MEDIUM RARE
At age 125, this newspaper was dancing, dining, enjoying the company of friends new and old and young at cocktail time.
At our table at the Manila Hotel Tent City last Monday the 10th I was in good company with former chief justice Hilario Davide and former executive secretary Bert Romulo, both of them now vice chairmen of the Manila Bulletin board, plus Bert’s Lovely wife, and columnist Dr. Raymond Lo and Mrs. Lo, who’s a pediatrician.
Who was absent? Marites. So the conversation was quite propah, thank you. It became more proper with the arrival of the first lady, Liza A. Marcos, who was ushered to the front of the center row of VIP tables, where she sat with boss ECY. Still, I told my tablemates, I was not giving up on my wish that PBBM would make a surprise appearance on this drizzly night. (No, he didn’t show.)
Another disappointment was Chairman Basilio Yap’s news that the golden Volvo on display near the entrance “is not going to be given away — there’s no raffle.” A collective sigh could be heard across the room. Maybe next year — ?
Manila Bulletin Publisher Sonny Coloma, Business Development Manager Jordan Tan, Executive Editors Ed Bartilad and Pinky Concha Colmenares handed out awards to newsmakers. Among the guests who were ushered in, I recognized Singapore Ambassador Constance See and Charisse Chuidian, vice president in charge of public relations, City of Dreams.
CJ Davide was surprised at the long lines of guests — they looked too young to be served cocktails with alcohol — as they lined up without fuss or frills for dinner served buffet style on both sides, east and west, of the hall. I liked the mango and apple juice that looked like a Manila Bay sunset, reminding me of a real-life painting to watch (on rare occasions) from the presidential suite of Manila Hotel.
At the next table sat Robina Gokongwei Pe, whom I congratulated for her seven-month-old baby, a five-storey mall called Opus in Libis, Quezon City. As its name suggests, the mall is special in an un-mall way, with its uninterrupted, cathedral-like glass ceiling almost touching the clouds.
What’s your next opus, Robina? You’ve exceeded yourself this time! Specially if it will survive the test of time, like 125 years?