Philippine Daily Inquirer

It’s gravy, not soup, oops

President Aquino’s last ‘vin d’honneur’ at the Palace is well-attended–and upbeat

- Twitter: @ThelmaSSan­Juan Instagram: thelmasios­onsanjuan Thelma Sioson San Juan

HELD last Thursday was what must have been the most attended—and most upbeat— vin d’honneur at the Palace under the Aquino administra­tion. It was the last to be hosted for the diplomatic community by President Aquino, whose term ends in June.

It drew a good mix of the who’s who from government, the political establishm­ent, the Church, business and industry, and civil society. The atmosphere wasn’t only cordial, but was even cheery, with Mr. Aquino stressing his gratitude and that of the Filipino people to the world community for the support it has been assiduousl­y extending to the government’s relief and rehabilita­tion efforts in the disaster-stricken Visayas and Mindanao, and to its peace efforts.

Even if Mr. Aquino began his remarks with a quick nod to nostalgia, the morning reception’s mood was upbeat, if not optimistic, not at all what one expected of a gathering hosted by an administra­tion that is on its last months. (And we’ve heard of how a doom-and-gloom atmosphere could be in the Palace of eras past.)

Perhaps it matters that Mr. Aquino is enjoying high approval ratings at the end of his term—the highest so far for a Chief Executive, and a nontraditi­onal politician who has just made a potentiall­y unpopular decision of vetoing the bill that would have granted across-the-board monthly pension increases. (How that will affect, if at all, his approval ratings remains to be seen.)

Spring colors

The reception décor echoed the mood—flowers in bright spring colors were clustered on the backdrop of the platform where Mr. Aquino and the dean of the diplomatic corps, the Papal Nuncio, Archbishop Giuseppe Pinto, offered toasts to the new year.

Simple and bright floral arrangemen­ts were on merienda tables arranged around the ceremonial hall. Guests could choose to walk around and hobnob or sit down to eat the hearty merienda fare prepared by Margarita Fores, the newly named 2016 Asia’s Best Female Chef.

At the merienda buffet were pancit molo, different kinds of Negros empanada (shrimp, bean sprouts, chorizo recado),

longganisa from north to south (Tuguegarao, Vigan, Alaminos, Bacolod), fried quail eggs, tortilla de patata, pancit, different cheeses (including Davao’s Malagos, caramelize­d French brie de meaux), poached red lapu-lapu, roast lamb, roast “dinosaur bone” in short rib inihaw, grilled eggplant salad, chicken adobo sinangag.

There were also pastillas from San Miguel, Bulacan, pili bars from Silay, Negros, turones de kasuy from Cebu, Malolos inipit, Taguig salted egg bibingka.

We got to chat with Canadian Ambassador Neil Reeder and his very friendly wife, Irene, who speaks good Tagalog. They told us about the Fil-Canadian Senator Tobias Enverga, the first Filipino-Canadian elected to high public office in Toronto, who’s on a visit here, with other Fil-Canadians, to help needy communitie­s.

With Tootsy Angara, we got to talk about the new Miss Universe Pia Wurtzbach and how Tootsy’s husband, Sen. Sonny Angara, for a time became the whipping boy of netizens when, as a Bb. Pilipinas judge in 2014, he asked Pia to answer his question in Filipino.

Pia fanatics attributed Pia’s loss to that question. Tootsy recalled how Pia not only didn’t take that against the senator, she was also gracious enough to assure him that. Pia told him that she hoped that he was holding up against the social media tirade.

It was notable that captains of business and industry seemed to have made it a point to attend this New Year’s toast, including Washington Sycip, Jaime Augusto Zobel, Tony Tan Caktiong, Erramon Aboitiz, Alfredo Yao, Carlos Chan.

Mr. Aquino sat beside us to grab a few bites. Did we talk about his love life? Hmmm. He wasn’t having Coke Zero. It was regular Coke, not even Coke Light.

Looking at the bowl beside us, I solicitous­ly nudged him to have his soup before it could get cold. That’s not soup, he said. “That’s gravy.”

And that was how I ended my morning at Mr. Aquino’s last vin d’honneur at the Palace.

 ?? THELMA SIOSON SAN JUAN ?? PALACE floral centerpiec­e
THELMA SIOSON SAN JUAN PALACE floral centerpiec­e
 ??  ?? TWO EMINENT Filipinos. Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle greets Washington Sycip. BERT Lina, Representa­tives Em Aglipay-Villar, Mark Villar and Wesley Gatchalian
JAIME Augusto Zobel and wife Lizzie WITH WELL-WISHERS. After the toasts, President Aquino...
TWO EMINENT Filipinos. Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle greets Washington Sycip. BERT Lina, Representa­tives Em Aglipay-Villar, Mark Villar and Wesley Gatchalian JAIME Augusto Zobel and wife Lizzie WITH WELL-WISHERS. After the toasts, President Aquino...
 ??  ?? ELDON and Ballsy Cruz FORMER Senator Manny Villar and Sen. Cynthia Villar
TOOTSY Angara and Grace and Tony Tan Caktiong GEN. RAUL Ubando and Undersecre­tary Rochelle Ahorro GSIS chair Bing de Guzman and wife Cathy MARIVIC Limcaoco and Social Secretary...
ELDON and Ballsy Cruz FORMER Senator Manny Villar and Sen. Cynthia Villar TOOTSY Angara and Grace and Tony Tan Caktiong GEN. RAUL Ubando and Undersecre­tary Rochelle Ahorro GSIS chair Bing de Guzman and wife Cathy MARIVIC Limcaoco and Social Secretary...
 ?? PHOTOS BY JOAN BONDOC ?? FINANCE Secretary Cesar Purisima, Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales, Comelec chair Andy Bautista CONSUL Agnes Huibonhua, Pagcor chair Cristino Naguiat Jr. and wife Tet CANADIAN Ambassador Neil Reeder and wife Irene ITALIAN Ambassador Massimo Roscigno...
PHOTOS BY JOAN BONDOC FINANCE Secretary Cesar Purisima, Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales, Comelec chair Andy Bautista CONSUL Agnes Huibonhua, Pagcor chair Cristino Naguiat Jr. and wife Tet CANADIAN Ambassador Neil Reeder and wife Irene ITALIAN Ambassador Massimo Roscigno...
 ??  ?? PAUL Cabral, Margie Mercado and Tet Naguiat
KEVIN Tan
RICO Tantoco
CARLOS Chan
PAUL Cabral, Margie Mercado and Tet Naguiat KEVIN Tan RICO Tantoco CARLOS Chan
 ??  ??

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from Philippines