Perhaps the timing of news reports about the order for a new presidential jet was lousy, after the hullaballoo over expensive dinners in New York and Washington, D.C., for President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and party during her recent official visit to the United States. But in fairness to the Palace, the Philippine Air Force, from which it borrows the two old aircraft being used as presidential planes, has been recommending this purchase for nearly 20 years. In fact, an order has been pending since President Fidel V. Ramos? time. Actually it makes sense to buy a new plane as it will be safer both in terms of physical hazards and national security, and also cheaper than renting or chartering. But after the brouhaha over the $20,000 dinner, the purchase of the plane had to be cancelled.
The dinner controversy reminds me of the predicament of tourists abroad. A long time ago, when I first took my family to Europe I told them we would indulge in a feast of the senses, but no shopping. The rare times relatives volunteered to accompany us shopping, they ended up admonishing me, ?Stop converting dollars or euros into pesos or you?ll never buy anything.? There has been no admission from the alleged payer of the $20,000 New York dinner as to whether that amount was correct, but Rep. Danilo Suarez admitted that he had paid for the $15,000 Washington, D.C. steakhouse dinner. A $15,000 dinner for 60 people is no big deal in upscale D.C., but back home it sounds sinful. The moral here is that presidential delegations ought to be trimmed, as we have this very Pinoy bad habit of overstretching hospitality.
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At age 15, when most schoolgirls think mainly of crushes and sleep-over parties, Cecile Guidote already began her theater career with the Paulinian Players Guild in 1959. At age 18, when most girls are engrossed with debuts and dates, Cecile produced and directed a live drama series, ?Teenagers,? as an antidote to juvenile delinquency, recruiting students from both public and exclusive private schools as well as dropouts. National Artist Alejandro Roces, in a recent column, recalled how Fr. James Reuter, SJ wrote him to introduce a young lady whom he dubbed as ?Electricity on Stage,? then acting in the ?TV Family Theater? he produced. Roces noted how he continued to get letters from Cecile, by then on a US drama scholarship, and ?they were all about what was wrong with the Philippine theater and what she would do about it when she got back.? After her return in 1967, she shared all her plans with Roces, who tried to give her a reality check. Instead of being discouraged, she organized the first national convention of the Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA) in Manila. Guest speaker Roces was so surprised to find the place packed and told his audience: ?If Cecile can sustain her efforts, I have no doubt that when the history of Philippine theater is recorded, it would be divided into ?Pre-Guidote? and ?Post-Guidote.??
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Cecile conceptualized PETA as a national theater movement and, as columnist Domini Torrevillas noted, its preamble says it all: ??Theater should not only be a place for public entertainment nor a forum for intellectual beliefs, but a stream where flows the country?s heritage, enriched by the current of contemporary thought, concepts and beliefs.? Not only did it become the fertile seedbed of so many talents later to shine on their own, it also won for her the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Theater Arts. She went on to found ?Radyo Balintataw,? which became the spawning ground of other talents, including Lino Brocka and Ishmael Bernal. In the midst of the Marcos dictatorship, she and husband Heherson Alvarez fled to exile in the United States, where she founded the International Alliance of Concerned Artists for Human Rights and Peace while he lobbied the US Congress to stop giving military aid to Marcos. She used PETA to reach out to Pinoy communities overseas, providing training, production services and cultural festivals that focused on the Filipino struggle for cultural identity and freedom. Columnist Chit Pedrosa, another former exile based in London, recalled how she, at a loss as to how to keep young Veronica abreast of Filipino culture, sent her to Cecile in New York where she ran such a program for Pinoy children growing abroad, in cooperation with the La Mama Theater group.
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In later years, Cecile founded the EarthSavers? Movement with her husband as well as the EarthSavers? Dreams Ensemble, which mobilized young people in various stages of physical disability into a dance/drama team that bagged the Artists for Peace Award from the Unesco. She also revived ?Radyo Balintataw? and put up ?Sining Gising? on NBN-4, as a vehicle for keeping Filipino art forms in the people?s consciousness.
Running through her long list of achievements and awards is a common thread: challenges, such as criticisms and the breast cancer that afflicted her six years ago, only spurred her to work harder for her country?s cultural heritage. PETA has grown into a huge tree from which many local theater groups have sprouted.
National Artist Virgilio Almario was quoted as saying he would be ?sleepless? until the President withdraws the National Artist Award from Cecile and ?komiks king? Carlo Caparas. Well, he?ll have to remain sleepless in Manila while Cecile sleeps soundly, knowing that she fully deserves it. I suppose Carlo also will.
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Reminder: Retrouvaille, the international Catholic ministry devoted to helping troubled marriages, will conduct another weekend seminar from Friday evening, Aug. 21, up to Sunday afternoon at the Mother of Mercy Spiritual Center on SVD Road, Tagaytay City. Retrouvaille, led by Fr. Dave Clay, has helped many couples with ailing marriages reconcile and rediscover each other through the Retrouvaille Weekend and follow-up sessions. Call Father Clay 0918-902-0511 and 525-0308, Inday 938-9719 or 0916-443-8346, Neomi at 681-5746 or 0916-395-4642. All calls held in strictest confidence.
