GOV. Erico Aumentado Friday vehemently denied having received payola during the October 11 meeting in Malacañang that threw his fellow governor Eddie Panlilio of Pampanga into the headlines. Panlilio hogged the limelight after claiming that indeed he received such windfall. He even had his picture taken while holding the crisp bundles of cash – that again splashed across the front pages of national dailies and on national TV. As a result, Aumentado was dogged by the local, regional and even national media – all seeking his opinion on Panlilio's confession, and asking if he also received such “gift.” The Bohol governor is the immediate past national president of the League of Provinces of the Philippines (LPP). Aumentado said October 11 was the day he turned over the presidency of the Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines (ULAP) to interim president Ramon Guico Jr. of Binalonan, Pangasinan, national president of the League of Municipalities of the Philippines (LMP).

The governor said he cut short his term that is supposed to end in March 2008 yet so that he can devote more of his time to Bohol . Earlier, he also declined another term as LPP president, endorsing Gov. Loreto Leo Ocampos of Misamis Occidental instead. A few moments after delivering his valedictory address, however, Aumentado and Bohol 's three congressmen – Reps. Edgar Chatto, Roberto Cajes and Adam Jala – left Malacañang for the airport en route to Tagbilaran City to prepare for the Presidential visit the following day. President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was to inaugurate the Bohol Irrigation Project Stage 2 (BHIP2) by releasing irrigation water from the Bayongan Dam to the main and lateral canals of the service area. During Friday's The Governor Reports, Aumentado even kidded the media that if he had received such payola, they would have been the first to receive balato or goodwill share. The Governor Reports is Aumentado's weekly radio program aired Fridays at 7:45 a.m. to 9 a.m. It is simulcast live over dyRD and dyTR in Tagbilaran and dyZD in Ubay town. A taped version is aired over dyDL in Carmen town. He also said if Panlilio thinks the amount is a bribe, he should return it to the source.