Betcha, by golly, Jesse!

I wonder what the late Secretary Jesse Robredo would have said after seeing all those grieving faces all over the country, and hearing all those eulogies and speeches about him that seem to come out spontaneously from all those who have known and worked with him. Maybe he would exclaim “Betcha, by golly, WOW!”

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I do remember hearing that piece, said to be the themesong of the Robredos as sweethearts, but could not recall when it became a hit. So I had it looked up and, by golly, it was released in 1970 yet, although it became a hit only in 1972 when it was released by the group called The Stylistics. The internet backgrounder also said it was written by Thom Bell and Linda Creed, and originally recorded by Connie Stevens, with a different title.

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And, although the words initially sound a bit nonsensical, they grow on you, because they really talk about a simple attraction between two people – in this case (of the Robredos, that is) – whom you expect to be more serious, one being an engineer and a master's degree holder, and the other a lawyer. Today, when his body is scheduled to be cremated and later interred, Mrs. Leni Robredo may probably be thinking of that song, especially the words “If I could, I'd catch a falling star/ To shine on you so I'd know where you are…”

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Well, life must go on for the rest of us mortals, and yesterday, the news was full of the victory of a Philippine basketball team over the United States group and their capturing the championship in that Jones Cup tournament in Taipei. Never mind that they won by just ONE single point, a win is a win, is a win. Not that we think it compensates for our miserable ZERO in the Olympics, but as they say, it takes only a little to elate the Filipino.

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One cannot help sympathizing with the new Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Now every bit of her life is being bared to the media, and even the results of a psychological test on her are being disclosed. There are also many credible and reliable officials who are batting for her, so we hope she can weather all this. And it is unfair that most of the criticism focus on her age, because, it is said that, being only 52, we will have to put up with her for 18 long years!

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I guess the most disgruntled are those who have been hoping to get a chance at the office themselves, having been in their positions of associate justices for some time already. But I understand that most of them are already nearing their seventies, and that will be as far as they can go in the Supreme Court. Well, let them hope that Ma. Lourdes Sereno gets fed up in a short while, so they can palpitate again while the Judicial and Bar Council deliberates.

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But what a shocker Senator Frank Drilon has disclosed about the Supreme Court recently. He said it used P1.82 BILLION on bonuses and other perks for its members and personnel, using the funds supposed to be earmarked for hiring new judges! So that is why the 553 vacancies in the courts since year 2010 have remained unfilled, despite the fact that, as also revealed, or uncovered by Drilon, there are 388,000 cases pending in Regional Trial Courts and 82,664 in Metropolitan Trial Courts! What is Madame New Chief Justice planning to do about this?

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So what if England's Prince Harry was discovered to have stripped himself and cavorted with some people in Las Vegas? A poll of his country's people reportedly showed that they don't mind. Let the kid have his fun, their attitude seems to say. The naughty Harry seems to be trying his best to be the opposite of his staid and, well, boring brother, William, who has to always be prim and proper as befits a future king. Me, I was interested in the report – and in the pictures, of course – because the incident is supposed to have taken place at the Wynn, where we used to stay for the Pacquiao fights. But, no, nobody had been reported to have done any stripping act while we were there.*

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