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DAET, Camarines Norte—It was supposed to be just another Monday morning flag ceremony but it turned into high drama with all the elements of a soap opera.
In near tears, in a slightly shaky voice, and begging for forgiveness, Camarines Norte Gov. Edgardo “Egay” Tallado made his act of self-abasement in a speech at the provincial capitol after the raising of the flag.
The only character not present in the public drama was Tallado’s wife, Josie—she had accused her husband of having an affair with another woman for two years and said she even saw a sex video of the two on his cell phone.
Tallado came to rue after photographs of him and a naked woman surfaced and made the rounds of the social network over the weekend.
Dressed in a white shirt, Tallado, 51, held back tears as he also asked for forgiveness from the family of the 24-year-old woman who was suspected to be his “mistress.”
The photos surfaced after his wife, Josefina “Josie” Tallado, 45, was interviewed on television on Oct. 22 where she revealed her reason for leaving their home in Labo, Camarines Norte province.
Why she fled
During the interview, Josie claimed the governor had been having an affair with the woman for two years and that she saw the sex video on his phone in the first week of September.
When a nude photo of the mistress was uploaded on Facebook, the governor accused her of being behind it, Josie said.
She said she ran away in fear of her husband after she saw him very angry for the first time in the 28 years they had been married.
‘Please forgive’
“I am here to ask for your understanding as well as your forgiveness for my family problem that has affected Camarines Norte,” Tallado said in Filipino to government employees in the lobby of the provincial capitol.
He neither denied nor admitted if he was the man shown in the social networking site hugging and kissing the young woman. But he said he had “committed an offense”against his family.
He said he and his wife, who was still in Metro Manila, had yet to settle their differences.
“If my wife is listening at this moment, I am asking for her forgiveness,”he said.
Time and privacy
Tallado said he had spoken to their son Alvin in an effort to get through to his wife.
“My family is important to me,” he said. “I will always choose to rebuild my family, which is why I chose to be silent during the past days.”
He asked that he be given the time and privacy to repair the damage to his family, which he said should not be an issue against his leadership as provincial governor.
“I ask of you to see my family’s plight as an issue different from my career as governor. It has already eclipsed the good news and developments in Camarines Norte. We have a lot of projects for the benefit of our constituents,” he said.
Straight in the eye
“To my political opponents, please stop spreading those photos you have posted on Facebook and the Internet,” he said.
Tallado also said he could look his opponents straight in the eye to tell them he had not stolen from the provincial treasury.
Provincial employees, some of them in tears, were moved by his words.
An employee who refused to be named said she believed the governor’s decision to ask for forgiveness was enough for her and the others to stand by him.
Protection order
On Oct. 20, Tallado aired his concern over the disappearance of his wife and a friend of hers after she drove her Toyota Fortuner to her friend’s house in Vinzons town.
The sport utility vehicle was found abandoned in Lupi town, 40 kilometers from Vinzons.
When she surfaced on Oct. 22, Josie was accompanied by lawyer Lorna Kapunan and her friend.
Kapunan said Josie had secured a 15-day barangay (village) protection order (BPO) in Quezon City and would seek court protection.
A BPO is a relief provided for under the Anti-Violence against Women and Their Children Act aimed at “preventing further acts of violence against a woman or her child.”
Source: newsinfo.inquirer.net
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