Panlilio set to be proclaimed governor in Pampanga


A Pampanga priest who joined politics and went up against political giants in the province is leading in the canvass of votes for the position of governor, ABS-CBN News reported Friday.

Father Ed Panlilio had been leading in the race against incumbent Gov. Mark Lapid and provincial board member Lilia Pineda.

As of the latest partial and official count of the provincial board of canvassers , Panlilio received 219,703 votes followed by Pineda with 218,559 and Lapid 210,875.

Panlilio said in an earlier interview that he wanted to confront the "political giants" in Pampanga to rid the province of corruption and "jueteng" or the illegal numbers game.

COMELEC is set to proclaim the new governor on Friday.

Before he submitted his certificate of candidacy, Panlilio filed a leave of absence as a Catholic priest.

His leave, however, did not deter critics from spreading rumors during the campaign that Panlilio has a mistress and fathered a child. Panlilio dismissed the rumors.


Link:
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=77658

Juetang Lord, Quarry Lord, Shark Lord, Praise the Lord!

I'll start off by saying that I am usually happy to see a decent candidate beat out opponents from the corrupt establishment and hope for the best for Pampanga. However, I suggest we take a careful, objective look at Fr. Panlilio before getting too optimistic here.

I understand that he is considered a man of quiet integrity, but he's also a member of the Roman Catholic clergy who just got elected to political office. This, in and of itself, makes me nervous and is at odds with the Vatican's position on political involvement of the clergy, of course. I am really curious how this will play out. People really need to think hard about this.

Another thing that no one seems to mention is that this quiet priest who is expected to confront the "political giants" is himself a member of a very prominent and well-connected family in Pampanga. In fact, it is well-known among certain circles in the Philippines that he was the favored candidate of a number of big-shot, high-society people in Pampanga. What most of the public is unaware of, I guess, is that very powerful and wealthy people have secretly backed Fr. Panlilio's candidacy. In many ways, these people are as powerful as those who backed his opponents. Will this affect the nature of his term in office for the worse? I sure hope not.

This whole affair frustrates me to an extent, because very little of this was discussed beforehand. Such is often the case in our wonderful little democracy...

P.S. Dude, what's with the GMA photo-op in your sig? Are you really that proud of meeting with her or something?

you know that a country is in a bad state when the last thing on the peoples mind is whether the candidate qualified or not.

just cuz he's a priest doesn't mean he is decent. he's like any other politician in our country. nothing special...unless we see it ourselves. i think there's a reason for the Canon Law where Church and State should not be together. i think Pampanga is headed in a downward spiral. hey, i'm just following Pope's orders.

well, it so happens that even the clergy can take leave of absence from their clergical (?) work, so as not to be in conflict with the vatican mandate...
actually Fr. Panlilio had no intention of running for office because of that mandate, however, he was also called on by the sheer desperation of the people of the place for a decent alternative candidate hence his running for office.