The ASEAN pudding
- is it edible?

Oh no, it was not the barong! Not the traditional and dignified "Barong Pilipino" that we see on formal occasions. The shirts - for that was all they were - that were given to the heads of state at the Summit meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Cebu Saturday were only the bastardized version of the outfit, the one called "polo barong", with short sleeves, that we often see as uniforms of office workers, waiters, and security people of top government officials, in other words, their plainclothesmen.

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We see such men, also women, clad in those polo barongs hovering around the president whenever she goes out, and even when she is in Malacañang. The polo-barong-wearing women are the ones elbowing unwanted people from getting near the president or members of their families. I remember when we were assigned in Malacañang during the time of the unlamented President Marcos, that a woman in that costume was following Madame Imelda around with a box of tissue paper on the ready. I heard later that she was also a nurse and a karate expert.

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The spinmasters of the summit said the "barongs" made the participants comfortable because they were cool, cooler than dark suits would have been. But I read somewhere that the designer who made the barongs charged P18,000 for each. My, that's what I would call truly "COOL"! That is more than what an average Filipino breadwinner earns in a month, sidelines included. And will the likes of Brunei Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, Myanmar's Lt. Gen. Soe Win, or Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen ever find occasion to wear theirs again? Maybe they will donate them to flood or tsunami victims?

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Anyway, the summit is ending today, and brace yourself for the exultant praises and back-patting from the organizers themselves. Already, I noticed on TV some obviously government information people, soliciting flattering remarks from visitors. Those will be repeated over and over in subsequent praise releases, you wait and see. I wonder why they forgot to stop the story about the food poisoning of about a hundred performers in the Big Show last night from coming out in the media. Anyway, true to the Pinoy spirit of never-say-die, the stricken children and beauty queens recovered on time to perform last night.

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Meanwhile, I was browsing on TV last night trying to find news on the summit when I came upon RPN's live coverage of the grand program for the closing of the affair. Wow! The organizers did pull all the stops in that one. There was a parade-fashion show of beauty queens, a musical performance by Gerald Salonga featuring a medley of Filipino pieces like Dahil Sa Iyo, Dandansoy, Condansoy, Lawiswis Kawayan Pamulinawen, etcetera. I felt this portion was more for the enjoyment of Filipinos, especially homesick overseas workers.

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Another number was the rendition of Freddie Aguilar's famous "Anak" with Freddie himself present, and some singers giving versions of the song in different Asian languages. I found delightful, though, the number from the Mandawe Children's Choir that sang and danced to "It's a small world," which made me remember Disneyland, and how that tune haunted me for months after the first time I saw it, and again after the second time last June. I'm sure it will ring in my ears again for weeks after this.

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Oh and there was Lea Salonga, ever the star wherever she is shown. Who can rival her, here and in other countries? She has a special, unique voice and manner of singing that are unforgettable. I think she was the one who truly captured the attention of her VIP listeners, and kept them awake even if it was already almost midnight when she came on. At least one need only to "listen" to Lea, because the RPN showing was a disaster, at least in the three TV sets in our office. I wonder if others had clearer pictures. They would be envied, indeed.

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In the meantime, we bid our visitors goodbye, perhaps with some apology for having troubled them with the postponement, and invitations to come again. As for the pacts and resolutions taken up or adopted during the sessions, well, other summits had been there, done that. As for supposed achievements of this one, as they say, the proof of the pudding is in the eating.*

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