LUBAO, PAMPANGA—Taking a river boat and braving the rains, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo Wednesday visited the remotest coastal village of her home province.
Ms Arroyo became the first Chief Executive to set foot in Barangay Bangcal Pugad, a village along the banks of Pasac River, where she granted the residents’ request for a flood-control project.
Villagers said they had prepared for the President’s arrival as early as Tuesday night. John Rick Tamayo, a high school student, said he skipped classes just to see Ms Arroyo.
The residents asked the President to have a slope protection built along the river banks to prevent flooding. The water could go as high as three feet in the village during heavy rains, said Alfonso Cruz, a village councilor.
Composed of 380 families, the village is 30 minutes away from Orani, Bataan, and an hour’s drive from Lubao.
The village is actually closer to Pampanga’s border with Bataan than to this town. Villagers, for example, prefer to buy supplies or bury their dead in Orani, according to school teacher Antonina Siongco.
Also Wednesday, Ms Arroyo inaugurated a water system in Barangay San Jose Gumi and inspected a road project in Barangay Sta. Teresa 2nd.
She also went to the dredging site of the Pasac River, which she described as the long-term solution to the perennial flooding in the province. Charlene Cayabyab, Inquirer Central Luzon
