The increasing election violence in parts of the country as well as the hot exchange of charges among various candidates reminds me of the advice Master Joseph Chau gave at the press conference early last month sponsored by the Mandarin Oriental Hotel to usher in the Year of the Golden Tiger. Every year, Mandarin?s amiable PR manager Charisse Chuidian invites the media to the Chinese New Year Festivities, marked by very special cuisine and sensible survival tips. This year, I attended it to see if Master Joseph would make predictions for the national elections. He did not, but instead he gave an important and sound advice: We Filipinos should not take our politics too seriously.
* * *
The recent coalition between the Nacionalista Party of Manny Villar and the NPC may indeed help strengthen his candidacy as it brings some heavyweight campaigners into his camp. It could also bag for the coalition the dominant minority party status, that would entitle it to a copy of the electronic returns and watchers during the canvassing. But it may also bring more trouble to both parties. Rep. Mark Cojuangco, son of NPC founder Eduardo Cojuangco, came out against what he called an ?unauthorized? coalition forged by NPC chair Faustino Dy Jr. and NPC president Frisco San Juan. But the bigger problem is that at the local level, some 230 NPC members are being opposed by NPs in various posts nationwide. The NPC appears headed for a breakup into several factions, with a sizable chunk supporting Lakas? Gibo Teodoro, who used to head the NPC House bloc, some going for Joseph Estrada and others for Noynoy Aquino. A divided party will weaken the chances of NPC?s only national candidate, Loren Legarda, who?s running for vice president.
* * *
Last week, it was interesting to watch former Speaker Jose de Venecia, chair with a lot of authority in Kathmandu, Nepal the standing committee meeting of the International Conference of Asian Political Parties (ICAPP) that he founded in 2000, and the enormous respect he commanded among the delegates from various countries, as they sought ways to strengthen the ruling parliamentary coalition in Nepal. JDV is truly the ?Global Filipino? and the next administration should make use of his invaluable worldwide connection. It was also fascinating to see the shadow-boxing between the Marxists and the Maoists, given that the countries whose ?ideologies? they advocated are now more preoccupied with strengthening their economic domination of their respective part of the world. It was like being in a time-warp, for the fact is that today Russia and China belong to the ?BRICS? group of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa that now leads the Group of 20.
After JDV?s party left Nepal, my husband, our son Conrad and I stayed a day longer to visit two of the seven UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Sites in the Kathmandu Valley, all within a radius of 20 km. One is Patan by the banks of the holy Bagmati River, also referred to as ?Lalitpur? or ?city of beauty,? which has a long Buddhist history and is an architectural feast boasting of a far greater concentration of temples than Kathmandu. The other is Bhaktapur, the capital of Nepal during the great Malla Kingdom until the second half of the 15th century, famous for its rich culture, temples and wood, metal and stone art. While sipping tea on the rooftop of a restaurant as the setting sun made the gorgeous orange-roofed pagodas glow, our guide said that from Bhaktapur one could travel over land to Tibet higher up in the Himalayas. In my mind?s eye, I could imagine doing that?when I was 20 years younger! I will write about these two lovely Nepalese cities in my daughter Christine?s glossy TraveLife magazine soon.
* * *
I attended the MOPC President?s Night last week featuring Gibo Teodoro. Speaking extemporaneously for nearly three hours, he impressed many in the audience with his deep familiarity with various issues, showing a long preoccupation with studying them and not just the result of a think tank?s shoving a sheaf of papers under his nose. In his opening speech, Gibo said he won?t bore his audience with his stand on issues; instead he spoke about the need for our country to form a large pool of thinkers who will pull it up and lead it to parity with other countries. He also reiterated his ?personal commitment? to ?involve myself with our country in whatever capacity I will find myself in,? and I read this to mean that he will be around to help, win or lose. This led MOPC official Tony Lopez to opine that Gibo is ?the first candidate in a long time to appeal to the mind, and not just to the heart or even below.?
What drew heartiest applause was Teodoro?s pledge to enact in the first weeks of his presidency ?visible acts of reconciliation? that will unite the country, for as he put it, only by uniting the country can we move it forward. This is reminiscent of President Fidel Ramos? first moves: to call on his defeated opponents, such as Ramon Mitra, Eduardo Cojuangco and Imelda Marcos. I think that given his positive campaign and cool temperament Teodoro can be a healing president.
* * *
Last week I wrote that Gretchen Cojuangco?s brother, Tony Oppen, donated free use of his property in Iloilo for the Gibo volunteers? center. That was erroneous, as Oppen?s donated center is in Bacolod where, as Lynn Gamboa, chair of the Negros Cultural Foundation and of the Moms for Gibo in Negros, pointed out to this columnist, Oppen pays for the light and water bills too. In fact, Tony and wife Cecile Jamora Oppen have asked that their various properties and holdings in Negros accommodate Gibo campaign materials too. To set the record straight, the donor of the space for the Iloilo Gibo volunteers? center is Fiscal Jose Naranjo, who chairs it as well. Tina Cojuangco Barrera also wrote the Inquirer from Australia, that she never participated in the Iloilo rally for Gibo, realizing the ?sentiments? of her parents on this issue. My apologies for the error.
