Arroyo kisses babies, presses flesh in cemeteries

Having announced her decision to join the 2004 presidential race, President Arroyo did the rounds of hand-shaking and baby-kissing as she visited Metro Manila cemeteries yesterday to celebrate All Saints’ Day.

Dressed in a blue, flora-printed top and plain blue pants, the President visited the graves of her kin with her children, Pampanga Vice Gov. Juan Miguel Arroyo, Evangeline Lourdes and Diosdado Ignacio. First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo is still in the United States for his annual medical checkup.

The President, fresh from her two and a half-day provincial sortie in Mindanao, joined the people making their annual cemetery visits.

Her first stop was at the tombs of her parents, President Diosdado Macapagal and First Lady Evangelina "Doña Eva" Macaraeg-Macapagal at the Libingan ng mga Bayani ar Fort Bonifacio in Makati City.

The President was joined at the heroes’ burial ground by Armed Forces chief Gen. Narciso Abaya who led the military honors for her before the Mass celebrated at the Macapagal tomb.

After the Mass, the President went around to shake hands and pose for souvenir photos with the crowd at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.

From there, the President went to the Sanctuario de San Martin de Porres in San Juan to pay her respects to the grandmother of the First Gentleman, Jesusa Araneta viuda de Arroyo-Pidal (1882-1970).

Ma. Theresa Arroyo y Lacson (1916-1930), another relative, is buried at the same cemetery. The President and her children prayed together here. The last stop of the President and her children was the very crowded North Cemetery, where they paid their respects to the First Gentleman’s mother, Lourdes Tuazon-Arroyo.

Western Police District (WPD) director Chief Superintendent Pedro Bulaong arrived at the North Cemetery as the President’s advance party, clearing the area so the President’s convoy could enter the crowded graveyard.

The President waved to the crowd at the cemetery through the open windows of a white Nissan Patrol of the Presidential Security Group (PSG) as the convoy crawled at snail’s pace through the crowded paths to her mother-in-law’s tomb.

The President then got out of the vehicle and walked the rest of the way, shaking hands with people in the shrieking crowd.

Despite the friendly reception the President received from those who saw her face-to-face, others were not happy to see her. Many were cursing at the presidential convoy’s insistence upon squeezing through the narrow alleys of North Cemetery, leaving no space for other visitors to pass.

While Manila City Mayor Lito Atienza succeeded in convincing politicians not to put up their campaign streamers in public cemeteries, some campaigned more subtly. Ilocos Norte Rep. Imee Marcos deployed buses that offered free rides to the North Cemetery. — Marichu Villanueva