GMA is coming to town.

The Philippine President is coming to my hometown on the 29th, that is 2 days from now. So I learned from sources -- almost everyone in town -- since last week.

This morning, we bumped into 2 truckloads of military men, all in combat wears, near Barangay Sandoval. President Arroyo's advanced party is now here, apparently to secure the place and the sites she'll be visiting.

Why the visit? I really got no idea. She was here during the inauguration of the Hyrometallurgical Processing Plant sometime in 2005. This will be her 2nd visit. I heard Rio Tuba is just a stop-over en route to Balabac, Palawan's southernmost town (an island municipality).

Well, she might just be trying to find out for herself how the HPP, which she switched on in April 2005, is operating. Also heard she'll be dropping by a mosque in Sitio Bukid-bukid.

What I don't get about this Presidential Visit is the tearing down of bahay kubos within the confines of the townsite, the mining company property. Whoever's got a brilliant mind who thought that bahay kubo's around the townsite are "eyesores" for the President and her team, and need to be tore down, must be real brilliant and true-blue Filipino. Whatever the reason is, just don't call bahay kubo an eyesore because it kinds of make one veers away from his roots and his Pinoy connection.

[ thanks to Wikipedia for the President Arroyo's photo.and to Blogtext for the bahay kubo illustration ]