Pampanga’s Only Hope Under Siege

Harvey Keh , an idealist young fellow who previously wrote controversial letters titled : “What will make me leave the Philippines : an open letter to every Filipino” and “Seven things that shouldn’t happen in the May elections”, has written another letter to every Filipino.

This time, Harvey is drumming up support for Pampanga Gov. Ed Panlilio who is now besieged by Pampanga local officials and other GMA’s apologists over his exposé of alleged bribery in Malacañang last 11 October 2007.

I'm putting out here his letter to demonstrate my support for Governor Panlilio.




Mind you, the speed with which this letter is being circulated in the internet is so amazing that the Philippine Daily Inquirer carried it in its breaking news 12 November 2007. Several bloggers and sites have already published this letter (www.amonged.org, www.manilabaywatch.blogspot.com, www.pamagcusa.org, etc.) and others have been asked to do the same.

The support for Among Ed steadily gains ground and will soon snowball to reach a critical mass.

Thank you, Harvey!

Dear Fellow Filipinos,

Good day to you!

Last October 13 , Governor Ed Panlilio of Pampanga came out to declare that he was given P500,000.00 in cash which came from a Palace Staff Member in Malacañang. The money was allegedly given for baranggay projects and to support candidates for the upcoming baranggay elections.

Since Gov. Panlilio's admission, there have been other local officials and congressmen who have admitted to receiving money from Malacañang as well. Up until today we still don't know where this money really came from.

But since then, Gov. Panlilio has been under fire because of doing the right thing. Rightnow, local officials in Pampanga led by Vice-Gov. Yeng Guiao are ganging up on him and marginalizing him by not respecting his authority as governor. Media Publications in Pampanga are even being used to destroy his credibility. If one looks at Gov. Panlilio's performance thus far in the less than 6 months that he has been inoffice, the results would speak for itself. He was able to raise the same amount of quarry taxes in less than 2 months compared to the former governor who raised the same amount in 1 year. Due to this, mayors and board members are now demanding part of this collection money and dare blackmailing Gov. Panlilio by not passing important policies that will benefit the constituencies of Pampanga.

Isn't this a familiar refrain in our country? Someone does good and yet he is often punished for doing what is right? And worse, while this is happening many of us just turn a blind eye without doing anything. We just shrug it off and move on with our lives. It is no wonder why majority of our government leaders are becoming bolder and bolder in becoming corrupt since for them no one would dare complaint about it. In short, we deserve the kind of leaders that we have because we continue to do nothing despite the fact that we see that there is something wrong.

And this is why I am writing to appeal to you right now, I'd like to ask for a few minutes of your time to send an email of support to Gov. Ed Panlilio, let us all tell him that we are behind him in his quest for the Truth. What is at stake here is not only the people of Pampanga but the nation as a whole. Gov. Ed exposed what has long been happening in Malacañang and now he is being punished for it. Will you do something about it?

Please help us by forwarding this email to all your friends.

Harvey S. Keh, 27, is the Director for Youth Leadership and Social Entrepreneurship at the Ateneo de Manila University's School of Government and a Fellow at the Asian Institute of Management's Mirant Center for Bridging Societal Divides. He is also the Executive Director of AHON Foundation, an organization that helps promote literacy by building public elementary school libraries.