MORE NEWS, PAMPANGA

Shortlist for next Clark president gets shorter
By George Trillo

CLARK FREEPORT, Pampanga – President Arroyo’s shortlist for the possible replacement of retiring Clark Development Corp. president and chief executive officer Liberato Laus is getting shorter.

Secretary Edgardo Pamintuan, chairman of the Subic-Clark Alliance Development Council and reputed to be a close confidante of the President on issues affecting Pampanga, her home province, told newsmen the next CDC head will be picked from “within this Freeport.”

This leaves out retired Philippine National Police chief Oscar Calderon, a distant relative of the President, whose name has been floated as the next CDC president. Calderon was appointed director of the Bureau of Corrections only five months ago.

Sources in the CDC, the state-run firm that runs this freeport, said the President wants Laus, who is resigning effective July 31 to attend to his businesses in Central Luzon, to recommend his replacement. Laus could not be contacted as he was on an official trip to Korea.

But the sources said Laus listed Clark International Airport Corp. chairman Nestor Mangio and CDC director Benigno Ricafort in his recommendation to the President.

Mangio, however, said that he is contented with his present job at the CIAC, which runs the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport here. He said Pampanga first district Rep. Carmelo Lazatin, a critic of Laus, informed him recently that the President was considering him as the next CDC head.

But Mangio said, “I’m happy at the CIAC. I want to see the realization of all infrastructure plans to make the a premiere gateway by 2010.” Talk that Ricafort could be the next CDC top executive was fueled when he was among those who welcomed the President who presided over a meeting of the regional disaster coordinating council here last Monday.

Ricafort is one of the longest staying members of the CDC board of directors. He is also the chairman of Naturecraft Industries Corp., Management Centre and Resource Group Inc., and Wemberg International Inc., vice chairman of the Ricafort Development Corp. and a member of the Asia-Pacific Economic Conference Business Advisory Council.


69 bishops back Panlilio’s plunder case vs Bong Pineda
SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga – Sixty-nine bishops urged the Office of the Ombudsman to look into merits of the plunder case filed by priest-turned-governor Ed Panlilio against alleged gambling lord Rodolfo “Bong” Pineda. Pampanga Bishop Pablo Virgilio David said bishops signed a letter expressing this sentiment during the recent general conference of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines in Tagaytay City.

“They signed the letter on their own individual capacity, not as members of the CBCP,” said David, who was among the signatories. “Pineda participated in the plunder case against former President Estrada who was found guilty. People are wondering why his name was dropped along the way with no case filed against him,” David said.

Manila Bishop Roderick Pabillo brought up the issue of supporting Panlilio’s case during the CBCP meeting in reaction to an appeal from thePampanga Anti-Gambling Council.

David said almost all bishops who were at the CBCP assembly signed the letter addressed to the Office of the Ombudsman. Last June 23, Panlilio filed the plunder case against Pineda, whose wife Lilia Pineda lost to him in the gubernatorial race last year.

Ms Pineda has a pending electoral protest against Panlilio who, however, has insisted that the plunder case was not politically motivated. In his complaint, Panlilio said, “It is a general and public knowledge that Bong Pineda figured prominently in the trial of former President Joseph Estrada for plunder as among those who conspired and helped the latter amass ill-gotten wealth which constituted plunder.”

He added: “It is also general and public knowledge that the Sandiganbayan found former President Joseph Estrada guilty of plunder beyond reasonable doubt. “Based on the decision of the Sandiganbayan, the evidence in the possession of the honorable office and presented before the Sandiganbayan, which led to the conviction of former President Joseph Estrada, also supports an indictment against Bong Pineda.”

The complaint also cited the testimonies of former Ilocos Sur Gov. Chavit Singson against Estrada and Pineda during the Senate impeachment trial of the former president. Panlilio also petitioned the Ombudsman that “all the evidence, testimonial and documentary, presented by the prosecution in the plunder case” against Estrada in connection with the jueteng bribery charge “be considered as supporting evidence” and “made as integral part” of his complaint against Pineda. -- DC


Dengue fever downs 25 in Pampanga town
By George Trillo

MASANTOL, Pampanga – Dengue afflicted 25 residents of Barangay Bebe Anac here who were taken to various hospitals in the province for treatment. A Regional Health Office report said most victims were admitted at the Jose B. Lingad Regional Hospital in San Fernando City and Macabebe District Hospital in Macabebe town.

Residents here said cases of dengue have been prevalent in their neighborhood since May because floodwaters, the favorite nesting places of mosquito, are all over when there is high tide.

But Dr. Abelardo Algarne, Masantol municipal health officer said his office had no report of dengue incident in the community. The patients in this town were amongmore than 660 dengue cases in Pampanga this year, RHO data showed.