SEVERAL old-rich matrons have been victimized in an elaborate scam by a well-connected person, and the incident has sent shivers down the spine of Forbes Park and the rich enclaves of Cebu, Bacolod, and Davao.
The con artist is reportedly the aide of a powerful person and the lover of the offspring of another.
The scam started a year ago, when the con artist started luring famous old-guard matrons and gentlemen into buying big-ticket jewelry items in shows in Bangkok and HK. Once the jewels were bought, the scammer, who claimed to have a buy-and-sell jewelry business, would convince them to part with their big heirloom pieces that they couldn?t wear, for their sheer size and style, in public. She would pay post-dated checks.
But the con artist would pawn the jewelry in a very established pawnshop. Here?s the rub: The con artist would then sell the claim stub to a third party.
One night, a well-known banker-matron saw a new-money matron wearing her jewelry. She almost fainted when the woman told her how she acquired the jewelry. Soon after, the victims saw the checks issued them bouncing higher than One McKinley Place.
When two infuriated matrons had the police locate the scammer, the con artist was found conveniently confined in a posh hospital, with a well-known doctor certifying she was mentally unfit to be interviewed by the police.
A couple of brave matrons have filed criminal and civil cases against the con artist.
More on those ?lollipop lampposts?
When it comes to art or design, the Filipino is high on embellishment but low on concept and function. The street lamps of Manila or Tagaytay are a good example of the Filipino?s high tolerance for bad taste. We asked architects, designers and connoisseurs their opinion on the hodgepodge of lamps.
Albert Avellana, consultant and gallery owner
The lamps in Manila look like lollipops. The ones near Philippine Columbian resemble fish balls or marshmallows skewered on a stick and they come in pastels (similar to those in Tagaytay).
If you go to Pasay, the lamps are diamond-shaped. It?s a different theme in Paraaque. It shows bad aesthetics. You feel like you?re in an amusement park but you?re not amused.
In Dumaguete, the lamps along the baywalk in Rizal Boulevard are simple and add to the ambience. They also provide proper illumination so you enjoy the view. Paging lighting designers!
Augusto Villalon, architect
You can have any kind of design. The purpose of the street lamp is to light up the street. But that doesn?t work here. It?s funny, I?ve also seen them in Indonesia. There must be some big factory out there that turns them out by the millions.
Patricia Fernando-Regalado, architect
It?s so disco and irritating because the design is out of context. On our way to Binondo on a walking tour, we saw these lamps. Manila is textured with history, then suddenly you see these globes that look like 3-D anim or some that look like stick drawings. It?s a culture thing.
Christian Espiritu, designer
They?re too busy but fun.
Helena Carratala, designer
They are kitschy but there?s not enough of them to light up the streets. They are overly designed which is a Filipino thing ? putting more than what?s needed.
Edgardo Ledesma, architect
It?s subjective. What I find beautiful, others may not. They?re not ugly but they can be better-designed. Some would design to evoke a little history and be more Filipino. Others would make it Filipino but modern. But the lamps are full of borloloy because that?s our culture.
In Tagaytay, the lamps look like they belong to Enchanted Kingdom. Maybe it?s for the tourists. But the fact that they called your attention already says that it?s different ?whether you like it or not.
Claude Tayag, artist and culinary whiz
The lampposts look like these cheap-looking contraptions in a low-budget sci-fi movie. They?re an eyesore, super baduy. The idea of lighting the promenade is a great idea, but its proponents should have been more sensitive to the historical aspect of the boulevard, from Malate to Rizal Park. It cost the (poor) Juan de la Cruz a fortune to set them up. That?s the perennial story of our life as a nation.
Rosario Encarnacion-Tan, architect
They don?t (visually) connect or enhance the city. It?s sad when you find out a lamp costs P100,000 each, when the actual price is only one-tenth of that. These lamps look as if Bayani Fernando painted the whole city in pink and blue. Aesthetic is also a function. Something jarring can spoil your mood.
Take a look at Roxas Boulevard. Instead of enjoying the sunset, you see a row of rattles. If only we had good artists who could come up with a brilliant design rather than seeing these plastic lollipops. There has to be some reckoning with the mayors. Parang nilantad ang crime nila [It?s like their crimes were bared].
Sardined on Boracay
Philippine summer is now almost tantamount to Boracay summer. That?s how popular this destination is. Yet ? nowhere is the unplanned growth of this paradise more evident than in its cramped, decrepit airport which has now become too small for visitors? traffic. Nothing could spoil a fun vacation more than being sardined in a humid airport where your flight is delayed, or, worse, cancelled.
Building up local tourist destinations becomes almost futile if domestic air travel tests one?s tenacity and patience.
Boracay, Cebu, Bohol, Palawan now have a growing number of high-end, ritzy resorts, yet flying to those places is far from being a top-of-the-line experience.
?It? destination
Still on Boracay, Shangri-La Boracay is clearly the ?It? destination these days. Week after week, the newly opened resort spa gets its share of A-list visitors.
Nope, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie really didn?t show up. But another (local) VIP did, with an old lady love.
Bomb threats
Irene and Greggy Araneta had experienced a couple of bomb threats at their residence in Makati. In the first attempt, the bomb did not explode due to clumsy handling. The second time, the bomb exploded on the street right in front of the house. These incidents went unreported.
