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IS he a prophet, priest, politician or a popular uncorrupted elected
leader? These are the questions that run through everyone’s mind
when they hear that Father Ed Panlilio, 54, a Catholic priest on a
leave of absence from regular priestly duties is now the elected
governor of Pampanga. Father Ed, as he is affectionally called by
the hundreds of thousands who supported his bid for election last
May, won against the traditional dynastic families that have ruled
for generations. It was a powerful message from the people who had
almost despaired of finding an honest independent candidate to
oppose the elite. The people want to end the corruption and the
culture of vice that the traditional politicians had fostered.
Father Ed Panlilio has been named Filipino of the Year 2007 by a
major daily.
The priest turned governor has pledged to make
the province the Capitol of the Poor. He was the former head of the
Archdiocesan Social Action Center for many years and knew first hand
the hardships of the poor. He tried unsuccessfully to counter the
exploitation of the field workers of the rich and wealthy. He tried
to save their impoverished children from the sex traffickers that
feed young girls, some of them still children, into the sex industry
of Angeles City beside the former US Clark Air Base that closed
after the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo. The dirty business started up
again after the Americans left and could not thrive as it does today
without the permits and licenses issued by the ruling politicians
and officials. Neither could it continue unless the rapists,
traffickers and pedophiles enjoyed a de facto immunity from
investigation and prosecution. It makes sense to the officials: Why
prosecute your own customers and scare others away?
Much as the majority of people of Pampanga are
ashamed of it and want to close the dens of vice, they cannot. These
sex clubs and bars sell the bodies of young Filipinos to satisfy the
lust and sexual perversions of the local and foreign sex tourists.
Gov. Ed Panlilio is unable at present to do so.
The sex business is controlled by a powerful political clique, a
protected sex mafia. He defeated some of them in the elections and
they are contesting his election and planning to issue a recall
against him next May after one year, as required by law.
None of the clique is friendly to the governor
except Oscar Rodriguez, the mayor of San Fernando, the capital of
the province. Fr. Ed has the tacit support of Archbishop Paciano
Aniceto who celebrated Mass for the priest-governor recently. No
government officials attended.
Last October 2007, Gov. Panlilio angered the
elite (many of them close to President Macapagal-Arroyo in Malacañang
Palace), when he disclosed that bundles of cash in brown paper bags
were handed out to the officials called to a meeting by the
President in the Palace on the eve of a possible impeachment vote
against her last October 2007. His aide was given P500,000 as were
other governors and mayors.
It was revealed that congressmen got even bigger
amounts. Gov. Ed tried to give it back but was met with a denial
that it had ever been given by the Palace. He testified about it at
a Senate hearing and is said to be responsible for the negative
rating of a Pulse Asia poll that said the President is the most
corrupt president ever in the Philippines. But that is just an
opinion as no one knows the extent of that plunder of the Philippine
treasury.
The priest turned governor has no need for any
bribe. He has made a spectacular success in governing honestly and
with transparency. The collections from the provincial quarries have
suddenly jumped from a measly P30 million a year as declared by the
former Gov. Mark Lapid to an astounding P120 million in the first
six months of his administration. No wonder his defeated political
opponents are infuriated. They were sure to win until Father Ed was
persuaded to step into the breach and, never having campaigned or
been elected to any position, against all the odds, he won! The
people have spoken.
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