?DO NOT CAST JUDGMENT.?

This is the advice that Lilia Pineda, declared after a recount as the real winner of the 2007 gubernatorial election in Pampanga, offered her rival, the now unseated governor, Fr. Ed Panlilio.

?For me this is a great victory already, a psychological victory. But I wish they would not say that I won in the Comelec recount because I?m close to the President,? she said.

?This is my battle and the President has nothing to do with this. How can they say that this decision was speeded up when it took almost three years. We underwent a process and we held hearings. We waited for so long,? Pineda lamented.

?It?s okay for him to fight for his rights, it?s what I did after all. But I hope he will not accuse the Commission on Elections of manipulation and bias,? Pineda said in an interview.

?He can still appeal and his appeal may even be granted by the Comelec en banc. He should not say that he was cheated because we never said he was the one who cheated,? said Pineda, a known ally and friend of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and the wife of Bong Pineda, an alleged gambling lord.

The Comelec 2nd Division on Thursday declared Pineda ?the duly elected governor of Pampanga? after a recount showed that she won over Panlilio by 2,011 votes. With the ruling, the poll body ordered Panlilio to vacate the office in favor of Pineda.

The Supreme Court ordered the recount based on the election protest that Pineda filed against Panlilio?s 2007 election victory.

?Nanay Baby?

Pineda clarified that nowhere in her petition did she accuse Panlilio of cheating in the 2007 elections. She said her petition concerned the votes that were not counted in her favor because the Board of Election Inspectors failed to read and acknowledge the votes for ?Nanay Baby? as legitimate votes that should have been counted in her favor. Nanay Baby is her nickname.

In the recount, the votes for ?Nanay Baby? were considered valid, thereby increasing Pineda?s vote count to 190,729 votes and erasing the 1,147 lead of Panlilio who tallied 188,718 votes in the 2007 count.

Pineda said she is in no rush to occupy the governor?s office.

Although the decision of the Comelec?s 2nd Division is final and executory, Panlilio has been given five days to file a motion for reconsideration with the commission en banc.

LP condemnation

The unseating of Panlilio is the latest in a string of controversial decisions that the 2nd Division has made with regard to election protests. It earlier annulled the 2007 victory of Bulacan Gov. Joselito Mendoza and unseated Isabela Gov. Grace Padaca. Panlilio, Mendoza and Padaca are all with the opposition.

The Liberal Party, whose Pampanga chapter Panlilio chairs, has condemned the Comelec decision that, it said, in effect called Panlilio a cheater.

?We are enraged for the Comelec as a democratic institution, particularly its second division, as it seems that the forces of darkness have effectively used it as a conduit in its machinations against local leaders of hope,? said Sen. Manuel Roxas, the LP vice presidential candidate, in a statement.

Pineda pointed out that when she filed her election protest more than two years ago, Sen. Benigno Aquino III was not yet considered a presidential candidate and Panlilio was not a member of the LP.

?This has nothing to do with politicians who joined the Liberal Party. The Comelec really has to decide on these cases and their lawyers knew that. So I appeal for them not to accuse the Comelec of being used to pressure politicians who joined the Liberals,? Pineda said.

Pineda started her career in politics as a councilor in Lubao, the hometwon of President Arroyo, before becoming the town?s mayor for nine years. She always ran as an independent except in the 2007 elections when she ran under a coalition party identified with the administration.

One more term

Pineda is again running for governor in the May elections against Panlilio.

If she should win, she intends to serve for just one term and then retire completely from politics, she said.

All she wants is to fulfill a promise to her provincemates to serve them as governor, she said.

?If I am able to fulfill my dream of putting basic health services in the provincial government system, I will be quite happy. All I need is one term, I?m too old,? said Pineda who is 59.

And if Panlilio were to beat her in 2010, Pineda said she would still retire from politics.

?I?m old already. My husband and I just want to be with each other and with our grandchildren. It?s just that I made a promise that I cannot go back on because it has yet to be redeemed,? she said.

No bearing on Arroyo
In Malacañang, Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Gary Olivar said that whether or not Pineda successfully assumes the governorship of Pampanga would have no bearing on Ms Arroyo?s congressional candidacy.

?We?re just talking here of one district. It?s not clear to me how a governor in Pampanga will be able to influence the race. The President has her own organization and constituents in her own district,? Olivar said.

He said if Ms Arroyo, who is making an unprecedented run for a congressional seat in Pampanga?s second district, were to win she would have no problem working with any governor as long as their priorities are the same.

?For as long as the two people agree on a common objective that is worth pursuing together, that will prevail over personal matters,? he said.

Olivar said he has no idea if the President has called Pineda to congratulate her, or if she was happy that her friend and ally had won.

He also denied speculations that the President may have influenced the 2nd Division into issuing a favorable decision for Pineda.

?Just because the President may have been associated in one way or another with this or that side of a dispute before the Comelec doesn?t mean she?s interfering in the hearing of the case. That?s a stretch of logic,? he said.

Olivar said it would be up to the Comelec to handle any motion for reconsideration from Panlilio.