GMA to grace Vizcaya bishop’s birthday

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya — President Arroyo is expected here today as a "special guest" of Bayombong Bishop Ramon Villena on the occasion of the Catholic cleric’s 67th birthday.

From the sprawling Clisoc Field (Dumlao Stadium) here where she will be welcomed by local officials led by Gov. Luisa Lloren-Cuaresma and Rep. Rodolfo Agbayani, the President and her entourage will proceed directly to the Clergy House for the bishop’s birthday celebration.

"It’s all systems go for the President’s visit tomorrow (today)," said Ben Moses Ebreo, OIC-provincial manager of the state-run Philippine Information Agency (PIA) here.

This, however, will depend on the weather. Ebreo said, "If the weather will cooperate with us, definitely the President will be here tomorrow (today). The Novo Vizcayanos are also waiting and eager to see her again in the flesh."

As of yesterday, amid the intermittent rains, which the region has been experiencing in the past days, police and military officials led by Cagayan Valley regional police director Chief Superintendent Jefferson Soriano, along with the Presidential Management Staff, were finalizing security arrangements for the presidential visit.

Taking advantage of her visit, the PIA said Mrs. Arroyo will also meet with regional executives of the various line agencies of the government and local officials led by the region’s five governors, Cuaresma, Pedro Bacani of Quirino, Grace Padaca of Isabela, Edgar Lara of Cagayan, and Vicente Gato of Batanes.

Mrs. Arroyo is also scheduled to meet with the region’s top three Catholic Church leaders — Villena, Archbishop Diosdado Talamayan of the Tuguegarao (Cagayan) diocese, and Bishop Sergio Utleg of the Ilagan (Isabela) diocese — in a "closed-door conference."

As President, this would be Mrs. Arroyo’s third time to visit this landlocked province, the last of which was on Dec. 30, 2004 when she extended calamity assistance to victims of typhoon "Yoyong."

This will also be the first time she is attending Villena’s birthday as President. She has been a regular special guest of the bishop during his previous birthday celebrations when she was an undersecretary of the Department of Trade and Industry, as senator and later as Vice President. 

The President and Villena have been regarded here as long-time "close allies," despite their differing views on the issue of mining.

Villena has been relentless in blocking the entry of the government-approved, multibillion-peso Didipio gold-copper project in Kasibu, Nueva Vizcaya, which Mrs. Arroyo hopes would generate at least P30 billion for the national coffers in its 15 years of operation.

Last month, the President appointed Villena to head the Cagayan Valley’s Regional Development Council, dislodging Gato, to the surprise of some local officials.

Villena was one of those influential Catholic bishops who supported Mrs. Arroyo’s declaration of a state of national emergency, describing it as "the best under the present circumstances."

A former co-chairman of the Bishops-Businessmen Conference, Villena, who was instrumental in the establishment of this province’s only AM radio station (dwRV-Radio Veritas), has been the diocesan bishop here since 1986. His ecclesiastical jurisdiction covers this province and Quirino.

A native of Cagayan, the feisty Villena is also the Northern Luzon chairman of the Catholic Church-led Social Action Commission.