Arroyo to spend 63rd birthday with cabalens

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will celebrate her last birthday as president on Monday in Pampanga where she is running for a congressional seat in the country’s first ever nationwide automated elections on May 10. It will be President Arroyo’s first public appearance since the hospitalization of his husband, Jose Miguel Arroyo, late last month. Deputy presidential spokesman Gary Olivar on Sunday said the President would hear a Thanksgiving Mass in her hometown in Lubao in the morning and then have a merienda (snack) at the churchyard with her town mates. Olivar said the trip to Lubao would show that President Arroyo, who will turn 63, would be resuming her public engagements, which she put on hold after Mr. Arroyo was rushed to the St. Luke’s Medical Center in Taguig City last March 25 due to severe back pains. “Makikita po natin sa pagkaka-iskedyul ng misang ito sa kanyang hometown na mukhang patuloy na rin po na gumagaling ang kondisyon ng ating First Gentleman kung kaya nagkakaroon ngayon po ng pagkakataon ang Pangulo na minsan po ay lumayu-layo na po mula sa kanyang piling," Olivar said. (The visit to Lubao also shows that the condition of the First Gentleman is getting better. President Arroyo can now afford to engage in some of her public engagements.) Olivar said that as of Sunday, the First Gentleman remains in stable condition. The Malacañang official said President Arroyo will also push through with her trips to Vietnam and the United States this month. She is scheduled to attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nation (ASEAN) Summit from April 8 to 9 in Hanoi in Vietnam, and the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington in the United States in April 12 to13. Olivar however said that the schedule could be changed at the last minute depending on the condition of Mr. Arroyo. “All of the President’s travel plans remain subject, at this point, to the condition of the First Gentleman." Militants, meanwhile, are set to give President Arroyo a noisy “sendoff" to show their disgust for her alleged “lust for power." Dubbed as “Birthday ni Gloria, Babay-Day ng Masa," the metro-wide noise barrage would be held in Novaliches Bayan, Litex, Commonwealth Luzon, Kalentong, Plaza Hernandez, Marikina Sports Complex and in Trabajo Market. In an article on its Web site, the Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) invited politicians, candidates, and the general public to participate in the activity. “All groups, alliances and coalitions of different political stripes are invited to join the people’s protest greeting for Arroyo on Monday. We enjoin everyone to cast electoral alignments aside and wish for Arroyo’s last birthday in the Palace," KMU chairman Elmer Labog said. He said the public could participate by honking horns, blowing whistles and making other kinds of noise meant to remind President Arroyo to step down on June 30. – KBK, GMANews.TV