Elly ‘Spike Boy’ Pamatong runs for Pampanga governor

Self-proclaimed international lawyer and former presidential nuisance candidate Elly Pamatong has thrown his hat into the political ring again, this time for governor of Pampanga. Sun-Star Pampanga (www.sunstar.com.ph) reported Friday that Pamatong formalized his candidacy for Pampanga governor Thursday before the Commission on Elections (Comelec) provincial office. He said he is giving Pampanga residents what he calls a clear choice between a “leadership based on money" and one that is based on “competence and professionalism." Pamatong, a native of Zamboanga and a five-year resident of Barangay San Roque Bitas, Arayat in Pampanga, will oppose incumbent governor Mark Lapid and board member Lilia Pineda. The only other “underdog" in the race is Catholic priest Eddie Panlilio. But Pamatong said his reason for entering the gubernatorial race is because of the war between “money-talk-cracy" and “meritocracy." Pamatong gained notoriety for his pro-US rallies and for disrupting traffic in Metro Manila by placing spikes on the road. He tried to join the presidential elections in 2004 but the Comelec threw out his bid and declared him a nuisance candidate. Pamatong said if elected, he would transform Pampanga into a show window of total honesty in public service and an international model for a “meritocratic democracy" or to run a government not based on money. Pamatong, who is inarticulate in the Pampanga dialect, criticized Pineda as being “politically blind" and Lapid as a “professional entertainer." He said Lapid and Pineda are among those considered by the Supreme Court en banc as among “the evils that the Comelec must seek to correct." Asked about the eradication of the illegal numbers game jueteng, Pamatong said jueteng has helped most of the cabalens, adding that he does not really view jueteng as an issue. He said if the illegal gambling is an issue then kapampangans should look deeper into it. “If the people think jueteng is good for them, then we would go for the wish of the kapampangans," he said. - GMANews.TV