Pampanga guv suspends town mayor, 6 councilors over questioned land deal

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – The mayor of San Simon town and six of its councilors were each slapped with a 60-day preventive suspension order by Pampanga Gov. Dennis Pineda on Friday (Nov. 6) over the purchase of land near the town hall which has been questioned.

Suspended without pay were Mayor Abundio Punsalan Jr. and Councilors Romanoel Santos, Mark Macapagal, Irene Dagdag, Randell Bondoc, Archiebald Basilio and Alekseyevich Vergara.

The governor has installed Vice Mayor Leonora Wong as acting mayor.

Pineda acted on a recommendation from the provincial board following an administrative case filed against the seven San Simon officials. Wong sued Punsalan for graft at the Office of the Ombudsman.

But Punsalan asserted that the transaction was “aboveboard,” in an interview with the Inquirer. He described his preventive suspension as “procedural.” The six councilors have yet to issue their statements.

Pineda directed the provincial legal office, the Department of the Interior and Local Government, and the provincial police director to implement the order. TONNETTE OREJAS INQ