Gloria: where do you go to, my lovely?

Mr Street Vendor, believe me, I feel your pain
The latest response from the palace to the political crisis is incredibly tedious.

EXPECT a friendlier, gentler, more empathetic President Macapagal-Arroyo in the next few days.

The usually wooden President will be seen smiling more and being chummy with fishermen and street vendors even as she continues her inspection tours of roads and markets, in an attempt to correct her image as an "arrogant" leader who allegedly stole the presidential election last year and should resign.

Yawn. Haven’t we been here before? We’ve had warrior Gloria, Nora Aunor Gloria, Thunderbirds puppet Gloria … now we have next-door neighbour Gloria (who seems remarkably like the version that stalked the country last year looking for those elusive votes).

The president is a thoroughly modern politician—obsessed with image at the expense of substance. Does anything lie beneath these endless onion skins?

I’ve often wondered who Gloria really confides in, who she is really close to. Not her husband, that’s for sure. A few intriguing glimpses were offered in an article on the female cabinet members who resigned 10 days ago:

Defensor, one of the President's closest advisers, said that the President was still hurt and sad by what he called the betrayal of her friends, particularly former Social Welfare Secretary Corazon "Dinky" Soliman and presidential adviser for the peace process Teresita "Ging" Deles.

"She's tough... (but) she's affected by what happened in the Cabinet. Most of those who left, particularly the women, were close to her. They had their own girl sessions," Defensor said in a forum of the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines Wednesday.

He said the female Cabinet members had more access to Ms Arroyo than the men.

"They would have tea and coffee among themselves, and they would talk about so many things; I don't know what they talked about. I never had that and neither did the other members of the Cabinet who were perceived to be close to the President," Defensor said.

"We can never say to the President: Can we talk with you one on one? Can we have coffee with you? That never happened with us," he said.

I mentioned this to a female friend and she said “female solidarity is much more fragile than the male version”. I’m saying nuthin’. And anyway, can we believe Defensor, the administration’s chief spin meister? I suspect that “one of the girls” Gloria is all part of the remake.

Comments

[acp]

Politicians are belittling 'artistas' in the arena of politics but what they (politicians) are actually doing is 'acting' out their sincerity and love for the nation. Funny how they would use and do anything to survive.

[torn]

Good point!