LP to field bet vs Arroyo in Pampanga - Drilon

The Liberal Party (LP) will be fielding a candidate to challenge President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s congressional bid in the second district of Pampanga province, a party official said on Tuesday. Former Senate president and LP chairman Franklin Drilon, however, could not name the candidate, saying only that Pampanga Governor Ed Panlilio, who is LP’s chairman in the province, had informed them that they would be supporting someone. “Si Governor Ed Panlilio ang namamahala. Nung nag-usap kami kahapon… may susuportahan na kandidato," Drilon told newsmen at the Commission on Elections (Comelec) main office in Manila after filing his certificate of candidacy (COC) for senator under the LP ticket. (Governor Ed Panlilio, who is handling our affairs in Pampanga, said we would be supporting a candidate there.)

Earlier news reports said Panlilio was encouraging President Arroyo’s older half-sister Cielo Macapagal-Salgado, a former vice governor of the province, to run against her sibling. But as of 1 p.m. Tuesday, President Arroyo’s sole opponent in Pampanga’s second district was one Feliciano Serrano, an independent candidate. The period of filing of COCs will end at Tuesday midnight. President Arroyo personally filed her COC earlier in the day. [See: Arroyo formalizes House bid for Pampanga's 2nd district] Drilon said it was obvious that President Arroyo's motive is to protect herself from the possible cases that would be filed against her once she steps down from office on June 30, 2010. “That is the motive. That is clear to the people," he said as he urged Pampanga residents to elect somebody in Congress that would truly represent them. - with Andreo Calonzo/KBK/RSJ, GMANews.TV