Former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, President-elect Obama’s nominee for secretary of state, appeared at the US Senate foreign relations committee’s confirmation hearing last Tuesday and it was, in the words of a CNN correspondent, “classic Hillary Clinton in her element.”
I sat up late last Tuesday evening watching her appearance before the committee chaired by Sen. John Kerry, also a former Democratic presidential candidate, where it was evident that she was the superstar of the Obama nominees, reveling in her return to the global limelight.
That evening the lady in the brown pantsuit was no longer the candidate talking in simplistic terms to millions of voters of all backgrounds, but the senior New York senator convincing her peers in Congress about her — and she was careful to repeatedly stress, the Obama administration’s — broad vision of US foreign policy in a tough new era, including the use of “smart power” in the Middle East that would balance the security needs of Israel and the aspirations of the Palestinians.
Thus, Hillary no longer had to hold back her brilliance as a topnotch Yale lawyer with a ringside view on world affairs as former first lady and two-term senator. She looked relaxed but confident and assertive as she met questions, including a possible conflict of interest with her husband’s fund-raising activities in his foundation. She knew exactly when to dodge queries best answered when she’s already in office, and when to offer projections.
In the end, she won from the committee’s top Republican, Sen. Richard Lugar, the accolade of being the “epitome of a big-leaguer whose presence could open new opportunities for American diplomacy.”
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So won over was the CNN commentator that she spoke about what’s uppermost in many minds now: a possible “turf war” between the tough lady and her incoming boss. The fact was that Obama was unparalleled on the campaign stage as he expounded on over-arching themes with that deep sonorous voice: At Tuesday’s inaugural he’ll doubtless move millions to tears.
But in the presidency there’ll be far less of such occasions and more of bargaining and negotiations where he projects, at this point anyway, less confidence and occasionally even stutters. Hillary, by contrast, did poorly in those campaign speeches but sounds more effective in eyeball-to-eyeball talk. Will there be a “turf war” between them? Abangan.
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In assuming the task of anti-drug czar, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo obviously felt she had to step in to prevent further deterioration in relations among the various agencies involved in drug-control and rehabilitation. And it’s good she did, for the turf war has been going on for years. I recall talking to police agents over the years who lamented how their hard work in apprehending suspects would just go down the drain when a prosecutor just let them go.
Recently, Rep. Victor Ortega of La Union decried how six drug pushers in a town in his province were released by the prosecutors. Such episodes raise suspicions that some prosecutors or judges were bribed, but the reality could also be that apprehending agents simply failed to build tight cases, so that courts have little option but to release the suspects.
The recent brouhaha about the Alabang boys’ aborted release has caused the spotlight to focus anew on many related issues and problems. They include the need for apprehending agents to bone up on anti-drug laws, for reforms in our judicial system to tackle problems such as the snail-paced resolution of cases (of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency’s nearly 100,000 cases filed from 2003-2008, 78 percent remains unresolved at the prosecution level) and an increase in salaries of agents and prosecutors, to make them less vulnerable to bribes and work more efficiently.
There’s also the need for closer cooperation between families, schools, church and commercial establishments such as clubs, bars, etc., to curb this menace in our midst. In this regard, the call of Philippine National Police Director General Jesus Verzosa for a summit among stakeholders should be considered.
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Music was very much a part of the Christmas season for us. While in Poznan, Poland, last month for the global climate change conference, we had a chance to attend a free Christmas concert featuring an all-male ensemble at St. Adalbert, a small church near our hotel, one very cold evening. The songs were mostly traditional ones sang in Polish, so that when a male singer rendered “Silent Night” (which was originally composed as a German carol) in crisp English, we enjoyed it.
Three days before Christmas, another treat came when my brother Luis “Totit” Olivares invited us to his home for a performance by 24 young college students belonging to the Ateneo College Glee Club under the direction of Maria Lourdes “Malou” Hermo. They interpreted songs from around the world in their own unique style, including rarely heard African carols, ending with the Ateneo Hymn. At our request they rendered “O Holy Night” and “Handel’s Halleluyah,” with Totit and daughter Gina O. Jocson, both members of the Ateneo Alumni Glee Club, joining in.
The Ateneo College Glee Club boasts of a string of triumphs, the latest of which is First Prize at Arrezo, Italy, considered the Olympics for choral competitions. This year it is scheduled to do a tour of the United States and Canada. The College Glee Club and the Alumni Glee Club are also planning a joint concert this year.
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With the welfare of the Filipino family in mind, I am posting this reminder: Retrouvaille Manila offers its first weekend live-in seminar for 2009 for couples with troubled marriages this Friday, Jan. 16, up to Sunday, Jan. 18, at the Mother of Mercy Spiritual Center, SVD Road, Tagaytay City. Call Fr. Clay +63918 9020511 or +632 5250308, Inday +63916 4438-346 or +632 9389719 and Neomi +63916 3954 642 or +632 6815746.
