ces redux

redux adj.  = brought back; returned. resurgent. used postpositively.

that’s what anc’s “kidnap” docu was all about, a make-over of ces drilon, the brat correspondent who got herself and her team kidnapped by terrorists just because egotism, conceit, self-importance got the better of her.

reminds me of cnn’s richard quest who was caught with dope in new york – i’m not sure if it was coke, crack, or ice – and who simply disappeared from the public eye. the way cnn handled it, it was like he had never existed, never mind that he had quite a following with the business class.

okay, so ces drilon was just high on ego, but the consequences were so much more horrible and widespread, she certainly didn’t deserve that tribute.

the real rigodon

peque gallaga always emails interesting stuff that i usually open right away, except for one last week with two fwds on gloria’s junkets, thinking, so what else is new. but today i clicked on it, by mistake? and i’m so glad i did. because while the first was indeed something i’d received before, the second by perry diaz was new to me. especially the last half of it which was all about how gloria celebrated her last (it better be) independence day in the palace.

i had the blues that day, almost forgot kasi, working day kasi, no celebration kasi, whereas gma pala had a very exclusive, very grand ball behind closed doors, at our expense of course:

During the 110th Independence Day last June 12, Arroyo cut the cost of the Independence Day program at the Rizal Park to show the people that she’s willing to conserve money at a time of rising food prices. However, on the night of June 12, Arroyo hosted a glitzy reception at the Malacanang Palace for the diplomatic corps and the country’s elite.

What is appalling was the ostentatious display of pomp at the Malacanang reception, especially the revival of the elitist dance, the “rigodon de honor.” Arroyo handpicked the 20 couples — the country’s rich and famous or, I might say, the cream of Gloria’s “Enchanted Kingdom” — who participated in the rigodon.

It is interesting to note that the last time the rigodon was performed in Malacanang was on June 30, 1981 during the third inauguration of President Ferdinand Marcos. When Cory Aquino ascended to the presidency after Marcos was overthrown, she prohibited the rigodon from being performed in all official functions, an oblique rejection of a dance considered to be fitting only for the high and mighty ruling elite. After 27 years of not performing this unnecessary display of power and affluence, Gloria revived the rigodon at a time when the people are in dire need and impoverished.

After all the speeches at the June 12th reception had ended, the media people were unceremoniously told to leave. Thus, nobody from the media witnessed the “rigodon the honor” except one — outgoing Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye. Bunye disclosed and described the rigodon in detail — including the names of the participants — in his weekly newspaper column. Arroyo should have told him to leave the reception too.”

at once i googled “toting bunye rigodon” and found that he has a website pala where the column was supposed to be posted but i couldn’t find it, LOL, recently deleted maybe? so i clicked on manila bulletin online instead and there it is: history & rigodon de honor in all its decadence.

…For the revival of the Rigodon for this year’s Independence Day celebration, the President handpicked the participants and took the time to occasionally drop in on their rehearsals. At one rehearsal, I understand that she also gamely learned the steps, partnering with Secretary Art Yap.

The twenty couples who performed the Rigodon were:

Congressman Albert Garcia and Congresswoman Carissa Coscolluela
Mayor Freddie Tinga and Ms. Zareen Baqir
Chairman Ray Anthony Roxas Chua III and Ms. Abby Ramos Claudio
Mr. Butch Ramirez and Mayor Jenny Barzaga
Congressman Mark Enverga and Congresswoman Mitch Cajayon
Mr. John Gaddi and Ms. Joanne Reyes
Ambassador David Pine and Ms. Assunta de RossiLedesma
Governor Leo Campos and Ms. Angie Cadungog
General Arturo Lomibao and Ms. Elizabeth Lee
Congressman Robbie Puno and Atty. Patricia Bunye
Mr. Sonny Tanchanco and Ms. Paula Locsin Bondoc
Congressman Martin Romualdez and Ms. Dawn Zulueta-Lagdameo
Mr. Nestor Jardin and Ms. Tessa Prieto Valdez
Mr. Alex Macapagal and Ms. Anna Marie Periquet
Congressman Joboy Aquino and Ms. Marissa Andaya
Congressman Dato Arroyo and Mayor Kimi Cojuangco
Secretary Arthur Yap and Ms. Lani Mercado Revilla
Former Senator Tito Sotto and Ms. Mons Romulo Tantoco
General Generoso Senga and Congresswoman Rachel Arenas
Secretary Peter Favila and Ambassador Kristie Kenney

The entire Independence Day reception and Rigodon de Honor was directed by Ms. Lupita Kashiwahara. Choreography was by Ms. Bujing Danao and Ms. Dalah Pia, assisted by Mr. Renato Delgado and Mr. Jerry Mercado. Music was by Gloria Gatmaitan and her band.”

my, what a star-studded extravaganza. so, did the choreographers change the steps a little, jazz it up a little, or was it faithful to the old boring quadrille? so, what were the women’s ternos like? sinong winner sa coutouriers? and the best family jewels must have been out on display, patalbugan blues, palakihan, pakinangan ng diamonds at pearls, among themselves lang of course, then back to the vault, hora mismo. so who was the belle of the ball, dawn zulueta? asunta de rossi? lani mercado? tessa prieto? rachel arenas? kristie kenney? o talbog silang lahat kay glory glory hallelujah? i would have loved to watch the show, kahit sa tv lang, di ba. for a sense of history, why not?

stop sulpicio?

the exchange in the comments section of manolo‘s post supporting the blogswarm “stop sulpicio lines” is worth sharing – an edited version, of course, highlighting why the stopping of sulpicio is problematic.

banat ni djb rizalist (bully for him ;)

Considering the volume of cargo and passenger traffic that Sulpicio Lines handles, it is inconceivablethat their operations would be entirely taken out…that would cause a major economic dislocation, not to say suffering on the part of many impoverished families and big and small businesses.

Could the upshot (of) a successful campaign against Sulpicio then merely result in the government taking it over, as GMA has hinted? Would that not conceivably result in some even bigger tragedy, considering that the typhoon season has barely begun? I’m mad at Sulpicio Lines too, but what exactly are we asking for here?”

susog ni bencard:

given that sulpicio is the ONLY major shipping line in the philippines providing relatively cheap transportation to and from each major island of the country, how could you afford to stop its operations instantaneously, even if you could legally? do you think “accidents” would not occur under someone else’s control, including the government’s? meanwhile, should life for all the people and families depending on the company be put on hold while a suitable replacement is being determined?”

agree si dominique:

More than punitive measures we need remedial measures to address the shipping industry, in terms of safety, competition, and cost.

suggest ni cvj:

Since the government needs funds, taking over Sulpicio so that its earnings from operations can fund the improvement of the shipping industry, instead of further enriching the Go Family, should be looked into. Perhaps it can temporarily be attached to the Philippine navy, which also need ships.

agree si leytenian:

This tragedy is not only domestic. The history and bad reputation of this company will actually scare foreign capital and hurt our credibility even further. Let’s do what’s right for the country and for the majority. (Under the government) the students and seniors will enjoy a discounted rates, at the same time small businesses can be subsidized thru discounted shipping of goods. The government can hire more employees…

unimpressed si kg:

government takeover? yeah winston garcia should do it but with the same fleet? rejects junk and retirable vessels, what can a government takeover do. are we back to the question of nationalization and denationalization.

say ni bencard:

cvj, while the navy may have the knowhow to sail a ship for sea battle, i don’t know if it has the expertise to operate a shipping line to transport passengers and cargo. it sounds “simple, really” but i think there’s more to sailing a commercial ship than just keeping it afloat and reaching its destination. so you guys think the government can handle it better, huh? can you name one government-run common carrier that operates efficiently and prosperously? are you familiar with the manila railroad co. and what happened to it after the politicians took over?

balik ni cvj:

The logic of resorting to privatization because we fear the incompetence of government has reached its limit in the case of Sulpicio. We have seen how market forces and private competition are useless against the negligence of an oligopoly. In any Society, government is the last resort to handle these kinds of failures, so at some point,we have to tackle the problem of government incompetence head on. Failing to rejuvenate government would leave us at the point where the public has no choice but to tolerate the practices of Oligarchs like the Go family.

sa ganang akin cvj and leytenian have a point, but it aint gonna happen – there’s simply no rejuvenating government overnight; maybe in 2010 ;)

samantala it doesn’t have to mean we’re tolerating the practices of oligarchs like the go family. not if sulpicio is allowed to resume operations only under certain conditions:

1. ititigil nito ang paghahabla sa pagasa at ang pagbintang kay god. sa halip ay aaminin, aakuin, ang major responsibility for the disaster, magpa-public apology, and magpa-promise to indemnify both survivors and victims’ families in appropriate amounts, the records to be open to public scrutiny

2. upang ma-break ang pattern of disasters na associated na with “sulpicio lines,” the owners will change the name of the shipping line and the ships – enough already with the donyas and prinsesas – again in the full glare of the public eye, sabay upgrade its safety standards, thus signalling a rebirth, a new beginning, and hopefully better karma all around for a change.

deadly mabuhay kills chikatime

interesante ang nagaganap sa gossip corner of the blogosphere. akalain niyo, napa-shutdown ng isang gucci gang blog-girl ang chikatime.com, the notorious gossip blog that dared cackle in nasty bading-speak at celebrities and other society climbers, and not from some ivory tower a la kitty go but from the mean, and i mean MEAN side of the tracks, a long way away from the red carpet:

The site claims to receive 4,000 hits a day-even on days when no updates are posted. Chikatime’s claim to fame-or one of them-is breaking the Brian Gorrell-DJ Montano story before Gorrel put up his own blog.

But Brian and DJ aren’t the only subjects of Chikatime. It has targeted almost everyone, from celebrities and fashionistas to columnists, editors and socialites. They have “leads” coming in from everywhere-even supposedly industry insiders.

The blog seems to be this era’s weapon of mass destruction. It could be a greattool of expression and creative prose, or it could be a means of anarchy and vendetta.

It could be the hoi polloi’s voice from outside the red carpet, the other side of the velvet rope.

Chikatime entries range from eyebrow-raising to downright nasty. Bouncing checks, gate-crashing, backstabbing, locker-room embarrassments-the blog is packed with enough dirt to make the Upper East Side sound like Pleasantville.”

sabi rin ni kitty go:

Chikatime has a GREAT FORMULA no one comes close to:
1) a great sense of humor
2) a hilarious command of Taglish and Bading-speak
3) graphic photos
4) magnificent moles”

of course, imbiyerna ang mga pa-altasyudad na natatampok sa chikatime, like the gucci gang fashionista shoppingera blog-girl who says puro kasinungalingan at panlalait ang sinasabi dito, which, come to think of it, is exactly the gucci gang’s complaint re brian’s dj blog. but brian is out of reach in australia (or is it canada now), while the blogger behind chikatime, the gucci gang blog-girl found out, is taga-makati lang pala and making less than 20 kiyaw a month (smalltime!) so she threatens to out him unless he deletes, retracts, apologizes, and creates a link to her site – susmaryosep! you wonder what she’s really after. chikatime’s traffic? no wonder chikatime shut down na lang.

but gossip, like hope, springs eternal. if the gucci gang blog-girl thinks she’s home free, she has another think coming. unless she shuts down, too, of course.