Just a little plump, maybe

The Manila media is again making such of the report that President Arroyo has been admitted to the St. Luke's Hospital again, the third time in five months. No matter how much her doctors emphasize that this is just a "routine executive check up", there are still many who think it is something more than that. Me, I think she just went into the hospital to keep her husband company, maybe he is the one who needs the check-up more.

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Last night I saw her on TV, smiling broadly and looking very healthy. She may look a little plumper, but she certainly does not look sick. But then, maybe it's the power of suggestion, I also wondered why she had to be kept in a hospital bed, wearing hospital garb, and lying down, too. Most people I know who have check-ups do not even get admitted to a hospital, they just go to the laboratories. But it's different when you are a President, one can't be too careful.

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Speaking of the power of suggestion, it could be that the sudden death of Max Soliven had prodded the first couple to get their check-ups. With the hectic life they - especially she - lead, she has to make sure that she is always fit and, to use a cliché, in the pink of health. I bet we will see her going around more after leaving the hospital, to prove that there really is nothing wrong, that it was just a "routine" check-up, and nothing more. Of course the opposition will demand to know the results but, as usual, they won't be told.

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I was amused to read the report that the nominees for the chief justice post to be vacated soon with the retirement of the incumbent, Artemio Panganiban, have snubbed the call for a public interview by the Justice and Bar Council. Will it affect their chances of appointment? The justice secretary seems to think so, but me, I don't blame the aspirants for not submitting to that public interview. Who knows what questions may be posed to them? Will they be asked to bare their private lives? I hear this often happens to appointees of the President when they face the Commission on Appointments, but their case is different from that of a Supreme Court Justice.

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They are bringing home the remains, the ashes, actually, of Max Soliven tomorrow, for a wake and vigil at the Cathedral of St. Ignatius in Camp Aguinaldo, and burial later at the Libingan ng mga Bayani. Well, I think Max can thumb his nose at Ferdinand Marcos in this, because the late president, with his 27 medals of alleged war heroism, still cannot be interred in that hallowed ground. I understand that it had been his wish to be cremated, and his family is complying with it. Knowing Max, I'm sure he would have hated having people peering into his coffin, and would rather be remembered as he had been.

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I thought I had written all I could about Maximo V. Soliven in the column I wrote on Saturday, but I keep remembering more things about him as the days go on. I remember how he reacted when he learned that I had gone to La Consolacion College for most of my formal schooling. "My mother was an LCC alumna, too," he said, "But she went to the mother school in Manila." He was very proud of his parents, and often mentioned them in his writings.

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Once I told him that many local clubs wanted to have him for their speaker but were hesitant to ask him. "Just tell them to buy me a ticket," he said, "And I'll come if I have no other engagements". And he meant it about the tickets. When I called to ask him to be the resource person for a journalism seminar the DAILY STAR was sponsoring, he also told me, "Just buy me a ticket", so I told him to get one and I would refund him here. As soon as I met him at the airport, he reminded me immediately, "Don't forget my refund, remember you are dealing with an Ilocano." How our participants enjoyed that session and the post-seminar exchange with him.

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I still keep clippings of what he wrote about the DAILY STAR in his columns and those of his fellow STAR writers Joe "JQ" Quirino and Art Borjal, who had also been our guests here, as well as inspirers, like Raul Locsin and Louie Beltran who are now all gone, but will surely be remembered for their impact on journalism in this land.*

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