LUBAO, Pampanga – The Liberal Party’s congressional candidate against Pres. Arroyo in this province urged her anew yesterday to resign.
This, amid reports she already used P459 million for infrastructure projects in the second district where they are opponents in the bid for Congress in May’s elections.
“If Pres. Arroyo really wants to continue to serve Kapampangans beyond her presidential term as she had declared, she should have filed her candidacy not for Congress in one district, but for Pampanga governor,” Architect Adonis Simpao told Punto in a telephone interview yesterday.
Simpao cited the need to make voters in the second district “aware of the real motives of the President” in running for Congress in their district which is composed of the towns of Guagua, Bacolor, Sasmuan, Sta. Rita, Floridablanca, Porac and Lubao where she is a registered voter.
“Kapampangans are not limited to the second district. She said she would like to serve her ‘cabalens’ beyond her term, but she bypassed those in the first, third and fourth districts and opted only for Kapampa-ngans the second district by seeking the congressional post there,” he noted.
Simpao said that such an option revealed that the President’s motive was not primarily serving Pampanga, but making it to Congress where she could land as House Speaker.
“The Charter change still being pursued by her allies in Congress backs up suspicions that she eventually wants to become prime minister under a parliamentary system of government,” he added.
He also noted that Mrs. Arroyo had had enough time to prove her sincerity to serve her constituents through her being senator, vice president and then president for nine years.
Simpao, a civil society leader who supported Gov. Eddie Panlilio’s gubernatorial bid in 2007 and helped carried out Panlilio’s province-wide campaign for good governance, said he had no campaign funds and does not intend to solicit contributions to prop up his congressional bid.
“Perhaps I would be open to contributions in terms of campaign materials. I just do not want to be involved in money matters in politics,” he said, while admitting he never could match the huge funds spent by the President, as well as her machinery, in the second district.
Akbayan partylist Rep. Risa Hontiveros, an LP senatorial candidate, cited records from the Department of Public Works and Highways indicating that the President spent P459 million in pork barrel allocations for infrastructure in the second district, more than six times the P70-million annual pork barrel allocation per congressman.
Hontiveros said even if the spending is not illegal, it was “improper” and “shameless.”
She noted that the President “went through a building frenzy, as if creating her own road to Congress, and perhaps, to the prime minister position that she obviously covets.”
Some sectors have alleged that the President’s move to remain in politics was designed to shield her and members of her family from being prosecuted for anomalies in her administration.
Simpao said “I am happy for projects that benefit the people” but asked “are we sure that all the funds were really poured into the projects for them?”
“We know well how close some Pampanga mayors are to the President,” he added.
Simpao also urged Kapampangan voters in the second district to look deeper into the motive behind the projects. “We will reap what we sow,” he warned.
Mrs. Arroyo’s friend former provincial member Lilia Pineda, whose husband Rodolfo “Bong” Pineda was implicated as big-time gambling lord during the Estrada administration, is the official candidate for governor of the Lakas-Kampi-CMD party.
The second division of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) is expected to come out with its decision on the electoral case filed by Pineda against Panlilio, a priest who won as independent candidate in 2007 and is now seeking reelection under the banner of the LP.
Simpao said he agreed with Panlilio’s lawyers that the Comelec’s decision would be biased in favor of Pineda. He said that the ouster of Panlilio from the provincial government in time for the May elections would be a blow to the candidates of the LP in Pampanga.
“I think the Comelec is just waiting for the right timing in promulgating its decision after adverse reactions to its decision in the cases of Isabele Gov. Grace Padaca and Bulacan Gov. Joselito Mendoza. It’s all part of a plot to enable the President and her allies to do what they want in Pampanga,” he added.
This, amid reports she already used P459 million for infrastructure projects in the second district where they are opponents in the bid for Congress in May’s elections.
“If Pres. Arroyo really wants to continue to serve Kapampangans beyond her presidential term as she had declared, she should have filed her candidacy not for Congress in one district, but for Pampanga governor,” Architect Adonis Simpao told Punto in a telephone interview yesterday.
Simpao cited the need to make voters in the second district “aware of the real motives of the President” in running for Congress in their district which is composed of the towns of Guagua, Bacolor, Sasmuan, Sta. Rita, Floridablanca, Porac and Lubao where she is a registered voter.
“Kapampangans are not limited to the second district. She said she would like to serve her ‘cabalens’ beyond her term, but she bypassed those in the first, third and fourth districts and opted only for Kapampa-ngans the second district by seeking the congressional post there,” he noted.
Simpao said that such an option revealed that the President’s motive was not primarily serving Pampanga, but making it to Congress where she could land as House Speaker.
“The Charter change still being pursued by her allies in Congress backs up suspicions that she eventually wants to become prime minister under a parliamentary system of government,” he added.
He also noted that Mrs. Arroyo had had enough time to prove her sincerity to serve her constituents through her being senator, vice president and then president for nine years.
Simpao, a civil society leader who supported Gov. Eddie Panlilio’s gubernatorial bid in 2007 and helped carried out Panlilio’s province-wide campaign for good governance, said he had no campaign funds and does not intend to solicit contributions to prop up his congressional bid.
“Perhaps I would be open to contributions in terms of campaign materials. I just do not want to be involved in money matters in politics,” he said, while admitting he never could match the huge funds spent by the President, as well as her machinery, in the second district.
Akbayan partylist Rep. Risa Hontiveros, an LP senatorial candidate, cited records from the Department of Public Works and Highways indicating that the President spent P459 million in pork barrel allocations for infrastructure in the second district, more than six times the P70-million annual pork barrel allocation per congressman.
Hontiveros said even if the spending is not illegal, it was “improper” and “shameless.”
She noted that the President “went through a building frenzy, as if creating her own road to Congress, and perhaps, to the prime minister position that she obviously covets.”
Some sectors have alleged that the President’s move to remain in politics was designed to shield her and members of her family from being prosecuted for anomalies in her administration.
Simpao said “I am happy for projects that benefit the people” but asked “are we sure that all the funds were really poured into the projects for them?”
“We know well how close some Pampanga mayors are to the President,” he added.
Simpao also urged Kapampangan voters in the second district to look deeper into the motive behind the projects. “We will reap what we sow,” he warned.
Mrs. Arroyo’s friend former provincial member Lilia Pineda, whose husband Rodolfo “Bong” Pineda was implicated as big-time gambling lord during the Estrada administration, is the official candidate for governor of the Lakas-Kampi-CMD party.
The second division of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) is expected to come out with its decision on the electoral case filed by Pineda against Panlilio, a priest who won as independent candidate in 2007 and is now seeking reelection under the banner of the LP.
Simpao said he agreed with Panlilio’s lawyers that the Comelec’s decision would be biased in favor of Pineda. He said that the ouster of Panlilio from the provincial government in time for the May elections would be a blow to the candidates of the LP in Pampanga.
“I think the Comelec is just waiting for the right timing in promulgating its decision after adverse reactions to its decision in the cases of Isabele Gov. Grace Padaca and Bulacan Gov. Joselito Mendoza. It’s all part of a plot to enable the President and her allies to do what they want in Pampanga,” he added.
