BUSINESS AS USUAL. People in Pangasinan, travelers or not, can now again partake of tupig, a rice cake known as among the products of the province. This, as sellers have resumed their businesses following the continued easing of movement restrictions put in place since the pandemic hit two years ago. (Photo by Joann Santiago-Villanueva) MANGATAREM, Pangasinan - After two years since the pandemic hit, provincial buses have resumed trips from Manila to Pangasinan and vice versa and people who do not have other means of transportation can finally travel again. This, as the government continues to reopen the economy to allow more economic activities and aid people in the new normal. Aside from travelers and transport sector workers, small business owners like Carmelita Fernandez, 38, are also elated over this development. Fernandez cooks and sells tupig, a rice cake variant made from glutinous rice, coconut milk, coconut meat strips, and sugar which is famous in the Ilocos Region and s
Graphics courtesy of the Samal Tourism Office. DAVAO CITY - After two years, the annual Visit Samal festival in the Island Garden City of Samal in Davao del Norte reopened with new events in store for the month of May. Rosabel Jusguan, acting city investment tourism officer, said the event dubbed "Visit Samal Islands: Summer Saya sa Isla 2022" now includes various events and sports competitions. "For two years, it was put on hold due to the pandemic where face-to face-events were restricted. This time, we added sports competition to make it more exciting," Jusguan said in an interview Thursday. In partnership with the Sports Development Program of the city mayor's office and tourism stakeholders, Jusguan said the event is also made possible through the support of various associations. "Actually we started the preliminaries in April but the highlights of the Summer Saya event are from May 1 to 31," she said, adding the events are not only exclusive to t
Graphics courtesy of the Samal Tourism Office. DAVAO CITY - After two years, the annual Visit Samal festival in the Island Garden City of Samal in Davao del Norte reopened with new events in store for the month of May. Rosabel Jusguan, acting city investment tourism officer, said the event dubbed "Visit Samal Islands: Summer Saya sa Isla 2022" now includes various events and sports competitions. "For two years, it was put on hold due to the pandemic where face-to face-events were restricted. This time, we added sports competition to make it more exciting," Jusguan said in an interview Thursday. In partnership with the Sports Development Program of the city mayor's office and tourism stakeholders, Jusguan said the event is also made possible through the support of various associations. "Actually we started the preliminaries in April but the highlights of the Summer Saya event are from May 1 to 31," she said, adding the events are not only exclusive to t
(File photo) MANILA - At least three senatorial candidates of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte's ruling party, the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban), gave the Chief Executive a near perfect score for fighting illegal drugs. In a joint press conference on Tuesday, PDP-Laban senatorial bets Salvador Panelo, Astra Pimentel, and Rey Langit touted Duterte's drug war as a success, citing the seizure of illegal drugs and the reduction in drug-related crimes in the country. On a scale of one to 10, Duterte received a perfect score from Pimentel who believed the President has done his best to address the drug problem. "Para kay President, on a personal level, 10 iyang si President Duterte sa kanyang war on drugs (For the President, on a personal level, President Duterte deserves to receive a grade of 10 on his war on drugs)," she said, when asked to rate Duterte's drug war. Pimentel, however, said she would only give an "eight of 10" grade on t
DRIVE VS. DENGUE. Local officials of the Department of Health on Monday (April 24, 2022) urge the public to keep their surroundings clean after dengue cases in the Cordillera Administrative Region increased. In Baguio City alone, cases almost doubled during the first quarter of 2022, compared to the same period last year. (PNA file photo) BAGUIO CITY - Local health authorities have raised alarm over the increase in dengue hemorrhagic fever cases in the region, with the number of cases here almost doubling. In a phone interview on Monday, Public Information Office-Baguio chief Aileen Refuerzo said based on the records of the City Epidemiology Surveillance Unit, there were 82 dengue cases as reported by the Disease Reporting Units in the city from January 1 to March 31, 2022. "This is a 95.23 percent increase compared to the same period in 2021," she said, referring to the 42 cases during the first quarter of 2021. She said there were no deaths recorded but most of the patients