Thursday, August 28, 2008 Editorial: The PB's big battle
IT'S not at all surprising that members of the Provincial Board (PB) have jumped into the fray to recall Gov. Eddie T. Panlilio.
Their collective sentiment about the priest-governor has never been in doubt. Their public declaration of support to the initiative that pushes for his eviction from the provincial Capitol merely confirmed it in style.
The coming-out party also gives the public a clearer and bigger picture as to who really are behind the relentless drive to unseat Panlilio.
That snapshot will unavoidably unsettle quite a number of people - voters, if you will - who have a strong feeling not only about good but ethical and moral governance in Pampanga.
Like it or not, the Kambilan, the newly-incepted organization that initiated the recall, can only be perceived as a convenient cover for the real people behind this move.
The PB's public declaration has somewhat unwittingly unmasked them and, more seriously, pointed to the real prime mover and supporter.
The active public may find charges of incompetence and even bad faith against the governor highly plausible and worth evaluating.
It may not be inclined to accept too quickly Kambilan's clumsy argument that these are the real and only reasons behind its move to run Panlilio out of office, even if that were true.
In politics, public perception may not be everything, given what money can do or buy, but it's a formidable brick wall. And it's going to be a tough climb for even the most motivated or moneyed aspirant.
That is to say, regardless of any claim or disclaimer by Kambilan, the board members and others supporting the recall about their intention, noble or ignoble as the case maybe, public perception of what this historic exercise is really all about will be decisive to the outcome.
Certainly, reversing that perception is critical to the campaign, requiring more intense and adverse effort from public figures critical of Panlilio.
But, as it is, the more public officials - the mayors expectedly anytime now - coming out to support the recall, the more the current public view on the matter will be bolstered.
This is further complicated by the emerging endorsement Panlilio is drawing from very credible public figures outside Pampanga whose perspective on the recall may resonate popular perception.
Where credible personalities and institutions are relevant to the outcome, Panlilio may also have the advantages in terms of his affiliation with the monolith Catholic Church and civil society groups that have rallied behind him until now.
