Shirley Temple Black

As a child, I remember seeing her in replays of the movies. She was already a teenager when I arrived in Washington, D.C. As reported in this week’s newspapers she was the child star who brought cheer to Americans during the Great Depression.  During her stint as a child actor she was ranked #1, Clark Gable was #2. 

Although she will always be remembered as a child actor, she once remarked that she had a longer career as a diplomat.  In 1969, Richard Nixon appointed her one of the delegates to the United Nations 24th General Assembly.  It has been reported that she focused on refugees and environmental issues. That was the first time my father, Carlos P. Romulo met her. They became fast friends and often got together socially.  I remember how thrilled Dad was in having met the famous Shirley Temple who he found charming and quite intelligent. 

Mrs. Black recounted how Henry Kissinger heard her discussing Namibia and was “surprised that I even knew the word”.  In 1969, Richard Nixon appointed her ambassador to Ghana which outraged the career diplomats. Later, State Department officials conceded her performance was outstanding. She was also the chief of protocol of Gerald Ford. George Bush appointed her ambassador to Czechoslovakia in 1989.  She once commented “I have no problem being taken seriously as a woman and a diplomat….My only problems have been with Americans, who…refused to believe I had grown up since my movies.”

In the United States, there have been recent controversies about political appointees and fund raisers. It has been commented that Shirley Temple Black’s performance, which demonstrated political acumen and social skills, proved that political appointees can be worthy representatives. In Manila, there have been similar outcries about political appointees being nominated, although I do not recall any movie actors.  Years ago, during the term of President Diosdado Macapagal, Rogelio de la Rosa was appointed ambassador.  I understand he proved himself to be a competent and well respected diplomat by the host country.  Perhaps, the current and future administrations will consider an actor with similar attributes as Shirley Temple. 

Christine Lagarde of IMF

Thinking of women who have excelled in their professions, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund is truly outstanding. I watched her on BBC when she gave the Dimbleby Lecture in the City of London on Feb. 3. She spoke on “A New Multilarealism for the 21st Century”. Her presentation was both eloquent and substantive…truly thought provoking. I urge everyone, particularly those in government to read the full text of her speech.  She gave a tour d ’horizon of the world’s challenges and opportunities reflecting on the past and projecting to the future. She summarized the issues “in the context of longer term impediments” –  demographic shifts, environmental degradation and income inequality.

In the area of demographics she stated: “Young populations in Africa and South Asia will increase as Europe, China and Japan will age and shrink. Today half the global population is under 25. The challenge is having enough jobs for the young. This calls for a single-minded focus on improving education and, in particular, on the potentially massive effects of technological change on employment. Looking ahead, factors such as the internet revolution, the rise of smart machines and the increasing high-tech component of products will have implications for jobs and the way we work. Yet governments are not thinking about this in a sufficiently strategic or proactive way.”

The absence of a Department of Information Communications Technology in the Philippines is one example which validates Lagarde’s concern.

On the merciless march of climate change, she criticizes: “Because of humanity’s hubris, the natural environment, which we need to sustain us, is instead turning against us”. 

Demonstrating income inequality (according to OXFAM), she cites how the richest 85 people in the world own the same amount of wealth as the bottom half of the world’s population. The net worth of the Indian billionaire community can eliminate the poverty of the country twice over. Ms. Lagarde laments the economist’s focus on economic growth rather than “focus on the size of the pie rather than its distribution”. She suggests: “More inclusion and opportunity in the economic life also means less cronyism and corruption”.

She then dwells on one more dimension of inequality, referring to her favorite cause - GENDER.  She states that by not letting women contribute, living standards are lower for all. If indeed women participated to the same level as men, per capita incomes could be huge: 27 percent in the Middle East and North Africa, 17 percent in Latin America, 23 percent in South Asia, 15 percent in East Asia and 14 percent in Europe and Central Asia.

I agree women should be participative in all endeavors on the same level as men.

Burauen, Leyte

Chances are the readership has never heard of Burauen, a first class municipality in the province of Leyte. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 48,853 people.  The current mayor is a certain Fe Renomeron and the vice mayor is her husband Juanito. It is common practice, I understand, that this political family rotates positions. Juanito was the previous mayor. I first learned of this municipality during Typhoon Yolanda when the first to come to their aid were the Malaysians. I also learned that UNICEF was particularly helpful and is still present. There have been allegations that the UNICEF relief packages were confiscated and replaced by local goods. Local sardines sold in three sari-sari stores were given to the Yolanda victims and the imported sardines were placed on the shelves of the stores.  But there is a happy ending to this sad story.  I was told that UNICEF personnel came back and retrieved the relief goods and gave it to the victims. The three sari-sari stores, allegedly owned by a powerful family, are now closed. These reprehensible practices, at the expense of helpless victims, shame the nation and its people. “Daang matuwid” has failed at the local level.