3 more former military officers to seek elective posts

FORT DEL PILAR, Baguio City – Providing some color to the routine but symbolic yearly Philippine Military Academy (PMA) homecoming rites held here, three former military officials bared their political plans for the May 14 midterm elections.

Seldom seen in public after his retirement as chief of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG), former police director Eduardo Matillano said he is running as mayor of Puerto Princesa City, Palawan.

Matillano belongs to PMA Class 1971, the same batch as former senator Gregorio Honasan and re-electionist Sen. Panfilo Lacson. He will run against incumbent Mayor Edward Hagedorn.

"He may be a brick wall but I am a sledgehammer. A sledgehammer can tear down a brick wall," Matillano said regarding his chances of winning against Hagedorn.

Matillano said he will solve the political killings if elected. He cited the case of radio commentator Fernando Batul, whose case has not been solved.

He said he was not intimidated by Hagedorn, saying a survey showed him with a 60-percent "approval rating" compared to Hagedorn’s 32 percent.

"The President does not make mayors. It’s the people who will vote," Matillano said when asked about Hagedorn’s close ties to President Arroyo.

Matillano said he was still looking for a political party, but has "signified (his) intention" to join Mrs. Arroyo’s Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino party, which is under the administration coalition.

Hagedorn belongs to the Lakas party under the same coalition.

Another member of PMA Class 1971, retired Philippine National Police (PNP) comptroller deputy director general Reynaldo Velasco, attended the homecoming rites and said he will run for mayor in his hometown of Sta. Barbara, Pangasinan.

Velasco vowed that "in three years, Sta. Barbara will be on the map."

"We will prove that what they (incumbent officials) did in nine years, we can do in one year," he said, referring to the three successive three-year terms local officials are allowed to hold under law.

Velasco also took the cudgels for Lacson and Honasan, saying: "You can see what they are fighting for – reforms."

"Come to think of it, it will be easier to just take care of grandchildren (after retirement)… They can say we are troublemakers, but all we want are reforms," he said.

Former Army Scout Ranger colonel Abraham Purugganan, a member of PMA Class 1978, said he will run for a congressional seat in La Union. He is up against the Dumpit political clan.

As one of the founders of the Young Officers Union (YOU), Purugganan led the bloody 1989 attempt to overthrow the Aquino administration. He left the military after being granted amnesty in the mid-1990s.