Meghan's wedding dress: Britain's best-kept secret
LONDON(AFP) – Will it be white? Satin or lace? British or foreign made? The tightly-guarded secret of Meghan Markle's wedding dress will finally be revealed when she walks down the aisle to marry Prince Harry today.
Anticipation has reached levels not seen since the 2011 wedding of Harry's brother Prince William and Catherine Middleton, who in the end wore a white and ivory satin gown designed by Sarah Burton from the Alexander McQueen fashion house, a 100 percent British creation.
ANYONE reading about the life of the late Senator Edgardo J. Angara, known to his friends as “Seja,” would realize that what he had achieved in eight decades could sum up the accomplishments of at least three persons of the same level of education. Senate Minority Leader Frank Drilon, a former colleague at the ACCRA Law office, related that during the last few hours with him together with other friends at Seja’s Tagaytay resthouse, the latter had shared plans that he still wanted to undertake. This prompted Frank to reply that he would have to live another 100 years to do that.
This is, in a capsule, the best way to understand the philosophy of this man who led an exemplary life as educator, lawyer, banker, patron of the arts. A “renaissance man” who was ahead of his times, and one who undauntedly faced every turn in the political, economic, and technological development with a creative response.
He knew he did not have three lifetimes so he chose to engage in work that would have great impact on the country. Law was a good base and thus, he took up law at UP and a master’s degree at the University of Michigan. This training helped in his early political role as a member of the Constitutional Convention and later, when he, together with law classmates at UP, set up the ACCRA Law firm which would be the top law office of the country. From there, he moved on to head the Philippine Bar Association, and later the Integrated Bar of the Philippines.
He was president of the University of the Philippines from 1981 to 87 where he made wide-ranging changes in the curriculum, the physical environment, and salary of professors and employees which then improved the morale of the community. At first, the students were suspicious of him as he had started his law career in the office of the then Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile.
President Cory Aquino asked him to run for the Senate in 1987 which he did, and got elected and served for four terms or a total of 24 years. In between the years, he joined Namfrel,the National Movement for Free Elections.
At the Senate, he focused on bills that he thought would have great impact on the people and society. Thus, these ground-breaking and landmark bills such as Free High School Act, Commission on Higher Education, TESDA, National Health Insurance Act or PhilHealth, Senior Citizens Act, Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization, Renewable Energy Act, Procurement Reform Act. Other high-impact bills were the GASTPE (Government Assistance to Students and Teachers in Public Schools), an 18-billion scholarship program, and the breastfeeding law.
His deep commitment to culture and arts is shown by his authorship of laws creating the National Museum, the National Commission on Culture and the Arts, the National Book Publishing Industry Development, and the National Cultural Heritage Law. His efforts to rekindle historic ties with Spain and Mexico institutionalized the Philippine-Spanish Friendship Day Act and the Dia del Galeon. He was awarded Spain’s Premio Casa Asia in 2010, making him the first Southeast Asian to win the foreign policy prize. He was also the first Lee Kwan Yew Fellow in the Philippines, an award to individuals who have demonstrated outstanding public service. He also led the formation of the Southeast Asian Parliamentarians Against Corruption and was elected its charter president.
At one time, he served as chair of the Philippine National Bank. He sponsored reform laws for the country’s capital markets such as the Credit Information System Act, Personal Equity and Retirement Account, Real Estate Investment Trust, Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation, Pagibig Fund Charter, Pre-Need Code, and Financial Rehabilitation Insolvency Act.
He also served as secretary of agriculture and executive secretary of Joseph Estrada during which he oversaw the peaceful transfer of power after the second people power revolution.
As chair of the Congressional Commission on Science and Technology (COMTE), he spearheaded the review of the country’s science and technology initiatives in order to stem our declining global competitiveness.
“Things move very fast, “he said in an interview. “We’ve got to move as equally fast. The ability to be flexible and respond in real time to actual needs is crucial,” he said as he argued for a new paradigm. Values such as hope and trust in facing the new world are necessary, he said, as he recalled former President Benigno Aquino III whom he described as having given people hope for the future. Trust and hope are important in governance, he stressed.
Edong, as he was also popularly called, asked everyone to look at the process of creating wealth which is now through the Internet and no longer through manual labor. We need to be creative as it is Internet and the new information and communication technology (ICT) that is now moving the world.
In an interview when he received the “People of the Year” award, he said that the young will lose hope if we do not catch up with them. What is now happening all over the world is that the young are able to get all the information at home, thus rendering formal schooling irrelevant. This then is the real challenge to educators – how to creatively utilize the technology in the learning process. He stressed the need for genuine interest in the social services, education, and health, as the true mark of a civilized society is how well you take care of your citizens in terms of health and education. If you give people these, they will take care of themselves.
“A far-from-perfect life,” is how he describes himself in Butch Dalisay’s biography of this “senator’s senator,” a term used by former Senate President Salonga to describe him. His first biography, “Seer and Sierra” was written by National Artist Nick Joaquin.
His last assignment was that of representing the country as special envoy to the European Union. He was offered ambassadorships to either US or the UK by President Duterte but he turned these down, saying this would deprive deserving and talented diplomats. This was his last unselfish act. But we all hope, and I’m sure that it was also his fervent wish, that his advocacy and the model of leadership that he had set, would be carried on by the future leaders of the country. Farewell.