Thus said Mayor Marino “Boking” Morales of nearby Mabalacat when President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo acknowledged Vice Mayor Vicky Vega-Cabigting of this city in her short speech during the Mass for the feast of the Our Lady of Lourdes in Barangay Lourdes Sur East on Wednesday.
“It connotes intelligence for Vicky,” added Morales, who attended the Mass concelebrated by Pampanga Archbishop Paciano Aniceto and Msgr. Eugenio “Jun” Mercado, parish priest of the Our Lady of Lourdes Parish here.
First District Rep. Carmelo “Tarzan” Lazatin said Arroyo had looked for Cabigting when the Mass was about to end. He sat beside the President in the front row of the church and Cabigting was on the separate row of benches opposite them.
“Hinahanap niya (Arroyo) si vice mayor,” said Lazatin, an ally of Cabigting.
Cabigting, for her part, said she got “the pleasant surprise while attending the Mass.”
“I blushed a bit but I am truly honored and amazed by the fact that she still remembers me after all these years. And to mention that in front of hundreds of my constituents really made my day,” added Cabigting, a graduate of Bachelor of Arts in Communication from the University of the Philippines.
The first-term vice mayor had an opportunity to work with then Senator Arroyo in 1995. She was her political officer and member of the pool of speechwriters.
Cabigting said Arroyo “had been a workaholic since she was a senator.”
“There were many times we worked together from 6 in the morning until midnight,” said Cabigting, who is the highest officer of Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino (Kampi) in Angeles City. It was the party organized by Arroyo.
