Gov. ’Among’ Ed Panlilio

Get ready for a three-day love explosion, starting tomorrow until Sunday! No matter how difficult the times may be, nothing brings out the passion (and the wallets) in romantic Pinoys like the Day of Hearts.

Thus, marketing director Rose Libongco of Sofitel Philippine    Plaza’s team of chefs from Japan, China, the Netherlands, India, and the Philippines has set up lovely menus for all their outlets – the Le Bar, Spiral (for a Hot Hearts buffet spread), the pool grounds. Everything to romance the wife, girlfriend, mistress, family! Check it out with the hotel.

As for the “pogi” assistant F & B man, Quentin Renard, being a Frenchman, if he isn’t working on all three days (which he is), he would take his beloved, a pretty and talented lady journalist with a glossy magazine to the Le Bar of the hotel where lovers can have quiet romantic piano music and a menu sure to win her heart again!

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Another Pook Galing awardee who guested in our Bulong Pulungan media forum with Taguig Mayor Freddie Tinga, was “David,” the giant slayer, in the last elections, Gov. Fr. Ed Panlilio.

He got the judges’ nod for his successful program for turning Pinatubo’s ash into cash for his province!

Remember when Mt. Pinatubo in Pampanga erupted in 1991 with far-reaching effects on global warming? It quickly emptied Clark Air Base and Subic Air Base of American military personnel aside from burying sizeable parts of Pampanga and Tarlac in lahar and mud flow.

President Cory was still the Malacañang tenant when the eruption occurred, and we made several visits to the devastated areas.

But the landscape was gloomy and desolate with houses buried under tons of mud flow which, when dried under the sun, turned into grey ash. I remember the late Dr. Rey Punongbayan, the head of the PhiVolcs, discussing the grim scenario of what the ash-covered landscape could hope to be after several years. The ash was so fine it hurt to go out without eye shades, and this covered the two provinces and Metro Manila for almost a week.

Only much later, when the ash-covered fields saw its first shoots, did we realize that the ash made the soil more fertile, if the covering could be gently scraped off.

And, the famous Porac sand was even of higher quality for cement than before and the quantity appeared good for another 50 years at least!

Thus, the quarrying of ash from Mt. Pinatubo became a blessing rather than a curse. But as it turned out, only for some corrupt officials who did not turn in all the money from the haulers, and recycled receipts were used by unscrupulous checkers. Very little income from the quarrying was left in the provincial coffers, and even less for the affected municipalities and barangays!

The shortchanging of the people of Pampanga in the quarry operations became a hot issue in the 2007 elections, which saw a charismatic  man of the cloth temporarily leaving his priestly ministry and throwing his hat in the gubernatorial race. The election saw the dramatic show  of  people empowerment at the polls and enabled Fr. Ed Panlilio to capture the post.

He immediately issued  an executive order constituting a monitoring body for the quarrying and hauling, the BALAS (Kapangpangan word for sand) or the Biyaya A Luluguran At Sisikapan Committee aimed at improving tax collections. After just one month, they collected P l.2 million, when in previous years, the provincial government collected only an average of P 22 million for four years.

It is to the credit of the ground checkers placed by the governor with proper salaries and incentives and a receipt system (with a bar code), the transparency that Panlilio  institutionalized in the Capitolyo, and other reforms in the tax collection that quarry revenues rose to more than P 110 million in six months!

The quarry levy remained the same, at P 300 per truck regardless of the size or the quality of the hauled sand. This is divided into shares of the province and the local government units involved. The shares of ten municipalities and barangay quarry operations have risen dramatically, and this has given the LGUs more funds to deliver programs and projects for their constituents.

Concerned citizens monitor quarrying operations and even the field checkers. They can call a hotline to the governor if they see anything amiss. Quarry operators also have had to secure proper permits unlike in the past, and exact boundaries for the operations have also been implemented. This has led to the protection of the environment by proper dredging and de-silting. Reforms have also meant helping save agricultural land from being scraped.

But not everyone in his province is happy with Gov. Among Ed!

Isn’t it ironic that when a real reformer takes over, those who don’t like the reforms naturally try to demolish him? How true with politics in Pampanga! I have personally heard the “disillusioned” who are playing right into the hands of his political opponents by taking their line that he is “okay, but not his chief of staff.”

The governor was candid in answering our question why he is facing a recall. He knows the “issue” and the “non-issues” but remains   focused on what more has to be done for his province. He still pines for his priestly ministry which he loves but is quite willing to go where the Lord points him to go after his first term ends in 2010! I am rooting for you, Governor, so go slay the dragons!

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Love Notes: Talented singer and theater performer Jonathan Badon will star in the presentation of “Phantom of the Opera” by the Baguio Tourism office on Valentine’s Day. Directed by veteran theater singer-actor-director Chinggoy Alonzo, the Andrew  Lloyd Weber musical promises to be super-exciting, as it will be staged in the middle of the Burham park! And as a post-Valentine offering of The Podium in Ortigas Center, Jonathan will have a concert of all-Italian love songs on Sunday, February 15 at the second level at 6 p.m. Admission is free. George Sison Tagle and The Angelos will topbill the Valentine celebration of Tagaytay Highlands on Saturday. Tomorrow, they will be at SM Megamall at 4 p.m. and at Eastwood Mall at 7 p.m. Admission in both malls is free. And the SVD seminarians will be staging a concert-dinner “for a cause” at the sprawling grounds of their seminary in Tagaytay City tomorrow night. The arrival of guests at 5 p.m. for hot “barako” coffee will be followed by a tour of the seminary, then dinner and the concert. Don’t forget to bring your jackets and shawls. Tickets are at P l,000 per person. Tonight at Richmonde Hotel in Ortigas Center, flutist-singer Adele Joaquin will perform at 8 p.m. Her songs will be smooth and jazzy, just right for lovers.