Anomalous

As the ZTE Broadband deal with the government unravels, it is becoming clear that some officials were really out to make a fast buck out of the anomalous transaction. Joe de Venecia's son and namesake, who is a partner of Amsterdam Holdings which was among those interested in bidding for the broadband project, claims Comelec chairman Benjamin Abalos, who brokered the deal with the Chinese, tried to bribe him with US$10 million in exchange for backing out from their bid. (No bidding took place as the project was handed over to ZTE apparently in a silver platter).

Also, former NEDA Secretary Romulo Neri stopped short of admitting that he was bribed to endorse and support the ZTE deal, claiming only that he was afraid of "karma".

Abalos claims he cannot be accused of wrong-doing since he doesn't even know what a broadband is. Duh.

The problem of course with projects that were conceived for selfish purposes rather than for public interest is that it is riddled with potholes. The UP Economics professors made excellent arguments against the deal and cast a dark cloud over why the deal had to be sealed in very suspicious circumstances.

Foreign business groups and even the US Embassy have expressed their concerns over this blatant display and attempt at large-scale corruption.

Unfortunately, this issue might end up buried in the ground soon and forgotten, as the government quietly implements it while everyone isn't looking, as another issue, the Erap verdict comes out this week and takes the spotlight once again.

Feeling

I was expressing my annoyance over media's seeming preoccupation with Piolo Pascual and Sam Milby (you can't really blame me, the former was giving tips on TV to aspiring singers when clearly he's not even a good singer himself!) when somebody snapped and quipped, "Ron, you know what your problem is? he went on, "You're envious."

Before I could say "I don't think so" and defend myself, he said, "You see, these people are not only good-looking, they're famous too. In your case, you're just good-looking."

Wow. I didn't feel bad at all.

Ok, start throwing those tomatoes and rotten eggs. NOW! :)

Ooops!

You know those slumbook questions in grade school where you were asked to write down your most embarassing moments? I have just updated my answer to that question. I was walking idly inside Ali Mall one lazy afternoon when I noticed some girls looking down on my feet. To my horror, I realized I was wearing a mismatched pair of sandals! Since I couldn't go home yet because of the traffic snarl made worse by road improvements near my neighborhood, I had no choice but to hold my head high. That's what you get for not sleeping the night before because you had a deadline to beat.

Restoring Its Rightful Place

Good news for all Hispanistas, feeling-Castilas, genuine Castilaloys, Indios, Illusionados, Peninsulares, Mestizos, Netibos, Sosyaleras, Sosyalistas, Sosyal Klaymbers, Malu Fernandez-types-- Gloria is seeking the help of Madrid in bringing back Spanish as an official language again. This will be part of her agenda when she visits Madrid this December (see article below).

This would mean a lot of Spanish teachers will be flocking in from the Peninsula or from Latin America (my Spanish teachers were transplanted Spaniards and South Americans who, despite the aggravations associated with living in chaotic Manila, kinda like it here).

In addition, some changes in the curriculum may be in the offing. I hope Spanish will be introduced starting Grade School. I suggest our education officials take a look at Poveda which includes Spanish in its Grade School and High School curricula.

People, Instituto Cervantes has around 5,000 students now, you should see the number of students leaving the building after the early evening classes. The bulletin boards at the Instituto are filled with call-center openings for Spanish-speaking agents.

This is very critical, indeed. Because as I see it, China is devoting massive resources to learn English. Those call center jobs might as well be heading to China over the long-term. To keep our competitive advantage, we should brush up on our Spanish.

It shouldn't be very diffiuclt. I mean, for crying out loud, most Filipinos speak at least two languages anyway, English and Tagalog. In my case, I also speak Cebuano and a little Spanish, and I'm not complaining. Interestingly, ethnic Chinese Filipinos, or Chinoys, have to learn Fookien and Mandarin as well. Gloria's right in exploiting this cultural advantage of ours. For once I agree with her.

More significantly, facility in Spanish will also open up economic opportunities in Spain and Latin America for future generations of Pinoys. In fact, I'm really starting to feel the urgency of using Spanish: I've been asked several times to translate materials from Spanish to English (despite my obvious deficiencies in Spanish), and I had one project which required me to call South America! ("si, si, mas despacio por favor, lo siento...gracias). I refuse to rely on Babel Fish.

The assertion that Spanish is a symbol of subjugation and imperialism in our modern times is a lot of crap and counter-productive. Spanish is no more a symbol of exploitation than English. Whether we like it or not, we share a cultural heritage with Spain. And Spanish, despite being the language of our colonizers, was also the language of our heroes and martyrs who set this country free. Our history as a people, painful it may be, is inextricably linked with the Spanish language. It is part of our cultural identity. More than economic considerations, Spanish is rightfully ours in the same way that we have come to embrace English and claim it as our own, and we should try to promote its usage again and restore it to its rightful place, as una idioma oficial de la Republica de las Filipinas.

Here's the article (thru EFE):

miércoles 8 de agosto, 3:54 PM
Buenos Aires, 8 ago (EFE).- La presidenta de Filipinas, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, estudia devolver al español en enero la condición de idioma oficial que perdió en 1987 y para ello pedirá colaboración a España, anunció hoy el secretario de la Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española, Humberto López Morales.

Al inaugurar un coloquio en Buenos Aires sobre la lengua española, López Morales afirmó que la gobernante filipina hará su petición de ayuda a España durante la visita que tiene prevista a ese país en diciembre.

La colaboración de España con su antigua colonia puede consistir, según el filólogo cubano nacionalizado español, en el envío de profesores y material bibliográfico para la enseñanza del idioma, entre otras medidas.

Si logra ayuda de las autoridades de España, posiblemente en enero dicte un decreto que oficialice el idioma español, apuntó López Morales.

Aunque Macapagal Arroyo ya ha expresado este deseo públicamente, es la primera vez que se concreta una fecha.

En abril pasado, el Instituto Cervantes de Manila pidió al Gobierno filipino que volviera a incluir el estudio del español como lengua oficial dentro del currículum de los alumnos de la escuela pública.

Filipinas suprimió el español de su sistema educativo en 1987, durante el Gobierno de la presidenta Corazón Aquino, bajo la nueva Constitución que se redactó tras la caída del régimen de Ferdinand Marcos.

Más de 5.000 personas estudian actualmente español en el país, según datos del Instituto Cervantes. EFE e/cw/egn

Madz in Italy

Our very own Philippine Madrigal Singers winning the European Grand Prix in Choral Singing in Arezzo, Italy, for the second time!

I'm not familiar with this particular piece at all (“We Beheld Once Again the Stars” by Z. Randall Stroope and sung in its Italian version) but it is easy to see why they took home the prize: tonal color and balance, and most impressive of all, the dynamics which is pretty amazing, from the whisper-like pianissimo (with a sustained bass line), to the thundering fortissimo, especially during the double fugue part. Extremely difficult.

As the turmoil subsides, the deep and sombre bass voices settle down while the sopranos quietly enter, as if your spirit has been lifted up from the pit and into the heavens. And towards the end, from a very long sustained line (how did they do that!), the voices fade slowly into the horizon, like the last rays of the setting sun. Wow! Bravi!

What's In A Name? 2

Over the phone earlier this afternoon, I spoke with someone named Anygen. Clearly, this is a combination of the parents' names, like Anna and Generoso. She claimed she gets exasperated with it because she had to spell it everytime to everbody and gets asked about its origins all the time. They should have added an "h", like Jhun or Vhong, and make it Anyghen.

Thoughts on a Conductor

Abaddo has been programming a lot of Mahler lately. The 2nd Symphony in Lucerne in 2003 and the 3rd at the BBC Proms only recently, not to mention his numerous forays into Mahler dating back to the sixties, clearly establishes him as the foremost Mahlerian conductor.

He is feeble, sickly, having sufferred an operation in 2000 it is easy to see why Mahler, and of course, Beethoven seems to be very high on his priorities right now. The Milan-born conductor, who held sway over La Scala in the the eighties and the Berlin Philharmonic in the 1990's, is clearly, without doubt, anticipating his end.

He is a master of thematic programming, as his annual European Cultural Concerts with the Berlin Philharmonic shows, and the choice of Beethoven and Mahler, both composers who occupied themselves with the issue of death and resurrection, in his plate means he is preparing to meet his fate with the same quiet fortitude as they did. The unusual power in his Mahler is overwhelming, most especially with the Second, where the staggering violence in the opening movements gives way to a soaring, glorious flight in the unforgettable finale.

I'm not sure if I got my information correctly but I believe he is going to program Beethoven's Ninth in New York this October. By the way, I've plenty of recorded Abaddo: Rossini's Barber of Seville, Brahms' German Requiem, Debussy's La Mer, the Martyrdom of St. Sebastien and Trois Nocturnes, Strauss Elektra, Mahler Two, Verdi Manzoni Requiem, Wagner's Flying Dutchman, Verdi Four Sacred Pieces and Tchaikovsky Tempest. Cecil Licad's award winning Chopin Piano Concerto recording was conducted by Abaddo as well.

Oh My, I wonder how he's gonna interpret Beethoven's grandest composition. I have a Berlin Philharmonic recording with Herbert von Karajan and I didn't like it. Despite the lush tone generated and the fact that it was extremely well-played, I take issue with Karajan's interpretation, which reduced Beethoven's masterpiece into a robotic, mechanical and therefore soul-less performance (think of North Korean soldiers singing Handel's Hallelujah Chorus--tech nically superb but emotionally barren, I'd imagine).