No PGMA-Erap reconciliation; just a show!

Last Saturday, Cebu’s glitterati went to the beautiful Metropolitan Cathedral for the wedding of Liloan Mayor Vincent “Duke” Frasco and Christina Esperanza Garcia Codilla in what I’d call a fairy tale romance turned Wedding of the Century, which was graced by no less than Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (GMA), former President Joseph “Erap” Estrada, Vice-President Noli de Castro, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, Sen. Loren Legarda, and Sen. Migs Zubiri, Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay, Actor Rez Cortez, Rep. Nerissa Soon-Ruiz, Rep. Raul del Mar, Rep. Ben-Hur Salimbangon and yes, even Rep. Ferdinand “Bong Bong” Marcos with the Holy Mass officiated by our beloved eminence Ricardo Cardinal Vidal.

Call it a political wedding if you will, but that wedding brought all politicos from various landscapes. What was unexpected was that PGMA and Erap not only greeted each other, they held each other arm-in-arm as they left the Cathedral with Vice-Pres. Noli and Sen. Loren behind them. Sounds like an impossible dream called reconciliation just happened to this country especially that this came at the heels of the tumultuous funeral of former Pres. Cory Aquino.

Governor Gwen Garcia’s style of governance is anchored on Unity of Cebuanos, something that did not exist until she became the first Lady Governor of Cebu in 2004. Hence that unexpected scene at the Cathedral became part of Gov. Gwen Garcia’s very emotional speech. I have known this iron-willed Lady Governor when she took over the reins of power at the Provincial Capitol since 2004 and who could forget her first official press photos as Governor, showing her at the ceiling of the Dome of the Capitol.

Under her leadership, her opposition then was hell-bent in breaking Cebu Province into four separate Provinces. This allowed Cebuanos to close ranks behind the Governor, even Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña (with whom she is now at odds threw his support for her cause) rallied behind her. This Lady Governor who had the guts to declare all-out war against Communism and never showed any sign of emotions in many of her speeches was now in tears of joy at her daughter’s wedding especially when she saw the whole nation unify right before her eyes inside the Cathedral.

Call it an unguarded moment where Gov. Gwen took off her iron mask that she would cherish, even for just a fleeting moment. But then the next day, we all woke up to the reality that indeed, former Pres. Joseph “Erap” Estrada was still just an actor . . . and all of what we saw was strictly for the cameras only because on Sunday, he had an impromptu parade along the South District of Cebu, virtually campaigning for Jonathan Guardo, who is running for Congressman in the South District of Cebu City.

This time around, Erap was a bit more careful in addressing the Cebuano masa, in calling Pres. Arroyo a cheat, instead of saying that we Cebuanos cheated for GMA in the last elections. Perhaps he read our column, when we explained to Erap why FPJ lost badly in Cebu.

I got to talk with Bong Bong Marcos and I told him that his attending the wake of Tita Cory with his sister Imee was for me and to many Filipinos a great gesture of respect for Tita Cory, which gave an air of reconciliation, a fresh sight to our deeply divided nation. It gave a fresh hope that someday, Filipinos will become politically mature and work more for the interest of the nation rather than their own vested interests.

It does seem like the presence of so many top politicians stole the limelight from the happy young newly-married couple. On the contrary, Duke Frasco (who is my wife’s nephew from the Cabatingan side) is lucky that he literally bagged Cebu’s princess. Christina never liked the limelight (like her mom before she became Governor) but a very good organizer! She even turned me into a Judge . . . yes in her Moot Court a few months ago, to help the University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJR) law students get a taste of how life would be in a real court of law. Congratulations to Duke and Christina and may God bless you with lots of children!

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With the burial of Tita Cory behind us, it is now time to separate the opportunists from those who really sympathized with the family of Tita Cory. Already stories are out that Sen. Jamby Madrigal took advantage of her funeral when Jamby wrist bands were distributed. Even those who are now calling Tita Cory a National Hero ought to know that this is nothing but a knee-jerk reaction to her funeral. Would Sen. Mar Roxas make this proposal if only a few people went to her funeral? I seriously doubt it!

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