Monday, July 21, 2008 Guv-PB dialogue set Monday By Ian Ocampo Flora
* Members of the Pampanga Mayors League have decided not to attend the talk
* The mayors, according to Guiao, will just send a formal statement to be read during the dialogue
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO - It's a full metal jacket day as Governor Eddie Panlilio and the Provincial Board (PB) led by Vice Governor Joseller "Yeng" Guiao are set to meet Monday afternoon to discuss the issues plaguing the Provincial Government.
The 2 p.m. dialogue, which will be held at the at the Bren Z. Guiao Convention Center will be mediated by Central Luzon TV (CLTV)-36 broadcaster John Susi, will start with a discussion on the delivery of basic social services. The 2008 and 2007 budget will be given special focus.
Panlilio and Guiao are expected to deliver their respective opening statements at the start of the dialogue. Standard speaking time during the discussion will be three minutes for each speaker. Other topics to be discussed would be the implementation of infrastructure projects and the relationship between the governor and the PB.
CLTV 36 dubbed the dialogue as "Dayalogo sa Kapitolyo: Pampanga susulong na ba?" The dialogue is expected to run for at least three hours.
Mayors are expected to skip the dialogue, although Guiao's camp had invited the Pampanga Mayors League to join his team.
Guiao in an interview said the mayors decided on Saturday not to participate in the dialogue. The mayors, he said, will just send a formal statement on their position, which will be read by the PB's team.
Earlier, Panlilio issued an "open invitation" for dialogue to Guiao and the PB members. He also invited the PML to participate in the talk. The dialogue aims to answer the issues raised by both camps against each other. Guiao accepted the invitation under condition that the dialogue will be open to the public and covered by the media.
"Our purpose here to give the accurate information to the people on what is happening in the province and this administration," Guiao said in a phone interview over the weekend.
Guiao said three PB members will sit during the panel discussion. Meanwhile, representatives from the budget, finance and personnel departments of the capitol would accompany Panlilio.
"I will prove critics wrong that we have not done anything substantial in projects and developments in the province," Panlilio said in a separate interview.
