Jojo and Glo, once upon a time. They may be on opposite ends of the political divide now, but there was a time Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Jejomar Binay were phone buddies.

In the early years of the Joseph Estrada presidency, the mayor of Makati City recalled in a recent chat with reporters, Ms Arroyo, the vice president at the time, called him frequently on his mobile phone. Binay was then the chairman of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority.

Often, the topic of conversation was a pet peeve of Ms Arroyo?s: filthy beggars on the streets.

?Every morning, she would call me, ?Hello, Jojo, there?s a lot of beggars on this corner,?? Binay said, complete with a fairly decent imitation of the President?s distinctive voice. ?Every time she went to her office on Roxas Boulevard, and she would see a vagrant, she?d call me up.?

?She absolutely hated them, I swear to you,? Binay said.

Which was quite ironic, considering Ms Arroyo at the time also held the position of secretary of social welfare. DJ Yap

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Defending the Queen?s English. Officials who can express their thoughts in impeccable English are a rarity these days. Who would have thought that the defense beat could yield not one but two defenders of the Queen?s English?

English is apparently the first language of Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro Jr., a bar topnotcher and Harvard-trained lawyer. Suffice it to say his vocabulary is expansive and his choice of words out of the ordinary.

In interviews, Teodoro would casually use ?amity? instead of ?friendship,? ?body politic? instead of ?people,? ?dictates? instead of ?directives? or ?commands,? and ?spawn? instead of ?trigger.?

Once, he used the word ?pejorative,? sending one reporter straight to the dictionary. (Please don?t say anything pejorative about the reporter.)

Lt. Gen. Alexander Yano, Army chief and incoming Armed Forces chief of staff, also has a flair for words.

Among Yano?s memorable quotes:

On the recruitment of 3,000 new soldiers to augment the troops fighting communist insurgents: ?We are in the final stages. It is proper not to slacken or loosen our hold to deliver the coup de grâce, the final blow. We have to have a preponderance of force for the enemy not to be able to recover.?

On coup jitters: ?We are the only legitimate coercive force of the government and we cannot allow ourselves to be used by any group, individual groups or any other groups that would seek to undermine or even grab power from a duly constituted government.?

On the reported recruitment of soldiers by rebellious military officers: ?I have given instructions to deal with these attempts drastically, to neutralize any attempt at the lowest possible echelon.?

A veteran defense beat reporter, however, would not be outdone by these gentlemen. ?With the possible revival of the anti-subversion law, will there be an assurance that it will not result in a thousand torments to anti-government groups?? she once asked Teodoro. N. Dizon

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Air Force Juan. It has carried the dead and wounded, landed in countless disaster areas and braved the toughest weather conditions. But behind the brute whirr of its engines and the brawn of its fuselage, the C-130 Hercules can actually fly first class too.

Amid exposed cables and military markings in its bare interior, the C-130 offers first-class accommodations to flying VIPs as the need arises, complete with a squad of flight attendants, cushy-comfy recliners, snacks, wet tissues and air-conditioning at chilly temperatures.

Top officials of the Philippine Air Force (PAF) and some members of the media got the first-class experience aboard the Hercules on an early morning flight to Zamboanga City last April 3, when the party of PAF chief Lt. Gen. Pedrito Cadungog visited in time for the 24th anniversary of the 3rd Air Division.

An especially allotted space near the cockpit was VIP-configured with eight recliners bearing the Air Force seal, arranged by fours on either side of the aisle. Seats were arranged so that pairs faced each other, a table conveniently between them to receive snacks and refreshments.

Those who were not lucky enough to catch the limited-edition seats settled in corners, sitting on wherever they could manage to squat, at times dodging bags hanging from hooks.

Behind the drawstring curtain that separated ?first class? from ?economy,? other soldiers and civilians, mostly relatives of servicemen accommodated as chance passengers, were crammed along with boxes and bags, some seated while others stood clinging to nets and ropes that held the load of cargo in place.

Others bravely stood right beside the ?portalet,? which towered by the rear ramp door.

Back in the VIP ?cabin,? tubes overhead sprayed cool air in intervals. It was the C-130?s version of air-conditioning.

As soon as the plane reached cruising altitude, airwomen-turned-flight-attendants brought in warm breakfast and bottles of water and iced tea. On the return flight, they served chips and cupcakes.

Despite the deafening drone of its engines and the heady smell of exhaust and aviation gas, such unexpected niceties inside the stout machine somehow brought the flying experience closer to one inside an airliner.

Now, if only there was in-flight entertainment. T. Quismundo