A group of 100 local government ?champions? grilled four presidential contenders last Tuesday morning at a forum on how they stood on various issues affecting the LGUs. Senators Benigno Aquino III, Francis Escudero and Manuel Villar and Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. were queried separately on issues, such as revenue sharing, pork barrel, peace and order and local autonomy. After the televised forum, which was preceded by a workshop, some 20-25 participants sat around exchanging reactions.
Reports said all were impressed with Teodoro?s intelligence and knowledgeable responses, but some deplored his being with the administration. Aquino sounded sincere, honest and willing to learn, but quite limp. Others were attracted to Escudero?s stand on abolishing the pork barrel, but some felt he was mouthing too many platitudes instead of deep thought. Villar didn?t seem to impress many since he was said to have given motherhood statements. Sources related that a resource volunteer then informally polled these local officials on their preferences, and Teodoro came out on top, closely followed by Aquino. A distant third was Escudero and Villar was fourth.
I am not surprised that Teodoro came out ahead as he has worked closely with the LGUs, but I thought Escudero would poll better as he got hearty applause for his bombastic style, but he didn?t.
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Two Sundays ago Cecile Alvarez and I had a riotous chat over dzRH radio with Press Secretary Cerge Remonde on his reminiscences about the deluge. He noted that the President?s party had no time for rest after arriving from Turkey and Saudi Arabia. The day before the flood, Arroyo had flown to Iloilo to inaugurate the 15,000th branch of the Botika ng Barangay. That Saturday, she went out of the Palace at mid-morning aboard a six-by-six truck bound for Camp Aguinaldo but couldn?t get beyond Legarda Street. Remonde recalled that Arroyo checked on his location (he had reached Aguinaldo by then). As she later related, she tried to help direct traffic but the water quickly swelled up to her chest and she had to be plucked out on a rubber boat. Her security escorts tried to dissuade her from proceeding, but she argued that if Remonde got to Aguinaldo, there was no reason she couldn?t. Arroyo and a handful of security men were taken to the nearest LRT station and upon reaching Cubao she was fetched by an army truck.
Remonde recalled that while presiding at the NDCC conference, Arroyo began calling Metro Manila mayors to locate evacuation sites, and the decision was made to put up advance command posts in badly hit areas. He said that when the presidential party was in Marikina around 11 p.m., no one had eaten. Being a diabetic, he felt faint but a doctor told him not to fall on her as her medicine bag was incomplete. He was finally able to call Rep. Nikki Teodoro, the defense secretary?s wife, and tell her of their hunger. She managed to send some food over to NDCC at 2 p.m.
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The great flood caught my husband and me in Cebu City, where we were invited to attend the ?Calabash of Cape Wine, Cuisine and Culture? staged by the embassy of South Africa (SA) to celebrate Heritage Day, in cooperation with the Shangri-la Mactan Resort and Spa. That Friday night none of the guests had any inkling of what would ravage Metro Manila. We helped ourselves to the famous brands from SA?s wine industry that began 350 years ago, when the first governor of the Cape, a Dutchman named Jan van Riebeeck entered into his diary on Feb. 2, 1659, ?Today, praise be to God, wine was pressed for the first time from Cape grapes, and the new wine was tested fresh from the vat.? As though the heady brew wasn?t enough, the embassy flew in a trio of musicians from Johannesburg who gave us a sampling of the bongo rhythms that will pulsate in the FIFA World Cup to be held in Soweto, SA, in June 2010. It even flew in fresh flowers from Capetown courtesy of South African Airways, while Mactan Shangri-la invited famous SA chef Nicolas Johannes van Rensburg, now culinary director of Apicius Culinary Arts Academy in Silang, Cavite, to prepare sumptuous lunch and dinner buffets featuring the best of the rainbow nation?s cuisine.
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The SA Embassy is fairly new, but it handles all its events with a perfection we Filipinos should emulate. Brochures on the Cebu event spoke of the ?Calabash of Cape Wines, Cuisine and Culture,? and I wondered if it had something to do with kalabasa? It turns out that the calabash is more like our upo and is grown from Africa, the Carribean to Asia, and used as cooking utensil, music instruments and craft décor. The calabash was the inspiration for the design of the main stadium for the 2010 World Cup. For Heritage Day, the embassy used it as a symbol of the plethora of cultural treats of the intoxicating Cape region, which my family explored one summer four years ago. As Amb. Pieter Vermeullen put it, the calabash is ?like the ?Magi? holding these heritage secrets? to be explored by adventurous souls.
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One of my favorite advocacies is Retrouvaille, a Catholic ministry which has devoted itself to helping troubled marriages by bringing together couples whose communication has broken down and who are hurting from frequent quarrels or even estrangement. Retrouvaille, whose live-in weekend seminars have been held most of the time in Tagaytay, will hold its last weekend seminar for 2009 on Oct. 16-18 at Nazareth Home, No. 6-A Big Horseshoe Drive, Horseshoe Village, Quezon City. Retrouvaille, which started in Canada almost 20 years ago, has helped reconcile many couples from all over the country and Asia. Call Ruby at 931-8413 and 0918-923-2973, Zeny at 0917-822-0115, or Neomi at 0916-395-4642 and 681-5746. Calls are held in strictest confidence.
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This Sunday at 8 pm. over dzRH, Cecile Alvarez and I will interview Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro on the recent calamities and plans for rehabilitation.
