GUAGUA, Pampanga – He has been dubbed as David out to battle a Goliath. Others see better analogy in Don Quixote brandishing braggadocio against a windmill.
But 41-year-old Adonis Simpao, official candidate of the Liberal Party (LP) against Pres. Arroyo in Pampanga’s second district, is convinced he can have a foothold on the political maturity of Kapampangan voters who will eventually sweep him towards victory in the May elections.
This, despite the continuing visits of Pres. Arroyo that he has criticized as early and unfair campaigning in their district.
Mrs. Arroyo’s sorties, particularly starting this year, have been invariably coupled with free medical and dental services, project inspections, distribution of health insurance cards, computers, and charcoal-making equipment, among a plethora of other benefits falling like manna from Malacanang’s largesse.
Even inspection of a proposed fence has become presidential.
But locally grown and nurtured Simpao has no plans to match the magnitude of such presidential patronage.
In the first place, he lacks the resources as he belongs to Pampanga’s average middle class as partner in a family-owned construction company. And he insists there is moral transgression in such “display of magnanimity”.
“I hope Pres. Arroyo and her allies realize that she is not a sure winner here in the second district of Pampanga. We intend to give her a very good fight and we intend to win. I believe in the end, the Kapampangans will vote for the true Kapampangan and not someone who didn’t even grow up in the province,” he said in a statement yesterday in reaction to reports that Pres. Arroyo’s congressional allies plan to install her as speaker of the House in the 15th Congress.
This, despite his being almost an accidental candidate after he was prodded to accept the congressional candidacy amid lack of LP standard bearer as the deadline for the filing of certificates of candidacy neared last Dec. 1. As a matter of fact, he filed his candidacy at 10 p.m. on the last day.
Prof. Randy David, who had vowed to challenge the President, had bowed out of the race, even as presidential sister Cielo Macapagal-Salgado, whom LP provincial chairman Gov. Eddie Panlilio had urged to run, opted to distance herself from politics.
Salgado, in a text message to Punto, declined to comment on whethershe would support Simpao, saying that she was “no longer active in the Liberal Party.”
Simpao insisted, however, that his candidacy was neither forced on him nor accepted amid lack of choice. “My candidacy was designed by circumstances,” he said and he accepted it with full volition despite later objections from members of his family who were not aware he was filing his candidacy against the country’s most powerful person two hours before deadline on Dec. 1.
Irwin Nucum, spokesperson of the Kapampangan Kontra Recount (K2R) supporting LP provincial chairman Gov. Eddie Panlilio and opposing the recount of gubernatorial votes done by the Commission on Elections, said Simpao’s confidence on his victory was far from being quixotic.
Nucum is a close friend of Simpao who was a convenor of the K2R. “He is simple, down-to-earth, and always concerned about other people rather than himself. And he is a man of courage with a long-term vision,” Nucum said, noting Simpao’s role as president of a province-wide group called Kasaup which batted for good governance and fought against corruption at local government levels in Pampanga.
Nucum said Simpao is convinced that he could win against Mrs. Arroyo. “But much depends on the conscience of the Kapampangan voters. They must now realize how Pres. Arroyo has become the embodiment of patronage and transactional politics. That is where his victory lies, and it is a victory that is therefore achievable,” he said.
Last year, the militant group Akbayan, in celebrating its 12th anniversary themed “Realizing hope, celebrating heroes and effecting change”, awarded Simpao for his “political courage… as a genuine agent of change as you embark on a campaign to contest the insatiable ambitions of a detested political figure for more power, an admirable crusade which by now has fired up a nation looking for inspiration.”
Simpao has admitted that he faces an uphill battle amid the President’s hold on power and the hundreds of millions worth of project she has been showering upon their “cabalens” in their district. Mrs. Arroyo was reported to have spent P459 million in infrastructure alone in 2009 in the district comprising of her hometown in Lubao, Guagua, Sta. Rita, Sasmuan, Floridablanca and Bacolor.
“At present, I have been conducting casual group discussions to get advice on how to better make aware our voters on the real motive behind the projects being used by the President to lure them,” he said.
Simpao said Kapampangan voters showed their unusual political maturity in 2007 when they voted for Panlilio as governor despite his being an independent candidate without political machinery and financial resources of his own. Panlilio used to be parish priest of Betis, Guagua, although he was suspended from priesthood when he entered politics. He won by 1,147 votes against presidential friend Lilia Pineda who was the candidate of the administration Kabalikat ng Mamamayang Pilipino (Kampi). Pineda is also known as the wife of Rodolfo “Bong” Pineda who was named as a big time gambling lord during the Senate impeachment trial against former Pres. Estrada.
“I have confidence the Kapampangans will show the same maturity in the second district in the coming elections. It’s a maturity being bolstered further by their awareness that Mrs. Arroyo’s candidacy is propelled by her desire to be House Speaker and skirt responsibility from possible criminal charges against her and her family,” he said.
He cited nagging reports that presidential son Rep. Mikey Arroyo, who gave way to his mother’s congressional bid despite his being only in his second term, will be among the nominees of the group Galing Pinoy which is among the 144 partylist groups accredited by the Comelec. “This only affirms the real motive behind the congressional bid of Mrs. Arroyo,” he noted.
Simpao said that the issue in the second district has become so serious as to remove political party lines. He noted that only recently, Nationalista Party’s guest senatorial candidate, Bayan Muna Rep. Satur Ocampo toured the second district to thrown support for his candidacy against the President.
“In the end I believe that Kapampangans will vote for the true Kapampangan and not someone who didn’t grow up in the province,” said Simpao.
He said his courage is further bolstered by the support of LP presidential standard bearer Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III and his vice presidential bet Sen. Mar Roxas.
“I know they will come here during the campaign period to give me strength,” Simpao said, like a David praying for strength against Goliath.
But 41-year-old Adonis Simpao, official candidate of the Liberal Party (LP) against Pres. Arroyo in Pampanga’s second district, is convinced he can have a foothold on the political maturity of Kapampangan voters who will eventually sweep him towards victory in the May elections.
This, despite the continuing visits of Pres. Arroyo that he has criticized as early and unfair campaigning in their district.
Mrs. Arroyo’s sorties, particularly starting this year, have been invariably coupled with free medical and dental services, project inspections, distribution of health insurance cards, computers, and charcoal-making equipment, among a plethora of other benefits falling like manna from Malacanang’s largesse.
Even inspection of a proposed fence has become presidential.
But locally grown and nurtured Simpao has no plans to match the magnitude of such presidential patronage.
In the first place, he lacks the resources as he belongs to Pampanga’s average middle class as partner in a family-owned construction company. And he insists there is moral transgression in such “display of magnanimity”.
“I hope Pres. Arroyo and her allies realize that she is not a sure winner here in the second district of Pampanga. We intend to give her a very good fight and we intend to win. I believe in the end, the Kapampangans will vote for the true Kapampangan and not someone who didn’t even grow up in the province,” he said in a statement yesterday in reaction to reports that Pres. Arroyo’s congressional allies plan to install her as speaker of the House in the 15th Congress.
This, despite his being almost an accidental candidate after he was prodded to accept the congressional candidacy amid lack of LP standard bearer as the deadline for the filing of certificates of candidacy neared last Dec. 1. As a matter of fact, he filed his candidacy at 10 p.m. on the last day.
Prof. Randy David, who had vowed to challenge the President, had bowed out of the race, even as presidential sister Cielo Macapagal-Salgado, whom LP provincial chairman Gov. Eddie Panlilio had urged to run, opted to distance herself from politics.
Salgado, in a text message to Punto, declined to comment on whethershe would support Simpao, saying that she was “no longer active in the Liberal Party.”
Simpao insisted, however, that his candidacy was neither forced on him nor accepted amid lack of choice. “My candidacy was designed by circumstances,” he said and he accepted it with full volition despite later objections from members of his family who were not aware he was filing his candidacy against the country’s most powerful person two hours before deadline on Dec. 1.
Irwin Nucum, spokesperson of the Kapampangan Kontra Recount (K2R) supporting LP provincial chairman Gov. Eddie Panlilio and opposing the recount of gubernatorial votes done by the Commission on Elections, said Simpao’s confidence on his victory was far from being quixotic.
Nucum is a close friend of Simpao who was a convenor of the K2R. “He is simple, down-to-earth, and always concerned about other people rather than himself. And he is a man of courage with a long-term vision,” Nucum said, noting Simpao’s role as president of a province-wide group called Kasaup which batted for good governance and fought against corruption at local government levels in Pampanga.
Nucum said Simpao is convinced that he could win against Mrs. Arroyo. “But much depends on the conscience of the Kapampangan voters. They must now realize how Pres. Arroyo has become the embodiment of patronage and transactional politics. That is where his victory lies, and it is a victory that is therefore achievable,” he said.
Last year, the militant group Akbayan, in celebrating its 12th anniversary themed “Realizing hope, celebrating heroes and effecting change”, awarded Simpao for his “political courage… as a genuine agent of change as you embark on a campaign to contest the insatiable ambitions of a detested political figure for more power, an admirable crusade which by now has fired up a nation looking for inspiration.”
Simpao has admitted that he faces an uphill battle amid the President’s hold on power and the hundreds of millions worth of project she has been showering upon their “cabalens” in their district. Mrs. Arroyo was reported to have spent P459 million in infrastructure alone in 2009 in the district comprising of her hometown in Lubao, Guagua, Sta. Rita, Sasmuan, Floridablanca and Bacolor.
“At present, I have been conducting casual group discussions to get advice on how to better make aware our voters on the real motive behind the projects being used by the President to lure them,” he said.
Simpao said Kapampangan voters showed their unusual political maturity in 2007 when they voted for Panlilio as governor despite his being an independent candidate without political machinery and financial resources of his own. Panlilio used to be parish priest of Betis, Guagua, although he was suspended from priesthood when he entered politics. He won by 1,147 votes against presidential friend Lilia Pineda who was the candidate of the administration Kabalikat ng Mamamayang Pilipino (Kampi). Pineda is also known as the wife of Rodolfo “Bong” Pineda who was named as a big time gambling lord during the Senate impeachment trial against former Pres. Estrada.
“I have confidence the Kapampangans will show the same maturity in the second district in the coming elections. It’s a maturity being bolstered further by their awareness that Mrs. Arroyo’s candidacy is propelled by her desire to be House Speaker and skirt responsibility from possible criminal charges against her and her family,” he said.
He cited nagging reports that presidential son Rep. Mikey Arroyo, who gave way to his mother’s congressional bid despite his being only in his second term, will be among the nominees of the group Galing Pinoy which is among the 144 partylist groups accredited by the Comelec. “This only affirms the real motive behind the congressional bid of Mrs. Arroyo,” he noted.
Simpao said that the issue in the second district has become so serious as to remove political party lines. He noted that only recently, Nationalista Party’s guest senatorial candidate, Bayan Muna Rep. Satur Ocampo toured the second district to thrown support for his candidacy against the President.
“In the end I believe that Kapampangans will vote for the true Kapampangan and not someone who didn’t grow up in the province,” said Simpao.
He said his courage is further bolstered by the support of LP presidential standard bearer Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III and his vice presidential bet Sen. Mar Roxas.
“I know they will come here during the campaign period to give me strength,” Simpao said, like a David praying for strength against Goliath.
