To London to
visit the queen

I was disappointed in the pictures of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and her husband Mike Arroyo with the Queen of England that came out in Saturday's papers. How come our visiting President was only shown standing with the first gentleman behind her, and Queen Elizabeth also standing as if it were a hail-and-farewell meeting? Maybe Malacañang has not released yet the rest of the photos, like those showing GMA and Lilibet in a woman-to-woman tête-à-tête. I look forward to seeing those, and I'm sure many others also feel the same way.

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It would have been very interesting to eavesdrop on the conversation between GMA and Queen Elizabeth, especially if the first gentleman had not been there. Can you imagine what the two ladies would have talked about? Perhaps President Arroyo would ask the Queen of England, “Ma'am, how do you keep your Philip in check? Does he not draw flak from the public, the way my own Mike does? Does your Parliament members not focus on him everytime a scandal comes up?”

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Or she might be asking, Your Majesty, please tell me how you handle the media in your kingdom. Can your police stop them from getting into the thick of things whenever renegade soldiers try to make trouble for you? Please share with me some of the secrets that have kept you securely on the throne for almost half a century. Me, some wicked people, including soldiers and lawmakers, are trying to oust me even if my official term is up to 2010 only.”

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Probably the Queen, in that soft-spoken way that enabled her to deal with an intruder right in her personal quarters, very calmly, would tell our President, that she is luckier in some ways, “You don't have children who play around even when they are already married, and get divorced when things get hot. You don't have a daughter-in-law who became more popular and better loved than you or your family. And you don't have a son who was not only unfaithful to his wife, but also insisted on marrying his paramour despite the disapproval of the people. As for my husband, Prince Philip, he behaves, because from the start, he knew his place.”

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I don't think the latter part of that supposed conversation had taken place, though. Remember, the first gentleman was right there, and the Queen is too well-bred to talk about someone as if he weren't there. Anyway, let us wait for the Malacañang version, from the Press Office, that is, of the meeting between the Queen of England and the President of RP. I'm sure the embellishments will make our wait worth it. As for the chit-chat between GMA and former Prime Minister Tony Blair, that looked cozier and more informal, but what of it? Blair, who lost much of his hair and good looks dealing with the war in Iraq is, sorry to say it, a has-been already.

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I hear that another set of “talks” between the media and the military is being scheduled this week. My. We are getting confrontational now, aren't we? After the Peninsula Affair, it seems as if Philippine Media has been relegated to the status of enemy of the state, something like the Communist Party of the Philippines , the New People's Army, or the Moro National Liberation Front, the Revolutionary People's Army and the rest. Now we are the ones “holding talks” with the government. Is this a rise in status, or a demotion?

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But it still irks me whenever I hear those officials from the military or even from the civilian Local Government department righteously declaring that the journalists who stuck to their jobs were obstructing justice or, worse, cohabiting with the enemy. They said this is because the reporters would not budge even when they were repeatedly told to get out of the place. Get out so they could what? I am sure no reporter worth his salt would leave an area where something is about to happen. If I had been there, I might even hide in the comfort rooms just to ensure I'd get the real, first-hand story. So, let the talks go on, and let's see who out-talks, or who out-writes who.

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Meanwhile, House Speaker Jose de Venecia has assured that the bill that would set lower prices for medicines in this country will be passed this week. I hope he has convinced the author of the bill, Rep. Ferjenel Biron of this. Biron keeps saying he fears his colleagues will find ways to hedge, and that the lobby groups of pharmaceutical companies have succeeded in their tricks. Let's watch and count heads when the voting comes.*

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