Ben Contreras
A NIGHT owl he is.
At the Oriental Palace restaurant, members, friends and invited guests of “Ford” (Friends of Rody Duterte) gathered to celebrate the victory of Davao Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte. Names that we often heard during election campaign were mentioned and introduced. In a crowd of around three hundred, I could hardly remember the people introduced to us, except for a few like famous writer Carmen Pedrosa who looks radiant and graceful in her age; Jose B. Alejandrino, a political analyst and consultant who claimed that Digong is his fifth President to work with; and James Gaisano, a very close friend of Digong.
It was unclear whether the President would be going. Dinner was served a bit late and as the program was in progress, the presidential son Sebastian or Baste arrived for a short message and photo ops.
Baste left the place as fast as he entered and left the crowd hanging whether the President was still coming or not. We continued to wait until around 11 pm when Gen. Esperon called up to say that the President can’t make it anymore because their meeting somewhere else has no sign of coming to an end yet.
Indeed, our President is a night owl.
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Not that Metro Manila’s traffic has improved, but I chose to stay home than go out and endure the long hours under heavy traffic.
My brother has been very busy preparing for the visit of our nephew Eric and his wife from Canada. He sees to it that their stay in the house would be comfortable. That’s our little brother who always puts family above all.
It was my lucky day going to the airport. The traffic was not heavy and with plenty of time, my nephew treated me to a Japanese restaurant. As usual, I enjoyed some more sashimi as I did the night before.
It’s my best travel so far. Cebu Pacific flight schedules were on the dot, back and forth. Unlike my daughter’s flight back to Singapore, their plane suffered a minor problem and had to be diverted to Mactan. The flight delays took much of my daughter’s time, and she arrive in Singapore after more than 24 hours. Well, you can’t have the bacon all the time.
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Last week, the Philippine League of Councilors held a nationwide meeting at the Apple Tree Resort and Hotel. We were there for a swim.
In the afternoon that day, I received a text message. “Ben, nag-meeting ang national councilors. Ang Cagayan wala naka tampo imbes nga host city kay hadlok Moreno sa gasto sa 9 thousand. Wala nag represent sa atoa diri.”
That was a Tuesday, and the meeting could have started on Monday. Being the host, our councilors could have at least made their presence felt. I hope the days afterward, the city government did something to belie the report. It can’t be and shouldn’t be about “no money for it.”
