Arroyo bets turn Mass into campaign sortie

What started as a Sunday novena mass near the Smokey Mountain in Manila's Tondo district for the quick recovery of First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo became a campaign sortie for President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's senatorial bets under Team Unity. A Malacañang statement said Mrs Arroyo - accompanied by her senatorial bets - went to the Risen Christ Chapel for a novena mass dedicated to the quick recovery of her husband, who stays confined at the St. Luke's Medical Center after a high-risk open heart surgery. The senatorial candidates who accompanied her "donated" 15 computers for the youth of Tondo. They also escorted her to the building where the computers were set up. Mrs Arroyo was dressed in a simple long barong skirt and blouse and wore open sandals. She prayed the 15-minute Novena of St. Faustina to the Divine Mercy with village residents who came in full force. Leading the singing of mass songs were the Kabataang Sambayanang Kristiyano who will hold an environment concert tour in the United States from May 2 to 25 as presidential ambassadors of goodwill." Parish priest Benigno Beltran thanked Mrs Arroyo for her 16th visit to the village, where she implemented projects for the Smokey Mountain area's some 3,000 families. Beltran also thanked the environment department for donating a one-hectare lot nearby for village projects and 5,000 seedlings to plant around the area. DENR Secretary Angelo Reyes attended the mass. Also at the mass were administration senatorial candidates Edgardo Angara, Prospero Pichay Jr, Luis "Chavit" Singson, Vicente Sotto III, Cesar Montano, and Vicente Magsaysay. Representatives of Michael Defensor, Miguel Zubiri and Jamalul Kiram also participated in the activity. During the mass, Beltran called on residents to vote for candidates who could get the Smokey Mountain finally flattened, give them more potable water and more residential buildings. Beltran also revealed that he had called on concerned groups to give scholarship grants to the youths of Tondo. - GMANews.TV