the filipino politician
Today was a good Saturday. I received an email from boss approving the new timeline I have for the next 6 months of my plans for the company. I'll be going home in July.
This morning, a group of Filipino business executives visited the company grounds for a "briefing" on how to do business in China, which is ALWAYS a hot and cool topic that businessmen want to know everytime they set foot in this awaken dragon.
Among the participants were two important and very influential men whom I think got too much bad publicity from our very prejudicial society! They are Mr. Bongbong Marcos and Mr. Mariano Marcos. I'm sure by now, reading their surnames makes u think, "oh those corrupt people who took billions of money out of the philippine economy." STOP!!!!! I was trapped to the same perception as last night I was quite jittery how I will "do" upon being introduced to them. Today, I thought my professor would "formally" introduce me to them but I was caught off guard as Mr. Mariano Marcos approached and gave me a very warm handshake and began talking about her daughter studying in my alma mater. He gave me his namecard and told me that he will come back again in May with his kids and would want me to meet them. (Of course, this might just be one of those "break the ice" thing and may not materialize, let's see...) I felt very empowered simply because being an ordinary employee, having an encounter with a very famous personality in Philippine society, whom I thought was living this very charmed life. I was wrong. He was as normal as u and me.
Here's the bigger catch, Mr. Bongbong Marcos too was very friendly and had pictures taken with me and the rest of the group. There's my shot to "fame." I felt awkward having them ask u to have ur picture taken with them than the other way around. Pardon my 5 second brag on my small call to a celebrity's shot to fame. Moreso, I was closely observing Bongbong's behavior and body language during the talk, and I can see he is indeed very smart as he asked very important questions with regard to setting up businesses in China. He was also not with any bling bling things to show off and of course, a digicam like u and me. He was wearing sneakers, jeans, poloshirt and a suit. It may be designer clothes, but just one fine detail, it didnt look new and stylishly lavish. Very relaxed and casual. There's your snapshot of an embattled filipino politician.
I'm sure these are just first impressions that may not be in any way reflective of their characters as filipino politicians. But I find it very important to see that these two Marcoses took time out to study again, whether or not they are studying a CEO program for personal or for the Philippine economy, this is not my point. I want to emphasize that this should give us a tinge of hope that there are still some filipino politicians who are pro active. I'm sure the Governor had sincere reasons why he joined the program and perhaps try to apply it in his province. I'm very happy about this.
As Filipinos, I think it is important that we stop accusing the Marcoses of the things of the past. We are always succumbed to the "society" mindset telling us to raise an eyebrow to these people. Charisma, indeed, is one of the reason why the Marcoses are still strong in Ilocos. They've won the hearts of the Ilokanos. I admire the Ilokanos for giving the Marcoses the chance to prove that they are not what the rest of the world thinks of them. We know that they committed serious mistakes in the 70s but for the sake of the Philippines, I think their efforts to return what was due to the Filipinos is evident with this process of learning. There's the passion to learn which is what we need now for the Philippines.
We NEED to move forward as a country. I'm not advocating any political agenda here but as a normal Filipino citizen working abroad, I'm still very optimistic that these men-Marcoses maybe a good thing for us to have afterall despite the FACT that society and webster dictionary has used their relative's name in vain....try checking what "imeldific" means.....
This morning, a group of Filipino business executives visited the company grounds for a "briefing" on how to do business in China, which is ALWAYS a hot and cool topic that businessmen want to know everytime they set foot in this awaken dragon.
Among the participants were two important and very influential men whom I think got too much bad publicity from our very prejudicial society! They are Mr. Bongbong Marcos and Mr. Mariano Marcos. I'm sure by now, reading their surnames makes u think, "oh those corrupt people who took billions of money out of the philippine economy." STOP!!!!! I was trapped to the same perception as last night I was quite jittery how I will "do" upon being introduced to them. Today, I thought my professor would "formally" introduce me to them but I was caught off guard as Mr. Mariano Marcos approached and gave me a very warm handshake and began talking about her daughter studying in my alma mater. He gave me his namecard and told me that he will come back again in May with his kids and would want me to meet them. (Of course, this might just be one of those "break the ice" thing and may not materialize, let's see...) I felt very empowered simply because being an ordinary employee, having an encounter with a very famous personality in Philippine society, whom I thought was living this very charmed life. I was wrong. He was as normal as u and me.
Here's the bigger catch, Mr. Bongbong Marcos too was very friendly and had pictures taken with me and the rest of the group. There's my shot to "fame." I felt awkward having them ask u to have ur picture taken with them than the other way around. Pardon my 5 second brag on my small call to a celebrity's shot to fame. Moreso, I was closely observing Bongbong's behavior and body language during the talk, and I can see he is indeed very smart as he asked very important questions with regard to setting up businesses in China. He was also not with any bling bling things to show off and of course, a digicam like u and me. He was wearing sneakers, jeans, poloshirt and a suit. It may be designer clothes, but just one fine detail, it didnt look new and stylishly lavish. Very relaxed and casual. There's your snapshot of an embattled filipino politician.
I'm sure these are just first impressions that may not be in any way reflective of their characters as filipino politicians. But I find it very important to see that these two Marcoses took time out to study again, whether or not they are studying a CEO program for personal or for the Philippine economy, this is not my point. I want to emphasize that this should give us a tinge of hope that there are still some filipino politicians who are pro active. I'm sure the Governor had sincere reasons why he joined the program and perhaps try to apply it in his province. I'm very happy about this.
As Filipinos, I think it is important that we stop accusing the Marcoses of the things of the past. We are always succumbed to the "society" mindset telling us to raise an eyebrow to these people. Charisma, indeed, is one of the reason why the Marcoses are still strong in Ilocos. They've won the hearts of the Ilokanos. I admire the Ilokanos for giving the Marcoses the chance to prove that they are not what the rest of the world thinks of them. We know that they committed serious mistakes in the 70s but for the sake of the Philippines, I think their efforts to return what was due to the Filipinos is evident with this process of learning. There's the passion to learn which is what we need now for the Philippines.
We NEED to move forward as a country. I'm not advocating any political agenda here but as a normal Filipino citizen working abroad, I'm still very optimistic that these men-Marcoses maybe a good thing for us to have afterall despite the FACT that society and webster dictionary has used their relative's name in vain....try checking what "imeldific" means.....
posted by marieand at 4/22/2006 03:52:00 PM
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