MORE NEWS, PAMPANGA

No funds for recall, says DBM: Recall proponent bats for candidate vs Panlilio
SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga – The leader of the group behind the recall petition against Gov. Eddie Panlilio said he was confident different sectors would rally behind a common candidate in the special election, which he expects could be held in December or January next year.

But the regional director of the Department of Budget and Management told the provincial board that it does not have the power to allocate P25 million from local funds for a special gubernatorial election that could arise from a pending recall petition against Panlilio.

Rosve Henson, president of the Kapanalig at Kambilan da reng Memalen Pampanga (Kambilan), said his group which had gathered over 220,000 signatures for the recall petition, would not endorse any candidate.

Only Vice Gov. Joseller Guiao has openly declared interest in running against Panlilio, but only if he would be chosen as the common candidate of all groups supporting the recall move.

Henson declined to comment on Guiao’s pronouncement, saying, “It’s too early to talk about personalities.”

Although Kambilan would not endorse any candidate, Henson said they are willing to serve as an umbrella group for anti-Panlilio sectors.

“We do not want to preempt (these) sectors from coming up with their own shortlist of candidates, but Kambilan, if requested, can act as some kind of convenor to get all these groups together,” he said.

Henson said the Commission on Elections (Comelec) would eventually uphold the recall petition, as endorsed by its Pampanga office, so a special gubernatorial election could be set.

“Ideally, there should only be one candidate who can unite the province. This unification factor is one qualification we want in the candidate,” he said.

Panlilio will automatically be a candidate in the special poll, which must be held not later than May 9 next year, or one year before the next regular elections, as prescribed by law.

Guiao earlier said the provincial board is prepared to allocate some P25 million for the special election, as the Comelec said it lacks funds for such an exercise.

Should Panlilio veto the allocation, he said board members would override it.

Panlilio’s legal counsel Romulo Macalintal expressed doubt if the Comelec would approve the recall petition, which he described as “fatally flawed,” as the signatories failed to write down detailed reasons for supporting the petition.

The petition merely cited “lack of confidence” in Panlilio’s leadership as basis for the recall move.

This, as Panlilio asked the Commission on Elections last week to “deny due course” to the recall petition against him.

In a meeting with the board here Monday,, DBM-Central Luzon director Eliza Salon said under the Local Government Code, only Panlilio is authorized to make such an allocation from the provincial coffers.

Earlier, board members bared plans to provide the P25 million needed for the recall election, saying they were prepared to override Panlilio’s veto of the allocation.

“Not even supplemental funds can be resorted to by the board for recall elections,” Salon said.

During the meeting, Zoilo Perlas, the Comelec’s regional director, said such funds could be obtained from the Special Purpose Fund under the national government’s general appropriations or even from the Office of the President.

But Comelec Chairman Jose Melo, in a recent interview in Angeles City, said obtaining the funds from the national government might give the impression that President Arroyo is supporting the recall petition against Panlilio, who had exposed alleged “payola” from Malacañang during a meeting of governors in October last year.

Vice Gov. Guiao, the board’s presiding officer, insisted that the Comelec is bound by law to seek funding for the recall election once it finds the recall petition meritorious.

In the past, he said funds from national coffers were used for recall elections, including those against former Bataan governor Enrique Garcia and former Angeles City mayor Jose Abad Santos.

Guiao said President Arroyo’s being a Kapampangan should not be taken as a reason against the propriety of using national government funds for recall elections.

“It’s the interest of the Kapampangan people which should be protected once the recall petition is found meritorious,” he said.

The recall petition, signed by over 220,000 Pampanga voters, was endorsed as valid in form and substance by Comelec provincial officer Temmie Lambino and forwarded to Comelec deputy executive director for operations Bartolome Sinocruz for consideration of the Comelec.

While Sinocruz has yet to endorse the petition, Panlilio, in his petition, said the ongoing proceedings “have caused and continue to cause grave and irreparable injury” to him, as his standing and reputation as governor “is being put to question.”

Panlilio cited four grounds for the Comelec to deny the petition, including the absence of a “brief narration of the reasons and justifications.”

He added that the petition bore signatures of voters not registered in Pampanga and did not comply with Comelec rules and regulations on the verification of signatures.

Panlilio also argued that the recall petition is “premature” and is “barred” by the pending electoral protest filed by Lilia Pineda, who lost to him in last year’s gubernatorial race by 1,147 votes.

The respondents in the petition included Lambino, Sinocruz, and Rosve Henson whose group Kapanalig at Kabilan da reng Memalen Pampanga (Kambilan) launched the recall petition.