No longer Plaza Burgos, but now Plaza McDonald’s

A friend remarked to me yesterday that this is a world turned upside down.

She said: "The most popular hip hop rapper is not a black but a white (Eminem); the world champion golfer is a black (Tiger Woods); the French are calling the Americans arrogant; and the Germans don’t want to go to war."

Sorry about not using the more politically-correct term "African-American", but that would have ruined the joke. No, perhaps it wasn’t a joke. It was a very serious comment.

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I wonder why we detect no urgency about getting the Commission on Elections ready for the coming year 2004 elections – which are due next year. The President hasn’t released the needed funds for the Comelec to modernize its conduct of elections and the acquisition of the equipment and paraphernalia needed. And what about the implementation of "absentee balloting", with a law already passed which should enable millions of our OFWs (Overseas Filipino Workers) to cast their ballots? Has absentee balloting been called off on account of the war? Once more, I see no movement on this score. The government even tried to call OFWs home but they refused to budge.

There’s a budding suspicion that President GMA is looking with more enthusiasm than disapproval at the weird, fast-track "Cha Cha" being engineered by Congress to transmogrify our set-up into a parliamentary form of government.

In sum, our congressmen are trying to constitute themselves into a constitutional amendment (really constitution-making) body so they can accomplish this transformation. Is this a plot to make Joe de Venecia "Prime Minister"? He’s denied this, and so do his pangkat in the House of Representatives. They’re trying to sweet-talk our senators, particularly the reluctant Senate President Franklin Drilon, into abolishing themselves.

If you ask me, that would be the only salutary feature in the nouveau "Cha Cha" or Charter Change initiative. The Senators were supposed, in the vision of those who re-established a bicameral body to replace the former unicameral National Assembly, to provide a maturity and gravitas to our legislature which could not be supplied by the Young Turkeys of the House of Representatives. Instead, our Senators have proven to be the adolescents in Congress, engaged in name-calling, finger-pointing, histrionics, over-dramatics, hamming it up, and grandstanding in non-stop investigations – yet, none of their antics resulted in "aiding" legislation.

Instead of sobriety and conduct emulating that of the original "Solon" – the great Athenian statesman who was born in 638 B.C. and rose to the powerful post of Archon to enforce reforms in ancient Greece – our Senators have converted the Senate into something resembling a reformatory. They’ve become an over-chummy Old Boys’ Club, in fact ("you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours"). Why, no one among them objected when the cousins Osmeña – Senators John O. and Serge – completely deleted the payment for the CBK project from the budget.

(Okay, I won’t call the Osmeña twins’ "deletion" the "Lopez Revenge.") But now can our government incur obligations and not pay them? I wouldn’t be surprised if the perpetually-harassed and slandered Argentinian firm of IMPSA and their giant American partners, Edison Mission of California completely gave up, demanded their almost half a billion dollars of investment back, then left the country completely. In parting, of course, they would announce to the world that it is disastrous for any foreign investors to risk investing in the Philippines.

After the FRAPORT-PIATCO debacle, in which the Germans have already written the Philippines off, this would confirm to the rest of the planet that we Filipinos are not to be trusted with OPM (Other People’s Money).

To return to my original suspicion: Is it true that the proposed "Cha-Cha" of Congress would extend the term of President Macapagal-Arroyo by postponing the year 2004 elections? By another two years, perhaps? This postponement might be inserted into the "Cha-Cha" move to provide a transitional phase for the jump from a presidential to a parliamentary form of government. The possible result: Two more years for GMA. So, don’t count her down and out, yet. Interesting, di ba?

I don’t want to oversimplify it, but how would having a "parliament" be more beneficial to our people? We’d still have the same old congressmen, labeling themselves MPs instead. And think of this: They’d be the ones running the government departments or ministries as appointees to the Cabinet! This can only be described, with apologies to Dick G., as WOW Philippines! Wow-na-wow, even.

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When this writer went to Vigan City, in our home province of Ilocos Sur, after an absence of over three years, I was – no other word will suffice – shocked at the immense McDonald’s sign over a jazzy, modern hamburger joint which dominated historic Plaza Burgos, our capital’s main square.

In the old days, only the dignified plinth commemorating native son Father Jose Burgos (one of the trio of Filipino martyr-priests, Fathers Gomez, Burgos and Zamora who were cruelly executed by the Spaniards) dominated that plaza. Today, the Golden Arches overwhelm everything else in that square, even the stately old colonial mansions which themselves have been converted into a Café Leona, a Girl Scouts of the Philippines headquarters, and now a new 25-room hotel named the "Vigan Plaza."

To be sure, despite it being a gaudy example of American Burger Imperialism, the Ilocanos – unlike the Arabs – seem to love McDonald’s. The eatery is thronged with happy munchers even up to the late hours of night. They don’t even resent the cheeky poster slapped on the show-window which proclaims: "Thank heavens, the delicious Fillet O’ Fish is back. Available only during the Lenten Season."

This irreligious reference to "heaven" must have received a nihil obstat or imprimatur from holy mother Church, since the property on which McDonald’s was constructed belongs to the Archbishopric of Nueva Segovia.

Might as well rename Plaza Burgos (sorry for Padre Burgos, one of the nationalistic priests who inspired Jose Rizal in his writing of the Noli Me Tangere), Plaza McDonald’s and put Reggie’s statue in front of it.

Come to think of it, diagonally across from McDonald’s now stands the statue of my father, Benito T. Soliven. It assures papa’s monument, at least, of a daily audience.

There’s no way those enjoying their burgers, fries, and fillets o’ fish can evade looking at it.

What’s significant is that just a few meters away, this time fronting the other main square (Plaza Rizal, overlooking the Vigan Cathedral) are an equally colorful Chow King and a Jollibee! The sleepy Vigan of my youth has been converted into a fast-food, even a junk-food haven! For centuries, since it was founded as Villa Fernandina by the young Conquistador, Don Juan Salcedo (who died of exhaustion from his, well, exertions) this Spanish colonial city with its squat and attractive antebellum mansions slumbered gracefully, only partially ravaged by terrible fires which consumed several irreplaceable regal homes, a truly UNESCO Heritage site.

Now, all of a sudden – what happened to its languorous atmosphere? You can still savor those wonderful empanadas and ukoy from those sidewalk stands in the plaza; enjoy royal bibingka, get calamay Candon, tinubong, bagnet and longaniza; and those mouth-watering traditional dishes. (Saluyot and bagoong make the Ilocano nation strong!) But somehow, the hamburger "invasion" has changed Vigan’s aspect a great deal – perhaps too much.

The irony of it is that these new joints are built on what remains of the once-splendid Colegio Sagrado Corazon, the famous seminary where all the illustrious sons of the North aspired to go for their high school education!

In the early 1900s, the Seminary was run by the Spanish and Filipino Jesuits. This is where papa, a product of the public school system, finally received a scholarship for his high school education. Since Spanish was required for admission and was the language of instruction, he had to learn Spanish in a jiffy. To accomplish this, he memorized the Spanish dictionary and the Spanish grammar. He grew so fluent in it that he topped his class in declamation and oratory.

Learning equally fluent Latin and ancient Greek (they had to memorize Cicero’s orations and study Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey in the original Greek), he graduated valedictorian. The Jesuits had divided the class, for competition, into the Romans versus the Carthagenians (Rome against Carthage, great shades of Hannibal!). The Romans "won" in the end. Dad was the noblest Ilocano-Roman of them all, a distinction he did not take lightly.

Alas, the storied seminary building, which took up an entire block of Central Vigan, burned down many years ago. Today, sad to say, it has been transformed into Hamburger Heaven. This is almost enough to turn us worshippers of Nostalgia and who revere the Remembrance of Things Past into sympathizers of Saddam Insane. Almost, but unlike the French, not quite.

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Forgive me, please, for utilizing this corner to express my thanks to those who organized the installation of a monument of papa in Plaza Burgos and those who spoke at last Friday’s unveiling of the statue and the opening of the Soliven Memorabilia museum in the College Assurance Plan’s Vigan building.

The moving spirits were, of course, our columnist and "brother", former Education Secretary Dr. Alejandro R. "Anding" Roces, CAP Chairman; and Don Enrique Sobrepeña, CAP president who, incidentally, presented us with a splendid replica of the statue itself, which had been sculpted by the artist Jose (Al) Giroy. The same sculptor had done those other wonderful statues of former President Elpidio Quirino (it stands in La Union), former President Manuel Roxas, General Douglas MacArthur, Bishop Gregorio Aglipay, etc.

Father Rey Rebebes did the "blessing". The words of greeting were delivered by former Governor Luis "Chavit" Singson, our cousin, and Ilocos Sur Governor D.B. Savellano. Vigan City Mayor Eva Marie S. Medina also delivered a welcome address.

The guest speaker was another cousin, Rep. Salacnib Baterina of the 1st district of Ilocos Sur, papa’s old district which he had represented in three terms in Congress and in the National Assembly. I’m happy to say that since dad, our small town of Sto. Domingo has "produced" three other members of the House of Representatives, including the renowned orator, former Congressman Faustino "Usting" Tobia. This is a record for a single municipality.

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Why was Congressman Baterina invited to deliver the main address? Because it was his uncle, the late Bibiano Figueras, who had been the prime mover in erecting the statue of papa which stands in Soliven Plaza, the main square of Sto. Domingo, facing the highway, in front of the Benito Soliven Academy and the town Church of St. Benedict.

Tata Bianong also established the Benito Soliven Library in the municipio, but over the years all the books "disappeared". At least Ilocanos steal books, and read them.

The Library, I last heard, will be rebuilt in the Benito Soliven Academy, which has been run for many years by a dedicated lady, the Principal, Ms. Guadalupe "Openg" Dumag, and has produced many brilliant graduates, both professionals and scholars. Chavit Singson pledged that he would construct a new Library wing, and help stock it with needed volumes so the high school students can benefit more from it. Donations of books have been coming in, some from my sister Mrs. Mercedes Soliven David, my brother Victorio, who’s been providing scholarships as well to the students. Tom Skinner, a prominent financial adviser and accounting firm executive from New York, visited the school in Sto. Domingo the other year, and has since donated books as well as his entire collection of National Geographic magazines, from the year 1947 to the present! The kids love it.

What else can I say? I’m proud of our industrious Ilocano school children who, as Rizal said, are "the fair hope of our motherland". Ilocoslovakia is, indeed, the Land of the Corny and the Upwardly Ambitious. Thanks also to the terrific Benito Soliven Academy Choir for having touchingly rendered, during the program, the Ilocano lullabies my mother sang to us when we were children ourselves ages ago. Mama, born Pelagia Villaflor, also hailed from Sto. Domingo and Vigan. We’re F.B.I. by this token, full-blooded Ilocanos. However, unlike one or two other ethnic groups, the Ilocano Nation doesn’t have a separatist movement.

Even in religion, we cheerfully co-exist. Almost all our clan are Catholics, while cousins, like Salacnib, are Aglipayans, belonging to the Philippine Independent Church which was founded up north to embrace the ideals of the Revolution.