INQUIRER.net Eleksyon 2007

Mikey Arroyo seeks disqualification of rival in Pampanga

INQUIRER.net

Erwin Oliva

MANILA, Philippines -- President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s son and local candidate Juan Miguel "Mikey" Arroyo has filed a disqualification case against his rival in the second district of Pampanga province, the recipient of the complaint himself told INQUIRER.net Friday.

Dr. Joey Montemayor, a candidate of the Liberal Party, said the case against him was filed this Friday.

Montemayor has filed his certificate of candidacy ahead of the March 29 deadline for local candidates.

Concepcion Asis, director general of LP, confirmed the filing of the complaint, adding that the LP had also fielded candidates against all the Arroyos running for different congressional districts.

The President’s other son, Diosdado “Dato” Arroyo, is also running for congressman in Bicol.

"I was tagged as a nuisance candidate," Montemayor said in a telephone interview. “I'm currently in contact with LP lawyers now to discuss my reply required in three days.”

Montemayor is a cardiologist currently working at the St. Luke's Medical Center in Quezon City, where Arroyo's father, First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo, is confined after undergoing heart surgery.

Montemayor said the disqualification case was part of an increasing harassment against him.

"The disqualification case is saying that I am not being a serious candidate. But I believe they're alarmed because of the overwhelming support I'm getting from my constituents," he said.

Montemayor, however, felt that the young Arroyo should be the one disqualified because "he could not wage a campaign now that his father is sick."

"He can't even speak Kapampangan," he added.

Asis said the grounds for Montemayor's disqualification looked "weird."

The complaint argued that Montemayor should be considered a nuisance candidate because he did not have campaign posters displayed in the place where he was running, and that he was not a resident of the second district of Pampanga because he had a clinic at the St. Luke's Medical Center.

"He's already feeling pressure," added Asis, referring to Montemayor.

Montemayor claimed that a certain Infomax, a block timer for the ABS-CBN television network in Pampanga, canceled a scheduled interview with him allegedly due to some political pressures.

"They have canceled a five-part interview with Infomax, which was giving congressional candidates a chance to air their platform of governance. They only canceled my slot on April 11," he said.

Montemayor admitted that he had recently been moving around because he feared for his life.

"I'm in an undisclosed place because my life is under threat indirectly," he said, adding that he has stopped admitting patients to focus on his campaign.

Montemayor, 45, is the son of a judge that had convicted actor Robin Padilla for illegal possession of firearms.

Nine years ago, Montemayor ran but lost to Lito Lapid for governor of Pampanga.

He graduated from the Far Eastern University, topping the licensure exams for medicine and medical technology.

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