GUAGUA, Pampanga — If elections were held today, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo would have easily emerged as the new representative of Pampanga’s second district in Congress.
Several residents in the district’s six towns thought so for two reasons.
The first was the “cabalen” factor, or her being their province mate on account of her being a daughter of the late President Diosdado Macapagal, the endeared “poor boy of Lubao.”
The other and oft-cited factor was their perception of her as a generous benefactor through the flood of government projects she poured in the towns of Guagua, Sasmuan, Lubao, Sta. Rita, Porac and Floridablanca.
“Maganaka ya. Biyasa yang magsilbi kareng kalulu (She’s kind. She knows how to serve the poor),” said Milagros Lopez, 75, of San Vicente Ebus in Guagua.
Anita Garcia, 52, of Palmayo resettlement in Floridablanca, said Arroyo has been the “only official who is helping the poor.”
Guagua Mayor Ricardo Rivera echoed the same views.
“She’ll be a sure winner, in fact, by a landslide because she’s given so much help in the second district. And who among the presidents of the Philippines has gone to the villages and kept coming back there a number of times? Only GMA,” Rivera said.
Arroyo has visited the district 13 times since February 24, reaching remote places like the coastal village of Batang Dos in Sasmuan or the upland community of Mawakat in Floridablanca where no Philippine president before her had ever gone.
Standard activities in these visits were medical missions, distribution of farming materials, inspection of classrooms and farm-to-market roads, handing grants for livelihood projects and inaugurating bridges, flood control projects, irrigation canals and water systems.
Some professionals, like lawyer Fred Mangiliman, did not see these visits as part of the political consolidation work of Arroyo.
“She has not forsaken our province,” Mangiliman said.
But Nina Tomen of Lubao said: “Yes, the projects and resources she pours in mask her real intentions. Many are fooled by this pro-poor strategy.”
Clodualdo Vitug, 76, saw no political motive in the assistance that Arroyo has been showering on Pampanga and the second district. This, he said, was part of the kaduang apag (second serving) that the President’s father failed to do when he lost to Ferdinand Marcos in the 1965 elections.
But should Arroyo seek a seat in Congress, Vitug believed that, “ Ala yang kasambut (She’ll be unbeatable).”
Some farmers, like Roberto Jimenez, said they would not vote for Arroyo because her project, a seven-kilometer diversion road from Sta. Cruz to Pau in Lubao, occupied portions of their 25-hectare land. They said the project went on without proper consultation and without the farmers being paid for damages.
Arroyo had always been a decisive winner in Pampanga and the second district in past contests.
Of the nine vice presidential bets in 1998, she garnered 614,035 votes, ahead of the second leading candidate, Edgardo Angara, who obtained 42,060 votes.
In the 2004 presidential race, Kapampangan folk gave her 642,712 votes while the late actor Fernando Poe Jr. received only 84,720 votes.
In both elections, the second district, which has a total of 270,760 registered voters, delivered the chunk of the province’s votes, a review of election results showed.
Beyond the “cabalen” factor and her being perceived as a generous benefactor, Punto! columnist Bong Lacson said the local political network and their machinery would seal Arroyo’s victory.
Except for Lubao Mayor Dennis Pineda, who is on his third and final term, the other five mayors in the district are Arroyo’s allies who are serving their second terms.
Even in Pineda’s exit, Arroyo still has a formidable ally in Lubao in former Board Member Lilia Pineda, who is returning as mayor in 2010.
A logjam can evolve among gubernatorial hopefuls in the Lakas-CMD-Kampi camp — Senator Manuel Lapid, Dennis Pineda and Rep. Arroyo — but given the tradition of sona libre (free zone) in Pampanga, political observers say they can still unite where it concerns Arroyo.
Lacson said Arroyo could win without the help of the Pinedas, whose patriarch is alleged jueteng financier Rodolfo Pineda.
“By herself alone, she can win,” he said.
“But the ball is round. Civil society groups may upset the situation if they go down to the masa and present the larger issue that they have all along been seeing — that GMA is not simply running as a representative but wants to perpetuate herself in power through Congress,” Lacson said.
Lawyer Dante David expected an “easy win” for Arroyo. The lawyer’s elder brother, University of the Philippines professor and Philippine Daily Inquirer columnist Randy David, recently vowed to challenge the President the moment she confirms her congressional bid.
“But that’s not the point. It’s whether she will perpetuate herself in power by running for Congress and end up being prime minister after a constituent assembly,” Dante David said.
Lacson said some national political dynamics, like former President Joseph Estrada’s candidacy for president and the Liberal Party’s support for Randy David, could impact on the local political scene.
Then there’s the church factor, he said, citing the influence of David’s brother, Pampanga Auxiliary Bishop Pablo Virgilio David, on voters who are mostly Catholics.
The worst scenario, said Lacson, would be for anti-Arroyo groups to gravitate toward Pampanga and the second district to frustrate Arroyo’s congressional bid to save the country from the risk of having her stay longer in power.
“Will Kapampangans see this bigger picture, see the forest instead of the trees?” Lacson said.
Governor Eddie Panlilio said that should Arroyo decide to run, voters in the second district would be forced to “carry a national burden.”
“It’s not so much a question of electing a representative in the House. It’s about why she’s really running. Is she seeking immunity from possible lawsuits related to corruption? Does she want to be prime minister?” Panlilio said.
Several residents in the district’s six towns thought so for two reasons.
The first was the “cabalen” factor, or her being their province mate on account of her being a daughter of the late President Diosdado Macapagal, the endeared “poor boy of Lubao.”
The other and oft-cited factor was their perception of her as a generous benefactor through the flood of government projects she poured in the towns of Guagua, Sasmuan, Lubao, Sta. Rita, Porac and Floridablanca.
“Maganaka ya. Biyasa yang magsilbi kareng kalulu (She’s kind. She knows how to serve the poor),” said Milagros Lopez, 75, of San Vicente Ebus in Guagua.
Anita Garcia, 52, of Palmayo resettlement in Floridablanca, said Arroyo has been the “only official who is helping the poor.”
Guagua Mayor Ricardo Rivera echoed the same views.
“She’ll be a sure winner, in fact, by a landslide because she’s given so much help in the second district. And who among the presidents of the Philippines has gone to the villages and kept coming back there a number of times? Only GMA,” Rivera said.
Arroyo has visited the district 13 times since February 24, reaching remote places like the coastal village of Batang Dos in Sasmuan or the upland community of Mawakat in Floridablanca where no Philippine president before her had ever gone.
Standard activities in these visits were medical missions, distribution of farming materials, inspection of classrooms and farm-to-market roads, handing grants for livelihood projects and inaugurating bridges, flood control projects, irrigation canals and water systems.
Some professionals, like lawyer Fred Mangiliman, did not see these visits as part of the political consolidation work of Arroyo.
“She has not forsaken our province,” Mangiliman said.
But Nina Tomen of Lubao said: “Yes, the projects and resources she pours in mask her real intentions. Many are fooled by this pro-poor strategy.”
Clodualdo Vitug, 76, saw no political motive in the assistance that Arroyo has been showering on Pampanga and the second district. This, he said, was part of the kaduang apag (second serving) that the President’s father failed to do when he lost to Ferdinand Marcos in the 1965 elections.
But should Arroyo seek a seat in Congress, Vitug believed that, “ Ala yang kasambut (She’ll be unbeatable).”
Some farmers, like Roberto Jimenez, said they would not vote for Arroyo because her project, a seven-kilometer diversion road from Sta. Cruz to Pau in Lubao, occupied portions of their 25-hectare land. They said the project went on without proper consultation and without the farmers being paid for damages.
Arroyo had always been a decisive winner in Pampanga and the second district in past contests.
Of the nine vice presidential bets in 1998, she garnered 614,035 votes, ahead of the second leading candidate, Edgardo Angara, who obtained 42,060 votes.
In the 2004 presidential race, Kapampangan folk gave her 642,712 votes while the late actor Fernando Poe Jr. received only 84,720 votes.
In both elections, the second district, which has a total of 270,760 registered voters, delivered the chunk of the province’s votes, a review of election results showed.
Beyond the “cabalen” factor and her being perceived as a generous benefactor, Punto! columnist Bong Lacson said the local political network and their machinery would seal Arroyo’s victory.
Except for Lubao Mayor Dennis Pineda, who is on his third and final term, the other five mayors in the district are Arroyo’s allies who are serving their second terms.
Even in Pineda’s exit, Arroyo still has a formidable ally in Lubao in former Board Member Lilia Pineda, who is returning as mayor in 2010.
A logjam can evolve among gubernatorial hopefuls in the Lakas-CMD-Kampi camp — Senator Manuel Lapid, Dennis Pineda and Rep. Arroyo — but given the tradition of sona libre (free zone) in Pampanga, political observers say they can still unite where it concerns Arroyo.
Lacson said Arroyo could win without the help of the Pinedas, whose patriarch is alleged jueteng financier Rodolfo Pineda.
“By herself alone, she can win,” he said.
“But the ball is round. Civil society groups may upset the situation if they go down to the masa and present the larger issue that they have all along been seeing — that GMA is not simply running as a representative but wants to perpetuate herself in power through Congress,” Lacson said.
Lawyer Dante David expected an “easy win” for Arroyo. The lawyer’s elder brother, University of the Philippines professor and Philippine Daily Inquirer columnist Randy David, recently vowed to challenge the President the moment she confirms her congressional bid.
“But that’s not the point. It’s whether she will perpetuate herself in power by running for Congress and end up being prime minister after a constituent assembly,” Dante David said.
Lacson said some national political dynamics, like former President Joseph Estrada’s candidacy for president and the Liberal Party’s support for Randy David, could impact on the local political scene.
Then there’s the church factor, he said, citing the influence of David’s brother, Pampanga Auxiliary Bishop Pablo Virgilio David, on voters who are mostly Catholics.
The worst scenario, said Lacson, would be for anti-Arroyo groups to gravitate toward Pampanga and the second district to frustrate Arroyo’s congressional bid to save the country from the risk of having her stay longer in power.
“Will Kapampangans see this bigger picture, see the forest instead of the trees?” Lacson said.
Governor Eddie Panlilio said that should Arroyo decide to run, voters in the second district would be forced to “carry a national burden.”
“It’s not so much a question of electing a representative in the House. It’s about why she’s really running. Is she seeking immunity from possible lawsuits related to corruption? Does she want to be prime minister?” Panlilio said.
