GMA to grace Erap buddy’s birthday bash

SAN MANUEL, Isabela — President Arroyo is expected to visit this obscure town today to boost the sagging popularity of the People Power Coalition’s senatorial bets in Cagayan Valley, a known Estrada bailiwick.

Rudic Bueno, officer-in-charge of the Philippine Information Agency’s regional office, said Mrs. Arroyo and some PPC candidates will motor from the Cauayan airport to this hometown of second district Rep. Faustino Dy, a close ally of former President Joseph Estrada.

Beside campaigning, Mrs. Arroyo will attend the birthday bash of Dy, who is now running for governor to succeed his brother, third-termer Gov. Benjamin Dy.

The powerful Dy clan, an ally of Estrada in Cagayan Valley, has dominated Isabela politics since the 1960s, starting with their late patriarch, Faustino Sr., who also served as governor.

Faustino Dy is the secretary general of the Nationalist People’s Coalition led by Eduardo "Danding" Cojuangco. The NPC and Lakas-NUCD have coalesced in the province.

The Dys have reportedly committed a 13-0 vote for PPC, but observers raised doubts, citing how they deserted former President Fidel Ramos and former Speaker Jose de Venecia at the last minute in the 1992 and 1998 presidential polls, respectively. — Charlie Lagasca, Lito Salatan