Portrait of 2 prospective First Ladies

(First of two parts)

The President is the most powerful person in the land. Who is the second most powerful? No. don’t tell me it’s the Vice President because that’s really a spare tire position. (Of course, when the President goes, the Vice President takes over – as in the case of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo when Joseph Estrada was kicked out of the Palace.)

According to the I-Witness episode aired last Monday, the most powerful person after the President is the First Lady (or First Gentleman in the case of Atty. Mike Arroyo) and I’m sure most of you will agree with this observation.

Written and hosted by Sandra Aguinaldo, the I-Witness episode featured the four prospective First Ladies: Sis. Dory Villanueva, Sonia Roco, Alice Lacson and Susan Roces.

That I-Witness feature was very interesting and informative.

Unfortunately, I thought it could have been more cohesive and better put together. The way it was presented, it was like a disorganized photo album with some snapshots in the wrong pages.

I also disagree with the show’s opinion (or was it just the observation of the guest political analyst?) that the position of First Lady became high profile only during the time of Imelda Marcos (who unfortunately, refused to grant an interview for this particular I-Witness episode).

Way before Mrs. Marcos, these official state hostesses already had their share of space in the front page of major dailies. The only difference was that Imelda Marcos had the advantage of television because TV was already a powerful medium during her time. (She even had a TV show called The First Lady in the late ’60s that chronicled all her activities for the week).

Neither was Imelda Marcos the first among the First Ladies to get involved in government projects. Right before her, there was Eva Macapagal who got herself busy with the beautification of the Rizal Park ( a project eventually completed by Mrs. Marcos).

Of course, I agree with what I-Witness said about Imelda Marcos being the benchmark of all First Ladies because, aside from being the most regal and the most beautiful among them all, the Rose of Tacloban really brought the position to new heights. She even stayed longest as First Lady so it would really look like the position was created just for her alone.

Setting all those reservations aside, that I-Witness feature by Sandra Aguinaldo still turned out to be very useful because it gave the viewers a glimpse into the character of each prospective First Lady.

(The First Gentleman said no to the interview because as you may have noticed, Atty. Mike Arroyo has been "pidaling" away from public view after that Jose Pidal scandal.)

Through this I-Witness feature, I got to know the spouse of Bro. Eddie Villanueva, Sis. Dory – how she looks like, how she talks and how she conducts herself in public.

Sis. Dory Villanueva looks simple and, yes, plain on the outside. But somehow, I sense a little toughness in her character – an unmistakable firmness inside, which is good because it only shows that she is her own woman. A teacher by vocation, she sometimes even looks like a schoolmarm. But the one thing I like about her – and this I found out only through I-Witness – is that she is basically no-nonsense. If ever her husband gets elected President, we can all be sure that she will be a working First Lady – with all her projects steered toward the right direction.

Among the prospective First Ladies, it is Alice Lacson whom Sandra Aguinaldo had a difficult time interviewing. Very politely, she said that although she is allowed to join the campaign trail, her husband, Senator Ping Lacson, forbids her to grant interviews to media.

But it is to Sandra Aguinaldo’s credit that she doggedly followed Mrs. Lacson and never gave up until she got enough materials for the I-Witness viewers to relish.

And what did we find out about Alice Lacson? A former commercial model, she reminds me of a younger Dulce Lukban (Pops Fernandez’s beauteous mother).

With the way Sandra Aguinaldo was trailing her, pestering her and testing her patience, the I-Witness viewers also got a peek into her true character. Based on her reactions to the hound that was Sandra (whose perseverance I salute), it is obvious that Alice is basically a very gracious person (but was she chewing gum at one point?)

It was amazing that she didn’t lose her patience with Sandra – no, not even once. And it wasn’t just because there was a camera in front of her because even etiquette guru Emily Post would have lost her composure and snapped at Ms. Aguinaldo – what with the way this persistent journalist was tailing her and badgering her with questions.

And what were the questions? Oh, very relevant issues that have always been in the mind of the public. One is about the properties the Lacsons have allegedly stashed away in the US. "Oh, it’s really just a small house," Alice Lacson counters, "pinalaki lang nila."

She was evasive, however, about the mysterious death of her first husband. But even as she tried to skirt the issue, Alice Lacson remained polite to the very end.

At one point in the interview, I could sense Mrs. Lacson was about ready to accommodate Sandra’s request to give a few minutes of her time to I-Witness, except that she was worried defying her husband’s instructions and this probably doesn’t sit well with most feminists.

I really don’t understand why Sen. Lacson doesn’t allow his wife to face media when Alice obviously could talk sense (She seems to be quite intelligent).

If ever Ping Lacson gets elected to Malacañang, would he still shield his wife from media? Or would they rather that the revered Carmen Pedrosa came up with another marvelously-written book – this time entitled The Untold Story of Alice Lacson?

(On Saturday, Sonia Roco and Susan Roces on I-Witness.)