Umali renews call for unity with Josons

PALAYAN CITY – The word war between Nueva Ecija Gov. Aurelio Umali and Vice Gov. Edward Thomas Joson goes on.

Umali yesterday renewed his call for unity among the province’s political leaders, primarily the Josons then lambasted Joson who he accused of playing “cheap politics.”

In a strongly worded press statement released yesterday, a copy of which was obtained by The STAR, Umali threw the gauntlet on Joson to heed, if not lead, on his call for unity.

Umali was reacting to Joson’s accusations that his call for unity was “empty rhetoric,” describing the latter’s remarks as a “below-the-belt shot.”

Earlier, Joson told The STAR that Umali’s call for unity,issued on the 112th anniversary of the “Unang Sigaw ng Nueva Ecija (First Cry of Nueva Ecija)” last week, was empty talk in the face of what he termed was the governor’s lack of sincerity in pursuing the same.

He said that Umali has shown utter lack of respect for the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) which he (Joson) heads, even ignoring their call for him to present his plans and programs for the provincial government.

Umali, however, said it was Joson, eldest son of former four-time governor Tomas Joson III, and not him who lacks sincerity in answering his call for unity, noting that as the second ranking provincial official, he (Joson) should be the first to heed, if not lead, his call for unity.

Umali said Joson’s comments are meant to create divisiveness among Novo Ecijanos which the province can least afford at this time when they are facing a lot of problems “brought about by long years of pathetic governance of the past administration.”

“But because he cannot – and would not – join us in unity, he chose to label calls for unity as empty rhetoric instead,” Umali said.

Stepping up his attacks against the Josons, Umali said the vice governor should know better as their clan had been at the helm of the provincial government for five decades “until they have been rejected by the people during the 2007 elections.”

He claimed that during the reign of the Josons, the province’s economic status nosedived from no. 1 in Central Luzon to no. 6.

Umali also cited a litany of what he claimed are “highly immoral if not anomalous transactions” during the Josons’ watch among which were unremitted Government Service Insurance Systems amortizations and Pag-ibig contributions for housing, policy and loans; alleged non-payment of P63.9-million worth of tuition and other fees of 6,000 scholars in 33 colleges and universities since four years ago and unpaid obligations to banks, contractors and suppliers worth P1.1 billion.

Joson laughed off Umali’s verbal attacks, saying his claim that Nueva Ecija’s alleged economic backwardness was farthest from the truth. He recalled that during the campaign period for the 2007 polls, Umali had been harping about the reported dethronement of the province as rice granary.

Yet, he said, the governor had the audacity to claim credit for Nueva Ecija’s becoming top rice producer for 2007 in full-page advertisements in newspapers.

“He claimed Nueva Ecija is now top producer of rice when he became governor when the statistics he used in claiming the same was culled during the administration of Governor (Tomas) Joson,” he said.