birthday blues

saturday morning, 10:00 am and i just woke up.

the past week has been particularly busy, it being my birthday week and all. my birthday was okay, i had fun. better than lat year’s.

i was supposed to take my birthday leave but i was assigned to cover estrada’s dinner with the fil-am community in LA. so it was a working birthday. it was my first time to see erap up close and personal and i was like charmed? no, too strong a word. he didn’t transform me into an instant fan or anything like that.

he had a long and funny speech. funny because the guy has a sense of humor. if only he knew what he was talking about, it would have been a hell lot better. the speech was informal, a radical departure from the stern Marcos speeches I grew up listening to or the emotional yet anger-laden Cory speeches in the late 80s.

Erap’s was conversational in some portions and a stand-up-comic-very-much-like-Seinfeld stance. in fact, when i was transcribing the tape, I could hear boisterous laughter every fifteen seconds. I am not kidding, it was crazy. he made the people laugh but did they believe everything he said?


he was so comical and he had me in stitches. his humor was self-deprecating and he seemed to enjoy every clap and adulation thrown at him. what an actor.

lani misalucha was there. the girl can sing but she’s not a diva. not yet, at least. boots anson roa acted as the mistress of ceremonies. how pc can you get? then for more entertainment numbers, theey introduced the platters. yes, the group that our parents love. they sang three songs—only you, dahil sa iyo (!!!) and one more. then for the biggest surprise of the night—which almost brought the house down—ang nag-iisang superstar—miss nora aunor!!!

cheesy, damn it. people in barong tagalogs, coat and tie, and even ternos were screaming like fans. i could not believe my eyes. the cheesier part—ate guy went upstage and gave the mic to erap, and the president obliged her with four lines from the song kahit na magtiis. dr. loi wasn’t smiling.

and the official entourage. my goodness. who are these people? did the pinoy taxpayers pay for their trip? dong puno was okay, so was blas ople. noynoy aquino? okay. mar roxas? definitely. but some congressmen from unknown islands? what were they doing? what were they trying to accomplish? and the consultants? [ting paterno, et al]. give me a break.

oh well. that was how i celebrated my birthday. fun but it could have been better.
thursday was more fun. i covered the ceremonial signing of the bill for filam veterans. erap attended the affair as well so it was like two days in a row. the speech? same stuff. in fact, both speeches were strangely similar to his SONA.

the coverage was more fun though because i had a chance to interact with lou diamond phillips, rob schneider, tamlyn tomita, jennifer paz and paolo montalban. california governor gray davis was there, and some of the other who’s who in local politics.