(Thumbs up)THE NEWS that the Times Street home of the late president Cory Aquino would be renovated was both happy and sad.
Happy, because as her children said, they were finally moving on with their respective lives. ?At our dinner table, come eating time, wala nang uupo sa kabisera [nobody sits at the head of the table]. That?s when the emptiness strikes you,? her son, Senator Benigno ?Noynoy? Aquino III, told the Philippine Daily Inquirer. Also, her plants are ?going? one by one. Indeed, they don?t want to wallow in sadness.
Sad, because like it or not, Cory belonged/belongs to the people. And so it?s not surprising that they can?t seem to have enough of her. Proof of that is the continuous stream of visitors to Times Street who leave flowers and messages of condolence and love at the gate. As Noynoy said, he?s gotten used to coming and leaving home passing rows of people at the gate. The people want to see what Cory left behind, how she lived ? simply. Her memorabilia.
Apart from her legacy of the fight for democracy, Cory bequeathed the value of simplicity to a country that has seen so much ostentation and falsehood.
It is hoped that the renovation not only would have room for her memorabilia that could be accessible to the public, especially the young generation, but would still bear her character of simplicity, even only a modicum of it ? a shrine to Cory?s lifestyle.
Korina, ?next First Lady?
(Thumbs up)The political season has already started, in case you haven?t noticed. The other weekend in Bayombong, the capital of Nueva Vizcaya, the feast of the patron saint, St. Dominic, drew local and national officials to the town. In several events, they made subtle or not-so-subtle political pitches for this or that candidate.
Even broadcast personality Korina Sanchez dropped by. During the fiesta, which was like a ?miting de avance,? she was introduced by Bayombong and provincial officials as ?the next First Lady of the Philippines,? in obvious reference to the presidential aspiration of her fiance, Senator Manuel ?Mar? Roxas.
Relating the warnings allegedly made by certain sectors not to let herself be used to further the presidential ambitions of Roxas, Korina was defiant, if not titillating.
?Huwag daw ako magpagamit,? Korina told the crowd. ?Pero ang sabi ko kay Mar: ?Sige, Mar, gamitin mo ako. Handa ako magpagamit para lang makamtan ang minimithi mo.?? [People told me not to let myself be used for political ends. But as I told Mar: ?Use me, Mar. Use me so you can fulfill your desire.?]
High-flying act
(Thumbs down)What is it about elevators, cars and planes ? that couples like making out in them? The speed, the high risk of getting caught or being watched? A few passengers on a transcontinental flight recently didn?t know whether to watch or avert their gaze as a leading businessman started canoodling his young woman on the plane. They weren?t in cattle class.
