Arroyo sets another visit to Pampanga Monday

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo will visit her home town in Pampanga province again on Monday to inspect priority water and electricity projects there. If it pushes through, it will be her 24th visit to Pampanga in six months, fueling suspicions that she is building a constituency for a possible congressional bid after she steps down from office next year. A Malacañang statement said Mrs. Arroyo would visit Lubao to inspect projects in San Nicolas 1, Sto. Tomas, and Concepcion villages. Lubao is located in the province's second district, which Mrs. Arroyo supposedly plans to represent in Congress. Critics of the administration accused Mrs. Arroyo of planning to run for Congress representing Pampanga while her allies at the House of Representatives push to amend the 1987 Constitution to adopt a parliamentary form of government. Under a parliamentary form of government, Mrs. Arroyo can run for Prime Minister and thus stay in power. The Palace statement said the first stop in Mrs. Arroyo's Monday visit to Lubao is the Pampanga Electric Cooperative (PELCO) II, which will provide electricity to San Nicolas 1 village. PELCO II general manager Amador Guevarra said Mrs. Arroyo would lead the ceremonial switch-on for the energization of PELCO's eight millionth household at Lubao Municipal Hall. After that, Mrs. Arroyo will motor to Sto. Tomas village to unveil the newly-completed P400,000 barangay hall under the Barangay Hall Development and Extension project, funded through the President's Social Fund. She will also inspect the ongoing pipe-laying activities of Lubao Water District (LWD) in Concepcion village. LWD general manager Evelina Galicia said once the pipe laying projects are completed, LWD's problematic yellowish water supply will be resolved. The upgrading and construction of Concepcion village's water supply system has a total project cost of P10.6 million. - GMANews.TV