Thursday, January 25, 2007 Magsaysay: Ogling! By Jo Magsaysay Whatever
GASPS and gushes…dots and dashes…a breathless account in huffs and puffs (kilig-kilig) from my unofficial reporter Myra, my eyes and ears blows me down. (Parenthetical comments are mine)
*****
Gwen’s finest hour! Despite overwhelming odds and stinging criticism, Cebu Governor Gwen Garcia formally opened CICCC with no hitches. A command performance: we must be there! In Filipiniana! We, the self-appointed Blue Ladies of Gwen, her STC classmates, always supportive, cheerer-uppers!
Bess (Francia) our cum laude, now Gwen’s chief of staff, incredibly efficient, Girl Friday liaison, and in a pinch, speech writer, made sure we had our passes for the shuttle from Capitol to CICCC.
All present in one finery: Tata Mempin, Marietiz Noel, Bembot Maderazo, Alice Atega, Olga Antigua, Gertrude Abarquez, Zonette Balbuena, Piedad Ynclino, Socorro Walters, Thelma Ferendor, Chona Floro, Dina Garcia, Mayee Tan, Emma Acha, Evelyn Delfin. Marissa (Fernan), Gwen’s alter-ego, bestfriend and consultant was attending to the details of the Suroy Suroy of the spouses, the Gala Night and the Little Malacańang dinner. Angela (Figueroa Paulin) went on her own. Exclamations! Wow! Cute! Fantastic! The sculptural grasshorses and tartanilla bedecked with flowers. Brainchild of Therese (Bowler Gonzales) chairman of parks and playgrounds (brilliant idea!) providing local color.
*****
GMA (President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo), her tiny compact figure comfortably sheeted in a turquoise pantsuit offered warm welcoming congratulations, remembering me from previous meetings. Gwen, a breathtaking wisp in her white terno (her waistline Scarlet O’ Hara would die for!). Gorgeous in crimson, Mariquita Yeung, not a day older, but certainly so much prettier than when she was modeling in a fashion show with Gina Bacay and Annabelle Rama, for their sister’s Ophelia (Cue of Otes Bazaar) several light years ago. Unable to keep herself from asking, Linda Ouano (First Lady of Mandaue), herself quite attractive in lime green plucked Mariquita’s arm to ask how much the terno cost. Nonplussed, Mariquita reluctantly told her (discretion prevents me from quoting the astronomol price) made by one of her favorite couturiers, Cary Santiago, based in Beirut (he also made Gwen’s Sinulog gown). Another fashion plate, Angela Paulin (dripping with diamonds, Jaime Picornell tells me) in a champagne cocktail dress (no doubt from Ann’s favorite store Neiman Marcus, that regularly sends her outfits to choose from).
*****
Cocktails, a showcase of Glenda Barreto’s Via Mare, the pandesal con quesong puti unimaginably tasty! Manny Osmeńa, Hilton Hotel CEO and occasional masterchef, a culinary purist, no fusion cooking for him, no substitutes swears by Kobe beef from beer-guzzling cows, meticulous, swabs off any dripping from pots and pans. Amparito Lhuillier turns heads, always!
Smashing in black and white “the better to set off our Philippine pearls.”
Obviously, Monique’s flawless lines. Tina Benedicto of the diplomatic family, wife, mother, aunt, a diplomat herself (Consul of Turkey) confides she would rather have businessmen than diplomats in the family. Taking advice from Frank Benedicto, the DFA undersecretary, to dress down—not to upstage the President—Tina, low-key and demure as she always is, this time quite fetching in a lemony Maria Clara.
*****
Aroused by Gwen’s message “Dili sulti ang pabuhaton. Buhat maoy pasultihun,” and by GMA’s ardent call for a “caring and sharing community”, a surge of patriotism, if you want to call it, enveloped us and swept up our spirits. In our own small ways, human interaction, a commonality of values and beliefs, a sense of belonging made us part of the ASEAN Summit. We want to do something, anything! Not moving mountains, of course, but doing something. Not just mouth words and catch phrases but exert a conscious effort to help others. We cannot all be like Mariqueta and her Operation Smile, nor be Amparito with her scholarships. Just small things like sharing some of our food and clothing with the neighborhood children, the disabled, the poor. Every little bit of caring and sharing can make a difference in the lives of other people…can make a big difference in our own lives. (Let’s do it!)
*****
Thank you, Gwen for inspiring us, for leading the way, for having faith in yourself, in our people, in the good Lord! Thank you, God for the CICCC to Cebu!
