Arroyo gets warm welcome from Pampanga supporters

Former president now congresswoman Gloria Macapagal Arroyo greets residents of Porac at the Babo Sacan Elementary School, Porac, Pampanga. RAFFY LERMA/INQUIRER

MANILA, Philippines — Supporters of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo were present in front of her home in Lubao, Pampanga, Friday when she visited the town after being released Wednesday from roughly eight months of detention at the Veterans’ Memorial Medical Center.

Television coverage of the Pampanga lawmaker’s arrival in her hometown showed many of her constituents waiting for her return, undeterred by rain in the area.

Arroyo was shown smiling as she shook the hands of her supporters outside her home.

She is expected to spend the night in Porac, Pampanga. Earlier in the day, Arroyo visited her parents’ tombs at the Libingan ng mga Bayani and proceeded to a medical facility in Tagaytay, then to VMMC  for a one-hour therapy.

Her son Ang Galing Pinoy party-list Representative Juan Miguel “Mikey” Arroyo was seen inside their home in Lubao when the former chief executive arrived.