08/10/2026
Sa pamumulitika ng mga TRAPO, mamamayan ang talo
In light of the graft accusations levied against Laguna incumbent Governor Sol Aragones, she and her legal team denounced the accusations as โpolitical maneuveringโ. This may have been a reasonable statement to make had the accusations been made with no evidence at all. It is a neglect of gubernatorial integrity to dismiss the understandable grievances of the public citizens when public funds are seemingly handled so irresponsibly.
Petitioners spearheaded by Liga ng mga Barangay - Laguna Chapter President Lorenzo Zuรฑiga Jr. allege that individual beneficiaries of Aragonesโ free review assistance program received 15,500 pesos and the instruction to turn it over to a private review center. Aragones specifies that the amount given was entirely for the purposes of payment for the review center, and not as personal allowance of the beneficiaries. What manner of grave irresponsibility must have possessed them that theyโve elected to, instead of organizing and funding the review centers themselves, offloaded the responsibility of payment to the beneficiaries?
The 15,500 peso amount itself is deserving of scrutiny as there exist review centers in Laguna that have significantly lower fees. It is standard procedure for programs such as this to undergo a public bidding, such that the public fund is not wasted on inflated prices.
The validity of allegations of Zuรฑiga and the mastermind behind this stunt, however, does not excuse them from the fact that this is political maneuvering, if not early mudslinging. The elections are more than 18 months away. Neither party in this debacle is innocent of politicking; Aragones implementing a botched free review program to better her chances of reelection, and Zuรฑiga and co. are making these stunts to nab the very same office.
These politicians do not have the welfare of the people at heart. Service, true service, requires the dignity and accountability not present in these two factions. We call for public servants to work towards greater transparency. The youth has no obligation to side with either faction. We have a world to win and these politicians are the ones hindering us.
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