Bel-Air's beauty and brains

Bel-Air resident and former beauty queen Aurora Pijuan has set a precedent by initiating a resolution that gave the high-end barangay a virtual “regime of autonomy and self-governance characterized by transparency and public accountability” specifically on all transactions regarding financial operations and budget management by having the records uploaded within 24 hours on the Internet. It was the first time a resolution was initiated by a private citizen during a barangay assembly and concurrently passed – which certainly makes it a historic first as far as Bel-Air is concerned.  

 The intelligent Au Pijuan invoked Section 397b of RA 7160 or the Local Government Code of the Philippines which states that the Barangay Assembly has the right to directly propose, enact or amend any ordinance – certainly an assertive brand of sovereignty for the high-end village. After all, the barangay is essentially a republic of its own with distinct territory, resources, government as well as police and taxation powers – with the barangay assembly being the highest authority consisting of all residents or constituents. 

Yellow fever

Future Ambassador Joey Cuisia sent us a letter in relation to our Nov. 25 column where we mentioned his nomination as Ambassador to Washington, to wit: 

“…You mentioned my being nominated as the Philippine Ambassador to Washington which I am confirming to be true. However it is still up to the President to make the final decision whether I will in fact be appointed or not.

“However, allow me to make a correction to your statement that ‘I was a die-hard Aquino supporter during the last election.’ Please note that I was Chairman of NAMFREL during the elections and I maintained my non-partisanship throughout the entire election period. My colleagues in NAMFREL can attest to that.” 

Our observation on Joey’s being a diehard Aquino supporter stems from the fact that there were a number of newspaper photos and television video clips showing the future ambassador wearing the familiar yellow T-shirt specifically in a photo, if we are not mistaken, taken at the Club Filipino event where Mar Roxas announced his giving way to Noynoy Aquino. The way we look at it, Joey should be proud of being a Noynoy Aquino supporter especially with the fact that PNoy won with a sizable number of votes. Now, on the question of whether or not he was non-partisan as NAMFREL Chairman – that, in our view, is purely up to people to decide.

 New Kapatid headquarters 

With the successful launching of TV5 and its number one TV game show “Wiling Willie,” Manny Pangilinan is all set to invest another P10 billion in state of the art equipment in its new 1.5 hectare headquarters along Pioneer street in Mandaluyong.

TV5 executives are extremely elated with the network’s double-digit shares of Metro Manila and nationwide audiences especially with its anchor programs “Willing Willie” and “Talentadong Pinoy” (winner of the Best TV Talent Program in the recent KBP Golden Dove Awards). The TV5 Global Business will also tap the international market and promote local programs overseas, along with the development of an online portal containing shows aired in the network. Meanwhile, Gabby Lopez has also recently announced ABS-CBN’s planned multi-billion peso expansion program to fight the competition. We can expect GMA 7’s Felipe Gozon to follow suit. In a country like the Philippines where most people have access only to free TV, this kind of competition can only be a welcome sign. But the biggest beneficiary of all are the talents who, from what we understand, are now paid by the millions of pesos in fees. Perhaps this too could be a welcome sign, but more so for the Bureau of Internal Revenue. 

‘Koyang’ Tony’s “who’s who” birthday dinner 

Businessman Tonyboy Cojuangco’s restaurant, Lolo Dad’s (formerly Giraffe) at 6750 Ayala Avenue was the scene for the 59th birthday dinner celebration of “Koyang” (as Tonyboy is fondly called by his younger brothers, cousins and friends) last Friday. Virtually the who’s who in business, government, showbiz and social circles were all present at the dinner with the biggest “who” of all – no less than favorite cousin President Noynoy Aquino in attendance. Gretchen Barretto’s showbiz friends and the Philharmonic Orchestra added glitz to the occasion.

* **

Email: [email protected]