Should Grace Poe Llamanzares now call on Susan Roces?

At the 54th anniversary celebration of the Philippine Constitution Association last week, I found myself the “impromptu” guest speaker. There were no prior arrangements. That morning, I joined Philconsa chairman Manuel “Lolong” Lazaro and former Budget Secretary Ben Diokno file a petition before the Supreme Court questioning the constitutionality of President B. S. Aquino 3rd’s P424.14 billion lumpsum appropriations in the General Appropriations Act of 2015. Our co-petitioners—-Philconsa president and Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez, Archbishop Ramon Arguelles of Lipa, Archbishop Romulo de la Cruz of Zamboanga, Archbishop Emeritus Fernando Capalla of Davao, and former national security adviser Norberto Gonzales—-could not make it, so we had to be there at all cost.

In the evening, there was the anniversary dinner. It took me more than two hours to get to Manila Hotel from Ortigas Center. Chairman Lazaro and Congressman Romualdez had already spoken, and a musical ensemble was trying to help the guests hurdle dinner. Former First Lady and now Ilocos Norte Rep. Imelda Marcos thought a much softer chamber music would have allowed freer conversation around the tables, and the ever-beautiful Gemma Cruz Araneta was beginning to feel she had walked into a jam session. Former AFP Chief of Staff General Hermogenes Esperon Jr. and Justice Lazaro thought we could excuse the ensemble if we had a guest speaker. So they pointed at me, and asked BizNews Asia publisher Tony Lopez to do the introduction. Tony rose promptly to the podium, and I found myself responding without any inhibition.