Tech talk with Gringo

MEDIUM RARE

What fun to reconnect with Gringo Honasan, soldier, “cashiered colonel,” coup leader, senator, cabinet secretary, now looking so relaxed it must be due to his temporary retirement from politics and public office. Is he ripe for another run come 2025? He’s not confirming, not denying. What’s definite is he’s fully retired now as owner of Tiffany, the 15-year-old, 30 ft long python who consumes one whole chicken every three weeks, then sleeps the whole day and night until she feels her hunger pangs again. Don’t blame Tiffany’s sleeping and dietary habits for Gringo’s decision to turn her over to the zoo, as the real reason could be that she’s growing too fast (as female pythons do) and thick (the better to suffocate their victims by coiling around their body). Gringo was one of 10 guests at Ric Blancaflor’s belated birthday celebration a few days ago. Ric and Gringo go a long way, although Ric was never in the Armed Forces. A civilian through and true, he was head of the Intellectual Property Office, from which he advised creatives like writers, designers, entrepreneurs to apply for a trademark or patent. Gringo didn’t have to patent that unique nickname of his: How many people know him by his real name? Though not famous-enough as a techie, Gringo spent some years as head of the Department of Information and Communications Technology, which handled stuff like the digital universe and data privacy. This is important to emphasize because of what’s coming in the next paragraph. From out of the blue, Gringo Honasan admitted that he uses a Nokia mobile phone, the one that’s not a smartphone. “The defense against high technology is low technology,” he stated as if it were a physical law of the universe. “Simply speaking, it’s not easy to trace or hack such a simple gadget.” I use the same device, brand and model, and so does Dr. Guido David, data analyst of OCTA Research. To be fair, both Gringo and Guido carry a second phone, the smart one. (I’m in awe of any tool smarter than myself.) When I told Gringo about Rachy Cuna owning five of those Nokias, Gringo guffawed, “I would consider buying 50 of them, before they run out!”