The defection of V-Gov. Julius Ceasar Herrera and Provincial Administrator Tomas Abapo Jr. will not deter him from remaining in the tight embrace of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's Lakas Kampi-CMD. The President is the president-emeritus of the ruling coalition. This according to Gov. Erico Aumentado in an interview last night. He said with all the projects poured by the GMA administration in Bohol , he found no plausible reason to desert the President. Saying he was just showing his gratitude to President GMA, the governor said that what this administration has done to Bohol in terms of projects was unprecedented in the annals of local governance. Under Aumentado's watch, Bohol was a recipient of mega projects that cost billions of pesos in taxpayers' money.
The governor was asked to react on news reports emanating from Manila announcing the defection of Herrera and Abapo before Sen. Manuel Villar of Nacionalista Party. Citing his loyalty to the party that catapulted him to power nine years ago, Aumentado said he respected Herrera's decision. He debunked speculations that with Herrera's desertion of the administration party, his own defection to the NP is not far behind. Suspicions were on Aumentado that he is a Villar Trojan horse in the ruling coalition. Asked what prompted the two to bolt the ruling party, Aumentado said the “war of attrition between Herrera and Cong. Edgar Chatto must have took a heavy toll on the vice governor's patience that he jumped the gun” on the appointing power. But Herrera's decision to leave the party relieved Aumentado of the king size headache of choosing who between the two that merits his choice as Bohol gubernatorial candidate.
The two gubernatorial protagonists for Bohol representing Lakas are considered trusted allies of the governor that he hard time choosing who among the two. Aumentado was reported to be agonizing at the prospect of endorsing either one of the two vital allies in the prosecution of high-impact projects in Bohol. With Herrera out of the picture, Chatto is now a virtual shoo-in in the Lakas official nomination. As Lakas regional chairman and provincial interim chair of the ruling party, Gov. Aumentado will eventually have the free hand to recommend his choice for Bohol governor, vice governor and the three congressmen. Calling it as official endorsement representing the Lakas Kampi-CMD, Aumentado said he will submit the list to the national Lakas directorate for its final approval. As to the other Lakas candidate like Chatto's choice for vice governor who is Cong. Roberto Cajes, the provincial party leadership will also submit his name to the Lakas national directorate. The same Lakas stalwarts like Aumentado who is running for his old Congress seat in the second district, Catigbian Mayor Roberto Salinas of the first district and Agriculture Sec. Arthur Yap in the third district, their names will also be endorsed for Lakas nomination by the provincial party leadership.
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