Firms pick tab for gov’s gift-giving

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO—The gift-giving mode of Pampanga Governor Lilia Pineda had gone full-hilt, with beneficiaries reaching 30,000 through donations that she said came from the private sector.

Capitol was quick in saying that Pineda or the provincial government did not spend for the gift packs consisting of grocery items, hotdogs, chicken, ham and clothes.

“It can be noted that these private companies that requested anonymity had voluntarily donated goods and other kinds of donations to be true to their commitment in helping the provincial government in reaching out to the poorest of the poor this time of the year,” the capitol said in a news release.

It did not say why those firms did not want their names or donations known. But the number of recipients was one for the books.

Some 10,000 people in Northville 14, San Pedro Cutud, Sto. Niño and Pandaras, all in the City of San Fernando, received gift packs, it said. Pineda’s only son, Dennis, is reportedly eyeing the mayorship of the Pampanga capital in 2013.

Gift packs also went to more than 500 farmers in Arayat town, 10,000 fishing families in Macabebe, Masantol and Sasmuan towns, 1,200 Aetas in Floridablanca town and 1,500 Aetas in Porac town.

“We wanted our poor province-mates to feel the spirit of sharing this Christmas,” Pineda said in a phone interview.

The capitol report did not include the presents given to more than 6,000 barangay (village) health workers.

Before she ventured into politics, Pineda was known to maintain a de facto social welfare office in Pampanga. It gave out relief goods during calamities and conducted medical missions that became steadily more regular when she ran for governor.

She said her charities were funded by her own businesses (real estate, manpower, and food retail), but her critics suspected that her husband, Rodolfo “Bong” Pineda, was the main source of her finances.

Bong Pineda had thrice been the subject of Senate investigations on the illegal numbers game “jueteng” since 1995. In 1998, he was cleared of charges of corrupting public officials. Tonette Orejas, Inquirer Central Luzon