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By Efren L. Danao, Senior
Reporter
TACLOBAN, Leyte: Gov. Carlos
Jericho Petilla of Leyte said Thursday that there never was a
mention of funding support by the Team Unity when he was still its
senatorial candidate.
Petilla was replaced by actor
Cesar Montano when he withdrew his nomination to seek reelection in
Leyte.
Montano had earlier admitted
difficulty in raising funds for his candidacy, but denied that he
had been promised funding assistance by the party. Petilla
corroborated Montano’s statement.
“When I joined Team Unity,
there was no discussion on campaign funds. I did not expect anything
from Team Unity except its party machinery,” Petilla said.
He revealed that he had a talk
with Montano when the latter was named to replace him in the Team
Unity lineup.
“I told Cesar that he had to be
ready to spend. Here in the Philippines, if one wants to serve the
public, one should be ready to spend. This is a political
reality,” Petilla said.
He said Montano knew what he was
getting into, but the actor, a neophyte in politics, might not have
expected the great expense to be incurred.
“I almost fell from my chair
when I learned how much it would cost to run television
advertisements!” he said.
Petilla said had he gone ahead
with his candidacy, he would have reduced his advertising expenses
in Metro Manila and increase those in the provinces.
“Metro Manila is historically
an opposition country, so no matter how many millions I will spend
there, I would gain only so much votes. I would have preferred to
spend for advertising in provincial TV stations which are cheaper
and could produce more dividends,” he said.
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