CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – Liberal Party stalwart Budget Secretary Florencio Abad said Pres. Aquino is set to announce today whether former Gov. Eddie Panlilio will be fielded by the Liberal Party (LP) as its candidate for governor in this province.
“Nothing final. We will know on Friday,” Abad said in a text message in reply to Punto’s query on whether the President would back Panlilio for governor against incumbent Gov. Lilia Pineda.
Meanwhile, lawyer Vivian Dabu, provincial administrator of Panlilio during his gubernatorial term, filed yesterday her congressional candidacy against former President, 2nd district Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Panlilio, a Catholic priest whose ministry was suspended by the church hierarchy after he ran for Pampanga governor in 2007, neither confirmed nor denied he was seeking anew the gubernatorial post. He lost to Pineda in his re-election bid in 2010.
The President, however, is expected to announce Panlilio’s role in next year’s polls during his scheduled visit here today to inaugurate the local government’s City College.
Panlilio himself said the President would endorse local LP candidates during this Friday visit, but declined to say whether he would be among the candidates.
“There are still some on-going negotiations,” Panlilio said in an interview, but he declined to elaborate.
But he assured LP supporters in Pampanga that his party would field candidates not only against Pineda but also against former Arroyo.
As of yesterday, Pineda and her son Dennis, reportedly her running mate, had not yet filed their certificates of candidacy. Sources at the Capitol said they planned to do so on the last day, today.
So far, only a certain Jose Montemayor, 50, of Barangay Sto. Tomas, Sasmuan has filed candidacy for Pampanga governor.
A staff of the provincial Commission on Elections (Comelec) said Montemayor listed his profession as lawyer and cardiologist.
