Panlilio keeps guard up vs rivals, jueteng lords
The canvassing of votes may be over, but for Pampanga governor-elect Fr. Ed Panlilio, it is not time to let his guard down. He said on Saturday his security team is still on alert for possible attacks by followers of his political rivals, who might have been hurt by his political victory. âWe have reason to be apprehensive sa mga death threat. Ginagawa natin pag-iingat. Puwedeng ang pananakit not necessarily manggaling sa ibang aspirants, puwedeng manggaling sa followers. Walang huhusay sa pag-iingat (We have reason to be apprehensive about death threats. We just keep careful. The attacks may come not from the aspirants themselves but from their followers. So thereâs nothing like keeping alert)," he said in an interview on QTV-11âs news program âBalitanghali." He also said that while he has extended the hand of reconciliation to his rivals Mark Lapid and Lilia Pineda, he has not actually spoken to them. Panlilio said it was âunderstandable" that neither Lapid nor Pineda has contacted him, saying they need time to ârecuperate" from their loss. âNapakabilis ng pangyayari (Things happened so fast), it will take them some time before they could recuperate," he said. âAko nagapela na sa kanila kung pwede magkasama kami at magkaisa para isulong ang ikauunlad ng Pampanga (Iâve appealed to them to work together with me to help uplift the lives of the people of Pampanga)," he added. In the meantime, Panlilio said he has started organizing an âinternal team" that will help him hit the ground running in running the provinceâs day-to-day affairs. He said he also plans to take a short course in public administration to better prepare himself for the governorâs job. âIâll have to prepare myself. May tinayo nang internal team na tutulong sa akin, pero di ito cordon sanitaire (Iâve set up an internal team but this is not a cordon sanitaire)," he said. - GMANews.TV