New presidential terminal

For the longest time, there have not been much visible official activities, programs or projects that could easily be identified with the Office of the First Lady. Actually, there is no such existing office for the presidential spouse, husband or wife. Not at Malacañang Palace or at the presidential summer house at The Mansion in Baguio City.

Speaking of The Mansion, I finally stepped into the premises of this other presidential residence for the first time during a brief family trip last month to Baguio. It was built for the Governor-General during the American occupation, Baguio being the coolest part of the country. Subsequently, presidents of the country used it as official summer residence.

But it was only President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. (PBBM) who gave a total face-lift to this “heritage” structure, thanks to the efforts of the President’s wife, First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, or FLLAM for short.

FLLAM is also behind the transformation of several other “heritage” buildings around Malacañang grounds, including the Laperal and Goldenberg mansions that are now being used as official residence for visiting heads of state and other visiting very important foreign dignitaries.

Just across Malacañang, FLLAM is on top of transforming the now popular Pasig River promenade. This 25-kilometer Palace riverfront was transformed into a clean, safe and vibrant tourism hub.

In October last year, PBBM showered praises on FLLAM for her supervising the rehabilitation of the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) in Pasay City. The PICC was, after all, one of the legacy projects undertaken by PBBM’s mother, former first lady Imelda Marcos. Unlike her daughter-in-law, Mrs. Marcos did these projects while she was concurrent Metro Manila governor.

A lawyer by profession, the lack of office though is of no moment for the present First Lady of the land.

Last Tuesday, FLLAM was spotted by Palace reporters after she joined a meeting of the national organizing committee for the upcoming Leaders’ Summit of the Association of the Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) held at Malacañang. The Philippines is hosting this year’s Leaders’ Summit of the 11 member-states of the ASEAN, the first one to be held on May 8-9 and the second later in November this year.

PBBM earlier declared the Philippines will push through with its hosting of the Summit based on the unanimous decision of all ASEAN leaders. The regional bloc in this part of the world stood behind PBBM in the midst of palpable pressures to defer the summit in light of the escalating Middle East (ME) conflict.

As agreed upon by all of them, PBBM announced the summit would be scaled down to the “very bare bones.” PBBM disclosed the summit will shorten their meeting to a day and a half. Thus, adjustments are being done in the country’s hosting of the ASEAN amid the ME conflict-driven severe oil price shocks to the Philippines and the rest of oil-dependent nations.

Also known as media-friendly, FLLAM, however, declined to be interviewed by Palace reporters who spied her coming out from one of the meeting rooms at the New Executive Building (NEB) where press briefings are usually conducted. She obliged though with a short retort to succinctly describe the adjustments being done on preparations for the summit.

“We’re on Ilocano effect,” she quipped. The Marcos family hails from Ilocos Norte, known for being frugal in their way of living.

The 66-year-old FLLAM belongs to the landed Araneta clan of Negros Occidental and Iloilo. She and PBBM got married 33 years ago and are blessed with three sons. The eldest is Ilocos Norte Rep. and current House majority leader Ferdinand Alexander “Sandro” Marcos III, followed by Joseph Simon Marcos and William Vincent “Vinny” Marcos.

Last April 17, the First Couple spent their wedding anniversary dinner with 28-year-old Vinny at their family-owned Baguio farm house. Active in her Instagram social media platform, FLLAM shared a video of her husband cooking and preparing together the family dinner. “Anniversary dinner, made the old-fashioned way – with love,” she posted in the caption.

In her earlier Instagram post, she also shared a video of a pre-anniversary fine dining date with PBBM at Finestra restaurant in Solaire Hotel in Pasay City. It doused wild rumors of PBBM’s supposedly dying and suffering from stage-4 colon cancer. The next day, the 68-year-old President displayed his physical fitness by doing jumping jacks and impromptu few meters jogging run at the Palace grounds.

FLLAM would later reveal to us that she and PBBM do together regular gym exercises at the Palace. This, she told us, during an off-and-on chat on the Manila-Masbate flight on board the Philippine Air Force (PAF) presidential plane Airbus C-295. We joined FLLAM in a hastily organized brief trip to Masbate a week ago.

She led the kick-off – literally – of the annual Masbate Rodeo Festival featuring bull riding and lasso competitions with participants from all over the country. She was invited there by our Tuesday Club (TC) friend Maloli Espinosa-Supnet and my fellow STAR columnist Tony Lopez who, in turn, invited us to join this trip along with a few other TC colleagues.

A fellow classmate of FLLAM from the Ateneo Law School in 1985, Alex Lopez, currently the board chairman of the Philippine Reclamation Authority (PRA), was with us in the Masbate visit. Lopez regaled us with FLLAM’s transformation projects around Intramuros, Manila where the ASEAN spouses will be toured.

But the most impressive project that FLLAM initiated is the renovation of the erstwhile Kalayaan Lounge that houses the 250th Presidential Airlift Wing in Villamor Airbase in Pasay City. The last time I covered a presidential trip passing through it was in 2004. Equipped with the latest x-ray scanning machines, customs and immigration stations, it’s now a fully operational airport terminal.

Renamed Maharlika Lounge, the First Couple has been test-running it in all their trips here and abroad. It will have its grand inauguration with the visiting heads of state who will go through this new presidential terminal during the ASEAN Summit.