Candidates in bikinis shock Pari

At least reporters could hear each other on their phones yesterday as the ceasefire was taking hold between Israel and Hezabollah. An eerie quiet seems to have crept into the atmosphere, but the topmost question in people's minds is: How long will it last? As of late yesterday (our time), there was already a report that a Hezbollah man had been killed by an Israeli. The situation is still very volatile, only one little boom, and off they will go again.

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Meanwhile, evacuation of Filipinos continues, not only from Lebanon, but also right here in the country, in the vicinity of Mayor. A Manila columnist said it very aptly when he wrote about a nation of evacuations. In Mayon, as in Lebanon, there are still some who refuse to heed government warnings and prefer to remain where they are. This is also true of Pinoys in Israel who, when interviewed over TV, were chattering like the proverbial magpies about why they wanted to stay. Our people are really risk-takers, but they have their reasons. They know how they could better help their loved ones back home by staying away, no matter what the danger. In the first place, this characteristic had been what prodded them to work abroad, so they are sticking to their own decisions. It is only their parents, children, and siblings back home who are afraid for them.

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I saw an interesting item in yesterday's newspapers. In Paris, France, a presidential wannabe who came out in a bikini caused prospective voters to raise their eyebrows. Did they question her discretion? But this was in Paris, where people are thought to be ultra modern and liberal in their thinking, and in their ways. So why did the sight of the potential leader shock them? In the same newspaper, I also saw a picture of a senator, Pia Cayetano, wearing sports clothes, with her belly button showing.

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Now, such outfits are quite common nowadays, you see them everywhere you go. In the U.S. last summer, there were times I saw more belly buttons than faces when I happened to be sitting where many people passed by. Back in the Philippines, these are also common sights now. But - the ones wearing such revealing costumes are mostly teenagers or very young people. Even if I try to rationalize, I still find it offensive on someone who is an elected senator, a member of the country's so-called august body. More so if that member is running down the street, or in a public place. After all, this senator is not exactly a spring chicken, being already a matron and a mother. Is she trying to prove something?

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In these days when there seems to be a demolition job on the Senate by various quarters, it does not help its respectability, integrity and all that, to see a member flashing her navel in public. OK, call me a prude, but I'm sure lots will still agree with me. And we'll know better when the time for electing people to such positions comes around. Maybe I belong to the kind of French people who got irked by the sight of a prospective candidate in a Bikini. Maybe our senator believes in the saying "If you've got it, show it". Let's hope she will do her showing in bills filed in the Senate.

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The past few days had been very tense ones for our family because a member had to fly back to New York Sunday while the whole world was worrying about the terrorist plots to bomb airplanes going to that country. But there was no way our niece, Peachy, and her family could change their flight schedule because the next available seats would still be in mid September yet. And so we stormed the heavens with prayers for a safe trip for her, her husband Gino and daughter Annika, with the whole bunch covering with prayers their flight from Manila to Taipei, to Seattle and finally to New York. Every body breathed sighs of relief when at last, their text message came that they were already back in their own place in New York. How many families are worrying the way we were now and in the next few days? Let's include them all in our prayers. It works.

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It could be seen in the photos published of the two pugilists, Manny Pacquiao And Erik Morales, that the latter has already gained a lot of weight. In fact, he looks downright chubby now. One must admit it makes him look better, but if he doesn't lose some, it will cost him come November. Every pound will mean $500,000 more for Pacquiao. I hear they will already start selling tickets to the fight next week. Who's ready to shell out $500, $300, $200, $100 or $50 for a seat? Thousands, I bet. In their last bout, the Thomas & Mack Center was filled to the rafters. How much more this time when what is promised is a Battle Royale?*

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