Love letters & sermons
March 19, 2007 | 12:00am
Today, on the old remembered Feast of St. Joseph, per Mendiola days, we will be at the Alliance Française at 209 Nicanor Garcia St. (formerly Reposo St.), Bel-Air 2, Makati City from seven in the evening to join in the celebration of Printemps du Poetes or "Spring of the Poets."
Around 30 poets, readers and performers will take to the stage to entertain guests, including you and anyone else interested in poetry and romance, while sipping good wine on this occasion that leads off the observance of Francophone week.
Alliance Française de Manille, the Cultural Service of the French Embassy, the embassies of Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Egypt, Lebanon and Switzerland host this evening of poetry on the theme "Lettera Amorosa" (Love Letters), conducted in different languages.
Filipino poets include Gémino H. Abad, National Artist for Literature Virgilio S. Almario, Adrian E. Cristobal, Christopher Cruz, Marjorie Evasco, Sid Gomez Hildawa, Raul Rafael Ingles, Mookie Katigbak, Marne L. Kilates, Asha Macam, Virginia R. Moreno, Miguel Ongpin, Cesare A.X. Syjuco, Maxine Syjuco, Trix Syjuco, Ramon C. Sunico, Angelo Suarez, Joel M. Toledo and Krip Yuson.
Bernard Sim, the new president of Alliance Française, will join the readers, together with Francophone poets from Canada, Czech Republic, Lebanon, Switzerland and France. Among these will be Czech Ambassador Jaroslav Ludva, who gains diplomatic exemption since he will read his own poems in Spanish. Well, a Latin language it is, too. Reading love poems from French poets Pierre d’Ronsard and Tristan Bernard will be the French Ambassador, Gerard Chesnel.
A kundiman ensemble from the University of the Philippines starts off the evening with renditions of three classic Filipino pieces: Bituing Marikit, Maalala Mo Kaya, and Minamahal Kita. Complementing our amour fantastique Virgie "La Tondeña" Moreno’s reading is dancer-choreographer Myra Beltran with an expectedly lissome interpretation.
A buffet is offered by the Embassy of Egypt, the Embassy of Switzerland, and the Royal Embassy of Cambodia.
For information, you may contact Alliance Française de Manille at 895-7883 or e-mail deputy director Louis Thévenin at lthevenin@alliance.ph.
Ma chére amie Deanna Ongpin-Recto, the second vice president of the AF’s board of directors, helped organize the program, which promises to be no less than an enthralling one with the participation of the Syjucos, pere et filles, together with exciting but not excitable young poets Toledo, Macam, Katigbak, and Suarez. This quartet of fresh, dynamic voices alone should turn the evening into a love affair to remember.
Last Thursday, on the Ides of March no less, former president Fidel V. Ramos didn’t exactly tempt history or fate but typically thumbed his nose and other body parts at it by turning into an author and serving as the central figure in a book launch, of his Bulletin of FVR "Sermons" (no publisher cited, nor is there any copyright page, but copies are presumably available at the RPDEV or Ramos Peace and Development office at the Urban Bank Bldg. on Chino Roces Ave. off Buendia).
The well-attended launch was held at the large hall on the 47th floor of RCBC Plaza in Makati, with Ambassador Alfonso Yuchengco hosting. FVR gave his customarily jocular mini-speech before signing copies for a long, unending line of guests, some of these actual book lovers.
He joked, but naturally, winking this way and that from behind a lectern  that it wasn’t an advance celebration of his 79th birthday, which was yesterday. He vowed that the grand party would be held next year, when he turns 80. And that he intended to live to a century anyway, but first he must make 99!
He raised a glass of red wine as a toast to beloved country and people, then the right thumb, while leading others to do the same, for his traditional finale of a rah-rah call: "Kaya ba natin ito? Kaya natin ito!" And everyone issued a thumbs-up while the Manila skyline turned rosy and splendiferous beyond the glass walls.
Oh, and he also asked everyone present to first shake the hand of the person at the left then right of him or her. Followed an injunction to then embrace the same. And that’s when we all realized that behind that lectern, FVR had diverged from his assumption of a Sunday sermon pose, just as his essay collection does between covers.
The book collects his Sunday column pieces for the Manila Bulletin since he started writing such on May 8, 2005. In his preface, the former president notes that he has not missed conducting this weekly Sunday "sermon." The fact that his observations and commentary appear on a Sunday, he says, affords him better privilege.
"This enables me to write a piece longer than the usual in order to put on record some historical background, my personal knowledge about contemporary events, and the rationale for critical judgment calls I had to make as the official responsible for certain pubic policies. Thus, there exists a discernible, encompassing thread of continuity to my Sunday columns. It will be noted that there is always a prayer, summation or a final word at the end of each article to capsulize the most important messages, for us to focus upon and to serve as guide to a better future for Filipinos. This is done purposely to gain the attention and  hopefully  energize positive action on the part of our leaders in government and civil society. The value thus added therefore helps to fulfill a useful goal in people empowerment and nation-building."
The 35 columns collected in the 211-page soft-cover book that also contains a photo gallery are grouped into four main subjects serving as thematic chapters: "Working with our Neighbors"; "The Lessons We Must Learn"; "Learning from Our Past"; and "The Future is in Our Hands."
The photo gallery shows him at relatively recent gatherings of regional leaders, making calls on Filipino cardinals and the Red Cross staff, as well as in his running togs for environmental fun runs and fund-raising events. There’s even a page of photos taken spontaneously when he conducted an "environmental reconnaissance" along the Tagaytay-Talisay Road.
Peering into the creek under the Alingayngay Bridge on Km. 59, FVR found garbage. He made sure to include the photos in the book, including more evidence of roadside trash in the area. We can only suppose that he is calling the attention of local officials, in a very public manner.
And we can only hope that the public persona of Fidel Valdez Ramos remains that of a busybody in matters local, national, regional and global. He will live to be 80, 99, and a hundred, "sermonizing" along the way because he has the "K" for it, whether the topic be what he sees and urges as an emergent Pax Asia Pacifica to replace Pax Americana, the implications of China’s rise for the bigger powers, "What the Nation Must Do" and "Timeline for National Renewal," as the slices of small stuff that fill up the big picture  as the ugly roadside feature of trash left uncollected in our countryside.
Happy birthday, Mr. President. More power, and may you issue more prayers, more sermons.
Around 30 poets, readers and performers will take to the stage to entertain guests, including you and anyone else interested in poetry and romance, while sipping good wine on this occasion that leads off the observance of Francophone week.
Alliance Française de Manille, the Cultural Service of the French Embassy, the embassies of Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Egypt, Lebanon and Switzerland host this evening of poetry on the theme "Lettera Amorosa" (Love Letters), conducted in different languages.
Filipino poets include Gémino H. Abad, National Artist for Literature Virgilio S. Almario, Adrian E. Cristobal, Christopher Cruz, Marjorie Evasco, Sid Gomez Hildawa, Raul Rafael Ingles, Mookie Katigbak, Marne L. Kilates, Asha Macam, Virginia R. Moreno, Miguel Ongpin, Cesare A.X. Syjuco, Maxine Syjuco, Trix Syjuco, Ramon C. Sunico, Angelo Suarez, Joel M. Toledo and Krip Yuson.
Bernard Sim, the new president of Alliance Française, will join the readers, together with Francophone poets from Canada, Czech Republic, Lebanon, Switzerland and France. Among these will be Czech Ambassador Jaroslav Ludva, who gains diplomatic exemption since he will read his own poems in Spanish. Well, a Latin language it is, too. Reading love poems from French poets Pierre d’Ronsard and Tristan Bernard will be the French Ambassador, Gerard Chesnel.
A kundiman ensemble from the University of the Philippines starts off the evening with renditions of three classic Filipino pieces: Bituing Marikit, Maalala Mo Kaya, and Minamahal Kita. Complementing our amour fantastique Virgie "La Tondeña" Moreno’s reading is dancer-choreographer Myra Beltran with an expectedly lissome interpretation.
A buffet is offered by the Embassy of Egypt, the Embassy of Switzerland, and the Royal Embassy of Cambodia.
For information, you may contact Alliance Française de Manille at 895-7883 or e-mail deputy director Louis Thévenin at lthevenin@alliance.ph.
Ma chére amie Deanna Ongpin-Recto, the second vice president of the AF’s board of directors, helped organize the program, which promises to be no less than an enthralling one with the participation of the Syjucos, pere et filles, together with exciting but not excitable young poets Toledo, Macam, Katigbak, and Suarez. This quartet of fresh, dynamic voices alone should turn the evening into a love affair to remember.
Last Thursday, on the Ides of March no less, former president Fidel V. Ramos didn’t exactly tempt history or fate but typically thumbed his nose and other body parts at it by turning into an author and serving as the central figure in a book launch, of his Bulletin of FVR "Sermons" (no publisher cited, nor is there any copyright page, but copies are presumably available at the RPDEV or Ramos Peace and Development office at the Urban Bank Bldg. on Chino Roces Ave. off Buendia).
The well-attended launch was held at the large hall on the 47th floor of RCBC Plaza in Makati, with Ambassador Alfonso Yuchengco hosting. FVR gave his customarily jocular mini-speech before signing copies for a long, unending line of guests, some of these actual book lovers.
He joked, but naturally, winking this way and that from behind a lectern  that it wasn’t an advance celebration of his 79th birthday, which was yesterday. He vowed that the grand party would be held next year, when he turns 80. And that he intended to live to a century anyway, but first he must make 99!
He raised a glass of red wine as a toast to beloved country and people, then the right thumb, while leading others to do the same, for his traditional finale of a rah-rah call: "Kaya ba natin ito? Kaya natin ito!" And everyone issued a thumbs-up while the Manila skyline turned rosy and splendiferous beyond the glass walls.
Oh, and he also asked everyone present to first shake the hand of the person at the left then right of him or her. Followed an injunction to then embrace the same. And that’s when we all realized that behind that lectern, FVR had diverged from his assumption of a Sunday sermon pose, just as his essay collection does between covers.
The book collects his Sunday column pieces for the Manila Bulletin since he started writing such on May 8, 2005. In his preface, the former president notes that he has not missed conducting this weekly Sunday "sermon." The fact that his observations and commentary appear on a Sunday, he says, affords him better privilege.
"This enables me to write a piece longer than the usual in order to put on record some historical background, my personal knowledge about contemporary events, and the rationale for critical judgment calls I had to make as the official responsible for certain pubic policies. Thus, there exists a discernible, encompassing thread of continuity to my Sunday columns. It will be noted that there is always a prayer, summation or a final word at the end of each article to capsulize the most important messages, for us to focus upon and to serve as guide to a better future for Filipinos. This is done purposely to gain the attention and  hopefully  energize positive action on the part of our leaders in government and civil society. The value thus added therefore helps to fulfill a useful goal in people empowerment and nation-building."
The 35 columns collected in the 211-page soft-cover book that also contains a photo gallery are grouped into four main subjects serving as thematic chapters: "Working with our Neighbors"; "The Lessons We Must Learn"; "Learning from Our Past"; and "The Future is in Our Hands."
The photo gallery shows him at relatively recent gatherings of regional leaders, making calls on Filipino cardinals and the Red Cross staff, as well as in his running togs for environmental fun runs and fund-raising events. There’s even a page of photos taken spontaneously when he conducted an "environmental reconnaissance" along the Tagaytay-Talisay Road.
Peering into the creek under the Alingayngay Bridge on Km. 59, FVR found garbage. He made sure to include the photos in the book, including more evidence of roadside trash in the area. We can only suppose that he is calling the attention of local officials, in a very public manner.
And we can only hope that the public persona of Fidel Valdez Ramos remains that of a busybody in matters local, national, regional and global. He will live to be 80, 99, and a hundred, "sermonizing" along the way because he has the "K" for it, whether the topic be what he sees and urges as an emergent Pax Asia Pacifica to replace Pax Americana, the implications of China’s rise for the bigger powers, "What the Nation Must Do" and "Timeline for National Renewal," as the slices of small stuff that fill up the big picture  as the ugly roadside feature of trash left uncollected in our countryside.
Happy birthday, Mr. President. More power, and may you issue more prayers, more sermons.
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