Family news, take two

The New City Hall has been officially opened...

Gloria was here to open it, and shook Florinda's hand...

(Gloria the laundress, sniffed our cook...GMA is not popular here...the urban legend is that Gloria's grandmother took in Laundry, so that she identifies with the poor...indeed, her father's family was poor, but her mother's was rich, and Gloria was a debutant and first daughter, and even knew Bill Clinton when she attended Georgetown).

Gloria also will arrange help for the farmers who lost their crops to the recent storm...and met with some ex NPA men who decided they were too tired to keep running around with guns...

The changes here from village to town to city in the last 15 years are amazing...the highway from here to Cabanatuan is now full of shops and businesses, and now the Mayor has a new City hall and the Waltermart mall, and other modern businesses starting...

He seems to have done a great job in this, although the poor/rich disparity and unemployment is still high...

Usually I'd be the first to condemn a new fancy building, but with the rate of growth of the city, the old one was very dowdy and much too small...and no place to expand. So by making a new city hall, and new businesses, he is hoping it will attract new businesses here, just like the Sandal festival is a way to bring attention to the local sandal industry (the mayor, of course, owns one of the sandal factories...)

I couldn't find a photo of the new building on line yet...will post when I get one...the new one is beautiful...

Now, if we only can get Manolo to push our local sandals...