Here’s one for Justice Secretary Raul Gonzales!

Last July 11, the title of the column that I wrote in The Freeman was "Kris didn’t listen to Cory, so why should we?" and we reprinted the many text messages we got right after Tita Cory called for the resignation of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (GMA). You can say that when Justice Secretary Raul Gonzales publicly aired his thoughts about Tita Cory and Kris, he merely did what many people also did... pass on the text message about Tita Cory and Kris. But in his case, he had to say it during a media interview. Well, Secretary Gonzales has since apologized for that... and so too with President Arroyo, yet a tearful Kris went on ABS-CBN to lambaste Secretary Gonzales.

Indeed, very few journalists dared to defend Secretary Gonzales. One of them is The Freeman editor-in-chief Jerry Tundag who, in his column "To the Quick," not only supported the views of Secretary Gonzales but also "twitted" Tita Cory for imposing her morality on the Filipino people while she cannot even control her own daughter.

Jerry Tundag wrote, "Gonzales obviously forgot that in this country, you can topple Presidents but you revere showbiz stars." Toward the end of that column, Jerry said, "The trouble with this predominantly Roman Catholic country of ours is that we are so rich in hypocrisy and so poor in everything else, like why is the life of Kris so private if someone like Gonzales comments on it, and not when she brings a domestic spat out before nationwide TV?"

While I was watching Secretary Gonzales tell the media that he was very close to Tita Cory and in fact, he was the one who brought the young Kris Aquino to Mother Lily Monteverde of Regal Films, I suddenly remembered that I was with him that day. If you didn’t know, Raul Gonzales was the lawyer of Mother Lily and he helped draw up the contract of Manilyn Reynes for Mother Lily to sign. Back in those days, I was very close to Mother Lily as our theaters were exclusive to Regal Films, and if I joined the UNIDO party of then Senator and later Vice President Salvador "Doy" Laurel in 1984 it was because of my friend, Atty. Raul Gonzales, who was close to Doy Laurel.

I was having lunch with Gonzales at that time near the Regal Studios in San Juan reviewing a contract that he had prepared for Regal’s newest baby... Manilyn Reynes. Yes, I brought her from Cebu to Manila to audition at the house of Mother Lily and she was immediately taken by Mother Lily who asked me to meet with Atty. Gonzales to draw up her contract. It was there that coincidentally, Tita Cory was also having lunch with Kris (this was still before the EDSA Revolt and she hadn’t run for President yet) and Gonzales introduced me to the famous Tita Cory and she introduced Kris to us.

I was a big Ninoy fan and much of our youth saw a young and brave Kris Aquino fight the Marcos Dictatorship in lieu of her father and we salute her for that and credit her with her own place in Philippine political history. But as the years rolled on, Kris became a big actress and personally, I would have preferred if she had become a moral example for all... alas, she has taken the wrong turns every since. If there is a place where moral recovery ought to start, it should come from the showbiz industry because many of our people look up to their movie idols... whose morality is to say the least, questionable!

* * *

Long before Boracay became one of the nation’s top tourist drawers, a resort in Cebu was already well-known by Japanese tourists who used to come here in hordes. The place was the Argao Beach Resort, some 80 kilometers south of Cebu, which used to be run by the Fonacier group. The Argao Beach Resort (actually, it is situated at the boundary of the municipalities of Dalaguete and Argao, but the resort itself is still within Argao) was sequestered after the EDSA Revolt and it was given to the Philippine Tourism Authority (PTA) to administer and operate.

The same thing also happened to the Kang-Irag Golf Course designed by famous South African golfer Gary Player and as history has shown, whenever government takes on a private enterprise, it loses money like it was going out of fashion! But we’ll write about Kang-Irag some other time. The issue plaguing what’s left of Argao Beach Resort (it mysteriously burned years ago) is whether the PTA should spend money to improve it before they sell it to a private party. Sen. Richard Gordon believes that the government should improve the place in order to increase its value. If you ask me, the government should not throw good money into this resort. Sell it for what it’s worth and I’m sure that the new owners would bring Argao Resort back to its former glory.

* * *

Here’s a comment on our Monday’s column about Cebu Pacific Airline’s making announcements in Cebuano when the plane lands in Cebu:

"Dear Mr. Avila... In yesterday’s issue of the PhilStar (18 Jul 05) you mentioned that Cebu Pacific now announces the aircraft landing at the Mactan International Airport in Cebuano. I just would like you to know that I, among other blue-blooded Sugbuanons, may have a hand in the company’s decision to use Cebuano in their approach to Mactan.

"In a flight from NAIA to Mactan early last year, when Cebu Pacific had a tie-up with NWA, a co-passenger said he wished the flight attendants would announce the landing of the aircraft in Cebuano. I said it was a good idea. When we got to the baggage claim area I saw Capt. Irrizari, my boss in our Air Force days in Mactan, helping a passenger claim the person’s baggage. I mentioned to him my co-passenger’s idea of using Cebuano as the medium of announcements and instructions as the aircraft maneuvers to base leg, as the rubber meets the runway, and when the aircraft taxies to the tarmac. He made no comment. He just smiled.

"To Capt. Irrizari, sir, do you remember me? 220th HAW personnel call me Monte for short. And did you ever mention to your bosses at Cebu Pacific the idea of using Cebuano? I hope you did. Thank you, Mr. Avila... Constancio R. Montera Sr. 2nd Lt (Ret)"

* * *

For e-mail responses to this article, write to [email protected]. Bobit Avila’s columns can also be accessed through www.thefreeman.com. He also hosts a weekly talk show, "Straight from the Sky," shown every Monday, at 8 p.m., only in Metro Cebu on Channel 15 of SkyCable.