Anyway, moving on…

The Philippine Daily Inquirer reports about Ed Panlilio’s candidacy and the support he is getting from the people of Pampanga is heart warming. This is the kind of politics that we need – a candidate that the people can believe in and trust. A people that is willing to go the extra mile to get the necessary changes done

However, the experience of Isabela Governor Grace Padaca should be a cautionary tale for Kapampangans. Inside PCIJ has reported on Isabela’s current political condition. Here’s the money quote:

As far as Isabela’s mayors are concerned, it seems, the province is still Dy country. Or at least it is certainly not Padaca’s, because she has been unable to get most of them to cooperate with her. This has hindered Isabela’s growth — as well as bedeviled Padaca’s administration.
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She has also insisted on a more sustainable health program by cutting subsidies on medicines, among other things, even though this has not exactly endeared her to some of her constituents.

Read more at PCIJ.

It is not enough that Kapampangans campaign for Panlilio. The election is just the beginning. The most crucial parts are after that. Of course, they must ensure that the real winner emerges. And if Panlilio wins, the people of Pampanga must be willing to continue the sacrifices that they are doing right now, or see their balloon of hopes burst by the pin called apathy – the malady that seems to afflict us from time to time, specially after elections.

Panlilio’s candidacy has opened a can of ethical questions. He is a priest, and the conflict between canon and constitution arises. He is suspended from his priestly duties; his candidacy is considered a violation of the separation of church and state (to some quarters, at least).

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POLITICAL NOTES:

* Last night, I saw a “miting de abanse” of an independent congressional candidate for the second district of Caloocan. It’s like watching a noontime TV show. There’s the required entertainment portion, some audience participation, games, jokes (some of them not suitable for children, who were present in the audience). After the entertainment, the candidate spoke.

* Is the entire wall of the Chinese Cemetery along Rizal Avenue Extension in Manila a common poster area? I passed by that area last Saturday night, and it was a wall of campaign posters. The dead must be turning in their graves.

* No wonder they wanted the incumbents suspended by this time. Incumbents (or their relatives who will replace them) really have an edge. Just look at the posters. Manila and Caloocan are good examples.

* The Philippine Experience has posted the Unfair Elections Act of 2007. Read it and laugh (or weep).

* Patricia Evangelista has whipped Raul Gonzalez.