Arroyo visits Pampanga, sets another visit Tuesday

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on Monday visited her home province of Pampanga to distribute relief goods to those affected by tropical storm "Ondoy" (Ketsana). She also set another visit to her home town of Lubao on Tuesday. A Malacañang statement said Mrs. Arroyo would inspect various government projects in several barangays (villages) there that were devastated by Ondoy and typhoon "Pepeng" (Parma). The visit bolsters speculations that Mrs. Arroyo would run for congresswoman in the province's second district, currently represented by her son, Juan Miguel "Mikey" Arroyo at the House of Representatives. Mrs. Arroyo's critics had claimed that she would run for congresswoman while her allies in Congress push to amend the Constitution to shift to a parliamentary form of government. Under a parliamentary government, she can run for Prime Minister. In her Tuesday visit to Pampanga, the President will head for Lubao after her Cabinet meeting in Dagupan City in Pangasinan, another area hit hard by Pepeng. Her first stop will be Barangay Sto. Cristo village, then Sto. Antonio village. The statement said Mrs. Arroyo will also inspect the requested Barangay Hall and Day Care Center in Barangay San Nicolas II. She will then proceed to San Nicolas I to grace the closing program of the Assembly of District 2 Bantay Bayan comprised of 159 barangays. Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. is expected to attend the program and brief the barangay officials on disaster management, the Palace said. While in the area, Mrs. Arroyo will distribute PhilHealth cards, emergency medical kits from the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) and G-Sat subscription certificates from Philippine Gaming Corporation (Pagcor). The next day, she will attend mass at St. Agustine Church and will have breakfast with 985 barangay health workers of District 2 afterward. She will then motor and attend the opening of the One Town One Product (OTOP)/Diskuwento Trade Fair, Jobs Fair and PGMA Caravan in Lubao municipal grounds. Only last week, Mrs. Arroyo visited Lubao to distribute relief goods to her affected province-mates. Earlier Monday, Mrs. Arroyo led the distribution of relief packs to more than 3,300 typhoon-affected families in Masantol and Macabebe towns in Pampanga. Many villages in the two towns were still submerged in knee-deep floodwaters since Ondoy devastated the area last Sept. 26. "Some 1,400 families in Masantol received basic goods such as rice, noodles, milk and sugar in Barangays Sto Nino, Sta. Lucia Matua and San Isidro Matua," the Palace said. Mrs. Arroyo also went to Sasmuan where she inaugurated the improvement of the San Pedro barangay road and San Pedro Bridge approach improvement project. - GMANews.TV