Pu-Ro: Like oil and water

The rift between Puno and Robredo has been described by an insider as irreparable. According to our source, “It’s like trying to mix oil with water.” The meeting called yesterday by President Noy to defuse the simmering factionalism in the Palace only underlines the tug of war and power play inside Malacañang. There are now three factions that have been pinpointed: the “Balay” group identified with Mar Roxas, the “Samar” group mainly composed of Noy’s classmates and campaign volunteers when he ran for senator, and the “Times” group, perhaps considered to be the most powerful of all the three since it is mainly composed of tried, tested and trusted friends of the President, to which DILG Undersecretary Rico Puno belongs.

The fact is, the closer you are to the President, the bigger you become a target. In this case, the President will very likely stand by the people he trusts the most. Since Robredo belongs to the “Balay” faction identified with the group of Mar Roxas and the Liberal Party, when all is said and done he will lose in this tug of war. Factionalism exists even in the corporate world so it should not come as a surprise that it happens most especially in the center of power - Malacañang. 

Since PNoy loves to listen to music he should know that the best way to achieve harmony among the people who work for him is to make them dance and play to his tune - and not to their own kind of music.

Five percent of lost privacy

President Noynoy had asked the media to give him at least five percent of his private life, which is exactly what restaurateur Louie Ysmael tried to do for PNoy and his mystery date when he suddenly showed up at Louie’s trendy restaurant “Nuvo” in Greenbelt last Saturday night. Louie called his staff and told them to move the President and his mystery date - reportedly a singer named “Barbie” - to the mezzanine smoking lounge upstairs for some real privacy. But unfortunately for PNoy, he happened to be seated near the table of socialite Tina Pamintuan who immediately Twitted her friends. And before anyone could say “Hello,” the private date was all over town.

The good news is, everybody saw it as PNoy just being a normal bachelor going out on a date and having a little fun. According to Louie, PNoy was “simple” with just two PSG bodyguards, asked for some “pica-pica” and a bottle of wine (not “PNoy noir”), stayed for about an hour and asked for the bill. Louie instructed his waiters to tell the President “it was on the house,” but PNoy insisted on paying so Louie gave him instead a 40 percent discount. The President may have lost the five percent of his private life that he wanted, but at least he got a 40 percent discount in return.

Dia de España

The Spanish community in the Philippines celebrated the Fiesta National de España or the National Day of Spain at Casino Español with our friend, Ambassador Luis Arias Romero acting as the main host for the event attended mostly by Spanish-Filipinos. Don Luis has been Ambassador to the Philippines for nearly four years now and is a great admirer of the Filipina beauty especially the “mestizas” - or those with a mixture of Asian and Spanish blood. During the dance portion of the event, a number of dance instructors or DIs were around to add fun to the celebration. A beautiful and young mestiza looking dance instructor approached the good Ambassador and asked him to dance, to which the latter gladly obliged. After several minutes of dancing, the Ambassador noticed the hands of the DI to be a bit rough. He was later told the young dancer was a transvestite – over which the Spanish Ambassador had a good laugh.

Spy tidbit

Senator Loren Legarda had a successful book launching yesterday at the Makati Shangri-La Hotel. Titled “Redefining Development: The Living Advocacy of Loren Legarda UNISDR Champion for Asia-Pacific,” the book is undeniable proof that Loren is really into the environment, challenging this country’s politicians and leaders to adhere to the kind of development that “transcends traditional economic yardsticks such as GDP; the kind that values the social, cultural and natural capital of countries; and the kind founded on sustainability and socio-economic progress, ecosystems protection, cultural resilience and good governance.” Even after losing twice in her bid for the Vice Presidency, Loren continues to work hard on her advocacies. Maybe this is really Loren’s role: to open the eyes of Filipinos and awaken them from their apathy to the looming risks of disasters in this country.

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