A Kakampink goes to Malacañang
Behold my pretty pink barong!
A LOT HAS HAPPENED since I last updated the #NeverForget newsletter (sorry for that), including the fact that I won the 2023 The Outstanding Young Men (TOYM) Award! The awarding ceremony happened last 9 May 2024, and I’m really thankful to the TOYM Foundation and JCI Philippines for picking me among 84 or so nominees.
Traditionally, TOYM awardees have been presented at Malacañang. And for many months, the organizers have been trying their damnedest to schedule an appointment between the TOYM awardees and either President Bongbong Marcos or First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos. The opportunity only came yesterday, 14 June.
Since I learned the final schedule, I debated hard whether I should go or not.
On the one hand, as a staunch critic of the Marcos family (heck, I wrote an entire book about their lies and myths and how to debunk them), I thought at first that paying a visit and interacting with the Marcoses might be contrary to my ideals and advocacies. The TOYM award might also be used to perfume their name. On the other hand, it would be quite rude and snobbish for me to decline the TOYM organizers, and anyway I could pay respects to the office of the president or first lady, not the Marcoses per se.
For weeks I agonized and asked many friends what to do best, and in the end I decided to enter the lion’s (or Tigre ng Norte’s?) den—but not without a statement, at least by way of my attire. As one friend intimated, the last thing I want to do is to just show up and not make any statement at all. So I scoured malls to look for the perfect pink barong (not too pink, just right), and I ended up finding the best one in Greenhills. But the sleeves were too long, so I had them altered (last-minute) by my boyfriend’s mom in Cainta. All this happened just two days before the Malacañang event, so imagine how stressed I was!
So the day came, and it was hot. I was allowed one guest, and I decided to bring along my mom who’s turning 80 soon (in fact, in my mind I rationalized the whole Malacañang visit as a treat to my mom, more than anything else). We also had our househelp Ate Jo accompany us right outside the Goldenberg Mansion, where the reception was to take place.
Last year, the Goldenberg Mansion became controversial as the site of a fashion show that was perceived as ostentatious by many—especially at a time of high inflation and rampant poverty. Say what you will, but to be fair, the renovations were really nice. My mom and I walked across the front entrance, and lunch tables were set up in the ground floor’s main lobby. Too few of these heritage houses are still standing, and it’s nice to have this one conserved at its original site (unlike the houses at Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar at Bataan).
Some TOYM and JCI people were there already, and the other TOYM awardees soon trickled in. When everyone arrived, we were invited for a quick tour of the adjacent Teus Mansion, another old house that was converted into a presidential museum. (There’s another museum, Bahay Ugnayan, which was converted into a museum of the sitting president. I also wanted to visit that, mainly to see “artifacts” from Bongbong Marcos’ failed 2016 vice-presidential bid, but we didn’t have time.)
The appointed tour guide shepherded us around the museum which featured many old clothes and other memorabilia of presidents past, starting with Emilio Aguinaldo all the way up to Rodrigo Duterte.
Some of the things that stood out were President Jose P Laurel’s almost transparent barong, the lyrics to his own martsa, President Ramon Magsaysay’s tall stature (he was 5’11’’, apparently the tallest president so far), the Bohol flag courtesy of President Carlos P Garcia, the face of former first lady Eva Macapagal (she’s a carbon copy of GMA, apparently), and President Rodrigo Duterte’s deathly Halloween mask (basically his face). Maybe it’s just me, but the corner for President Ferdinand Marcos Sr seemed bigger than the rest, while that of President Benigno Aquino III was quite underwhelming. As expected, the tour guide did not narrate the full context for the decline of the Marcos dictatorship, nor the impetus for the People Power Revolution (he simply said that Cory’s supporters disputed the Comelec decision that Marcos Sr won the 1986 snap elections—WRONG). The tour guide also sang the Bagong Lipunan song in full, when we were at the Marcos Sr display. Ack.
After the tour, we walked back to the Goldenberg Mansion. Lunch was served by Florabel’s (an accredited caterer, said Donnie Tantoco of the TOYM Foundation), and lunch was delicious. At our table, I had a great time catching up with some of my TOYM batchmates. One of them, Hyku Desesto, flew in from Dubai where she’s based (interestingly, she’s part of the production of HBO’s House of the Dragon). Another, Mark Gersava, is a sultan who works for the National Innovation Council and founded a group that makes “plantable toothbrushes,” among other bamboo-based products.
Shortly after lunch, we were ushered to the Glass House right outside the Goldenberg Mansion—a literal glass house with green motifs and bathed in the noon sunlight—where the First Lady was set to meet us. Just like the Goldenberg Mansion itself, the Glass House was excellently done. It’s quite a nice place for grand meetings and lunches, and I even wondered whether it was for rent! We brought in with us our hefty TOYM trophies and set them in front of our assigned seats. Donnie Tantoco stood up to say a few words to thank everyone, but he was interrupted by the arrival of the First Lady, clad in gray blazer and skirt. Lunch was set right in front of her seat.
This was the highlight of the Malacañang visit. But even when it was done I was quite confused what it was for.
Department of Migrant Workers Usec Thonette Velasco-Allones, also part of TOYM screening committee1, introduced the TOYM awardees one by one, and joked that they’d revoke the awards if we haven’t memorized yet the Bagong Pilipinas hymn and pledge. (Incidentally, the First Lady herself shook her head to indicate she hasn’t memorized them either!)
Each TOYM awardee was given 3 minutes to introduce themselves and their advocacies, and the event was meant to be a “roundtable discussion.” But there was no real discussion that took place. It was more of a one-way thing. The First Lady mainly sat and ate lunch, and seemed mildly interested in each of us. During my bit, I just said that I’m an economist, that I teach at the UP School of Economics, that I write for Rappler, and that it’s my self-appointed mission to educate Filipinos about economics and economics concepts (like inflation, GDP, and unemployment) as a means of improving their lives. I was interrupted by the First Lady (I think I was the only one she interrupted) to ask how old I was. I said I’m turning 35 soon, and that I still pass off as a student sometimes (that’s true; in the US, I still get “carded”). After a few more words, I promptly sat down, and that was it. Usec Thonette then said it was my assignment to promote the 8-point agenda of the President. I just nodded, but was almost tempted to say: I’m a journalist, not a propagandist!
There were 7 of us who spoke, since two awardees (including pole vaulter EJ Obiena) couldn’t make it, and there are only 9 awardees this year. After the recitations, it was gift-giving time! Donnie Tantoco—grandson of Rustan’s founders Benny and Glecy, who were incidentally cronies of the Marcoses during martial law—thanked the First Lady for her time and “undivided attention,” and pulled out his gift, an expensive Fauré Le Page handbag (called “Ladies First”) imported from France. Next, JCI National President Kerby Salazar thanked the First Lady and gifted her (in behalf of JCI Philippines) a limited edition Seiko watch. One of the TOYM awardees, Mark Gersava, also gifted the First Lady with plantable toothbrushes for the entire Marcos family (plantable in the sense that once you’re done using those toothbrushes, you can stick them into the ground and they’ll grow into plants). For PBBM, a toothbrush that will grow into an acacia; for the First Lady, a tomato.
After the gift-giving, we proceeded back to the Goldenberg Mansion for a quick photo op, and I’m happy to report that my pink barong did its job and really stood out. We then headed back to an open area beside the Glass House, where we were treated to a short dance performance (involving a man who rode a huge hoop and tumbled all over the place). And that was it!
In the end, it was a unique experience, the lunch was great, but the “roundtable discussion” with the First Lady was not very productive. Do the organizers know what a roundtable discussion is? I was hoping for an honest-to-goodness exchange, actually. Also, to what extent can the First Lady really amplify or support the (other) awardees’ advocacies? I’m still unsure.
One thing’s for sure: pink rocks as a barong color! 🌸
P.S. Two days before this visit, at the Independence Day vin d’honneur, the First Lady infamously grabbed Senate President Chiz Escudero’s champagne glass, drank the champagne, and handed back the glass to Chiz as though he was a waiter. For the record, I wasn’t offered a drink by the First Lady (she also didn’t shake the hands of all the awardees). But I gripped my glass of water pretty firmly, just in case. 😆
I originally wrote that she’s with JCI Philippines. Mea culpa.