Testing the Voters Wisdom Once Again

I strongly support the decision of Among Ed Panlilio to run for governor of my beloved Pampanga. I could not think of a candidate as sincere and dignified as this meek and humble priest from Minalin, Pampanga. I know that leaving the priesthood for a while means a lifetime for a person who was divinely called decades ago for the vocation. Perhaps, the decision of Among Ed was also of Divine origin.

Chances; Changes

I was a youth leader of Masantol, Pampanga several years back. As a former SK Chairman of one of the coastal barangays of our town, I was accustomed and oriented with the way Pampanga politics works. For instance, a mayoralty candidate may be needing a little more than 30 million pesos to win a seat in a municipality with approximately 30 to 40 thousand registered voters. The amount is needed to buy votes for 1000 pesos each. This amount does not include expenses for campaign paraphernalia. Imagine how much a candidate for governor of several municipalities should spend to be able to get the seat. Usually vote buying starts 3 days before the actual elections.

This kind of politics happens largely because of contributions coming from gambling lord(s) in the province. The candidates, especially those who are faring well in surveys, get fat checks from jueteng operators .

When the old Lapid won for governor for his first term against Gov. Guiao, a prospect of a clean politics was in sight. Lapid obtained 80% of the the votes cast without any clear machinery, huge amount of money and network to back him up. I thought then that politics in Pampanga would change. I was wrong.

The old Lapid befriended and affiliated himself with the alleged jueteng lord of Pampanga, Bong Pineda. With this association, the chance to change the political landscape of Pampanga with the old Lapid at the helm began to be elusive till this day.


Fr. Panlilio will try to change the landscape of Kapampangan politics once again. Can a candidate without machinery be victorious despite all the difficulties and odds? Let us test the voters once again. If Lito Lapid made it in his first bid, then a morally upright priest can do it without any doubt .

Choices; Voices

The Kapampangan voters are, come May 14,2007 elections, have to choose among the 3 Gubernatorial candidates: a Priest, a Quarry lord and a better half of a Jueteng lord. Mark Lapid seems to be devoid of the youthful idealism he is supposed to possess. At a very young age, he inherited a culture of corruption from his father Senator whom he succeeded. The father and son duo allegedly accumulated stash of cash from the quarrying being conducted in the province. An approximate amount of 10 to 20 million pesos a day is earned by the tandem.

Lilia Pineda, on the other channel, was a former mayor of Lubao and an elected Board Member. She is wife to Bong Pineda, allgedly an infamous jueteng lord of Central Luzon. Pineda is said to spend 2 billion pesos for her bid. This amount is not excessive for a jueteng lord who earns an approximately 300,000 pesos of peoples money for every municipality a day.

Fr. Panlilio is a priest living in poverty.

NB: Voters Profile

The thinking, educated, and wise voters only comprised approximately 20-30% of the whole voting public. The remaining 70-80% voters are classified as the 'masa vote'. The 'masa vote' is prone to vote buying.

Our role: Let us convince others to go for Among Ed.