More low temperatures till February

I am an early riser. Most often 430 A.M. There’s a road at the back of my house which is half kilometer long. It is healthy. I love to walk briskly before taking my breakfast. It is a simple joy to kick my heels while the January morning weather is slapping my face. It so cool that a jacket is needed. The weather men are forecasting more low temperatures and will extend till late February. How nice.

Myfriend Martin

Vitug loves cool climates. Too bad he can’t travel to countries which have four seasons because of the pandemic. Before the corona virus spread he made so many travels, at the very least three times a year. Before the pandemic I used to see his posts on Facebook that he was in the US,

Korea, Japan and in

Europe. If you have the money and time, why not.

I told Martin once over dinner to start exploring the Philippines. He is originally from Betis, Guagua, resided in Quezon City and now took residence in Angeles City. I also advised him to make a wide look around Angeles City. The city like the big apple NY also doesn’t sleep, if we have to believe Frank Sinatra, the ole blue eyes. Making rounds at night particularly in the Korean town is a big treat.

Angeles is only more than6,000 hectares.So smallcompared to other metropolitan cities. It has always been a melting pot. It became even more as nearby Clark Freeport thrived with business activities in recent years, with airlines flying out of the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (CIAC). Once things will be normalized, people are all inoculated and there no more travel restrictions, for sure we will be witnessing business activities more than what we experienced in the previous years. ( Too bad while many countries already have the vaccines and are inoculating their people, here in our country it is still a big mess as it surfaced in the recent senate investigation. ‘Eddie’and tongpats are culprits).Before that, the migration of people coming from different provinces plus the dramatic increase of Koreans establishing residences was a bonanza to the city economy. The prosperity also cascaded to nearby Porac town. I remember someone made a clinical study of what Angeles City is today, and what it can become years ahead. It promises a lot of things.

Retro. Angeles after world war ll was the most progressive among towns north of Manila, despite neighboring San Fernando was the capitol town and crossroad of commerce. It was because after the Japanese occupation more American servicemen arrived for rehabilitation of what was damaged by the recent war. Many were able to find work inside the American base, while the enterprising ones were able to set up businesses outside of the military installation. The type of businesses were mostly based on proximity. Kiosks and bars were initially set-up in the downtown area and gradually moved in the Balibago area. There was no institutionalized land use program.

The population ballooned, and by early sixties then Congresswoman Juanita Lumanlan Nepomuceno worked for the chartering of the town into a city. Rafael Del Rosario Sr.

per square-meter, and part of the money used for the acquisition were from the local government's fund.

The check from Philippine National Bank registered under the "Municipality of San Simon" account amounting to P9-million was issued to and was transacted by MetroBank-Makati City, Santos said.

“It was reflected in the local government's books as an investment of the Municipality of San Simon but there was no deed of absolute sale under the name of the local government and no titles were likewise delivered to the municipality” he disclosed.

Santos furthered that the said transaction was executed without the authority of the Sangguniang Bayan.

"No resolutions were approved by the municipal council granting then mayor Wong the authority to purchase any property," he said.

Santos also said that the local government's duty is to spend its funds in the implementation of programs and projects that will benefit its people, and not invest in "buy and sell of properties."

The preliminary hearing of the case filed at the SP was initially scheduled on Tuesday but was reset to give time to Santos' camp to review the respondents' reply, while the Ombudsman is yet to advice the group for their next move.

All in good faith

Wong, for her part, said that she invested the local government's funds in an aim of letting the money grow while not in use.

She said during that time, the local government has "over and above" surplus of income due to the proper implementation of local revised tax declaration code of 2008.

"Since we have a huge amount of surplus of income during that time, we decided to reinvest the local government's money so it can grow and be utilized for more projects," she said.

When the property was acquired, Wong disclosed that the local government was supposed to be sharing ownership with her and her friend she identified as Rudy Sy who also partly paid for the property.

However,during the processing of papers, it was learned that land ownership, especially involving the government, cannot be split into three individuals so the transaction did not prosper, Wong said.

"When we learned that it was not allowed, I immediately sought the advice of my lawyers on how to proceed and upon recommendation of the Commission of Audit (COA), we returned the exact amount of money of P9-million to the local government," she said.

Wong, meanwhile, belied claims that she proceeded with the transaction without the authority of the municipal council.

She cited SB Resolution No. 11-11 approved by the legislative body on June 23, 2011 which gave her the authority to invest the local government's funds.

"It did not specifically note what kind of investment. It could be anything as long as the money will grow while not in use," she said.

The incumbent vice mayor also disclosed of SB Resolution No. 11-12 which provided supplementary funds -- P4.6-million from surplus collection and P4.4million from savings -- to purchase the said property.

"It was not really included in the annual budget of 2011 because the source of funds is from our surplus of collection," she said.