Page Nav

HIDE

Breaking News:

latest

Ads Place

Pagbilao mayoralty fight sizzles with a video showing town’s alleged dark side

by Sentinel Times May 5, 2019 Incumbent mayor Shierre Anne Portes-Palicpic and major contender Belen Batilo. PAGBILAO, Quezon...

by Sentinel Times
May 5, 2019



Pagbilao mayoralty fight sizzles with a video showing town’s alleged dark side
Incumbent mayor Shierre Anne Portes-Palicpic and major contender Belen Batilo.






PAGBILAO, Quezon – Pagbilao election battle is mounting in a fever pitch between the 2 camps of mayoralty candidates incumbent mayor Shierre Anne Portes-Palicpic and major contender Belen Batilo.

Batilo’s camp unleashed a 34-minute video clip showing the alleged dark underbelly of the town hosting the coal-fired power plant of Team Energy Corp.

The video clip was shown during the press conference on Friday (April 26) at the Tropical Garden Restaurant and Event Center at Bgy. Talipan here which was attended by Batilo and her candidates for vice mayor and councilors.

The video, entitled ‘Mga Itinatagong Katotohanan sa mga Pagbilaoen’ shows the priced jewelries of Mayor Palicpic and her municipal administrator and husband Ian Talusit Palicpic, their several travels abroad in various countries, the latter’s expensive toycar collections, the sorry lack of water, electricity and toilet in several barangays, alleged harassments on the mayor’s critics and graft suits filed against her.

It shows Portes-Palicpic couple’s travels in Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, Rome, Maldives, among other countries across several years, showing the mayor’s radiant cut diamond necklace worth from P6 million to P10 million, Cartier two-tone wristwatch worth from P300,000 to P500,000; Louis Vitton handbag, P150,000-P200,000; Porsche designed shoes, P20,000 and even Valentino shoes for their son, worth P50,000-P60,000; Prada shades, P20,000-P35,000; Hermes blue/orange scarfs, P20,000-P30,000, among many other luxury items.

The hot collections for the municipal administrator includes limited editions of mini Batmobile tumbler worth P26,205; the Joker toy in the Batman movie The Dark Knight’ which costs P27,877; Gladiator hulk worth P33,453; Lockdown Transformer worth P89,210; and the most pricey in his toy collection, Optimus Prime Transformer robot worth P128,239.

The video also disclosed the business engagements of the couple Portes-Palicpic like Xtremedrive One Six Seven Car Exchange and Service Center, Pal Por Ian Aggregates, Trucking and Heavy Equipment Rentals, trucking dealership allegedly worth P40 million, among others.

Incumbent and reelectionist vice mayor Joseph Garcia, running in tandem with Batilo, bared in the video the controversial P12.5 million mobile health clinic which allegedly fetches P5 million estimated cost based on design and which is now shown in a dilapidated condition.

The video also revealed documents from RTC Branch 57 in Lucena city that the mayor and her allies in the Sang. Bayan allegedly asked P500 million from Pagbilao Energy Corp. and when the latter refused the mayor’s office retaliated by not issuing a mayor’s permit to the power plant company.

It also shows 31,811 are jobless in Pagbilao, 8,178 families have no water, 1,454 homes have no electricity and hundreds have no toilets.

Asked what made her run for mayor, Batilo said: “May malasakit ako sa tao. Nakita ko ang kahirapan ng aking mga kababayan lalo na sa mga laylayan kaya ako lumalaban. Ang kakulangan ng trabaho, sa tubig at sa kuryente sa mga barangay ang nagtulak sa akin para tumakbong mayor ng Pagbilao.”

The video has been circulating and most probably has been viewed by thousands of Pagbilao residents and anywhere even by Pagbilao residents living abroad and which the mayor’s camp has branded as “mere black propaganda and a demolition job that has destroyed not only my image but the image of Pagbilao as 1st class municipality”.



Pagbilao mayoralty fight sizzles with a video showing town’s alleged dark side
The controversial video showing Pagbilao's first family and their pricy accessories.


On Thursday, May 2, it was the mayor’s turn to call for a press conference at the Arturo Tan’s Residence Meramar Subdivision in Bgy. Mapagong here. In the presence of several of her barangay chairmen and various municipal department heads and her entire slate for vice mayor and councilors, she answered all the claims and allegations in the video which she thought would even enhanced her winnability in the elections.

She deplored Batilo’s camp attempt to capitalize the weakness of the poor just to boost their election chances. She was referring to those shown in the video being interviewed about the lack of water, electricity and toilet in their barangays. Two of them, identified as Aliya and Josie Castillo, were present during the press conference and disclosed that they did not know their interviews would end up in the video showing them to be lamenting for their lack of toilets and electricity in their house.





The mayor, seated with her vice mayoralty candidate, Jimmy Zaportesa and her councilor bets, stood and asked that the video in question be replayed and when it came on screen she answered point by point the video’s allegations and claims. Her husband looked on as she struggled to respond to the video’s alleged false claims hurled against her and their beloved town.

Referring to her issuance of the cease and desist order (CDO) against the expanded Pagbilao power plant, she said:





“I will resign immediately if I used a single centavo from the P600 million and received a bribe money of P15 million from the power plant.”

She said that all the money were all accounted for and received by the barangay, municipality and province in accordance with the law.

She said she issued the CDO when she found out the power plant was already operating even without a business permit. She said they were able to settle the problem with the power company in a ‘professional manner’.

The mayor admitted the expensive jewelries she wears in the video but disputed their prices. She said that her earrings are worth P90,000 and not P800,000 as claimed in the video and the pair of shoes she is wearing is only P1,800.

“I am accountable and responsible for my town which is still a progress in the making. It is unfair and unjust to claim that Pagbilao has fallen aground for more than two decades,” the mayor said in mixed Tagalog and English adding that under her watch the municipality has bagged Seal of Good Housekeeping awards for the last 5 years.

Besides Palicpic and Batilo, Bgy. Iba. Polo chairman Arnel Amandy and businessman Jerry Luce are also mayoralty contenders for the May 13 elections here.

Latest Articles

OFFICE ADDRESS: Sentinel Times Quezon Province Regional Weekly Newspaper is published at Dau St. Calmar Subd. Brgy. Mayao Kanluran, Lucena City, 4301 Quezon Province, Philippines
TELEPHONE: 042-717-6108
CELL: 0927-938-5896
E-MAIL: contact@sentineltimes.net
WEBSITE: https://www.sentineltimes.net/
SOCIAL MEDIA: @stcalabarzon