Fashion statements from GMA, Cory

A front page item of the Philippine Star yesterday carried the headline: "GMA prevented TRO on EO 464". We don't know if that is really possible, but, be honest now, didn't you suspect it could be?

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One thing I have noticed about the president, though, is her new wardrobe. Perhaps she has another fashion adviser, because where she used to come out in outfits featuring the tailored line or what we used to call in convent schools "Mary-like", she now appears to be more daring, fashionwise. When she had the long-haired Indian president as guest, the neckline of her gown was very low, but of course not low enough to show some cleavage. Lately, she has also come out with sleeveless dresses, showing some armpit when she waves to the public.

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But we can't compare her to former President Cory Aquino who was said to be her former idol, but now no more. Cory always had those prim outfits that looked as if they had been put together by the neighborhood costurera. Clearly, her popular daughter has not inherited her fashionsense from her mamma. Anyway, GMA is much younger than Cory, even if her latest photos show that she needs to be a little careful if she does not want to become a client of Vicky Belo.

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It looks as if former President Joseph Estrada is scoring somewhere else even if he is being given a hard time by the court, or even by Malacañang. Yesterday, Cardinal Ricardo Vidal announced that he was ready to vouch for Erap and offered to have him in his custody if he could be given temporary freedom. Wow. That is something, for an accused, and detained, "plunderer" to have the guarantee and support of a cardinal, no less. But will the fact that Cardinal Vidal is supposed to be retired already affect his reliability as a "ninong", or custodian?

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I recall that when the St. Jude Thaddeus Church in Bacolod was inaugurated, then President Estrada, who was one of the major sponsors of its construction, was with Cardinal Vidal and Bishop Camilo Gregorio and they seemed to be quite friendly with each other. I'm sure Fr. Felix Pasquin, now parish priest of Silay, who was the prime mover in the building of the St. Jude Church, will confirm this. So, perhaps, both the cardinal and the former Bacolod bishop have been praying for Erap, whose good traits they might have noted, too.

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Why are we, as a people, so fond of making things more confusing than they should be? When the ULTRA tragedy happened, it seemed to be clear that ABS-CBN was not hedging responsibility, because its highest official owned up and pledged to do everything they could to help the victims and their families. And then bright minds kept picking on the subject, bringing in suppositions and speculations, until even the president herself came out lashing at the company.

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Then we had the raid on the so-called shabu tianggue, or supermart, in Pasig which yielded the biggest number of users, pushers and suppliers ever, that made a big splash in the news, with the agents involved preening over their coup. For a while, Pasig Mayor Vicente Eusebio and his police were all shamefaced because the site was quite near their offices and nobody "noticed" it. And then, Eusebio, probably to regain ground and show how angry he was at the drug people, ordered the demolition of the building, supervising, the destruction himself.

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And what happened? He was immediately flailed by both officials and bleeding hearts for not saving the area for further investigation, or whatever. The protestors claimed Eusebio et al might have destroyed some evidence still concealed in the place. Luckily for Eusebio, the equally controversial Secretary of Justice sided with him, saying the police should have removed all the evidence already. But the confusion continues, because some congressmen are still poised to file charges against Eusebio. The Senate and the House might think of starting their own probe, too.*

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