BY JOVE!

BODABIL

Earlier in the day, we (at the MPC) all thought that the story for the day was the turn of the Arroyo women to defend First gentleman Mike Arroyo.

Especially because we were informed that the weekly Wednesday presscon of Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita will not happen today because the president asked him to represent him in an event outside the palace.

But ES agreed for an ambush interview before he left the palace grounds.

And in that interview, he told reporters that PGMA gave his cabinet secretaries the go signal to attend the ZTE hearing at the Senate.

ERMITA: “The President would like to tell everybody that there’s really nothing wrong with all these issues and that the administration is willing to reveal all it knows about the contract.”

One co-worker said, “eh sa tagal ba naman na iniwasan nila yun mula nuong March 29, 2007 eh malamang planchado na…”

Ermita didn’t want to comment further and just told reporters to await what the officials will relay during the hearing.

Going back to the Arroyo women…
Here’s what the president said in her speech about what happened at the upper chamber when Joey De Venecia testified and even dragged the name of FG into the controversy.

PGMA: “OUR ATTENTION MUST BE FOCUSED AS OUR ENERGIES MUST BE SPENT ON ACTIVITIES THAT DO GET COMPUTED IN THE GDP. UNFORTUNATELY FOR SOME, MERE EXERCISE OF VOCAL CHORDS IS ALREADY A HARD LABOR. YES, POLITICAL CIRCUSES ARE ENTERTAINING. BUT THESE SHOULD NOT DISSIPATE OUR ENERGIES THE WAY THEY CONSUME THOSE WHO STAGE THEM. LET’S FOCUS ON THINGS THAT MATTER MOST, THE THINGS THAT OUR PEOPLE WANT: JOBS, HEALTH, EDUCATION….THIS IS WHAT GOVERNMENT HAS STAYED FOCUSED ON WHAT FILIPINOS YEARN FOR MOST. WE’RE TIRED OF POLITICAL DRAMA AND SOCIAL INSTABILITY. WE’RE ENTERING AN ERA WHERE THE VAST MAJORITY CAN HAVE A PREDICTABLE FUTURE AND A STEADY JOB IN THE KNOWLEDGE CENTURY…LET’S NOT BE DISTRACTED OR DISTRESSED BY VAUDEVILLE ACTS THAT APPEAL TO OUR WORST FEARS, WHEN WE CAN BE INSPIRED BY WHAT OUR ECONOMY IS SHOWING THAT APPEALS TO OUR BEST HOPES.”

How about Luli?

The presidential daughter, who is perceived by some observers, as the more “katanggap tanggap” member of the first family. The so called “agimat” sabi pa nga ng isa pang “in the know.”

She said a mouthful against Joey when she agreed (whew, yup, she did!) to be interviewed by some MPC members.

There’s a debate going on about the things she said…. There are those who still believe she’s intelligent after the way she conducted herself in that interview, there are those who got disappointed “matalino pero bakit nagka ganuon?”.

You be the judge, here’s a transcript of the interview:

(How did you deal with yesterday’s revelations at the senate)
Well ako personally ako nakakainis kasi parang ano, kami na naman yung nakita niyo, eh nananahimik na nga kami na, eh mula sa simula pa lang ng political career ng nanay ko hindi tlaga kami nakikialam sa govt contracts. Ewan ko sa kanya. I mean, ako I don’t use my parents’ influence to get govt contracts. Ewan ko sa kanya. So to me, I mean, don’t..just because you fail in your business practices don’t blame it on innocent people here. So parang, kakainis ka naman noh. But, I mean, what can we do? Ganyan talaga yung… I don’t know. I don’t know if his old drug use affected his thinking but– whatever! I mean, tawa na lang kami diba? I mean kami na naman what else is new?

(what do you say to allegations that your dad purposely went abroad to evade this)
For me that’s again grasping at straws as thin as his hairline. You know? I mean, my Dad and I, we were talking about several trips that we were gonna do over the next couple of months. I also travel a lot. So do my parents. So we were talking about, oh where are you going, ganyan ganyan. And my dad was saying, o aalis ka na naman—referring to me. So he was even complaining about my travelling. So I really think it’s unfair. Just because they don’t know the whole picture, because we do have our private lives. I mean they shouldn’t impute things they don’t know.

(how do you think this will affect the political relationship of your mom with the speaker)
Well to me, well there’s no change in the way my mother runs govt. She’s focused on that. With the speaker and his son, I mean, that‘s their problem That’s really his problem. We don’t wanna meddle there. So sila yung may problema hindi kami.

(how’s your dad taking these things? Anong sabi niya sa iyo)
He’s ano na lang. Parang nakakainis na nakakatawa. He’s like, hay naku it’s me again. Can’t they see other people? I’m thin na nga. I’m a smaller target pero ako pa rin.

(when is he coming back)
He’ll come back soon. But for me, the only thing important for me is to leave him in peace and let him enjoy naman his holiday.

(gusto siyang i-subpoena ng senate)
Well the senate, they have their own rules and I leave it to them. And we have nothing to hide.

(di d ur mom sleep well last night)
Yeah we’re fine! I mean there’s really no problem there. I think I get more inis because she’s used to it eh. To me it’s really just frustrating that we’re doing so well and they’re looking for things that are not there. So gawa na lang sila ng kwento.