscated last Thursday 320 kilograms of fish caught through dynamite fishing at the San Fernando City Public Market in this province.

Superintendent Rolando Bersola, city chief of police, said one of the fish vendors was arrested but his identity has been withheld, pending the arrest of his alleged cohorts.

Bersola quoted officials of the City Agriculture Office as saying that most of the confiscated fish were “galunggong.” (Freddie G. Lazaro)

Guiguinto: court rules vs MNTC

GUIGUINTO, Bulacan — Representatives of the business and agriculture sectors in Bukid area, here, joined Friday Mayor Isagani Pascual in hailing the Bulacan Regional Trial Court’s (RTC’s) dismissal of two suits filed by the Manila North Tollways Corp. against the municipal government.

The cases junked by the court were the “annulment of local business tax” and “annulment of assessment of permit and regulatory fees imposed by the defendant municipality” on MNTC’s operation and maintenance of the North Luzon Expressway (NLEx) and its three toll plazas in the town. Pascual viewed the decision as favoring Guiguinto’s stand that since it has been hosting the entry and exit points of the expressway for many years, the municipality has rights to impose taxes from the tollways company. (Freddie C. Velez)

Quake drills set in Dagupan

DAGUPAN CITY, Pangasinan — The City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council will carry out a city-wide simultaneous earthquake drill on Monday at 9 a.m. in all public and private elementary and secondary schools.

The activity is in observance of the July 16, 1990 Earthquake as Dagupan Disaster Safety Day and in celebration of the National Disaster Conciousness Month with the theme “Makialam. Makiisa. Sa Pagsugpo sa Panganib, May Maitutulong Ka.” (Liezle Basa Iñigo)

Tarlac governor delivers own SOPA

TARLAC CITY — Governor Victor Yap delivered recently his state-of-the-province address (SOPA), outlining various economic and peace and order programs as the blueprint for the Tarlac’s progress.

Yap said to continue the economic development of the province, he will continue to implement the proposed Tarlac Urban and Physical Development Authority that will lay the ground work for the vision of Tarlac. (Mar T. Supnad)