SELDOM councilors are featured in newspapers, unlike the mayors. That’s understandable. The mayors play the lead roles. However, members of municipal boards and city councils play very important roles too in every aspect of governance. Their works are done through sessions. Their contribution to governance is in their legislative works. Legislative works are similar to any august bodies like congress and the senate. Like congress, the councils and municipal boards are debating bodies. One must have the facility of the English language because it is the medium more often used in the argumentation and in presenting amendments to resolutions and ordinances. Pilipino and the local dialect are allowed but it will cause a huge problem to the stenographer of the secretariat taking the notes once the discussions will be transcribed to the hard copies.
I served the Angeles City Council in three separate terms. From 1988 to 1992, 1995 to 1998 and 2013 to 2016. In my first term, the mayor was the late Antonio Abad Santos aka Bubusok. Young lawyer Edgardo Pamintuan was the vice mayor. I placed number four among those elected. The late Dr. Ric Zalamea was a topnotcher. The late Pacito Pabalan placed second and Lito Ganzon was in third place. We were joined by Raf Penggot Del Rosario, Dr. Ramon Moreno, Marianne Dayrit, lawyer Teresito Buan, lawyer Charlie Sandico and funeral parlor owner Magno Pangilinan.
In the second term, the mayor was Pamintuan and the vice mayor was Francis "Blueboy" Nepomuceno. I remember forming the council then were Bong Alvaro, Susan Pineda, Tom Pabalan, Dr. Romy Taruc, Aster Angeles, Dan Lacson and Jonjon Lazatin. And in my last appearance in the Council, the vice mayor was Vicky Vega Cabigting. (She made a comeback in the last elections to preside again). In my last term, sans for my Cumpareng Ganzon who maybe a bit older than I am, the rest of the councilors were between 24 to 45 years of age. Youngest was Danica Lacson at 24 and Alex Indiongco at 45. Visitors in the council sessions will surely be impressed by Councilor Maricel Morales, a former beauty queen who was Mutya ng Pilipinas in 1995. She was then the majority floor leader, and as such, she was responsible for the preparation of the items for discussions on the agenda. And I was the minority leader and was backed up in the fiscalization efforts by Bryan Nepomuceno and Carmelo "Pogi" Lazatin. The Council then was lively and though we were "combatants" on the floor we enjoyed each other company after the sessions.
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Marang concluded her stint after completing three terms in the Angeles City Council on June 30, 2016, and tried her luck as a vice mayoral candidate running in tandem with Alex Caugiran in the last elections. It was an unsuccessful try. Never she dreamt of getting into politics. In her youth, she won almost all the beauty contests she joined. She was the campus beauty desired by the red hot males of the Angeles University Foundation (AUF). She was declared as Miss Palarong Pambansa. She was a member of the Tuesday Group of German Moreno's That's Entertainment. She was a television model of several beauty products until she was spotted by a talent manager and cast her in a movie.
In my last term as councilor, I had also the privilege of having companies of people, like the amiable Edu Pamintuan, Jericho Aguas, Alex Indiongco, Pogs Suller, Danica Lacson and Amos Rivera. The present-day members of the Angeles City Council are quite young in age. The women members, JC Parker and Thelma Indiongco are married to former councilors, who maybe are staging a comeback. Niknok Baniola and Raco Del Rosario still look like college boys. Showing maturities are Jay Sangil and Alfie Bonifacio. Dan Lacson is the eldest in the group. Amos Rivera is "graduating" in 2022. Showing much promise is Joseph PG Ponce. He is a mayoral material in the future at the rate he is performing in and outside of the august chamber.