BEHIND THE SCENES

A papansin lawyer
ALFRED P. DIZON

It is amusing but more often downright irritating how some people would go to the extent of being papansin (noticed.) Remember this character called Ely Pamatong who wanted to run for president the last elections?

This character recently filed charges against Pope Benedict XVI for alleged human rights violations, swindling through tithes and noise disturbance such as when loud speakers are mounted in churches.
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Filing charges against the pope for perceived injustices, is I guess, going overboard bordering to blasphemy. The pope is supposed to represent the millions of Caholics worldwide and for him to be committing injustices is something I can’t fathom. Are there no other things Pamatong could do for pogi or rather pangit points? (For non-Filipinos, pogi is a colloquial term to mean good or handsome while pangit means ugly.)

Newsmen who have grown averse to Pamatong have stopped airing his tirades but somehow his latest antic reached my e-mail with the information that he recently filed perjury charges against Pampanga Gov. Eddie Panlilio.
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The Commission on Elections held preliminary investigation against the governor on perjury charges as a result. In his petition to dismiss the case, Panlilio said while Pamatong’s formal complaint cited 70 pages of annexes to prove “beyond reasonable doubt” the perjury charges, official records reveal the complaint only had 12 pages.

Despite the absence of the 70 pages, which Panlilio described as a fatal flaw in Pamatong’s complaint, the poll body’s law department reportedly held preliminary investigation. Panlilio said the Commission on Elections could be being used by some people who wanted him booted out of office.
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Panlilio decried this as “political harassment” and “part of the concerted effort by few individuals to remove me from office or have me suspended at all cost.” Pamatong accused Panlilio of perjury when he allegedly misdeclared the cash campaign contributions he received in last year’s elections by reporting only P4.7 million instead of P6 million. In last year’s gubernatorial race, Pamatong also ran but hardly made a dent in the polls.

Pamatong gained prominence as “spike boy” when he admitted responsibility for throwing spikes along EDSA after the Comelec junked his presidential candidacy in 2004. Panlilio’s lawyer Ernesto Francisco had checked Pamatong’s complaint with the Comelec’s law department and found out that the 70 pages of annexes alluded to by Pamatong could not be found.
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Panlilio said Comelec personnel “are subjecting my person to a preliminary investigation of a ‘complaint’ without the required supporting evidence and affidavits of complainant’s witnesses.To be sure, this is clearly violative of my constitutional right to due process and my right to a proper preliminary investigation.”

The conflict between Panlilio and other provincial officials, including Vice Gov. Joseller Guiao, on various issues has remained unresolved. Panlilio has also been at odds with the Pampanga Mayors’ League, whose president, Lubao Mayor Dennis Pineda, is the son of former senior provincial board member Lilia Pineda, who has a pending electoral protest before the Comelec after she, too, lost to the priest-turned-governor in last year’s gubernatorial race.
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In politics, nothing surprises people anymore. There are a dime a dozen of these characters in politics in northern Luzon and I’ve known some, if not most of them in my years covering the beat as a newsman.

Oftentimes, some of these characters could tell a lie, try to cover up a misdeed or issue a misleading statement without blinking an eye. These characters abound in government up to Malacanang it is unthinkable why constituents of this Banana Republic vote them to office every election. If these people are complaining against graft and corruption or the general state of affairs of this blighted country, they have themselves to blame.