‘Twas my first time to take lunch in Malacañang Palace’s Dream House – Bahay Pangarap – by the river. Such a serene, romantic sight – the water flowing, a clump of old trees standing on the river’s edge like a sentinel, and all around the grass in a tender shade of green.

Minutes later, my friend the Malacañang insider and I had consumed our share of the chocolate cake when the first lady, Louise (Liza) A. Marcos, arrived to join us. Dressed in red and black, her black-brown eyes shining in the shade of the sun, she sat with me chatting about her “Lab for All” project – 150 mobile clinics staffed with doctors and nurses to serve underserved rural communities – plus the usual small talk. (I would have wanted to ask, and only for the simplest, most sentimental reasons, if she and the President have plans to return to Italy, where they had their honeymoon.)

Not more than 10 minutes later, we were joined by the President of the Philippines; he was in a light blue suit and he was eagerly, affectionately taking Mrs. Marcos away; I guessed Saturday was their date day. (Many years ago, before he became PBBM, I was convinced that, based on the two times that I saw or ran into them at two unexpected meetings, Wednesday was their day for stepping out.)

It was nice to see the First Couple going out on a date, like an ordinary couple taking advantage of the good weather on a weekend that could have been washed out by a sudden, temperamental monsoon. There was just enough time to ask the President what could be done about those “ghost” flood control projects that was the topic of the week. PBBM replied, “Just wait. One example is all we’ll need” to prosecute and restore the people’s faith in the law and righteousness.

And then they were off. A photogenic pair, if I may say so, the 60-something President looking not a day older than 50, his pretty wife the lawyer-professor with the heart-shaped face who continues to teach in two out-of-town universities.

As for her husband, FL LAM described how he cannot see a book lying on a table without stopping to look and check out its covers.