'Malico in Pangasinan,' gov insists in boundary dispute with N Vizcaya

By Gabriel L. Cardinoza

SAN NICOLAS, Pangasinan -- Visitors traveling to Barangay Malico for the Indigenous Peoples (IP) regional summit recently could only smile at the signages they read on road sides.
    An advertising tarp for a mobile phone prominently installed on a road bend says "Welcome to Malico, Santa Fe, Nueva Vizcaya."
    But a cafe and vegetable stall several hundred meters farther away welcomes visitors to Barangay Malico, San Nicolas, Pangasinan.
    On the road corner to the summit venue at Malico Elementary School, written on the small building's signage was "Malico Tourism Assistance Center, Malico, Santa Fe, Nueva Vizcaya."
    But just behind the building, a triangular iron signage on a road intersection reads: "Welcome to Malico, San Nicolas, Pangasinan."
    From the signage alone, it was clear that Santa Fe town in neighboring Nueva Vizcaya had annexed a big part of the mountain village, including the public schools, which are under the jurisdiction of the Pangasinan Second Schools Division.
    "Malico is part of Pangasinan, not of Nueva Vizcaya," Gov. Ramon Guico 3rd said in his speech at the Ilocos Region IP Summit.
    It was the first time for Guico to visit Malico as governor, although he had gone to the village when he was campaigning for governor.
    "I made sure that I'm here today. And you, our dear brothers from the Ilocos Region, will be witnesses that the governor of the great province of Pangasinan went to Barangay Malico not only because of my responsibility to host and welcome you, but to affirm that this place is part of Pangasinan," the governor said.
    Some 1,000 IP members from the provinces of Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, La Union and Pangasinan attended the summit.
    Also present were Pangasinan Sixth District Rep. Marlyn Agabas, San Nicolas Mayor Alice Enriquez, National Commission for Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) Commissioner Gaspar Cayat, NCIP Regional Director Harriet Abyadang and NCIP Pangasinan head Dr. Enrique de los Santos Jr.
    Guico pledged total support to the village by extending social and health services and appropriating necessary funds it needed.
    Malico, which sits on top of the Caraballo Mountain, is a one-hour drive via Pangasinan-Nueva Vizcaya Road or Villa Verde Trail from San Nicolas town to Santa Fe town.
    It is called "Little Baguio" because its cold climate is similar to Baguio City's.
    Tribal leaders from the different IP groups in Pangasinan had chosen Malico as the summit's venue in an apparent show of support to Pangasinan's ownership of Malico.
    San Nicolas Vice Mayor Alvin Bravo said it was good that the boundary issue on Malico has been again opened for discussion.
    "We are just asserting our rights. What belongs to Pangasinan should remain in Pangasinan," Bravo said, adding that residents of Malico have always considered themselves as Pangasinan residents.
    "The father of the province has spoken. We are not claiming. We are not encroaching. We are not fighting for something that does not belong to us. All we are asserting is that what belongs to Pangasinan should remain in Pangasinan,"