LEGAZPI CITY, Philippines – Most of his constituents described Sto. Domingo Mayor Celso de los Angeles Jr. as so open and vocal that when news came that he was being treated for cancer at the St. Luke’s Medical Center in Quezon City, most of them could hardly believe it.

“If there are problems, he calls us here. He lets us know,” said Gilma Banzuela, 58, a resident of Sto. Domingo, Albay.

She could not say if she believed the reports on the mayor's health because “he has not called us yet and he has not mentioned anything about it.”

“He tells us everything, including his problems with Legacy,” Banzuela said.

She said the mayor communicated with them through calls and text messages.

But as of Friday, no one had informed them yet of the mayor's real condition.

Banzuela only heard of the news over radio on Friday morning and said she did not feel anything upon hearing it.

“He was strong when he was here last week,” she said.

However, Banzuela, president of the Sto. Domingo Market Vendors Association, noticed that after distributing rice in several villages, De los Angeles “got tired of talking and his voice became hoarse.”

She told him to have a checkup, but the mayor said, “I will just finish this. It's easy to get a checkup.”

De los Angeles, founder of the collapsed Legacy Group of Companies, reportedly distributes 10 to 20 kilos of rice monthly to his constituents.

A government employee who refused to be named, said they would not believe the reports until the mayor informed them personally of his real condition.

“He does not keep anything from us,” she said.

Last week, De los Angeles prepared his municipal employees for a reorganization, according to Edna Banda, the town’s vice mayor whom he instructed to take over as acting mayor “although it has been, by operation of law, his practice to appoint me as acting mayor whenever he leaves for Manila.”

Banda said the beleaguered mayor met with the municipal staff, including the barangay (village) captains, and endorsed her to be the mayoral bet of the Lakas-Liberal coalition in the coming 2010 elections.

If De los Angeles is arrested and is unable to return as mayor after 30 days, Banda said she would be obliged to take over responsibility for the town’s governance.

Banda added, however, that she would become a full-fledged mayor only if ordered to do so by the Department of the Interior and Local Government.

Residents had an inkling of De los Angeles' “farewell” message when they heard over local radio station dzGB a text message he forwarded to his friend Dante Maravillas, who aired it Tuesday morning.

The text messages said he had no regrets working for the people of Sto. Domingo.

De los Angeles added that there was much sadness among his municipal staff during a meeting Monday and that he was beside his ill mother at the time he was texting Maravillas.

He said he was confident he would be able to clear his name and save his company if the courts were to handle his case instead of the Senate.