It's final. Leyte Governor Jericho "Icot" Petilla is out of the Senate Race for the Team Unity of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for the reason that her mother, Leyte 1st District Rep. Remedios "Matin" Petilla decided not to run for governor of Leyte and instead wants him to run again for another term. This is a great development for me because today, the Team Unity will be in Cebu to formally proclaim their complete senatorial line-up in the Cebu Coliseum.But what about his substitute? Don't worry, after a 5-hour talk with President Arroyo in Malacañang, they had finally decided to appoint one. It's Cesar Montano, the long-rumored bet of the Arroyo bloc since last year. It was really a surprise for us that Montano will be the replacement of Petilla. Nobody knew that it would happen. After the Team Unity completed its senatorial slate, there was no more rumors that Montano would be running for the Senate.
C'mon! Miracles do happen on election period.
Petilla insisted that he would still run even if he's not popular to the people. He has the platform of local government empowerment and autonomy just like senatoriables Zambales Gov. Vicente Magsaysay and Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis "Chavit" Singson.
Petilla and presidential political adviser Gabriel Claudio together with Montano, arrived in the main office of the Commission on Elections in Intramuros, Manila around 7 p.m yesterday to formalize the substitution of candidates.Montano, whose real name is Cesar Manhilot, is one of the popular actors in the Philippine movie industry. Just to name a few of his blockbuster hits, "Jose Rizal", "Panaghoy sa Suba", "Muro Ami", "Bagong Buwan", "The Great Raid" and others that I hard to remember.
But if he really succeeds, and gets elected to the Senate, I hope he will be a true servant and not only on his campaign. I am really disappointed with his decision, but who are we to stop him from his decision. We are not his mind. It was Arroyo's pups who made him run even though he insisted before that he wouldn't.
Labels: election 2007, senators
