Dean Raul Pangalangan, who is the publisher of the Inquirer and also a member of the board of the Manila Overseas Press Club, was given a despedida dinner for his impending departure as the newly-elected member of the International Criminal Court where he will serve for nine years.
The dinner, which was held at the Manila Golf and Country Club and hosted by the MOPC with this columnist as president and BizNews Asia publisher Tony Lopez, was also honored by the presence of Sen. Grace Poe who knows Raul and his wife, lawyer Elizabeth Pangalangan, quite well. Since it was also the eve of Senator Poe’s birthday, the MOPC prepared a birthday cake for her. It would seem that Manila Golf is a place frequented by well-known people because former senator Ping Lacson also dropped by to say hello to Grace.
The small despedida dinner became a roundtable discussion with the senator who has been leading in the surveys of 2016 presidentiables. Hopefully, the other prospective candidates will also appear in a roundtable discussion or forum with the MOPC board members that include The Standard publisher Rollie Estabillo and columnist Emil Jurado, The Philippine STAR chairman Ray Espinosa, San Miguel Corp. consultant Elpi Cuna, Radio Mindanao Network’s Eric Canoy, Asiaworld’s Nelia Gonzalez, lawyer Lolong Lazaro of MM Lazaro and Associates who is our legal counsel, Philex SVP Mike Toledo, Maloli Espinosa Supnet of Masbate Community Broadcasting, E-Motors president Beth Lee, Bong Osorio of ABS-CBN, Butch Raquel of GMA, Hector Villanueva of Manila Bulletin, hotelier Arthur Lopez and Japanese Embassy press officer and Second Secretary Miwa Yamatoya as ex-officio member.
In fact, Mayor Rodrigo Duterte is the special guest for the MOPC forum on Sept. 14, and we also plan to invite DILG Secretary Mar Roxas and Vice President Jojo Binay in the future for the continuing series of MOPC forums/roundtable discussions during the run-up to the 2016 elections. Photos by Ramon Joseph J. Ruiz