By Ben R. Rosario
Former President now Pampanga Rep. Gloria M. Arroyo wished for a peaceful barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections on her 71st birth anniversary yesterday.
“I wish that we have peaceful barangay elections,” Arroyo said as she addressed hundreds of well-wishers who gathered to celebrate her birth anniversary at the St. Augustine Church in Lubao, Pampanga.
Arroyo, who is serving her third and last term as congresswoman of Pampanga’s second district, was also given a party by her family, friends, and former Cabinet members in her home at the La Vista Subdivision in Quezon City on the eve of her birth anniversary.
Former Pampanga Archbishop Paciano Aniceto officiated the Mass and expressed hope that the former President will continue to serve the country. “We wish her the best of health and we wish that she continues to serve the country,” Aniceto said during the Mass.
Aniceto’s wish was shared by her friends and “cabalens” or provincemates who expressed their hope that she continues her work in the service of others.
The May 14 barangay and SK elections will be the first that Arroyo will witness after she was released from hospital detention on a plunder charge initiated by the administration of President Benigno S. Aquino III but was dismissed four years later by the Supreme Court.
The village polls had been postponed twice since President Duterte won the presidency in 2016.
A bill calling for a third postponement was approved by the House of Representatives but was not acted upon in the Senate for lack of time.
