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Bacolod City, PhilippinesSaturday, August 4, 2012
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Twinkling
with Ninfa Leonardia
OPINIONS

It was only a wink

Ninfa Leonardia

Did the Supreme Court blink? The late news yesterday said that it has agreed to have two members of Congress – one from the Senate and one from the House of Representatives – as members of the Judicial and Bar Council. For several days now, Congress had been grumbling about the limit to only one representative in the JBC set by the SC. Some ordinary citizens said they believe the High Court was getting even with Congress for impeaching their former Chief Justice.

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But there's still a catch to it. Reports on TV last night said the supposed relenting by the SC was not permanent, it will hold only for the present issue being handled by the JBC, which is the selection of the candidates it will recommend to the President for appointment to the position vacated by the impeachment of Renato Corona. They are still going to decide on the matter finally after they have dealt with the present issue of picking out the “possibles” for Chief Justice. So it was not a blink, just a wink.

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The usually eagle-eyed Presidential Security Guards must have been embarrassed by the surprise sprung by one of the awardees for Ten Outstanding Students of the Philippines, who suddenly hugged and kissed the President when he handed her the trophy for being a TOSP. Protocol supposedly dictates that nobody should be able to get too close to the head of state. But Maria Janua Polinar of the Central Mindanao University outfoxed them.

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Reports said the President himself admitted that the girl had asked his permission to “hug” him and he didn't object. But I don't think the kiss was included in the permission, so the guards can make a fuss about that, if they wish. As for the daring Ms. Polinar, she got her wish, not only to accomplish a presidential embrace, and also to land in the national papers' front pages. How her fellow awardees must envy her and wish they thought of that first.

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Meanwhile, the London Olympics is peaking and things are getting hotter, especially for the leading contingents. So far, at least until late yesterday, the United States was leading with 37 medals and China trailing closely with 34. But both of them have 18 golds, and I understand these earn more points. But there are still several events to be contested, and one cannot be sure at this point. The only thing we know for sure is that our country has only four left out of the 11 we sent, still in contention. They are led by young Mark Anthony Barriga who is set to fight today in what is still a sort of qualifier, not yet a medal-earning one. And even if he wins today against his opponent from Kazakhstan with the hard to pronounce name, he has to hurdle two more to get within sniffing distance of a bronze one. Let's wish him luck today.

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The other three do not seem very promising, but who knows? They might spring a surprise, somehow. They are Maristella Torres, a repeater, in long jump, Daniel Caluag, a BMX rider, and Rene Herrera in the 5,000 meter specialist. How will they fare? By the way another one who bowed out late yesterday was Fil-Japanese contender in judo, Tomohiko Hoshina. In the meantime, the unbelievable Michael Phelps managed to get another gold in swimming, clinching a collection at 20 in all, an unprecedented Olympic record.

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Meanwhile, the players of the American National Basketball Association who have returned to their native countries to bolster their Olympic bids have been making the big difference in their games. The Spanish brothers Gasol, Pau and Mark, have been topping the scores in their encounters with other teams. Tony Parker has also made his presence felt in for France. What about Dirk Nowitzki? Is he also playing for Germany? I hope I get to watch the game between Spain and the U.S.A. It should be very exciting.

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In the local front: Vice President Jejomar Binay, who has been in the news lately because of a probe by the Commission on Audit on his past projects, has gallantly come out protesting (too much?) against those hinting that it is the President who is doing a demolition job on him. Not the President, Binay keeps insisting. He has nothing to do with this. Doesn't he sound like Mark Anthony, the Roman, crying out “Brutus is an honorable man”?*

 

 

 

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