Panlilio concedes defeat in Pampanga gubernatorial race

Published May 14, 2013 11:01am

(Updated 1:36 p.m.) Former Pampanga governor Among Ed Panlilio has conceded defeat to incumbent Pampanga Governor Lilia Pineda Tuesday morning, a television report said.

"They are really favoring Mrs. Lilia Pineda at mahirap na kaming makahabol," Panlilio he said in an interview with GMA News' Lia Mañalac-del Castillo. "We did our best and because of that we are mighty proud of what we did."

A report by Lia Mañalac-del Castillo on GMA News TV's News TV Live said Panlilo will file a complaint against Pineda for alleged vote-buying in the area.

"We really wanted to win, of course, but ito'y mga nangyayari dito sa Pampanga. Pinag-aaralan pa namin, [pero] we heard a heavy and massive campaign vote-buying," he said.

Pineda has denied the allegation, the same report said.

Based on the partial, unofficial results representing 65.39 percent of the nationwide election returns as of Tuesday morning, Panlilo obtained 111,794 votes against Pineda's 444,989 votes.

Panlilo said he will not run again for position in Pampanga, according to the report.

During the 2007 elections, Panlilio—a Catholic priest—won over Pineda albeit only by a margin of a little over a thousand votes. Pineda then filed an electoral protest against Panlilio.

But in February 2010, the Comelec unseated Panlilio and subsequently declared Pineda as the righful winner after conducting a recount. The finaly tally showed Pineda winning over Panlilio by about 2,000 votes.

During the 2010 polls, Panlilio also lost to Pineda.

Panlilio is a Catholic priest who decided to enter politics to serve as an alternative candidate.

He is also a convenor of Kaya Natin Movement, a group espousing transparency and good governance. Among the promiment members of Kaya Natin are newly appointed poll commissioner Grace Padaca and the late Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo.

Meanwhile, Pineda is a known ally of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Her husband, Rodolfo "Bong" Pineda, had been linked several times to illegal gambling, to which he has repeatedly denied. — Amanda Fernandez/RSJ, GMA News

Tags: edpanlilio, eleksyon2013, liliapineda, pampanga