CORRUPT–FREE. The San Simon municipal hall during the incumbency of Mayor Leonora Wong who now sits as vice mayor. FB photo
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO — “All’s well in San Simon.”
This was the statement of Loret Santos, the chief of staff of Mayor Abundio “JP” S. Punsalan Jr., here on Tuesday in reaction to allegations of irregularities in his town which surfaced recently.
Earlier, Vice Mayor Leonora Wong lambasted Punsalan for allegedly acquiring parcels of land surrounding the town hall which are not contiguous to each other while some are under “lis pendens.” She even claimed that the acquisition was at a much higher price.
Wong, who was succeeded to the mayorship by Punsalan, also decried the plan of the LGU to acquire a P350 million loan from the Development Bank of the Philippines. She said the LGU should not take out a loan in the middle of the pandemic.
Santos denied any wrongdoing in securing a loan since “we are a local government unit and we are entitled to secure a loan” to implement our various projects which will benefit the people of San Simon.
Santos also denied any anomaly in the town’s acquisition of several parcels of lands surrounding the town hall which, he said, “will eventually benefit the people.”
Santos even said their critics’ allegations that the parcels of land are not contiguous and are under “lis pendens” or have pending legal actions is not true.
He said there is even a bonus since the acquired lots will reach up to the end of the lot of the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP).
“Atin yang bonus, miras ya keng dulu ning NGCP,” he said, claiming that this will mean free additional parking space.
Suspect
Santos said he suspects that Vice Mayor Wong is reacting negatively to the land purchase because her brother’s PTT gas station will be set for demolition because it encroached on the road.
“Karening asali ming gabun, malasak ya ing gas station asali ning kapatid na kasi ing dalan siklo re anya very soon masukad lareni lunto la siguradu ku meg encroach la,” he stressed.
When asked about the lands under lis pendens he said he has no comment: “Ala kung a comment pamu, but we are ready to answer that. Mantun la busbus but the titles are ok.”
He said the LGU bought them at around P3,00 per square meter.
He recalled that the lot fronting the town hall was being offered for sale then at P2 million which is a 1,000 square-meter lot. But he said then mayor Wong refused to buy it.
He said that now it is valued at P10 million by the one who bought it, a businessman from Sto. Tomas town he identified as a certain Adelon David.
“We negotiated and offered to buy it at P6 million, but he rejected it and now we learned that 800 square meters was sold at P15 million to a former mayor of Capas,” he said.
That leaves a 200 square-meter lot which was reportedly bought by another buyer.
Santos said with the lot acquisition, they will now have a space for a training center and a multi-purpose gym.
Plans
He disclosed that they are now trying to entice the Regional Trial Court in Macabebe town to relocate in San Simon by offering them a portion of the land. This will be convenient for the RTC since it easily gets flooded in Macabebe while the location in San Simon is flood–free and is very accessible, he explained. “We initially plan to keep this under wraps but now….,” he disclosed. “We have a lot of plans.”
Santos said the town hall now is being constructed to better serve the people and accommodate them. It has budget of P5 million from the Capitol and 4th District Rep. Rimpy Bondoc.
“Because our municipal hall is too small, we need more space to accommodate the people,” he said.
Santos said with their plans and the progress now being seen in San Simon, big businesses are taking a second look at their town.
“We have a lot of inquiries from big businesses like SM, Puregold, Vista Land, just to name a few,” he said.
Santos said the proximity of San Simon to Manila makes it an ideal location.
San Simon is a third-class municipality in the 4th district of Pampanga.
