PNoy set to visit E. Visayas today
ORMOC CITY , Philippines – President Benigno Aquino III is set to visit Catarman in Northern Samar, Calbayog City in Samar and Maasin City in Southern Leyte today (April 26) for a mixed official and political visit.
The president is expected to be at Catarman in the morning to meet with Liberal Party leaders and constituents at the Catarman Freedom Park.
An official member of the president’s party is Interior and Local Government Secretary Mar Roxas.
P-Noy’s Calbayog City leg, some 71 kilometers away, however has been tagged as “tentative,†as yet. But if plans push through, he will be inspecting the P58-million Maguino-o Port project of the Philippine Ports Authority at this oldest city in Eastern Visayas.
Dominador Licayan, manager of the PPA in the region, said the Maguino-o Port is an “appropriate alternate port†for Calbayog as it would not need maintenance dredging, now and in the near future.
The new port boasts of a “state-of-the-art†passenger terminal building and a pier extension with ramp for roll-on, roll-off vessels, with open storage area for container vans. The port is a major gateway of goods from the provinces of Samar to Cebu and vice versa.
After the port inspection, P-Noy will meet with about 8,000 leaders and constituents at the city gym, where he will be welcomed by Calbayog City Mayor Ronald Aquino.
Representative Mel Senen Sarmiento (1st district, Samar) and Provincial Board Member Eunice Babalcon, LP’s bet for congressman of Samar’s 2nd district will deliver short messages.
At around 1 p.m., the president is expected to fly to Maasin City in Southern Leyte.
Robert Castañares, LP’s bet for governor in Southern Leyte, said the president’s visit to the province is for the party’s proclamation rally. Southern Leyte is one of LP’s “sensitive areas†in the May 13 polls.
In a previous interview with Castañares, he said the LP had to regroup itself hurriedly just a few days after the elections, when they found the ruling Mercados had dumped the party.
The LP nearly found itself without candidates in the area after an alliance with the Mercados forged during the time of the late Secretary Jesse Robredo fell apart. (FREEMAN)
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