"On Duty"

I don’t want to be on duty but I have to because this Georgina Wilson is very much into it. Oh well, “on duty” is a new term we’ve coined over the weekend when selected members of E-Group (Roger Serna and Troy Ciar of Superbalita, Niza Marinas and Jonas Panerio of Cebu Daily News, Debbie Duraliza and Vanessa Balbuena of The Freeman and I for Banat News) were treated to a weekend bonding with ABS-CBN’s Corporate Communications group in Manila.

It’s supposed to mean, pasaway or having a bad attitude. “On duty” because we joked with each other to give the CorpCom people headache on shifting mode; so every time one of us delivered a punchline, if not a complaint or comment, we would tease each other by asking,”duty nimo?” (You’re on duty?). So that’s it!

And Georgina is a concrete example. She was clearly “on duty” when she tweeted against hotel heiress Paris Hilton and PNoy’s supposed “meeting” right after the former arrived in Manila before midnight last Sunday. She tweeted: “Why is PNOY taking time out of his ‘busy’ schedule to meet with Paris Hilton tomorrow? So shameful that he doesn’t have better things to do.” Then when fans of Paris reacted, she tweeted again: I didn’t mean to offend anyone or be negative. I just think that Paris Hilton isn’t important enough for a president to meet up with. Night guys :)”

I actually don’t have anything against these tweets because the supposed “courtesy call” of Paris with the President didn’t happen. What irked me was when Georgina was interviewed last Thursday afternoon, about four days after Paris’ arrival in the country. She defended her tweets by saying she had nothing personal with either the hotel heiress or the president, that she was just expressing her opinion and that the young generation should speak their minds; that she hopes people would respect her opinion; after all, she just “felt strongly about the issue.”

Yeah right. Everybody has an opinion and everybody should respect each other’s piece of mind. Georgina was right in saying that. What was wrong, though, was her barking at the wrong tree. Indeed her tweets were water under the bridge because no meeting between Paris and PNoy took place. In fact Malacañang people did not know anything about that reported meeting. In short, she commented on something that never happened. She jumped to conclusions right away. Yet she did not have the courtesy to correct her mistake and insisted on her opinion that was coated with sarcasm and envy.

Georgina is a disappointment. I can’t help but comment on her tweets because I used to like her. I was so impressed with her educational background, especially when she chose to pursue graduate studies in Australia over a showbiz career years ago. Back then, I was praying and hoping she would join Bb. Pilipinas but she is not so into pageants. In short, I was a fan. But after all those tweets and her justifications after, I’m now in doubt whether she is beauty and brains or just simply all face and no mind. I used to put her on a pedestal. Now she is just commercial model/TV host and one of those pretty girls who just stand out because they are in a country that gives too much emphasis on Caucasians and anything imported.

By the way, even if Paris indeed went on a courtesy call, it’s disrespectful for Georgina to tweet that way because Paris is an investor. She was not here for relaxation and recreation, she was here for business. Is that how we treat our investors? I’m not a Paris fan but with a close to 5M Twitter followers, we are getting free publicity through her pronouncements about how much she likes the Philippines and loves its people, at this time when our tourism industry is struggling in getting ahead of the game globally.

Interestingly, before she got into hot water, Georgina was considered among the few “it girls” professionally and personally this side of the planet. But with this, she has successfully destroyed the image she has built before her public all these years. On the other hand, Paris debuted in the global arena negatively. To many, she is a spoiled brat, happy-go-lucky girl who loved the wrong guy who dragged her into a sex scandal. In the eyes of the world Paris was a bad influence, not deserving of applause and praise. But with the way she has reinvented herself through her business ventures now, she has successfully bounced back and endeared herself to many, young and old alike and Filipinos included.

Oh well, my comments about Georgina and my take on Paris are just my opinion. Like Georgina I’m just expressing what’s on my mind. And maybe I am “on duty” while writing this piece.