LUBAO, Pampanga, August 5, 2012-Confirmation that former President, now Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo would seek reelection next year in this province’s second district has fueled anew a search for her opponent.
Architect Adonis Simpao, who was the official candidate of the Liberal Party (LP) against Arroyo in the 2010 congressional race in the district, said he would not run again, but stressed he would help search for a worthy opponent to Arroyo.
Kapampangan journalist Randy David, who initially announced he would challenge Arroyo in the 2010 polls but backed out later, said in a text message to Punto that “I have no plan to run in Pampanga in the next elections or to embark on a political career. Politics is not my vocation.”
David, a native of Barangay Betis in Guagua in the second district, explained that “I thought of opposing GMA (Arroyo’s initials) in order to send her a strong message: that it was not right or fair for a sitting president to seek a lower office at the end of her term so she could continue political power.”
But even now that Arroyo is no longer president, David indicated she should already “step aside.”
“Pampanga deserves and needs the infusion of new and young blood. Mrs. Arroyo should step aside now, graciously retire and let the younger generation have a chance at public service,” he said.
Former governor Eddie Panlilio, whose request to be reinstated as a full time priest has remained pending after his suspension when he run and become Pampanga governor in the 2007 elections, could not be reached, but his brother Gerry said he was not anymore interested in running for political office.
Panlilio was named LP chairman in Pampanga when he ran but lost in the 2010 gubernatorial race against Gov. Lilia Pineda.
Despite his shying away from politics, Simpao said he would remain active in “civil society” concerns of the group Kapampangan Manalakaran, Inc. (KMI) which he helped found with Panlilio.
KMI, which advocates good governance and responsible citizenship in Pampanga, backed charges against Arroyo who recently posted a P1-million bail on charges of electrical sabotage before a court in Pasig City.
“We are still looking for somebody who can challenge GMA. We are not short of qualified Kapampangans, although as of the moment, there is no one person we can yet name,” Simpao said.
In the 2010 elections when she was still president while campaigning for the congressional post, Arroyo was accused of using the resources of her administration to woo voters in the second district.
Political observers in her district noted that while she no longer has access to the same powers in 2010, Arroyo still has enough resources to win the support of her constituents in the 2013 polls.
They noted that Arroyo is the biggest recipient of pork barrel in Congress, with a P2.2-billion lump sum pork barrel from the Department of Public Works and Highways budget, on top of her P70-million PDAF pork, the P50-million extra infrastructure pork, another P28 million on top of that, and the P25-million windfall from the Road User’s Tax.
This was uncovered last year when Akbayan Rep. Walden Bello revealed that Arroyo had used her influence when she was president to make sure that her district would get a lot of projects funded by “multilateral lending agencies” from Japan and South Korea.
Public Works Secretary Rogelio Singson later said that the huge funds secured by Arroyo were committed by foreign aid agencies like the Japan International Cooperation Agency and the Korea Development and Cooperation Fund, and that the government could violate these commitments. (Ding Cervantes)
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