Politics aside...
.
The Flip contest continues. And while I have no work today, except for dinner with my lawyer (work-related), I will catch up on some blog entries. I won't talk about the contest 'til Thursday night. I just want to say... it's very very exciting and encouraging. So maybe we'll have more contests in the future.
Last Sunday, Patrick invited me to join him at his work. TV5, PPCRV (Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting, whew!) and Miriam College hosted a presidential debate... on a Sunday at 10am. On Saturday night he told me, "I'm sure you're going to flake on me." Who wants to wake up at 7am on a Sunday morning? But just to prove a point and be the supportive wife, I woke up, got dressed and was ready to go to my first presidential debate this season.
Thank goodness for loose clothing. It's easy to pretend your chic at 7am - just put on the biggest shades, wear wedges/espadrilles and "focal-point" jewelry. If I had made more of an effort I would have worn statement cuffs or a bigger necklace. But my no-fail fall-back is my medallion charm necklace. About the hair - lets not even go there. It's in a messy pony tail.
On the way there, Patrick tells me the top three candidates backed out last minute. As the moderators of the debate said, all ten candidates were invited, all ten confirmed attendance, but for reasons unexplained Villar, Teodoro and Aquino backed out. There you go... What's a debate without the top three? I was not pleased. Let out some steam via Twitter (DaphneOP). I'm a lot more current events-y in Twitter.
We enter through the back stage and see the auditorium was filled with people. Wonderful. By the way, I have to say, Miriam College has a wonderful campus. I love the huge trees and openness of it all. Reminded me of a North American school, in a good way. Nice nice campus. This auditorium/theatre was very well kept too.
The panel: Amado Valdez (Dean, FEU), Bernie Villegas (Economist, UAP), Efren Penaflorida (CNN Hero), Luchi Cruz-Valdez (TV5 Head of News and Public Affairs) and Von Hernandez (Greenpeace)
Presidential candidates: JC de los Reyes, Joseph Estrada, Dick Gordon, Jamby Madrigal, Nicky Perlas and Brother Eddie Villanueva.
Bayani Fernando, who's running for VP, was there shaking everybody's hand.
I'm amused at how well my point & shoot camera works with zoom. I pushed it here.
I needed a pee break and ended up backstage. The ushers led me to the nearest washroom. I open the door to the dressing room and who do I see...
Former President Joseph Estrada. His spokesperson Margaux Salcedo introduced us. And I'm like, "May I use the washroom?"
But first... a photo op. I knew no one would believe me that I ended up walking into Erap's dressing room...
Then Erap, who was running late for the next segment, took the time to ask if the photo was okay. I knew he was in a hurry so I said, "It's okay, I'm sure it turned out well." But then he goes, "Madilim yata. (I think it's dark)." So I showed him. It was back lit. And I looked like a royal mess. (The labandera hair. Aghast!) And he said, "let's take another one." And gave my camera back to his guard. So we ended up with a better photo. No D.O.M jokes please. He was a perfect gentleman. I just wanted a photo so my story would be believable. Who walks into a former president's dressing room? LOL.
The second photo. He checked it, shook my hand and went to the stage to continue debating performing. I went on with my bathroom break.
Backstage using my Flip cam
The candidates minus the big 3.
I would have loved seeing NoyNoy and Gibo go head-to-head. Unfortunately... they had their own reasons for not showing up. The next day at the Inquirer debates, they were all there except for Erap. It's interesting that there seems to be a lot of debates now, with real issues. It may be just all for show and network ratings. But it gives the undecideds a chance to hear empty promises. There are a lot of changes happening now. More young people registered as new voters. The system has been automated. But still, we are all skeptical. I guess we'll all wait and see.
I am enjoying the friendly and intelligent discourse among my peers. Everyone has his own candidate. But we're still all friends. Political maturity, yay! This is the first time I'm voting in the Philippines. I renewed my citizenship (I'm dual now and so are the kids). As a tax-payer and resident, I am exercising my right to choose my president. I hope you've all registered as well and plan to vote.
Who am I voting for? I'm making the intelligent choice. Not the emotional one. But neither am I publicly endorsing or campaigning for my candidate. Not after I hear someone got paid P30 million to endorse a candidate. Just joking. No, I'm not. LOL.
Back to the Flip contest....
.
The Flip contest continues. And while I have no work today, except for dinner with my lawyer (work-related), I will catch up on some blog entries. I won't talk about the contest 'til Thursday night. I just want to say... it's very very exciting and encouraging. So maybe we'll have more contests in the future.
Last Sunday, Patrick invited me to join him at his work. TV5, PPCRV (Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting, whew!) and Miriam College hosted a presidential debate... on a Sunday at 10am. On Saturday night he told me, "I'm sure you're going to flake on me." Who wants to wake up at 7am on a Sunday morning? But just to prove a point and be the supportive wife, I woke up, got dressed and was ready to go to my first presidential debate this season.
Thank goodness for loose clothing. It's easy to pretend your chic at 7am - just put on the biggest shades, wear wedges/espadrilles and "focal-point" jewelry. If I had made more of an effort I would have worn statement cuffs or a bigger necklace. But my no-fail fall-back is my medallion charm necklace. About the hair - lets not even go there. It's in a messy pony tail.
On the way there, Patrick tells me the top three candidates backed out last minute. As the moderators of the debate said, all ten candidates were invited, all ten confirmed attendance, but for reasons unexplained Villar, Teodoro and Aquino backed out. There you go... What's a debate without the top three? I was not pleased. Let out some steam via Twitter (DaphneOP). I'm a lot more current events-y in Twitter.
We enter through the back stage and see the auditorium was filled with people. Wonderful. By the way, I have to say, Miriam College has a wonderful campus. I love the huge trees and openness of it all. Reminded me of a North American school, in a good way. Nice nice campus. This auditorium/theatre was very well kept too.
The panel: Amado Valdez (Dean, FEU), Bernie Villegas (Economist, UAP), Efren Penaflorida (CNN Hero), Luchi Cruz-Valdez (TV5 Head of News and Public Affairs) and Von Hernandez (Greenpeace)
Presidential candidates: JC de los Reyes, Joseph Estrada, Dick Gordon, Jamby Madrigal, Nicky Perlas and Brother Eddie Villanueva.
Bayani Fernando, who's running for VP, was there shaking everybody's hand.
I'm amused at how well my point & shoot camera works with zoom. I pushed it here.
I needed a pee break and ended up backstage. The ushers led me to the nearest washroom. I open the door to the dressing room and who do I see...
Former President Joseph Estrada. His spokesperson Margaux Salcedo introduced us. And I'm like, "May I use the washroom?"
But first... a photo op. I knew no one would believe me that I ended up walking into Erap's dressing room...
Then Erap, who was running late for the next segment, took the time to ask if the photo was okay. I knew he was in a hurry so I said, "It's okay, I'm sure it turned out well." But then he goes, "Madilim yata. (I think it's dark)." So I showed him. It was back lit. And I looked like a royal mess. (The labandera hair. Aghast!) And he said, "let's take another one." And gave my camera back to his guard. So we ended up with a better photo. No D.O.M jokes please. He was a perfect gentleman. I just wanted a photo so my story would be believable. Who walks into a former president's dressing room? LOL.
The second photo. He checked it, shook my hand and went to the stage to continue debating performing. I went on with my bathroom break.
Backstage using my Flip cam
The candidates minus the big 3.
I would have loved seeing NoyNoy and Gibo go head-to-head. Unfortunately... they had their own reasons for not showing up. The next day at the Inquirer debates, they were all there except for Erap. It's interesting that there seems to be a lot of debates now, with real issues. It may be just all for show and network ratings. But it gives the undecideds a chance to hear empty promises. There are a lot of changes happening now. More young people registered as new voters. The system has been automated. But still, we are all skeptical. I guess we'll all wait and see.
I am enjoying the friendly and intelligent discourse among my peers. Everyone has his own candidate. But we're still all friends. Political maturity, yay! This is the first time I'm voting in the Philippines. I renewed my citizenship (I'm dual now and so are the kids). As a tax-payer and resident, I am exercising my right to choose my president. I hope you've all registered as well and plan to vote.
Who am I voting for? I'm making the intelligent choice. Not the emotional one. But neither am I publicly endorsing or campaigning for my candidate. Not after I hear someone got paid P30 million to endorse a candidate. Just joking. No, I'm not. LOL.
Back to the Flip contest....
.