In Pampanga, local elections heat up in yet another Panlilio-Pineda face-off

The sun seems closer in Pampanga. In the province’s sleepy, dusty towns, residents congregate before their gates and porches, ill at ease under the oppressive heat of summer. Save for the province’s two cities classified as highly urban areas, life in most of its municipalities goes on one day at a time. However, the apparent calm betrays the brewing tempest that is the coming May elections. With priest-turned-Pampanga governor Eduardo ‘Among Ed’ Panlilio running anew against former provincial board member Lilia ‘Nanay Baby’ Pineda in a highly contested position, the race for the local government’s top post is set yet again to grab national headlines.

It was easily described as the proverbial triumph of good versus evil when Panlilio won over Pineda in the 2007 elections, albeit only by a margin of a little over a thousand votes. After all, Panlilio, a former Catholic priest, ran as an independent candidate against Kalipunan ng Malayang Pilipino’s (KAMPI) Pineda, whose husband Rodolfo ‘Bong’ Pineda is a widely suspected, even feared, jueteng (illegal numbers game) lord and financier of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. But in February, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) declared after six months of recount that Pineda was the duly elected governor, winning by just about 2,000 votes over Panlilio. The ousted governor in turn appealed the decision, which has yet to be decided on by the Comelec en banc. This year, Panlilio has the backing of the more popular Liberal Party (LP), while Pineda is supported by the ruling administration coalition Lakas-KAMPI-CMD. A third gubernatorial bet, independent Ricardo Ocampo Sr., previously ran but lost as mayor of Mexico town. The May polls will thus either be a reiteration of the people’s perceived trust on a formerly obscure candidate, or a shift in favor of his closest rival who has more than enough of the necessary campaign resources. Pampanga’s “God-sent" leader The 56-year-old Panlilio must have been up as early as 6 a.m. to make it to a 7 a.m. sortie at Arayat Public Market, two municipalities away or about thirty minutes’ drive from the capital city of San Fernando. There, in a sea of yellow, his supporters and party-mates were waiting, eager to introduce their “God-sent" leader to the vendors and market-going public. “Among, hina-harass kami rito (Among, we are being harassed here)," LP mayoralty bet for Arayat town Rudy Alejandrino, a former leader of the rebel group Hukbong Mapagpalaya ng Bayan (HMB), greeted Panlilio, who hails from Minalin, as he was getting off his black van with his official plate. Clad in a white, collared Giordano shirt, black pants, and open-toed sandals, Panlilio listened as the former rebel leader recounted how he was being implicated for illegally bringing guns with him during election season. In strategic spots across the town hang streamers declaring Arayat is not classified as an election hotspot. Yet, Alejandrino lamented, the local police seem hell-bent on erecting checkpoints wherever he is scheduled to appear. “Apart from that, we’ve also received reports that our candidates’ campaign leaders are offered P25,000 each. Our concern is how to make people understand that voting in the coming elections is really a decision of the conscience, and should not be based on monetary considerations," Panlilio said in Filipino, words coming out of him slow as if addressing a flock of parishioners. Three hours after going around the controversial P47.7million market inaugurated last year by no less than Arroyo herself, Panlilio and his running mate, businessman and Christian pastor Marcos Lazatin, stopped by a carinderia (eatery) for servings of noodle dishes mami and palabok. In between spoonfuls of the noodle soup, the governor was greeted by children who put the back of his hand on their foreheads, a Filipino gesture of respect for elders. Shortly before lunch, he stopped by a local school to greet the owner on her birthday. The owner, an elderly woman in her eighties who claimed to be Panlilio’s supporter since he ran in 2007, sheepishly handed him P5,000 in cash as campaign donation. “She wouldn’t want me to issue an official receipt," he explained in jest. Panlilio: Same motivation, same nemesis “My motivation for running remains the same. There was no alternative in 2007. This year, we looked for other possible candidates but found no one. If I don’t run, the only candidate will be Mrs. Pineda. My conscience cannot accept that," Panlilio explained as he directly accused Pineda of being behind the alleged vote-buying in the province and threats hurled against LP candidates. In 2007, he ran with the platform of good governance, civic participation, and poverty alleviation. In his three-year stint, Panlilio claimed he was able to implement projects, such as constructing about 200 covered courts for as low as P1.5 million which under a different administration would have cost P5 million due to kickbacks. He also claimed to have been in 43 out of the 44 visits to villages to conduct medical missions, livelihood assistance, skills training, and distribution of seedlings. “Three years have not been enough, but at least we were able to start changing the culture of politics here, from patronage politics and jueteng politics, to principled politics. The kind of politics where holding office is about service and not about enriching one’s self," he declared. In his December 2008 statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN), Panlilio had a net worth of over P700,000. Panlilio’s term, however, has not been as sterling as he would want it to be, at least for his critics. As early as his oath-taking, local journalists criticized his provincial administrator Atty. Vivian Dabu for disallowing coverage of the event. Later on, Dabu, once described to have been the de-facto governor with her immense power and accused of amassing wealth during her term, would be the source of the governor’s troubles. During the 2007 campaign, several allegations were likewise hurled against him. Forwarded text messages told about four women he supposedly had flings with and bore him children. Panlilio was also accused of receiving jueteng money as campaign donation, and of swindling the Church’s Action Center of Pampanga during his stint as its executive director. Pampanga journalist and staunch Panlilio critic Bong Lacson has similarly repeatedly assailed Panlilio in his columns in the local daily Punto, scoring him for reportedly paying His Life City Church P675,000 for a leadership and worship services seminar, as well as for firing capitol employees at his whim. The governor has shrugged off these accusations. “They are ganging up on me. The other (local) politicians are against me. They are blocking my projects. For example, if we request funding for roads, medical equipment or hospitals, the provincial council will not approve the release of funds," Panlilio explained. True enough, save for two, all the other members of the provincial council were either from Lakas-CMD or Kampi. Throughout the day’s activities, which included addressing student leaders and overseas Filipino workers, Panlilio used as many as five shirts. At one point, grabbing a fourth in a brownish hue, he blurted to his aide, in what sounded like an epiphany, “I forgot we’re on campaign mode. Find me something yellow." Pampanga’s self-declared mother The motorcade of Pineda, a known friend and Lubao townmate of Arroyo’s, in the first-class municipality of Mabalacat 26 kilometers away from San Fernando was one that strikes awe, at times fear. Followed by no less than 30 vehicles of the other candidates from her slate, and assisted by about 20 security aides, Pineda’s convoy made its way through the narrow, parched streets of the town, waking up the sluggish locals with campaign jingles blasting from several oversized speakers. In a pristine white shirt, pink vest, and pink cap, Pineda was perched atop her mini-truck surrounded by her aides. When a reporter asked to be in the same vehicle as she was, she pointed to the vehicle of a candidate for provincial board member, far ahead the motorcade, where she was sure perhaps to be safe from the glare of journalistic scrutiny. The people of Mabalacat warmly welcomed Pineda, if the crowd that showed up in areas she visited was any indication. Young and old alike, even kids, moved to the upbeat tune of at least three pop songs appropriated by Pineda’s camp to be her campaign jingle. “Lilia Pineda, we love you," the crowd’s banners screamed in hastily scribbled words. Elsewhere, others stretched their hands toward the motorcade, asking for T-shirts or whatever items the candidates had brought with them to clinch their much valued votes. “Nanay Baby, Nanay Baby," the provincial board member candidate chanted as he gyrated to the tune of a popular Muslim song and pointed to the woman in the pink vest. “Dakal kendi ken (She has many candies)," he hastened to add. One thus wonders how much Pineda’s camp spends every day for the bags of candies she throws at crowds during her motorcades. A van from the convoy was spotted to be occupied only by a driver, with the rest of the vehicle’s space taken up by sacks and sacks of candies and T-shirts. The people, all too willing, scrambled to get on the ground and pick up the dole outs which came from the motherly hands of their Nanay Baby. Gambling connections As the motorcade was passing, an onlooker waved strips of what seemed like recycled paper, undoubtedly the one used to take bets for jueteng. Playful or not, what the man did pretty much summed up the biggest accusation lodged time and again versus Pineda and his husband, apart of course from their very close ties with the President. Pineda’s husband Bong first appeared in a congressional inquiry in 1995 called forth by then committee on public order and security chair Rep. Teodulo C. Natividad. There, Teodulo cited that Bong reportedly earns P12 million daily, 30 percent of which goes to police and friends for protection. He was likewise questioned several times for his alleged links with gambling lords, but he either denied knowing any of them or refused to comment. In the previous hearings he was invited to attend, he did not show up and instead presented medical certificates. Pineda herself has not been spared for her supposed sinful ties with Arroyo. In the Senate hearings that followed the infamous Hello Garci scandal, her name appeared several times in relation to her alleged efforts to ensure Arroyo’s reelection in the 2004 presidential elections. The scandal referred to wiretapped conversations including that between a woman believed to be Arroyo, and a man alleged to be then Commission on Elections (Comelec) commissioner Virgilio Garcillano. Presidential staff officer Michaelangelo Zuce claimed in a sworn statement before the Senate that Pineda attended a January 2004 meeting involving Arroyo, Garcillano, and election officials from Mindanao at the President’s home in La Vista, where Pineda supposedly handed out money in exchange for support for Arroyo. He added she gave Comelec regional director for region IV Juanito Icaro white envelopes containing P30,000. Another witness, former Intelligence Service officer Capt. Marlon Mendoza, quoted Garcillano as saying that Bong gave P300 million to help secure votes for Arroyo. The Pineda family may indeed have the resources for such immense campaign funds. Pineda alone, who was the mayor of Lubao town from 1992-2001 and provincial board member from 2004-2007, had a declared net worth of over P30 million. The Ombudsman does not have her SALN for 2003 and 2004, her last years as provincial board member. Among the businesses of the Pineda family, which includes husband Bong and son Lubao mayor Dennis Pineda whose wife is Sta. Rita town mayor Yolanda Pineda, are those in realty, cable TV operations, construction, and education. All in all, financial statements obtained with dates ranging from 1996 to 2003 show the family has a total stockholder equity amounting to over P79 million. Amid all these, Pineda has successfully evaded public inquiry, perhaps due in part to protection by her husband, and has never been seen frequently in media interviews. “She doesn’t like being covered by national media, but I’ll see what I can do," Pineda’s publicist Rosve Henson, the leader of a group that initiated a signature campaign in 2008 for a recall election to oust Panlilio, told GMANews.TV over the phone in response to an interview request. Henson suggested Pineda might oblige the request right after her Mabalacat motorcade. But three hours into the motorcade, a commotion ensued. Pineda’s vehicle seemed to have diverted from the original route. “Maybe we hit a kid," a campaign aide jestingly remarked. A few minutes later, her vehicle emerged in a road a few blocks away from the motorcade, with the woman in the pink vest already missing. Repeated attempts to get in touch with Henson to remind him of the interview went unheeded. Yet again, Pineda has effectively shunned directly answering issues which has long hounded her. Ultimate decision lies with Kapampangans With the national elections just barely two weeks away, the people of Pampanga may have already made up their minds. A 20-year-old student from the University of the Philippines, a native of Sta. Ana, said he is voting for Panlilio. “Apart from Lilia’s being an ally of Arroyo, her connections to jueteng operations here have long been proven. Even my grandmother who makes jueteng bets knows that," the student said. He added, however, that Panlilio’s campaign seemed weak, as the candidate himself appeared languid and unable to sustain the public clamor which helped put him at the province’s helm three years ago. Meanwhile, a 37-year-old woman and a mother of three children said she is rooting for Pineda. “I am voting for Pineda because she was really able to help my father-in-law with his dialysis," the woman explained. “Pampanga will be lazy under Pineda. Imagine having a gambling lord as the de-facto governor," a 44-year-old man, however, countered in a separate interview. The decision ultimately lies with the Kapampangans. On May 10, the Pampanga public will decide whether to “continue the crusade" for transparency and good governance that Panlilio puts forth, or finally give a chance to the “compassionate and honest service" that Pineda offers. With both camps harping on promised changes, election results in the province may just be a reflection of the prevailing national sentiment. — RJAB Jr., GMANews.TV