Loi, Loren endorse Anti-Trafficking Act

Senators Loren Legarda and Loi Ejercito-Estrada are staunch supporters of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2002. They both expressed their concern for the plight of victims of trafficking during the ribbon-cutting ceremony marking the opening of an exhibit on anti-trafficking in the Senate.

In her message, Senator Estrada announced that as chair of the Committee on Youth, Women and Family Relations, she will be filing the committee report pursuing the bill into second reading in the Senate.

As Senate Majority Floor Leader, Legarda assured the public that deliberations over the said legislation will be fast-tracked.

The bill was first filed in the 9th Congress, and passed third reading at the House of Representatives this year. With the 12th Congress in place, women advocates also clamor for the enactment of various bills that will help the prevention of Violence Against Women (VAW), such as the Anti-Domestic Violence/Abuse of Women in Intimate Relationships Bill, the Anti-Prostitution Bill, and the amendment of the Sexual Harassment Act of 1995.

The exhibit on anti-trafficking at the Senate, entitled, Trafficking: A Violation of Women’s Human Rights as one of major campaigns launched to urge the Senate to fast-track the said Act.

Campaign activities revolved around the theme, Ligtas sa Karahasan: Karapatan ng Kababaihan, which called for a unified effort to curb VAW and ensure appropriate protection, assistance and reintegration for survivors and victims of violence.

National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women (NCRFW) Chairperson Aurora Javate De Dios said, "Achieving gender equality includes providing a safe, violence-free environment for women. We believe that state accountability is central to addressing various forms of violence against women. It is for this reason that we are fortunate to gain the support of our lady senators who are at the fore of our advocacy."

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MOVING TO ANOTHER FRONT, wine seems to have become a favorite give-away this Christmas, and one sees people sipping wine during meals and parties. You will agree that wine given as a gift and capping intimate dinners is an expression of the giver’s and the host’s fine taste. For me, no matter how special a party is meant to be, if wine is not served, it’s not that special.

Contributing to the festive Christmas air and the success of lavish and intimate dinners is Tita Trillo, the town’s wine connoiseur. These days you will find her gracing tables at Magnum Wine Cellar Bar & Grill at the Greenbelt Mall in Ayala Center, Makati. As the night deepens, Magnum fills up with young couples and yuppies, and they sip their wines at the cozy tables hemmed in by two shelves of wines, to the sounds of Barrio Latino, Brazilian pop and Capirissima. Towards midnight, the crowd spills over to the terrace and fountain outside Magnum where toasts and appreciative laughter are exchanged and heard.

Tita is president of Anthony’s Wine & Spirits Corporation, and Le Gastronome Gourmet Corporation (which consists of Beluga Bar Bistro & Pravda Wine Bar and Cork Wine Cellar Grill). She is director of Crown Peak Gardens Hotels in Cubi Point, Subic. She is forever attending wine symposia in Switzerland, Italy, France, Singapore and Thailand to learn about and sip the latest wines uncorked in antique cellars and harvested from old, fragrant vineyards.

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Tita, a lovely woman who once was a flight stewardess, says her main job is to "demystify people’s impression that wine is expensive." Wines, and good ones, too, are available at P175 such as the French bordeaux table wine Cuvee 202, and this is an excellent wine and classy as a Christmas or birthday present. A good seller is the Paul Masson carafé wines, which is within the reach of office secretaries. Prices can go up, of course, to P25,000 to P30,000 per bottle such as the Chateau Mouton and the Baron Philippe de Rothschild. There are other great wines to choose from – Joseph Drouhin, Dourthe, Trimbach, and M. Chapoutier.

"Wine is a healthy option," says Tita. "You can share it with your family." She says French children even take wine with their folks at dinner. And the thing is, says Tita with a smile, "There’s this French paradox. The French women are so slim and they live long, yet their food is laden with butter and cream, but their secret is that they take a lot of wine, because, you know, wine declogs the arteries. So, you see, wine is really a lifestyle, and it’s for health more than anything."

Tita notes that more and more beer-drinkers are shifting to wine. Wine, she says, is only 12 percent alcohol, except the fortified wines like sherry, which are 45 percent proof.

Magnum has more than a hundred wine brands. Its wines are from both the New World, and the Old World. For those who want to know what wine to give for Christmas, Tita suggests Woodbridge Cabernet, a New World Wine, which is made by Robert Mondavi (without Robert Mondavi, California wines won’t be known in the world, says Tita.) For Old World wine, Tita recommends Mouton Cadet.

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Tita thought of putting up Magnum so she can display and sell her wines. That’s the same concept for her other places – Cork Wine Cellar and Grill at Rockwell The Powerplant Mall, and La Cave at Bel-Air 2, whose Beluga Bistro & Pravda Wine Bar, says Tita, "is the hottest wine bar in Manila." Magnum and the other bistros‚ menus consist mostly of grilled items (from the juiciest of beef steaks to lamb and seafood). "Everything is grilled, like in Argentina," says Tita. "You can choose your sidings and sauces. We want to make the food very simple."

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Magnum is taken from the word Magnum, which is a big bottle of champagne. From Monday to Thursday, from 8-12 p.m., a saxophone player adds to Magnum’s ambience.

When you go to Magnum for lunch or dinner, you will notice a large Christmas tree that is beribboned with native dolls, each doll representing an amount of the customer's choice. All the dolls (and money) hung on the tree go to the Rosalie Home, an orphanage, in Subic. The Home is named after Rosalie Trillo, daughter of Anthony and Tita, who died of cancer not too long ago. Her death changed Anthony, says Tita. He used to be gung-ho about making a lot of money, but after Rosalie died, he has mellowed, like old wine.

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