Watch the way
they wear barongs

"Everything is safe and secure. The show will go on." That was Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo giving his assurances to both visitors and natives of Cebu on the eve of the landmark summit there of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. The assurances had to be made, especially because of the two incidents where explosions rocked public places in General Santos and Kidapawan the other day.

***

Of course we believe Romulo. How could things not be safe and secure with all those security measures in place, not only at the summit sites, but also on land, sea and air there? The groups formed and tasked with the safety of the delegates are so many, it's mind-boggling. There's a Task Force Summit, a Task Force Cebu, a Task Force Alalay. Then there is a Riot Dispersal Unit, the Special Action Force of the PNP, the Bomb and Ordnance Division of Camp Crame, and the Traffic Management Group, all hanging around. In addition to those, there are also security cameras peeking at everybody and every vehicle passing along the routes to the venues. It may sound like an overkill, but we have reason to be nervous, haven't we?

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A light moment will be provided when the heads of state present will be made to put on the P18,000 barongs especially woven and designed for them. The material is said to be made of the finest piña fibers and the embroidery so delicate and intricate they represent the best in Pinoy workmanship. I am apprehensive, though, about the way the world leaders will wear their barongs, and if the material this time will bear up. Piña is known to be very crushable, you see.

***

When the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meet was held in Manila and Subic, the DAILY STAR was among the media entities accredited to cover it and Carla and I had close looks at the way the visitors wore their barongs. No doubt about it, President Bill Clinton looked very fair and very handsome in it, but he soon looked like a doll that had been played with roughly. Other presidents left their top buttons open, one rolled up the sleeves, making the dignified barong look like a polo shirt. I recall that the one who carried it very well, and looked very dignified in it was the then Prime Minister of Japan (Sorry, I forgot his name). The others just looked, well, uncomfortable, and hurried to take them off after the picture-taking. Will the P18,000 ones suffer the same fate?

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After the now controversial former beauty contest candidate (she didn't get to be a queen) went to the National Bureau of Investigation Office to deny that she had a relationship with the beleaguered Abra Governor Vicente Valera, many people want to take a second look at her, and one of them is Police Director Jesus Verzosa who said he is summoning her for some questioning. Okay, okay, maybe she can tell him more than what she told the NBI, that Valera was only the friend of her father. She did not say that maybe he was just looking for her dad when he went to her apartment and left at 2 a.m. the day the police nabbed him.

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Yesterday, it was reported that when he was asked about Ms. Hergielyn Dimagiba, Valera said that he had not even seen her for 10 years, until that night. If Hergielyn is now 25, that means he is saying he last saw her when she was 15. But how come the girl herself told the NBI that she first met him last year at the Aliw Awards? The situation is getting curiouser and curiouser, as Alice in Wonderland would have said it. But it cannot be denied that the girl is pretty, and sexy, too. A man can be excused for getting absentminded.

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Yesterday, Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia was shown on TV praying at the Carmelite Chapel and the reporter said she was asking for good weather during the holding of the summit. The next scene showed a man carrying several layers of egg containers and bringing them to the convent. Apparently the boxes of eggs, with sardines and fruits as extra sent the other day hadn't worked very well, because the next shots that appeared on the screen was of rain pouring down near the new convention center, built precisely for this conference. Let's hope the last batch of eggs do the trick… by the way, I heard once from my friend in Manila that some nuns there told her they appreciate the eggs, but some of them have found their cholesterol levels up already. Anyway, they don't get as many in summer, she also said.*

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