Acting Mayor Leonora Wong. FB photograb/SunStar Pampanga
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – Former three-term mayor and incumbent vice mayor Leonora Wong has succeeded her successor at the San Simon mayoralty, temporarily, starting Monday.
Wong’s tenure is set for six months, barring any major turn of events, in the duration of the suspension of Mayor Abundio Punsalan Jr. imposed by the Department of the Interior and Local Government.
The order of suspension served Friday was an offshoot of Sangguniang Panlalawigan Resolution No. 6786 dated May 24, 2021 mandating the suspension of Punsalan and five town councilors, finding them guilty of “dishonesty, grave misconduct in office, gross negligence, gross dereliction of duty, and grave abuse of authority.”
The case stemmed from a complaint over an allegedly illegal land transaction entered into by the mayor and the members of the sangguniang bayan in 2020.
At Monday’s flag raising ceremony, Wong called on the town officials and the municipal employees for a renewal of the “core values inherent in public servants for the delivery of efficient service to the people.”
“During my nine years as mayor, we were able to instill the core values of good and efficient public servants such as having commitment, dedication and integrity in our work, and now that I am tasked to lead our town again albeit temporarily, I hope to revive the same values plus the character of focus and resiliency in each of us,” she said.
Wong said she would reinstitute her administration’s trademark program dubbed FEAST — Fast, Effective, Accountable, Simple and Transparent.
“A good local government must start with its employees. If we have efficient leaders and workers, we can create good projects which will redound to the upliftment of the lives of our people, at the same time boosting the economy of the municipality,” she noted.
For starters, Wong said programs that conducted monthly by the local government during her mayorship will be relaunched especially those related to health, among which were free Pap smear in every barangay, the revival of the hypertensive and diabetic clubs, awareness program on HIV, and operation “tuli.”
“My focus will be on health, especially on our Covid-19 response, and also disaster preparedness since the rainy season is fast approaching,” she said.
Dispelling any thoughts of political payback against the suspended mayor, Wong said Punsalan’s ongoing projects, including the municipal hall annex and the community hospital, will be continued “subject to the availability of funds for their construction.”
“As of now, I have not seen the remaining budget but I can assure everyone that I will maximize whatever we have with worthwhile projects and programs,” she said.
Punsalan’s six-month suspension will end in January 2022, four months before the national and local elections. With news reports
