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Tuesday, January 18, 2004
Pablo defends GMA visit
By Karen M. Flores
CEBU -- Gov. Pablo Garcia Saturday defended President Arroyo's visit to Cebu on Sunday by saying all "political insinuations" should be set aside because she will be "coming to Cebu like a native."
"It will be like a homecoming to pay homage to the Sto. Niño," the governor said in a phone interview Saturday.
"She is a Cebuana at heart. She loves the Cebuano language and speaks it better than some other officials you know," he said with a laugh, apparently referring to Vice Gov. John Gregory Osmeña, who is not fluent in the language.
The governor expects to be with President Arroyo during her stay at the Cebu City Sports Center to watch some contingents perform until she leaves at 4 p.m. to go back to Manila.
The governor said he has not been informed of other activities.
Despite some political disappointments, Garcia said he will meet the President at the airport at 10 a.m. today as a "reiteration" of his support as well as that of an "overwhelming" number of mayors here.
"My loyalty has never wavered. It is even stronger," he noted.
Arroyo still has not taken a stand on the power struggle between the two Lakas factions in Cebu and opted instead to allow her deputies in the party to nominate a vice gubernatorial candidate for Osmeña, who is with the Nationalist People's Coalition (NPC).
Garcia's daughter Gwendolyn is running for governor, with PB Member Julian Daan as her partner.
The governor said, though, that he is standing by the President and her administration.
Both Garcia and Celestino Martinez have asked the President to declare a free zone in Cebu, after Lakas and NPC failed to forge a coalition in the province.
Garcia is the Lakas provincial chairman, while Martinez is the Lakas secretary-general in Cebu.
(January 18, 2004 issue)
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