It's not jueteng, bobo

TRUE TO their bedeviling character, the rabid mongrels among the hold-outs in the fast thinning camp of embattled Gov. Eddie T. Panlilio have demonized the recall movement as jueteng-based and –directed.
This is obfuscation, a basic propaganda tool whereby the real issue is muddled with peripheral, even non-issues, to dim and render it indistinct.
Panlilio spewed the much-abused jueteng line in his dismissive reaction to the ANC’s breaking news of the Pampanga provincial board joining the recall movement: “This is because of jueteng and STL.”
That statement drew a flurry of texted reactions, most notable of which was that sent by erstwhile Panlilio top campaigner and fund-solicitor, former Bulacan Congressman Willie Buyson Villarama.
Said the half-Kapampangan Villarama (his mother is of an ilustrado family from Bacolor) : “This is a personal appeal. Can somebody please reach out to Gov. Panlilio and tell him that the real issue is not jueteng but his bad governance ; that he stopped from conveniently hiding behind the phantom of unknown evil forces (supposedly) out there to destroy him when in fact it (Panlilio’s destruction) is due to his own doing; that he endangered not just his position as governor but moreso the ideals of the Kapampangan crusade for good governance.” The enclosed words there I inserted for clarity.
In his interview on Pia Hontiveros’ Strictly Politics show over ANC too, Rosve Henson, president of the recall proponent Kambilan, Inc., made a mincemeat – as is his wont – of the jueteng-behind-the-recall-petition canard mouthed by Panlilio lawyer what’s-his-name Francisco in the same program.
So, asked Henson, more inquisitively than rhetorically:
Where is jueteng in the ongoing protest rally of the Balas boys against allegations of injustice, insult and arrogance inflicted on them by the Panlilio administration?
Where is jueteng in the perjury raps filed against Panlilio for “concealed or undeclared political contributions” during the campaign, principal of which were the millions from Pampanga’s Best’s Madame Lolita Hizon, and those that Villarama solicited from Makati businessmen?
Where is jueteng in the case filed with the Civil Service Commission by Dr. Eddie Ponio against Panlilio for “violation of the Magna Carta for Public Health”?
Where is jueteng in the case filed with the Ombudsman by the sangguniang panlalawigan against Panlilio for “gross negligence, gross misconduct and abuse of authority” arising from the non-implementation of Ordinance 176 on the equitable distribution of quarry shares?
Indeed, where is jueteng in all there?
And where is jueteng in the insistent, persistent, and consistent public demand for the resignation, nay, ouster, of Panlilio’s putative provincial administrator Atty. Vivian Dabu?
Where is jueteng in the fall-out from the Panlilio camp of his once most avid supporters in the civil society?
Where is jueteng in the resignation from the capitol of 13 members of Panlilio’s innermost circle?
It is not jueteng that is bedeviling Panlilio. It is the arrogance of power.
A text message from a former Panlilio lawyer hit the Governor right on the head: “The problem with Gov. Panlilio is that he has become too proud and bullheaded, thinking that civil society has no choice but to support him. It’s high time he realized he has no right pontificating good governance even as he abandoned the province by entrusting its affairs to one person.”
Or, as Panlilio elder in the clergy, the Rev. Fr. Resty Lumanlan, SVD, president of the Kapampangan Coalition, Inc. said on local TV: “Among Ed is not the crusade for good governance. He is just one symbol.”
And Among Resty’s concomitant lamentation: “Papalakaran ne ing probinsiya antimong parokya (He runs the province like a parish)…Ating good governance keni? Akakit mi kulang. (Is there good governance here? We see very little)…Anya mamaklas kami. (That is why we are rising (in protest)).
Need I add more?
It’s not jueteng, bobo!