Pampanga governor files plunder raps vs Lapids

(Updated) MANILA, Philippines — Pampanga Governor Ed Panlilio on Monday filed plunder complaints against Sen. Manuel "Lito" Lapid and his son, Mark, before the Office of the Ombudsman. Panlilio said Sen. Lapid and his son allegedly amassed large sums of money from quarrying operations in the province. Both Lapids were former governors of Pampanga. A radio report quoted Panlilio as saying that he wanted to rid the local government of corruption so that the locals could benefit from the quarrying operations. In his complaint, Panlilio, a priest-politician, said the Lapid administrations collected only P121 million in sand and gravel taxes from 2002 to June 2007. Sen. Lapid, for his part, described the complaint as a “rehash of the ploy of their political opponents". In a press statement, Lapid said the complaint may be the same one that was filed against him when he was the governor of the province. He said the case was dismissed by the Ombudsman. He said another case was filed against his son by Vice Gov. Yeng Guiao but this is still pending before the Ombudsman. “Election is barely a year away and we expect more attempts to discredit the Lapids to go in high gear in the following months, especially so because Sen Lapid has signified his intention to run for governor of Pampanga," the actor-turned-senator said. He added that they would reply to the complaint "as soon as it is officially transmitted to us. - Aie Balagtas See and Amita Legaspi, GMANews.TV