Tuesday, July 29, 2008 Quirino town mayor wearing 'bahag' attends Sona
LESS is more.
Mayor Rosario Camma of Nagtipunan, Quirino nearly stole the show from President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo when he showed up literally "underdressed" for the eighth State of the Nation Address (Sona) - wearing only a tribal G-string or "bahag."
"We can show our culture through this (wearing of bahag)," said Camma, a chieftain of the Bugkalot tribes of the provinces of Quirino, Nueva Viscaya and Aurora.
While lawmakers, Cabinet and other key government officials donned barong and luxurious suits, Camma wore a blue thong and a red head band which caught everyone's attention.
The half-naked mayor braved the cold of the centralized air conditioning of the Batasan Complex and the prying eyes of the spectators who were staring at him as he walked pass the plenary hall entrance where a red carpet was rolled down.
Camma practically outshone actresses Asunta de Rossi, wife of Representative Jules Ledesma of Negros Occidental, and Lanie Mercado, wife of Senator Ramon "Bong" Revilla Jr., and boxing champion Manny Pacquiao who sat in the gallery.
He also hogged the limelight when the President recognized his efforts in helping his 15,000 tribal members achieve food sufficiency through farming.
"Mabuhay, chief!" the President told the mayor who gamely stood as the crowd in the gallery applauded.
The mayor has more or less 20,000 constituents who speak Ilocano, Ifugao, Tagalog and Ilonggo.
As planned, the President wore a pink Filipiniana gown which Malacañang said would capture her Sona themes of "self-reliance, protecting the environment, helping the poor, the vulnerable, and Filipino capacity for stability of the nation into the first world."
The pale fuschia pink "modernized Maria Clara" gown which has a "panuelo" was a creation of fashion designer JC Buendia and fashion consultant Joanne Andrada, who have been working for the President's attires since she assumed presidency in 2001
The newly renovated Batasan - which initially cost more than P90 million - was once again filled with the "glitz and glamour" of politics, business and show business.
The President's eighth Sona also prominently symbolized the change in the country's political landscape.
For the first time, Davao City Representative Prospero Nograles, the new House Speaker, took the seat formerly occupied by Pangasinan Representative Jose de Venecia Jr. who was ousted over the national broadband network (NBN)-ZTE scandal which caused the obliteration of his political ties with the President.
"I'm looking forward that the new picture will be a good copy for the people especially those from Mindanao," Nograles said.
Unlike Senate President Manuel Villar Jr. who rarely applauded, Nograles could not hide his overwhelming support to the President who blessed his assumption to the speakership.
De Venecia is abroad and still preparing for his appearance in the Senate investigation into the anomalous NBN-ZTE deal.
De Venecia, who held the speakership for five terms, was ousted last February 5 amid the revelations of his son, Joey, who accused the President's husband Jose Miguel "Mike" Arroyo of bullying him into backing out of the project.
Joey is co-owner of Amsterdam Holdings Cop. (AHI), one of the companies interested in undertaking the project.
Since the death of his political career as leader of the House, the elder de Venecia has repeatedly warned that he would spill the beans on the anomaly, believing that this would clinch the President's forcible removal from office.
However, ever since he made such promises, de Venecia Jr. is still yet to face the Blue Ribbon committee of Senator Alan Peter Cayetano, offering excuses of concerns on his physical condition. (WV/Sunnex)
