Saturday, December 05, 2009


"HELLO CIGAR"

The return of the didjay. Former President Fidel Valdez Ramos recently called on President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to step down from the presidency, in reaction to her final decision to run for a congressional seat in 2010. I think his call is five years late. As it is, people don't really put too much weight any more on his pronouncements.

So let's just talk about his favorite "mouthpiece" - cigars.

Pictures of former President Ramos chomping on cigars which used to appear on a regular basis in newspapers probably did some promoting of cigars and tobacco among Pinoys. Cigar clubs did sprout in major cities and include as members well-known ladies in society and in the entertainment industry.

I am told that the best cigars in the world come from Cuba. One, known as Cohiba, costs something like $850 per box of 25 in New York City. Cohiba is smuggled into the United States from Cuba by Cuban-American businessmen who find it hard to meet with the demand among the well-heeled in the U.S.

The tobacco industry is still the biggest dollar-earner in Cuba, and every visiting dignitary to Havana had been gifted by no less than President Fidel Castro with boxes of the prized stogies.

Back to FVR. Well, he's quite known around the world as a cigar-chomper since he has been photographed in key foreign cities with a cigar in his mouth. Of course, the most famous cigar smoker in history was Britain's wartime leader, Prime Minister Winston Churchill. Hollywood gangster legend Edward G. Robinson was a chomper as well.

Local Filipino cigar manufacturers should come out with one in honor of the former president and call them "Fidel," or "Hello Cigar," to perpetuate the memory of a former Comelec official and an illegitimate president.

So it can be known as the man behind the famous "Hello Cigar" calls on the woman behind "Hello Garci" to step down.

I'll smoke to that.


Friday, December 04, 2009


THE LAST CHRISTMAS UNDER GLORIA?

A form of colonialism will be practiced by upper-crust and middle-income Filipino families as they gather around their noche buena tables soon. Many will also be celebrating the fact that this is the last Christmas under a dark regime. Is it really?

Their tables will be loaded with wine from France and Australia, Edam cheese from Holland, ham and chestnuts from Hong Kong, wallnuts, apples and fruitcakes from the United States, turrones from Spain and chocolates from England and Switzerland. And they will be playing traditional Christmas oldies belted out by Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole.

Among these colonialists will be the so-called nationalists and Filipinists in Congress, the labor movement, media and the academe. In short, a large chunk of the country's population.

President Arroyo will gather her own brood for a quiet family reunion and will be discussing her political plans with them as she prepares to run for a seat in Congress next year.

For the poor, this year has been particularly difficult due to higher prices of commodities, and have managed to scrimp and save for a simple but satisfactory observance of the last Christmas under the Arroyo administration. Indeed, something to celebrate for and hoping the next Christmas under a new government will be better, unless of course our government shifts to parliamentary form and Arroyo makes Prime Minister.


Sunday, November 29, 2009


FERDINAND II

Allow me to start this blogpost by saying this: No, my blog is not for hire nor is it being utilized by any politician or politicians for a fee. It never was and never shall it be. I write from my heart, and do so with openness and a passion. And so, if I write about this individual, it is only because I believe in him, even if we have never spoken to each other. And that is more than enough for me.

I begin by saying that the snowballing criticisms against Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr.'s senatorial bid are said to be orchestrated by leaders of the so-called yellow crusaders and the Kamaganak Inc. who rallied behind Corazon Aquino when she first ran against Ferdinand Marcos.

The pro-Aquino people are horrified over speculations Bongbong will be a sure winner, that is why Aquino supporters have decided to map out a plan to try to prevent such a victory. Their main line now is to ask why Filipinos had forgotten the glory days of EDSA and their bitter fight against a dictatorship.

They have even gone to the silly deep end by warning that Bongbong was embarking on a political career that would bring the country back to the old Marcos years of one-man rule.

They are now having nightmares of Bongbong garnering more votes than their favorites in the senatorial race, a factor which will be interpreted to mean that Filipinos no longer put importance on the meaning of EDSA, or that they would rather forget the wasted, vindictive and uneventful years of the Aquino administration.

Bongbong's victory will prove better than Alessandra Mussolini's victory, a grand-daughter of the Italian dictator Benito (Il Duce) Mussolini, who won a seat in the Italian parliament some years ago. Her victory was analyzed as connoting that Italians had forgiven their Il Duce and may in fact be amenable to having him declared as an authentic Italian hero.

And many Filipinos still remember the disrespect by the Aquino regime for not allowing the late President Marcos a proper burial accorded to all former heads of state, and that Filipinos remember as well that President Aquino approved the burial at the Libingan ng mga Bayani of a dog belonging to the k-9 team of the Presidential Security Group during her term of office.

Bongbong's victory is long overdue. The Philippine Senate has waited too long for the return of a Marcos to bring back to its halls its lost glory.


This post wasn't paid for by the Friends of Bongbong Marcos.


(Image from http://www.manilamaildc.net/)