Abalos leads oath taking rites in Mandaluyong

MANILA, Philippines - Mandaluyong City Mayor Benjamin “Benhur” Abalos Jr. took his oath of office yesterday before Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona.

Concurrently the president of the Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines (ULAP) and the League of Cities of the Philippines (LCP), Abalos officially assumed his second term as Mandaluyong City chief executive.

In the same event, Rep. Neptali Gonzales II took his oath of office before Sen. Francis Escudero.

Abalos said his battle cry during his new term would be “gawa, hindi salita (deeds, not words).”

Last year, the city government earned P42.25 billion in investments from 13 giant companies.

The rise in revenues paved the way for various city-wide infrastructure, including Aba-los’ pet project of improving the public cemetery in a span of one year – the first of its kind to have its own columbarium, crematorium and chapel.

Corona swears in Marikina officials

Corona, a resident of Marikina City, administered yesterday the oath of office to city officials yesterday.

He swore in Mayor Del de Guzman; Vice Mayor Fabian Cadiz; Reps. Miro Quimbo and Marcy Teodoro; Councilors Elmer Nepomuceno, Ronnie Acuan, Frankie Ayuson, Jojo Banzon, Serafin Bernardino, Carissa Carlos, Mario de Leon, Eva Paz, Ariel Cuaresma, Anna Dayao, Mark Albert del Rosario, Xy-za Diazen, Ernesto Flores, Susano Magtubo, Rommel Ortiz and Wilfredo Reyes.

De Guzman, Quimbo, Cadiz and majority of the 16 councilors ran under the banner of the Liberal Party.

Lim administers oath to Manila execs

Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim yesterday swore in the newly elected vice mayor and councilors of Manila, as he called on them to take the challenge of uplifting the lives of their constituents.

Lim swore into office Vice Mayor Isko Moreno and the newly elected councilors. Moreno’s wife, Dynee, was beside him during the oath taking which was attended by city councilors and some department heads.

Lim once again declared Moreno as “the next mayor of Manila.”

Moreno went on to introduce the members of the new council who also took their oath before Lim.

They were Councilors Nino de la Cruz, Irma Alfonso-Yuson and Erick Ian Nieva of District 1; Rodolfo Lacsamana, Ruben Buenaventura, Ramon Robles and Edward Tan of District 2; Bernardito Ang and Re Fugoso of District 3; Ma. Sheilah Lacuna-Pangan, Edward Maceda and Eduardo Quintos XVI of District 4; Richard Ibay, Josefina Siscar and Raymundo Yupangco of District 5; Dennis Lacuna Jr., Beth Rivera and Luciano Veloso of District 6.

Addressing the city council during its opening yesterday at the Manila City Hall, Lim called on the councilors to put an end to political divisiveness and bury the political hatchet, now that elections are over.

In swearing in the councilors, Lim said he would rather have them take their oath together instead of by district in order to symbolize “unity and harmony” within the council, the city government’s legislative arm.

Lim said he is open to reconciliation, stressing that he in fact did not bother to answer all the dirty issues thrown against him during the campaign period.