(Thumbs up) THE DEATH OF former President Corazon Aquino should be remembered for one more thing, apart from many others: it was a coverage that saw the near-confluence of various media and, more important, when rival networks shared some material and fought the urge ? like trying to suppress a burp ? to proclaim itself the winner, or as the ?official partner of the Aquino family.? Alright, that tag ? bad taste, no matter how you look at it ? tumbled out of the mouths of some reporters early on, but good thing it wasn?t repeated over and over. Like burping, one could tone down braggadocio.

Indeed, Cory and what she symbolized made every Filipino transcend his partisanship.

Why aren?t they resigning?

(Thumbs down) Forget delicadeza or sense of propriety, it?s a scarce commodity. But why aren?t Cecile Guidote-Alvarez and Vilma Labrador resigning from the National Commission for Culture and the Arts over the National Artist Awards scandal? After all, they failed to defend the selection by the NCCA with the Cultural Center of the Philippines of composer Ramon Santos as National Artist for Music.

Santos was dropped by Malacañang from the list of those elected by the NCCA and the CCP (painter Federico Aguilar Alcuaz, the late filmmaker Manuel Conde, and the late Tagalog writer Lazaro Francisco). Not only did President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo dump Santos, she also named four who did not pass the NCCA-CCP selection as National Artists: Alvarez, who is Arroyo?s presidential adviser for arts and culture; ?massacre? filmmaker and komiks novelist Carlo Caparas, fashion designer Pitoy Moreno and architect Francisco Mañosa.

Alvarez was proclaimed National Artist for Theater by President Macapagal-Arroyo even if she is executive director of the NCCA and thus, disqualified from the selection process by the NCCA and the CCP, which are empowered by law to ?confer? the awards (the President merely ?confirms?). Despite being an NCCA official, Alvarez didn?t defend the selection process before the President, who should be all ears to her since she is adviser for culture and the arts.

Labrador, the NCCA chair, has been revealed to be a member of the ?honors committee? that was supposed to have screened the NCCA-CCP list.

And if Labrador is in the shadowy honors committee (?Are the members honorable?? asked a fuming NCCA commissioner and theater artist Elmar Beltran Ingles before the NCCA board headed by Labrador and mainly composed of Malacañang appointees), why didn?t she defend Santos and the NCCA-CCP selection process?

Not only had they not defended Santos and the NCCA-CCP selection, Labrador and Alvador have also betrayed their preference for Caparas, who got the distinction of being allowed the use of the NCCA premises for a press conference last Friday to defend his qualifications as National Artist.

That they had failed to defend the official ? and legal ? selection process should compel Alvarez and Labrador, either out of a sense of delicadeza or professional decorum, to resign from the NCCA.

Arroyo exposed by her own adviser

(Thumbs down) In defending her selection as National Artist despite being disqualified from the official selection process since she is NCCA executive director, Cecile Guidote-Alvarez said it was the President?s prerogative to name National Artists. ?If you?re asking if I deserve to be National Artist, you should ask the President. It is Malacañang that proclaimed me!?

But as presidential adviser for culture and the arts, and as Cabinet member without a portfolio, she should defend or shield the President from, and not expose her to, criticisms and attacks.

Filipinos in Rome gather for Cory

(Thumbs up) The Filipino community in Rome, consisting of migrants, priests and religious men and women, gathered last Aug. 2 at the Basilica Sta. Pudenziana in Rome for a necrological Mass for former President Cory Aquino. This was reported by Sister Regina T. Kuizon of the Religious of the Good Shepherd.

Sister Regina is media affairs head and the highest ranking Filipina of the worldwide religious community of nuns whose headquarters is at Casa Generalizia, Suore del Buon Pastore, Via Raffaello Sardiello in Rome.

?There were many people who came,? reported Sr. Regina. The main celebrant was Fr. Tony Pernia SVD, the Filipino superior general of the Society of the Divine World, the sixth biggest religious congregation for men in the world. The homilist was Filipino Jesuit Fr. Danny Huang SJ, general councilor of the Jesuits in Rome.

?After the homily, we watched a five-minute video on the highlights of Tita Cory?s life,? Sr. Regina said.

?Sta. Pudenziana is where we have the Filipino chaplaincy for migrant workers [Sentro Pilipino],? she said. The Church is one of the key Filipino centers in Rome, where Filipinos are especially noted by the Vatican for their fidelity to the faith and their consistent support for Church causes and events.

Taken to task for a trinket

(Thumbs down) Facebook user Happy Ferraren is mad, and so are majority of those who?ve read her post. The object of their ire? Senator Ana Consuelo ?Jamby? Madrigal, who, according to Ferraren in a strongly worded denunciation (accompanied by a photo of the bracelet, left, as proof), used the nine-hour funeral of the late former president Cory Aquino to engage in crass politicking.

Ferraren and her mother, like thousands of others, were waiting for the funeral cortege to pass by when they decided to buy a yellow umbrella from a vendor. They were also given a bracelet, the vendor sweetly explaining, ?Eto o, bonus para sa inyo [Here, it?s a bonus for you].? When mother and daughter looked closely, they beheld a small picture of Senator Madrigal dangling from the yellow plastic trinket.

Ooops!

(Thumbs down) Perhaps the 24-hour coverage was too much for many an editor. Fatigue? Sleeplessness? No excuse, certainly, but how to explain the flurry of mishaps in reporting, writing or saying ?Arroyo? instead of ?Aquino? in the coverage of the former president?s wake and funeral?

Example: Yahoo News had this howler: ?Wearing a white blazer suit, President Arroyo went straight to view the coffin of former President Arroyo...?

A few more instances are coming to light on the Internet, collected assiduously by sundry bloggers and observers.

As the blogger The Professional Heckler put it, ?Under the Arroyo administration, several journalists were killed. The last five days, it was the journalists? turn to ?kill? Mrs. Arroyo.?

Dyords? ?inay?

(Thumbs up) Comedian/performer/writer Dyords Javier has a poignant come-on to his one-man show every Thursday night at Teatrino, Greenhills. To pay tribute to former president Cory Aquino last Thursday night, he sang the Levi Celerio/Ernani Cuenco composition ?Aking Inay? and dedicated it to the great woman whose death he continues to grieve. The sad melody deviated from the run of gags and music, with special performance by violinist John Lesaca. He had a real funny number on breast augmentation (guess whose?). He?s on every Thursday evening this August.