Arroyo's ex-students protest Mark Lapid appointment as PTA chief

MABALACAT, Philippines - Former students of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo at the Ateneo de Manila University are up in arms against the appointment of former Pampanga governor Mark T. Lapid as general manager of the Philippine Tourism Authority (PTA). The group is led by Ricardo “Bong" Baron of the landed Baron-Castro clan here. “How can she appoint somebody who obviously was involved in corruption considering that his reported revenues in the provincial quarry operations paled in comparison to that of the present administration?" Baron said in an interview on Friday. "This is not good for Kapampangans." Baron said his classmates would write a letter to the President, who was their instructor in Economics 1 and 2 at the Ateneo from 1977 to 1978. Baron is also a neighbor of Arroyo at the plush La Vista Subdivision in Quezon City. During the term of Lapid as governor, the provincial quarry operations only netted an amount of only P29 million per year as compared to a staggering P217 million collection in the one year that incumbent Governor Ed Panlilio. "It does not take a rocket scientist to figure out that there is something wrong in the collection of the previous administration," Baron said. Lapid, 28, took his oath of office before Tourism Secretary Ace Durano. He is the eldest son of Senator Manuel “Lito" Lapid. - GMANews.TV