Samal, Bataan rising

SAMAL, Bataan – This once sleepy town, with a measly annual budget of R50 million, has since soared economically, with an annual budget of R200 million.

In her State-of-the-Municipality Address (SOMA) over the weekend, Mayor Gene Malibiran dela Fuente reported to her constituents that when she was first elected in 2010, Samal only had a R50 million budget due to lack of investors, income and poor collection of taxes.

But she cited that due to effective governance, the municipality earned the trust and confidence of investors, eventually opening up employment opportunities and generating millions of pesos in income.

"We are expecting an additional R60 million income next year," said Mayor dela Fuente, drawing cheers from the public.

She said that this year alone, a total of R330 million worth of infrastructure projects were implemented

"We were also able to construct a 10 - kilometer road worth R106 million.”

She also gave credit to Vice Mayor Aida Macalinao and the members of the Sangguniang Bayan for supporting development initiatives that spurred economic progress.

"Vice Mayor Aida played a major role in my administration and she did not leave me behind during my ups and downs; I admire her loyalty to my administration that resulted to the better services to the people of Samal,"pointed out dela Fuente.